Bernie Sanders scored an endorsement from a major New York union Wednesday with less than a week before the state’s primary.
The Transport Workers Union Local 100, which represents 38,000 transport workers and 26,000 retirees in the New York City region, endorsed the Vermont senator ahead of Tuesday’s New York primary.
“I am honored and grateful to have the support from such a fantastic union,” Sanders said at a Brooklyn event announcing the endorsement.
The endorsement comes as Sanders received his first Senate endorsement from Oregon Democrat Jeff Merkley. Sanders’ colleague called him “a determined leader.”
After the union’s announcement, Sanders joined striking Verizon workers on a picket line in Brooklyn.
“This is another major American corporation trying to destroy the lives of working Americans,” Sanders said.
“And today, you are not just standing up for justice and Verizon workers, you are standing up for Americans who don’t have a union, and you’re telling corporate America they cannot have it all,” he added.
Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton also received an organized labor endorsement from New York on Wednesday, announcing that Local 3 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers was backing her campaign. Clinton also received the endorsement of the New York Daily News on Tuesday night.
Clinton also joined striking Verizon workers on Wednesday, greeting them outside a Verizon store in midtown Manhattan. She was joined by Randi Weingarten, head of the American Federation of Teachers, a Clinton supporter.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday shows Sanders trailing Clinton by 13 percentage points in the April 19 primary.