FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 20, 2025
May 20, 2025
Contact:
Tim Kauffman
202-374-6491
[email protected]
Largest Federal Employee Union Endorses Jay Jones for Virginia Attorney General
Jones is a former AFGE member who is committed to protecting dedicated civil servants
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The American Federation of Government Employees today announced its endorsement of Jay Jones for Virginia attorney general in the statewide leadership elections taking place Nov. 4.
As a former dues-paying member of AFGE Local 1403 (D.C. Government Office of the Attorney General), Jay knows firsthand the importance of protecting the rights and duties of the nonpartisan civil servants who make this country work. In a time of rampant, illegal activity by an anti-union federal administration, AFGE is keen on electing pro-union attorneys general to defend workers’ rights and to defend the public good – and Jay Jones will be that advocate for Virginia’s working families.
Throughout his campaign, Jay has used his platform to oppose anti-worker policies and to engage with impacted federal workers across the state. In commitment to AFGE and other unions across the state, Jay has committed to “use every tool at [his] disposal to oppose any attempt to deny, infringe upon, or diminish the collective bargaining rights of federal and D.C. government employees who are Virginia residents.”
Virginia needs a fighter in the attorney general’s office, and AFGE is confident that Jay Jones will be that champion for D.C. and federal workers who live in the state.
“Jay Jones comes out of my AFGE region. He is one of us,” said AFGE District 14 National Vice President Ottis Johnson Jr. “It’s time to put one of our own in the AG’s seat so that we can stand united, together, against the forces of Trump and Musk and all of those who are attempting to cut, privatize, and demean an effective civil service.”
“The members of AFGE District 4 are not going to be satisfied with more of the same from our elected officials,” said AFGE District 4 National Vice President Christine Surrette. “We are in a moment of crisis for AFGE and the entire labor movement, and our elected officials need to act like it. We need pro-labor champions in AG office across the country, and we are going to make sure that we deliver that right here in Virginia.”
During the 2023 nonfederal elections in Virginia, AFGE successfully mobilized more than 200 volunteer shifts in door-to-door and phone banking operations for endorsed candidates and was the top AFL-CIO affiliate in the state for total volunteer phone bank shifts.
More than 144,000 federal employees live in Virginia – caring for veterans, supporting the military, keeping our skies safe, and getting Social Security recipients their benefits accurately and on time.
AFGE represents nearly 46,000 federal employees in District 4, which includes Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia; and more than 75,000 federal and D.C. government employees in District 14, which includes D.C. and the surrounding suburbs in Maryland and Virginia, plus Europe.
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