Three top airline labor unions are backing the candidates selected by President-elect Donald J. Trump for two cabinet posts that most impact the airline industry.

Trump selected Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer to lead the Department of Labor (She lost a reelection bid in November) and Sean Duffy, a former Wisconsin congressman and Fox Business host to lead the Department of Transportation.

The Air Line Pilots Association, the Association of Flight Attendants and the Transportation Workers Union are backing both. Regardless of political party, “We advocate on the issues that matter to our members,” said AFA President Sara Nelson in an interview.

Nelson said Thursday that Chavez-DeRemer “didn’t just sign on to labor issues: she led on many of them. This was one of the easiest endorsement decisions our policy committee has ever made.”

Chavez-DeRemer supported the Protection from Abusive Passengers Act; PRO Act legislation that would make it easier to unionize and the PUMP Act which eases limitations on nursing mother. The first two failed to be enacted.

TWU President John Samuelsen said that Chavez-DeRemer “absolutely understands working America – she’s an excellent trade union supporter and has worked on mitigating foreign maintenance and on assault against public transport workers, from flight attendants to bus drivers. Plus she’s an average American in her demeanor.

“When we have pro-trade union Republicans, we need to reward them, not cast them to the side,” Samuelsen said in an interview.

ALPA also endorsed Chavez-DeRemer, noting in a prepared statement that, “Lori Chavez-DeRemer has consistently stood up for ALPA pilots since being elected to Congress, and we look forward to working with her as the U.S. Labor Secretary. She understands how unions help build the middle class and is exactly the type of pragmatic leader we need at the Labor Department.”

As for Duffy, ALPA’s influence seemed evident on Wednesday when U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) announced that she had secured a commitment from Duffy to uphold the 1,500-hour pilot certification standard at his confirmation hearing. Maintaining the standard has long been an ALPA priority.

“At a time when near-misses are happening way too frequently in our aviation system, it’s critical that we continue to ensure our pilots undergo high levels of training so that they’re prepared to handle any scenario in the sky and keep the flying public safe,” Duckworth said in a prepared statement.

In a November endorsement, which makes clear ALPA’s prominent role in safety regulation, the union said, “As the world’s largest nongovernmental aviation safety organization, ALPA congratulates Sean Duffy on his nomination to lead the U.S. Department of Transportation. ALPA noted that it “works closely” with DOT “to advance the United States’ global aviation leadership and keep flying safe and secure.”

Samuelsen said he doesn’t know Duffy, but Duffy has made a generally favorable impression on people he trusts. Duffy “hasn’t been panned” by them, he said.

Nelson said of Duffy, “I think we can work with him. I’m pleased with his focus on safety and on rebuilding the air transportation system, on hiring and training air traffic controllers, which was a very welcome emphasis during his confirmation hearing.”

Nelson said that outgoing Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg brought new attention to the department, which “had been treated as a secondary department in government.” She said that Buttigieg “launched it right into the center of leadership and policy discussion: I think that is what he will be remembered for.”

Samuelsen applauded Buttigieg for both accessibility and responsiveness to labor. “He has been a phenomenal DOT secretary for workers: he’s involved himself in every labor dispute that we’ve asked him to,” including “the fight to protect bus drivers from assault and the attacks on aircraft maintenance in America.

“If you pick up the phone and call him, you get a call back in five minutes, if he doesn’t answer himself,” Samuelsen said, noting he has reached Buttigieg at inconvenient hours such as 1 a.m.

As for Julie Su, outgoing acting Secretary of Labor, Samuelsen said she has been “excellent” and Nelson called her “the greatest labor secretary since Frances Perkins,” who served under Franklin D. Roosevelt. “I don’t know that there has ever been a labor secretary more involved in labor negotiations and in standing up for the right to strike,” Nelson said.

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