— If you belong to a union and live in the 12th Congressional District, you can expect to hear a lot about U.S. Rep. Mark Critz in the next few months.

The Johnstown-based Democrat, forced to battle fellow Democratic Rep. Jason Altmire in the April 24 primary, has been racking up endorsements from major labor unions that have tens of thousands of members in the 12th district.

And that backing goes far beyond a handshake and a press release: Union leaders are coordinating an extensive ground campaign for Critz that includes thousands of phone calls, workplace visits and even the use of social media such as Facebook.

 “We’re going to be educating and mobilizing our members in an unprecedented fashion in this district,” said Neal Bisno of the Service Employees International Union.

Added Tim Waters, the United Steelworkers’ national political director: “You’re talking about tens of thousands of calls being made and conversations being had.”

Critz, who is serving his first full term, and Altmire, a third-term congressman who lives in Pittsburgh’s North Hills, were pulled into the same redrawn district as a result of last year’s congressional redistricting process.

Both have portrayed themselves as conservative Democrats, and they take similar positions on social issues such as gun control and abortion.

But it is Critz who has received almost all of organized labor’s backing so far.

Endorsements have come from unions including the United Steelworkers, United Mine Workers, SEIU, Utility Workers Union of America, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 23 and the Laborers District Council of Western Pennsylvania.

Altmire earlier this month won a nod from Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85, which represents 2,200 active workers and 2,500 retirees of the Allegheny County Port Authority.

But on the same day, Critz announced that Johnstown-based Local 1279 of the same transit union had endorsed him.

Altmire’s camp says he isn’t sweating the lack of union support. Campaign Manager Angela Ruslander didn’t directly address questions about organized labor but said Altmire “is by any estimation the clear front-runner.”

“The Allegheny County Democratic Committee supported Jason for their endorsement by a 2-to-1 margin, and even Mark Critz’s own internal polling shows Altmire with a double-digit lead,” Ruslander said via email last week.

“While we are taking nothing for granted, we believe primary voters know that

Jason Altmire gives Democrats the best chance to hold on to the seat in November and represent Pennsylvania’s working families in Washington.”

But Bisno, who is president of SEIU Healthcare PA, contends Altmire “pays far too much attention to the lobbyists and not enough to the working people who elected him.”

Otherwise, the unions have not said much about Altmire while effusively praising Critz.

They have mentioned the congressman’s support for the Employee Free Choice Act as well as his lobbying for Social Security and Medicare.

Also frequently cited is Critz’s campaign against what he says are China’s unfair trade policies. Since October, Critz’s congressional office has issued at least nine press releases mentioning China.

Leo W. Gerard, United Steelworkers international president, said in announcing his endorsement of Critz last month that the congressman “has tirelessly fought unfair trade deals and job-killing currency manipulation by China.”

It is the Steelworkers who apparently are leading the charge for Critz.

“We’re working together with the other unions,” the Steelworkers’ Waters said. “Everybody brings something to the table.”

Resources include phone banks, where “you have members calling members” about a candidate, Waters said.

Along with traditional mailings, the Steelworkers also are pursuing “a pretty aggressive new-media strategy” that includes use of Facebook and Twitter.

“We’re definitely reaching past talking to one person,” Waters said.

“We’re talking to that person’s friends and co-workers in a nontraditional way.”

The union also is mobilizing thousands of retirees through SOAR, the Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees.

“They have teams put together. They’re on the phone starting to talk to people,” Waters said.

Bisno said SEIU is emphasizing “a very grass-roots approach” to campaigning for Critz.

“It’s really the one-on-one, door-to-door, neighbor-to-neighbor and co-worker-to-co-worker approach,” Bisno said.

He added that “we really expect to be working very closely with the Steelworkers and the other unions.”

Critz’s political staff is not permitted to coordinate with those unions, campaign strategist Mike Mikus said.

But he predicts that labor’s efforts will be “highly effective” in this primary election: Mikus said poor voter turnout is expected, meaning even a few hundred additional votes could play a significant role.

“Running an operation on the ground can really make a difference,” Mikus said.

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