In NY last week I had the good fortune of meeting and talking with Nat Bender who works for Rutgers University in New Jersey. After telling him a little about what I was doing in regard to Union Review, he said, "Well, have I got a story for you." Those were probably not his exact words ... but ... you know...

Bender's story is the story of progressive grassroots union organizing with a feel-good ending! It is also a story that is overwhelmingly supportive of the Employee Free Choice Act.

A group of Rutgers' administrators began communicating with American Federation of Teachers (AFT) staff in September 2005, who were on campus working with the faculty union, and which jointly affiliated three years prior.

"We saw aligning with the same union as our faculty union as our most viable option and that has been favorably received by a majority of our unit," Bender says.

The organizing took on thousands of discussions, small group meetings, and a regular email newsletter. The efforts resulted in some 2,000 university workers electing to unionize. "We have three main campuses and staff in every county in New Jersey," he says.

The group tirelessly worked to collect a majority of authorization cards from this large and diverse group. Bender tells Union Review that they see it as an argument in favor of the EFCA in terms of the true democratic nature of the process, we agree!

On April 25th, the day before I met Bender, he went down to the Public Employees Relations Commission (the regulating body of public sector labor relations in NJ) and turned in the "Union Yes" cards. The union is now waiting its certification.

Anti-Union factions are quick to say that the card-check process is unfair, that it abandons so-called "secret-ballot elections." The reality is that many workers who are not around when voting takes place are immediately assumed to be against the union - it is clearly not always the case.

Bender says, "Although anti-union forces call it unfair, our organizers (rank-and-file and staff) can attest to the fact that the card check process requires a lot of hard work and coordination where an election might only involve a smaller percentage of the actual work unit members."

The URA-AFT is born!

* Better Pay:
By joining their voices together, they can stop arbitrary reviews and inadequate raises.

* Like many other unionized administrative staff in New Jersey and across the country, the union can choose to negotiate regular across the board increases, merit increases or both.

* Job Security:
In the union they can have collective opposition to attrition, outsourcing and layoffs in the administrative and supervisory units.

* With a union, they negotiate a fair grievance process. Then, when disputes arise at work, due process and effective representation is present.

* Protecting Benefits
"By adding our voice to the lobbying process in Trenton, we have the power to protect health care and retirement plans." The union did not want to continue to rely on other State workers to speak for them when it came to health benefits.

Though you can learn more about this exciting and successful campaign at their sitefor now, how about a round of applause for Nat Bender and the workers of URA-AFT!