Higher union membership strengthens our position at both statewide and local bargaining tables. More members mean a better contract and less chance of a strike.
Union dues are your fair share of funds to process grievances. By joining the union, you help keep these funds available for the time when you or a colleague needs grievance support. The union provides this support whether you join or not.
Joining the union allows you to vote for officers and to be a candidate for an officership.
More members for our Local means greater voting strength at the State Council where major decisions are made about contract acceptance and strikes. We get a Council delegate for each 50 members. Bargaining unit agency shop numbers do not give us delegates.
Joining the union is your statement of solidarity with your colleagues and of your strong support for affordable educational excellence at NJCU and fair pay and benefits for all of us -- you included -- who work hard to realize that educational excellence.
Some higher education professionals question our reliance on a trade union. Why should professors, librarians, and counselors and other professional staff depend on a labor union to negotiate our contracts?
Under New Jersey labor laws, our membership in the AFT is subject to a competittive election whenever the AFT fails to deliver an acceptable contract. Certain other conditions also allow for a democratic vote of our bargaining unit to decide what agent (if any) we want to represent us.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
Local 1839 union dues are 1.05% of pre-tax income.
HOW DO YOU JOIN?
Contact a union representative, or stop by the Local 1839 office for a membership card.
WHY DIDN'T THE UNION HELP ME?
Local 1839 is committed to protecting our members in every area in which the Union has 'standing.' We will also try to defend our members' interests in other areas, but our power to do so is sometimes limited. Sometimes the Union doesn't help you because your problem lies outside the arena in which we have the power to do so.
Depending on various New Jersey labor laws, administrative code, past practice, and court and arbitrator rulings, unions have certain rights to defend their members. These rights are mostly described under the rubric 'standing.' Wherever we have this standing, we will use it to defend our members against unjust management practices and/or to advance our members; interests through negotiated agreements, grievances, or (in rare cases) lawsuits. Support for our members is always within the context of our commitment to affordable excellence in education for New Jersey's students, especially those from working class and middle class families.
Certain academic issues may fall outside the purview of the Union and are best handled via the NJCU Senate. Other issues such as some student/faculty disputes might best be handled informally or with the assistance of the NJCU administration (your Dean or eventually the VPAA and the University President).