Greetings,

We are public employees and we are under attack! Incentives for being part of our union team to Get-Out-the-Union-Vote this Saturday and Tuesday, Election Day. Read on...

Next Tuesday, November 3, is Election Day in New Jersey and this is an important election for Rutgers Employees – Faculty, TA/GAs, PTLs, and EOF Counselors.

Governor Jon Corzine isn't our Best Friend, but Republican Chris Christie could be our Worst Enemy! 

Governor Corzine supports collective bargaining and the right to be a union member. In fact, he sees the value of union membership and union contracts. Without them, we wouldn't have seen the gains of the past few years and we wouldn't have been able to fight off the threats to our pensions and health benefits. Without his direct intervention, 2000 administrative staff would not be members of URA-AFT, post-docs would not have become AAUP-AFT members so quickly and easily. Without these gains, Summer/Winter Instructors would still be waiting to become AAUP-AFT members and negotiate a contract. Rutgers would still be fighting against all of these unionizing efforts, if not for Jon Corzine. 

Given the opportunity, Mr. Christie would do away with TA/GA health benefits and PTL pensions and health care access. We are not sure if his tax cuts would jeopardize EOF programs and instructional funding. We do know that he would not have accepted federal stimulus funds that are funding higher education. 

Jon Corzine has met with our union and is committed to working with us in a second term. Mr. Christie has openly threatened to slash the number of public employees (yes, we are public employees at Rutgers) and our health and retirement benefits. He has even said we do not need collective bargaining! 

Turnout next Tuesday is very important. If Rutgers AAUP-AFT can do its part to help Get Out the Union Vote, then we expect Governor Corzine to be re-elected. 

If self-interest or solidarity isn’t enough incentive, then here's a little more. Join your colleagues for Labor Walks (union members team up in pairs or triples with one person driving to talk to other union members) this Saturday morning (October 31) from 9am – 12pm and we’ll reward your efforts with $50. If you help out for at least 3 hours on Election Day (Tuesday, November 3), then the reward is an additional $75. All you need to do is confirm your participation by phone or email, show-up and sign-in on Saturday and/or Tuesday, and wear an AFT t-shirt (which we will provide on-site). 

This may be a new activity for you, so please call to get more information. We can answer questions about the details. Call Cathy Stanford: (732) 964-1000, ext. 10 or send an email to cstanford@rutgersaaup.org.

Sincerely,

Adrienne Eaton
President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT

Mike Slott
President, Part-Time Lecturer Faculty Chapter, Rutgers AAUP-AFT

Subject: You can count on me!

Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],

I will volunteer to help Get-Out-the-Vote:

Sincerely,

[Your Name]