There are many reasons why professional staff should unionize and affiliate with the American Federation of Teachers. The best reasons will come from other staff members who work at an institution with an AFT local, and as always we encourage you to visit their Web sites and talk to local leaders in your area. However, there are some general reasons to become part of the AFT. Here are just some of the reasons.

Experience. The AFT has been helping higher education professional staff organize and gain a voice at their institutions for more than three decades. Organizing this group of professionals is an ongoing endeavor. AFT higher education membership currently includes over 20,000 professional staff in approximately 100 locals nationwide.

Local Autonomy. The AFT has always believed that locals should run their own union without interference from the national affiliate. State federations are a crucial link in helping locals maintain their union, but decision-making is up to the local; this allows each local to develop its own unique agenda. This commitment is reflected in the diversity of AFT locals. Some represent only professional staff, and others represent this group as part of a larger higher education unit that includes full-time faculty and staff. While AFT encourages higher education professionals to organize and work together rather than separately wherever possible, the decision is ultimately a local one. This independence requires locals to maintain a working and active membership to accomplish their goals, rather than relying on an outside service organization. Such activism creates stronger and more effective unions on the local level.

State Support. AFT locals that represent professional staff receive support from every level of the AFT, and state federations are the linchpins. The considerable resources and staff of state federations benefit locals in countless ways. Labor-relations specialists and field representatives from the state federations assist locals in contract negotiations, grievance representation, the arbitration process, leadership training and the like. Further, state capitals are key battlegrounds for issues of great importance to our membership--first and foremost because state legislatures have financial and political leverage over the tax-supported institutions in which so many of our members work. The political and research staff of state federations work hard to ensure that the interests of members and our institutions are well-represented throughout state government. Regardless of what problems a local faces, the state federation is an important resource that local unions can rely on.

National Support. In addition to state federations, support comes from regional offices and the various departments within AFT (higher education, organizing and field services, legal, legislative, public affairs, etc.). The types of support range from organizing assistance on campus, to helping with contract negotiations, to professional publications dealing with higher education issues. Each spring, AFT higher education sponsors a national issues conference where leaders and members come together to address critical issues facing higher education unionists. In addition, AFT higher education holds a special leadership conference each fall where new leaders and activists, including professional staff leaders, come together for workshops and discussion on leadership issues within our locals.

Labor Support. AFT is the only higher education union or association that is affiliated with the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). Not only does this mean that AFT works with the AFL-CIO to defend the rights and needs of working families, it means that AFT locals receive the support of their brothers and sisters in the labor movement. AFT locals can participate in AFL-CIO Central Labor Councils (CLCs), which bring AFL-CIO unions together to work on cross-union issues and give working families a voice in the community. Central Labor Councils also function to support state AFL-CIO organizations, which, along with AFT state federations, work to give you a voice at the state legislature. Both the CLCs and state AFL-CIO organizations have played pivotal roles in AFT organizing efforts as well as in contract negotiations on behalf of locals.

Equality. AFT locals have a great deal of autonomy, but at the same time, they must follow certain constitutional requirements. These requirements ensure equal opportunity for representation and leadership within each local. All members in AFT locals have full voting rights, the right to run for office and be elected to lead a local, and access to all other rights held by any member of a local without distinction.

Foresight. The AFT's higher education department works with AFT locals to identify, track and address new and ongoing legal, technological and other issues pertaining to higher education. Whether the issue has a direct impact on the educational environment or other areas that directly affect the lives of professional staff, AFT is constantly working to identify these issues and work on behalf of all of our members.

If you and your colleagues are thinking about organizing and joining a union, or have any questions about the American Federation of Teachers, please contact us at AFT Higher Education, or call 202/879-4426.