Bill Henson worked as a dump truck driver and backhoe operator for ten years with Buffalo Bituminous in Buffalo, Minnesota until 2000. Bill and his coworkers worked at preparing and paving roads on federal, state and local contracts.

Bill wanted to form a union because of low wages, expensive health insurance and an insufficient retirement plan. Bill says he had to pay the full cost of his family’s health insurance and the company only matched up to $600 to his 401K retirement plan.

In 2000, Bill and his coworkers decided to form a union with the International Union of Operating Engineers. Immediately, Bill’s employer fought back by sending out letters denigrating the union. The company brought in the President of the notoriously anti-union Association of Builders and Contractors to talk to the workers about why they should not form their union. Bill was called into the owner's office for a talk about the union. He left with the definite impression that the owner would sell the business if the workers formed a union, leaving them without jobs. He was also led to believe that he would be getting a raise. The workers eventually had an election but lost their union by only a few votes. Bill never got his raise.

Subsequently, Bill left the company and went to work as a union operator. He has now been working union for six years and he says it is the best thing he ever did. "The wages are way better and I get full health benefits for my entire family paid by my employer and a fully paid pension. I wish I’d done this a long time ago," says Bill.