MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (AP) – Gov. Jon S. Corzine sent a letter Friday to United Parcel Service of America urging the shipping giant to respect New Jersey’s civil unions law and offer gay employees the same benefits for their partners that married workers get.

The company is one of many that gay rights advocates say is not treating gay employees and their partners the same as married employees and their spouses despite a state law requiring employers to do so.

UPS has said the New Jersey law does not apply to its union employees because the company’s employee benefits are governed by federal law.

Corzine said the company should change its policies anyway.

“Surely, as a company with a long-standing commitment to its employees and the community, UPS would not want to make its employees and their families face these difficult choices based on the subtleties of the interaction of federal and state law.”

UPS does provide full benefits for gay administrative employees who are not covered by union contracts. It also provides the full benefits in Massachusetts, the only state where same-sex marriages are legally recognized.

Lambda Legal, a gay advocacy law organization, initiated a legal process to try to force UPS to offer the benefits to couples in New Jersey on behalf of two couples.

In the meantime, Lambda lawyer David Buckel said he appreciates the governor’s letter.

“It’s quite a governor who reaches out to help … families like this,” he said. “We don’t know if we’ll get a letter from the governor for each family and each company.”

Steven Goldstein, chair of the gay rights group Garden State Equality, says UPS is far from the only company doing business in New Jersey that isn’t following the state law.

A spokesman for UPS did not immediately return a call on Friday to The Associated Press.