Lots More Union Events at Netroots Nation
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- The California Labor Federation is taking part this year with a panel on the strategies behind its 2010 electorial victories. In Microtargeting to Win: Lessons from California, panelists discuss how progressives in California used the most sophisticated microtargeting program in the country to identify swing voters and communicate with them using a convergence of online, field, direct mail and traditional media. As a result, Jerry Brown defeated Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman by 13 points, even though Whitman ran the most expensive campaign in state history, spending more than $170 million.
- AFT President Randi Weingarten will speak at the opening session on June 16, which begins at 7 p.m. CST. AFT also is sponsoring the panel, ”Bullies and the Blogosphere: Creating Safe Spaces in Our Schools and Online.” The panel Read the rest of this entry »
LGBT Organizations Back Public Employees
Nearly 50 national organizations for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people have signed a labor solidarity statement sponsored by the AFL-CIO constituency group Pride at Work. The statement supports the rights of public employees to bargain.
The statement says, in part:
As national, state and local organizations for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality, we stand in solidarity with teachers, firefighters, nurses and all workers across this country fighting for their basic rights—for all of our rights. We are one.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), which recently signed the statement, issued a statement that called collective bargaining a “key tool in our ability to attain equal rights.”
HRC affirms our belief that citizens should have the right to have a say in their future. The ability for workers to come together and negotiate with employers for the best possible future for themselves and their families is and should remain a fundamental tenet of the workplace.
Trumka’s Message to LGBT Teens: It Gets Better
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The union movement has long been in the forefront of the fight against discrimination in the workplace and throughout society. Spurred by the reports of bullying and suicides of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) students in schools, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka joined President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other leaders who are filming videos for the It Gets Better campaign.
Begun by columnist Dan Savage, the It Gets Better campaign supports and encourages LGBT teens to “hang in there” because they are not alone. It lets them know others are working to ensure that things will get better for them.
In his video (above), Trumka, who comes from an East European immigrant family, relates how hard it was growing up in the coal mine country of southwest Pennsylvania. When he was kid, he says, there were ugly names for everyone. His older relatives spoke with thick accents and were routinely given the hardest and most dangerous work in the mines. Their pay often was shorted because they did not understand the language and were afraid to speak out.
Pride At Work: We’ve Come a Long Way, We Still Have Further to Go
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As union members get ready for the 2009 AFL-CIO Convention, Pride At Work (PAW), an AFL-CIO constituency group, is among several union-related organizations meeting in Pittsburgh to plan for the future.
It’s the 10th anniversary for PAW as an official constituency group of the AFL-CIO. PAW focuses on the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) workers. Co-president Nancy Wohlforth said this morning that she’d never have believed how far the organization would come and how much they’d be able to accomplish—but that there are still many challenges ahead.
Wohlforth, who will step down this year as co-president, said PAW members have proven themselves a valuable asset in working family campaigns across the union movement and, in turn, they’ve been able to make great strides in educating and assisting unions about LGBT issues. Thanks to the efforts of PAW, unions across the country are making sure that contracts offer nondiscrimination provisions, as well as health and pension benefits for domestic partners. Unions also are stepping up to fight for equality not just in the workplace, but in state policy.
‘Out at Work’ Available on DVD
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Seventeen years ago, a couple of New York City filmmakers, Kelli Anderson and Tami Gold, made their way to AFSCME’s District Council 37 in Manhattan to videotape a conference on lesbian and gay rights in the workplace for a monthly show they produced on public access television called “Labor at the Crossroads.”
As it turned out, this was the beginning of “Out at Work,” a compelling documentary about life on the job in the United States. After it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival—an extraordinary event in itself—Variety would praise it for its “inspiring human dimension.” And some 40 million people would eventually see a version of it on HBO.
Both versions of “Out at Work”—the original documentary film and the HBO presentation—are now available for the first time on DVD from Transit Media Communications at 1-800-343-5540. Mention it if you’re a union member and ask about their discount.
The original idea of “Out at Work” was simple enough. It told about three workers who had little in common except that each was LGBT and confronting colossal challenges connected with discrimination on the job. What’s more, each had an extraordinary story filled with grief, courage, confusion and moral grace.
