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.
Peggy Shorey Named Pride At Work’s Executive Director
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Pride At Work (P@W), the AFL-CIO’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) constituency group, has selected longtime activist Peggy Shorey as its new executive director. Shorey has been an organizer and community leader in Connecticut for the past 17 years.
A union member since 1993, Shorey began union organizing in 2001. She has worked for both the UAW and SEIU. For the past 10 years, she has been an executive officer with the Greater Hartford Central Labor Council and also served on the Executive Board for the Connecticut AFL-CIO. An openly bisexual union leader, she was founding co-president of the Connecticut chapter of Pride At Work.
Donna Cartwright, co-president of P@W, says:
Peggy has a long history as a union and LGBT leader with extensive skills running social justice nonprofits. She has built effective and vibrant coalitions—including partnerships with unions, the faith community, political and community organizations and the broader LGBT community—the kind of coalitions that change opinions and win lasting victories.
Mahoney Selected OPEIU Secretary-Treasurer
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The Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU) selected Mary Mahoney as the union’s new secretary-treasurer. Mahoney, currently an OPEIU vice president, will take office Jan. 1, 2010, and replace Nancy Wohlforth, who is retiring.
Mahoney began her union career more than 30 years ago as a member of OPEIU Local 6 in Quincy, Mass. After rising through the ranks, she was elected president of the local in 1995 and became business manager in 2001. She also serves as a vice president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and on the executive council for the Greater Boston Labor Council.
Mahoney said she is excited about “this new chapter in my life.”
I have been on the executive board for many years and have learned a lot and seen firsthand the responsibility of the secretary-treasurer. I know in this new role I’ll be faced with many challenges and I love a challenge.
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.
Grassroots Action Around the Country for Employee Free Choice
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| The fight for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act continues in Arkansas and other states. Below, Tim Strong, president of CWA Local 4900 in Indiana, explains the bill. |
As the fight for the Employee Free Choice Act takes place in Washington, D.C., union members and allies are hard at work around the country to help pass this critical legislation to level the playing field for workers seeking to form unions.
At the Huffington Post, the AFL-CIO’s Stewart Acuff reports that members of the Arkansas Conference of Black Mayors are joining civil rights leaders, religious leaders, small business owners and union members from across the state in asking their senators to support workers by voting for the Employee Free Choice Act.
In North Carolina, Larry Murray of the Steelworkers (USW) says the fight for employee free choice is a top priority throughout his union and the entire union movement because its passage means an economy that works for everyone:
“The Employee Free Choice Act is vitally important because on top of the poor economic situation, the playing field is not level. Companies have an enormous advantage in the current system.”
SharedAgenda.org Promotes Freedom from Discrimination, Freedom to Form Unions
A national campaign is promoting the Employee Free Choice Act as critical to the economy, fair workplaces and the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) workers.
A new website, SharedAgenda.org, is bringing together supporters of the Employee Free Choice Act and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. The new site is being launched in concert with a national postcard campaign asking senators and House members to co-sponsor the two bills.
The new site is a project of the National Stonewall Democrats, a grassroots coalition of activists for LGBT equality, and Pride At Work (PAW), an AFL-CIO constituency group.
Why link these two issues? Because nobody should be fired from a job simply because of sexual orientation or gender identity, and nobody should be fired from a job for trying to form a union. Unfortunately, these abuses are too common. Together, these bills give LGBT workers the access they deserve to the American dream. LGBT workers need the Employee Free Choice Act because the freedom to form unions is critical to protecting them from discrimination and ensuring fair treatment in the workplace and because they need the ability to bargain for equal benefits and fair wages to ensure they can take care of their families.
