Coming out for union democracy: AUD at Pride at Work

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This June, Pride at Work, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) labor organization that is affiliated with the AFL-CIO, held its fourth biennial convention in Everett, Washington. Organized by the Seattle PAW chapter, the "Out Front Labor Coalition," the convention drew 300 PAW members and supporters including AFL-CIO VP Linda Chavez-Thompson, San Francisco City Supervisor Tom Ammiano, and officers, staffers and rank-and-file members from unions like SEIU, AFSCME, CWA, and AFT. There were also numerous building trades workers in attendance.

What's Pride at Work?
PAW was formed in 1994 by labor activists to defend and support LGBT workers who often work under oppressive conditions with fewer benefits and less legal protection than their straight coworkers. LGBT workers typically are denied benefits for domestic partners. They are not protected by contractual non-discrimination provisions. Workers often face harassment and violence on the job. In most states, LGBT workers can be legally fired for their sexual preference or gender presentation.

The LGBT unionists who founded PAW are the same people who formed LGBT committees in unions, like the Lesbian and Gay Issues Caucus (LAGIC) in AFSCME DC37, or the Lavender Caucus in SEIU, and cross-union local committees like the Gay and Lesbian Labor Activists Network (GALAN) in Boston, and the Out Front Labor Coalition in Seattle.

In 1997 PAW became an official AFL-CIO constituency group, like the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, the A. Philip Randolph Institute, or CLUW. PAW gets a small amount of funding from the AFL-CIO; most important, the AFL-CIO label gives PAW access to labor councils and union administrations.

PAW calls upon unions to adopt demands for domestic partner coverage and to include LGBT workers in non-discrimination clauses in contracts. In the LGBT community, PAW encourages organizations and individuals to support unions and their campaigns.

In keeping with the theme of this year’s convention, Out and Organizing Globally, there were also several international LGBT labor activists, from South Africa, Costa Rica, Canada, Brazil and the UK. Among the topics discussed included the Boy Scouts’ ban on LGBT members, domestic partner benefits, racism, globalization, and the need for unions to deal with the workplace problems of people who change gender. Participants voted on PAW bylaws and resolutions, and elected a new leadership.

"Kicked in both shins"
AUD members have been involved in PAW from the beginning, but this was the first time AUD had a spot on the agenda. PAW does not refer to union democracy in its publications, but many PAW members are rank-and-file activists.

PAW member Sarah Luthens is a union organizer, a leader of the Out Front Labor Coalition (the Seattle area PAW chapter), and an organizer of this PAW convention. In 1999, when AUD held a workshop in Seattle for ironworkers fighting to overcome an imposed contract and a trusteeship. Luthens was a key volunteer organizer. After the meeting, a tough looking rodbuster said to Luthens, in an admiring tone, "Damn! Union democracy and a lesbian. You just wanna get kicked in both shins don’t you." In fact, Luthens nearly lost her job over her democracy activism. The same kind of people who stand up for their rights in a hostile environment tend to stand up when others’ rights are violated.

Activists like Luthens know that support can work both ways. After the trusteeship was lifted in Ironworkers Local 86, several reformers were elected to union office. The new officers appointed a lesbian ironworker and activist to teach welding in the apprenticeship program.

In the AUD workshop, LGBT union activists discussed the connections between organizing for union democracy and organizing for LGBT rights. Sheetmetal worker Soph Davenport spoke about her experience "salting" non-union jobs and the day she came out to her employer as a union member. "You have to keep coming out," she said, "for the right to organize, for union democracy, and for the right to be who you are."

The Flushing Letter Carriers, NALC 294, in New York, provide another example. The letter carriers who now run the union came to office as a result of a protracted struggle for reform. Now the union works with groups like the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization to organize an inclusive St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Queens.