2022

The Electoral College system has been used to elect the President and Vice President of the United States ever since the U.S. Constitution was ratified. However, the system has a number of flaws. For example:

Two of the past four Presidents were elected despite losing the popular vote. In addition to the other policies they championed, those presidents have also appointed five of the nine current Justices of the Supreme Court, who have repeatedly voted to roll back the rights of workers, voters, women, and many other Americans.

If no presidential candidate gets a majority of electoral votes, then the House of Representatives chooses the President in a Byzantine process that gives each state one vote, while the Senate chooses the Vice President. This could happen in modern elections; for example, two candidates could each get 269 electoral votes, or a candidate could “win” 270 electoral votes in November but get 269 electoral votes in December because one of their electors failed to vote for them.

In many states, members of the Electoral College can decline to vote for the candidates to whom they were pledged. For example, in 2016, there were seven “faithless electors” who voted for people who didn’t win the presidential race in their state.

Recognizing these and other problems – and acknowledging how cumbersome it is to amend the Constitution – the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact was created as a way to use the Electoral College system to elect a President and Vice President by a national popular vote. Under the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, states and the District of Columbia which are part of the compact would give their electoral votes to whichever presidential ticket wins the national popular vote – regardless of how that state or district votes.

The compact would take effect if the jurisdictions that approve it have a majority of all electoral votes (currently 270 of 538). As of August 2022, fifteen states plus the District of Columbia have joined the Compact; these jurisdictions represent 195 of the 70 electoral votes needed for the compact to take effect. If 75 more electoral votes’ worth of states join the Compact by July 20, 2024, the popular vote winner will win that year’s election.

With this in mind, Pride at Work will support changes that ensure that the presidential and vice- presidential candidates who receive the most votes nationally are elected as follows:

• It is ultimately Pride at Work’s goal that the Electoral College system be eliminated in favor of a direct election by the people of the United States. To that end, Pride at Work calls on members of Congress and state legislatures to support a constitutional amendment eliminating the Electoral College

• Until such an amendment can gain enough support, Pride at Work supports the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact and urges states that aren’t already part of the Compact to join the Compact as a near-term measure until the Electoral College is finally abolished

Submitted by Pride at Work Michigan

The climate crisis is an existential threat to all people that requires immediate action at a scale as massive as the emergency we’re up against, and we have a responsibility to play an active part in that fight as labor organizers, and as an LGBTQ+ community that faces disproportionate levels of harm.

The science has been consistently clear for years: we have less than a decade to fundamentally transform our society from the ground up if we are to prevent the worst of projected climate catastrophes that would threaten the lives and homes of billions of people all across the globe. These climate catastrophes are already being felt through severe wildfires, extreme weather events, intensifying natural disasters, and more, and are on track to escalate at an exponential rate. Notable levels of harm in the midst of this crisis are felt particularly by queer, and especially trans individuals due to social and economic vulnerability.

We must organize to ensure that trans and queer worker voices are uplifted in discussions on climate, that our struggles and needs are included in the formulation of solutions, and that queer and trans liberation takes a central role in the fight to achieve historic action for climate justice and a livable future.

Grounded in an understanding of the stakes of the climate crisis, its impacts on the LGBTQ+ community, and the necessity for immediate substantial action, we commit to the following:

• We will create an LGBTQ+ Labor for Climate Justice national working group that will initiate and maintain collaborative relationships with environmental justice organizations, and develop systems of support for Pride at Work chapters to take action on climate

• We will call for and support the unionization of the green energy economy

• We will support a just transition for union fossil fuel industry workers into union green energy economy jobs

• We will publicly call and organize for immediate, massive, and historic investment in achieving 100% clean and renewable energy within the next 10 years

Submitted by Pride at Work Twin Cities

Pride at Work members belong to a variety of labor unions and organizations, each with different approaches to political action and endorsements. Nevertheless, we each know all too well the discrimination that LGBTQ+ individuals both in the workplace and in society as a whole.

We also understand that government can help to either perpetuate or stop discrimination against LGBTQ+ people and other marginalized groups. For this reason, it’s important that every policy-making table include LGBTQ+ representation – including elected offices.

According to the LGBTQ Victory Fund, there are just over 1,000 out LGBTQ+ elected officials in the United States – a very small percentage of the over 500,000 elected officials currently serving at the local, state, and federal levels. By the LGBTQ Victory Fund’s estimate, the United States needs about 35,000 more LGBTQ+ elected officials in order for the proportion of LGBTQ+ elected officials to match the proportion of LGBTQ+ Americans overall.

With this in mind, Pride at Work calls on all labor unions, state federations, and labor councils which endorse candidates to consider the unique perspectives that LGBTQ+ individuals can bring to elected positions.

Furthermore, we call on all labor organizations to make protections for LGBTQ+ workers a priority with regard to screening candidates and other political and advocacy activities.

Submitted by Pride at Work Michigan

Organized Labor has rarely, if ever, witnessed a rank and file led national organizing drive such as the current effort of thousands of Starbucks workers, mostly youth-led, and affiliated with Workers United/SEIU and UNITE-HERE. Joint Boards.

It would be tempting to support this union drive merely because there are so many LGBTQ+ workers at Starbucks. However, this effort has now become a movement that has great significance for all organized labor and all working people. Just the same, Pride at Work cannot afford to ignore recent threats to our community from the right-wing and outright fascist groups. The recent Supreme Court overturning of Roe vs Wade, damnable as it is, also sends an unambiguous signal from the court that marriage equality and other civil rights protections are in jeopardy. Recent attacks on the LGBTQ+ community by fascist groups are also on the rise, threatening all freedom-loving workers and communities.

The popularity and success of Starbucks organizing, currently at a rate of one new store every day, is one of the clearest demonstrations of new worker power since the CIO days of the late 1930’s – and not a moment too soon. Since its peak in 1953 when one in three workers were union members, today only 7% (one in 14) of private sector workers are organized, the same rate of union organization in 1930 during the Great Depression. Today, thousands of Starbucks workers are reversing this trend and breathing new life into the labor movement as they fearlessly take on a $4 billion union busting corporation from coast to coast as well as the right to work south.

No union organizing campaign has ever had such a national scope (there have been organizing drives in at least forty-four states thus far!). This historic effort has spread from worker to worker and state to state. However, this imposes a monumental challenge to the resources and capacity of organizing staff and workers alike. Only mobilized labor and community support in hundreds of cities will be able to sustain the current drive through to final victory. This is a struggle that organized labor, all workers and especially the broad spectrum of LGBTQ+ workers cannot afford to lose. We must answer the call and mobilize.

Therefore, Pride at Work urges all our chapters and members to:

• Reach out to all local Starbucks stores and support all current organizing and contract campaigns.

• Establish an ongoing relationship of support to Starbucks workers to help raise strike funds, deploy volunteers for picket line duty and provide all needed practical support

• Reach out to all local unions, CLC’s, and state labor federations for purposes of coordination.

• Pride at Work urges all chapters to track progress in this effort and issue timely reports to be recorded and reported by the Executive Board of Pride at Work National

Submitted by Pride at Work Eastern Massachusetts
Founded in 1987 as Gay and Lesbian Labor Network (GALLAN)

Whereas Pride at Work recognizes the vital importance of organizing the unorganized; and

Whereas Pride at Work’s growth as an organization is linked to its developing a national campaign to boost its visibility among working people; and

Whereas Pride at Work already has chapters in many large urban centers that have a high density of LGBTQ+ workers; and

Whereas the Association of Flight Attendants- CWA (AFA-CWA) has committed substantial resources to organizing the flight attendants at Delta Airlines; and

Whereas AFA-CWA believes that a significant percentage of Delta flight attendants are LGBTQ+; and

Whereas many of those LGBTQ+ flight attendants live in cities where Pride at Work has chapters; and

Whereas many of Delta’s largest hub cities are cities that Pride at Work has identified for development of new or existing chapters;

Therefore, Be It Resolved that Pride at Work offers its full support and participation to AFA- CWA for its Delta organizing campaign; and

Be It Further Resolved that Pride at Work make assisting with the Delta airlines campaign a priority for the next two years; and

Be It Finally Resolved that that national Co-Chairs will notify Sara Nelson, International President of AFA, of our willingness and commitment to provide assistance in organizing queer flight attendants and their non-queer colleagues in this important organizing drive.

Submitted by AFA-CWA

Amazon currently has over a million employees in the United States, which means that 1 out of every 153 working people is employed at Amazon.This number does not even include the ever-growing number of workers who are technically employed by outside staffing firms, but in reality do the exact same work alongside the workers who are employed by Amazon.

The abuses of workers at Amazon are well documented and undisputed. Workers are routinely called in on their days off with no ability to refuse the request to come in to work an overtime shift. Ever increasing productivity quotas force workers to skip breaks to the point where workers urinate in bottles on the warehouse floor.Amazon vehemently denied this until multiple photographic examples surfaced to validate the claims of workers.When Amazon made the highly publicized move to raise hourly rates to $15 an hour, they simultaneously eliminated bonuses for hourly employees.

President and CEO Andrew Jassy made over $212 million total compensation in 2021, the equivalent of about $102,000 an hour.An Amazon worker making $15 an hour earns less than 1/100th of a percent of that.Workers have taken notice and are standing up to the corporate greed at Amazon and are organizing with their co-workers for a better future and more equitable workplace where they will have a voice. Pride at Work is proud to support their efforts.

The recent organizing efforts in NewYork City and Bessemer,Alabama have been an inspiration to countless warehouse workers across the country. In the face of relentless union busting attempts by Amazon management, workers at Amazon have been resolute in standing up for their right to organize a union.

In NewYork,Amazon wrongfully accused the union of bribing workers at the same time they were spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a corporate union-busting firm. In Alabama, workers were subjected to constant closed-door, anti-union meetings with management and corporate union-busting attorneys.Amazon even carried out a surveillance operation on the voter mailbox, which led to an unfair labor practice charge.

We congratulate the Amazon Workers Union on their victory in New York City, and we continue to support the ongoing efforts of other Amazon workers to form a union.

Because we recognize that a union contract is the best way to secure equality in the workplace, Pride at Work commits to the following:

• Continue to vocally support the rights of Amazon workers to form a union

• Denounce the unsafe policies and procedures at Amazon that endanger workers on the job

• Demand that Amazon immediately halt their illegal anti-union activities against their workers

• Support new organizing efforts at every Amazon location, especially where there are existing Pride at Work chapters

Submitted by Pride at Work National

Pride At Work has repeatedly stated our unequivocal support of reproductive justice and bodily autonomy for women and all child bearing individuals.We are committed to a quality health
care system that meets the needs of all of its citizens and affordable abortion care is an essential component of this health care system. Since about three in ten child bearing individuals will have an abortion in their lifetime, it is one of the most common medical procedures in the United States. Abortion is one of the safest medical procedures in the United States.Aspiration abortion, for example, causes no complications in 99 percent of cases, and medication abortion causes no complications in more than 99.9 percent of cases, making it safer than Tylenol, Aspirin and Viagra.

Abortion is an essential component of health care because it provides all child-bearing individuals the ability to plan and space their pregnancies which clearly improves a person’s physical, psychological and economic well being. For example, evidence shows that persons who have a wanted abortion are better able to maintain a positive future outlook and achieve their aspirational life plans. Similarly, evidence clearly demonstrates that if a person seeks an abortion and access is delayed or denied, they are at greater risk of experiencing adverse health and economic outcomes.

Abortion is an essential component of health care for persons with lower incomes.A five-year examination of the effects of unintended pregnancy on women’s lives by ANSIRH (Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health) found that the main reason people terminate their pregnancies is because they can’t afford to have a child.

Abortion is an essential component of health care for persons who face medical problems, for example, an individual who is diagnosed with cancer in the middle of pregnancy and must make a choice between obtaining an abortion or forgoing lifesaving chemotherapy. Abortion is an essential component of health care for young teenagers who become pregnant, for example, a teenl who must make a choice between obtaining an abortion or running the risk of enduring severe, lasting damage to their physical health.

Abortion is an essential component of health care for persons who experience major problems in pregnancy. For example an individual who finds out that their fetus would only live for a few hours past birth and carrying that pregnancy to term might severely damage their ability to bear other children in the future.

The recent Dobbs Decision issued by the Supreme Court is one of the most egregious rulings in the history of the court. It will undoubtedly be viewed along with Plessy vs. Ferguson and

Dred Scott vs Sanford as one of the worst Supreme Court decisions under the long lens of history.

With these considerations, Pride at Work makes the following resolutions:

• We affirm our denunciation of the Dobbs Ruling, and announce our commitment to obtaining reproductive justice (e.g., including equal access to affordable contraception, comprehensive sex education, freedom from sexual violence, and surveillance and accountability of systems to prevent reproductive human rights abuses) for childbearing individuals with particular emphasis on individuals from marginalized communities.

• We will urge local, state, and federal policymakers to safeguard the reproductive rights of all childbearing individuals, by codifying reproductive justice and bodily autonomy into law where these statutes do not exist, and strengthening these laws that are already in existence.

• We affirm the rights of reproductive justice and bodily autonomy to all childbearing persons, regardless of race, disability, age, sex, socioeconomic status, national origin, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity.Submitted by Pride at Work National

Pride At Work is fundamentally a labor-based organization dedicated to furthering the rights of LGBTQ+ workers.We are unabashedly pro-worker, and therefore pro-union. History shows that increased unionization has the power to dramatically decrease economic inequality and build broadly shared prosperity.This is especially true for workers that are a part of the LGBTQ+ community.

Making the economy work for working people will restore faith in our economy and our democracy. Union contracts are the single best tool for closing racial and gender pay gaps while ensuring fair and dignified treatment of ALL workers.The best, most expansive protections LGBTQ+ workers can attain is an inclusive union contract.

We all do better when we all do better has been a guiding principle of the labor movement for decades, and it is more true and relevant today than ever before.

Unfortunately, the last significant federal labor legislation was the National Labor Relations Act (“Wagner Act”) of 1935, which has been significantly weakened over time by Congress, by courts, and by legislation in many states.The playing field is so severely tilted in the favor of corporations that many workers are afraid to even attempt forming a union.

The Protecting the Right to Organize (“PRO”) Act, which has passed the U.S. House of Representatives and attracted 47 co-sponsors in the Senate, would override states’ so-called “right-to-work laws,” end the ban on secondary boycotts, implement card check, ban captive-audience meetings, enable independent contractors to organize collectively, and impose monetary penalties on companies and executives that violate workers’ rights – thus contributing significantly to a leveling of the playing field between workers who want to form a union and employers who’ve been exploiting weaknesses in the current law by intimidating and interfering with workers’ rights to organize and bargain collectively.

Pride at Work therefore commits to the following actions in support of the PRO Act:

• Redouble our support of the PRO Act and promote the bill in all forums where we operate

• Urge our members to contact their senators and urge them to break the log jam in the Senate and pass the PRO Act so President Biden can sign it into law

• Continue to support the efforts of the AFL-CIO and its affiliate unions and constituency groups as we work together to pass the PRO Act

Submitted by Pride at Work National