1996

DescriptiBE IT RESOLVED that Pride at Work will continue to explore the affiliation with the AFL-CIO. This will be accomplished through:

1. The NSC will select a committee to negotiate with the AFL-CIO

2. Negotiations will take place within the next two years

3. Results or a plan will be submitted for ratification at the next P@W conference

4. Autonomy will be of utmost importance in accepting affiliationon text goes here

WHEREAS, An injury to one is an injury to all;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that we support the struggle for justice for union organizer Miriam Fried, and the right of workers at Borders Inc., a national bookstore chain, to engage in efforts to organize into the union(s) of their choice; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we support the call to boycott Borders Inc until such time as Miriam Fried is reinstated or otherwise compensated to her satisfaction.

WHEREAS, Pride at Work must raise funds in order to fulfill its national objectives which include: (among other objectives) assisting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender union members to form local chapters all over the country; lobbying at all levels of government to further its objectives; communications on a regular basis between the elected officers of the national organization and the local chapters; and regular publication of the organization’s newsletter;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that each Local Chapter has a responsibility to raise funds for the National Treasury and efforts of Pride at Work.

WHEREAS, many gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Chrysler employees have suffered discrimination at the hands of Chrysler; and

WHEREAS, attempts to lobby Chrysler for a policy of non-discrimination and domestic partnership benefits have proven unsuccessful; and

WHEREAS, the International UAW has committed to adding the words “sexual orientation” the Equal Application of the Agreement (EAA) section of all contracts with all employers of UAW members; and

WHEREAS, this contract will be the last chance to bring this changes about for three years;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Pride at Work Executive board will notify Chrysler and the UAW of the passage of the resolution as soon as possible; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Pride at Work will use any means necessary, including the possibility of a boycott, in support of the UAW in this matter; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Pride at Work will actively lobby and encourage other organizations and institutions to do the same such as the cities of San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Madison, Ann Arbor, etc; also organizations such as Human Rights Campaign, National Lesbian/Gay Task Force, Parents, Friends, and Family of Lesbians and Gays, community centers, People for the American Way, etc.

WHEREAS, dozens of African-American churches have been burned in a wave of racist terror sweeping the US; and

WHEREAS, these attacks cannot be separated from the overall racist climate of hatred, bigotry, and scapegoating is meant to divide all working and poor people, at a time when we need to come together in the strongest terms to fight the attacks on our jobs, our wages, and our hard-earned social programs;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that we condemn in the strongest terms the racist attacks and call for a united struggle to defend the African American community and to demand that government focus fully on finding the perpetrators and ending these attacks.

WHEREAS, about 2000 of our union brothers and sisters are on strike against the Detroit News Free Press; and

WHEREAS, this strike, which began July 13, 1995, represents a classic confrontation between the richest publishing chains in the US and the solidarity and dedication of Detroit’s Metropolitan Council of Newspaper Unions; and

WHEREAS, there is no question that this strike was deliberation and maliciously provoked by the Detroit News Agency, operating as the management arm for Gannett and Knight-Ridder, and provoked solely as a means to destroy jurisdiction and assault the very foundation of labor strength and solidarity within the publishing industry; and

WHEREAS, this strike is emblematic of the inequities and imbalances that have hobbled labor relations in the US for the past generation with publishers wallowing in profits which they are unwilling to share with their workers; and

WHEREAS, this perverse situation has resulted in publishers such as Knight-Ridder and Gannett adopting as their ultimate objective at the bargaining table not the attainments of the Labor Movement in the publishing industry;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that we in Pride at Work pledge our support for our brothers and sisters on strike in Detroit, and affirm our commitment to:

Encourage local and national advertisers to use other outlets for their message as long as the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press continue their unfair and anti-union behavior.

Encourage subscriptions and advertising in the strike newspaper, the Detroit Sunday Journal, as a means of generating added revenues for strikers and to shore up the solidarity and commitment of the striking workers.

Endorse Labor’s continuing boycott of Knight-Ridder’s flagship publication, the Miami Herald, and Gannett’s USA Today, encouraging readers to buy alternative newspapers, advertisers to refrain from supporting the anti-union objectives of these publishers and discouraging hotels. airlines, and others from providing free distribution of these publications as long as this struggle continues.

WHEREAS, Pride at Work has made a commitment to work toward passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and at this time no LGBT person has federal protection from discrimination in the work place; and

WHEREAS, a few workplaces have policies of non-discrimination due to sexual orientation, these policies are not binding because there are no national laws to prevent discrimination; and

WHEREAS, without a national law based on non-discrimination due to sexual orientation, members of Pride at Work have no proaction on the job; and

WHEREAS, Pride at Work has an opportunity to focus on national legislation to protect LGBT employees; and

WHEREAS, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act will:

1. Provide a comprehensive federal prohibition of employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation,

2. Provide meaningful and effective remedies for employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation,

3. Invoke congressional powers, including the powers to enforce the 14th amendment to the Constitution and to regulate commerce, in order to prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation; and

WHEREAS, a national law protecting us from workplace discrimination would further enable us to achieve our goals as stated in the Bylaws;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Pride at Work will encourage chapters to contact members of Congress and to whatever else they may feel necessary to the passage of this bill; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Pride at Work will make efforts to keep chapters updated on information on the progress of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in a timely fashion; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Pride at Work encourage chapters to encourage local unions to write members of Congress on behalf of passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

WHEREAS, California Public Employees Retirement System and other retirement plans provide spousal benefits to legally recognized spouses of plan members; and

WHEREAS, spousal benefits provide for lifetime income security for spouses upon the death of the plan member; and

WHEREAS, no comparable benefit exists for domestic partners of said plan members;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Pride at Work will seek to establish spousal benefits for domestic partners of members of retirement plans that offer spousal benefits; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Pride at Work will seek to establish support for the enactment of said benefits from the American Federation of Labor- Conference of Industrial Organizations and its various affiliates; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVE that Pride at Work will seek legislative and other policy changes necessary to effectuate the enactment of said benefits.

WHEREAS, the purpose of Pride at Work is to mobilize mutual support between the organized labor movement and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities, and to support he organizing of LGBT workers into unions; and

WHEREAS, the mission of the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute is to recruit and train a new generation of union organizers and to prepare organizers for the challenges or organizing a diverse workforce; and

WHEREAS, the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute has conducted targeted three-day trainings of African-American, Chicano/Latino, Asian Pacific American, and women future organizers, and these trainings have served to create a diverse group of new organizers, to encourage networking between organizers and to foster awareness of the challenges facing workers from these groups; and

WHEREAS, Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender workers and organizers face unique challenges in the workplace and in the labor movement;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Second Biennial National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Labor Conference urges the Organizing Institute to create a targeted three-day training for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender future organizers; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Pride at Work commits to assist in planning, creating the curriculum for and teaching at said three day training; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the Second Biennial National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Labor Conference urges that issues of sexual identity and orientation be addressed throughout the Organizing Institute’s operations, including all three-day trainings, internships and apprenticeships, and that the Organizing Institute commit to providing ongoing support for LGBT organizers.

WHEREAS, Pride at Work must raise funds in order to fulfill it’s national objectives, which include: (among other objectives) assisting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender union members to form local chapters all over the country; lobbying at all levels of government to further its objectives; communications on a regular basis between the elected officers of the national organization and the local chapters; and regular publication of the organization’s newsletter;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that: the Conference of Pride at Work shall require that all chapters of Pride at Work host at least once annually, a fundraising event, the proceeds of which shall be shared on a 51%-49% basis between the national organization and the local chapter.

The rationale of that split shall be that these events are a national project of the organization and that the national organization shall be a resource for the local chapters and will be responsible to see that these events are carried out, and shall direct, if necessary, the actions o the local chapter in implementing these fundraising events.

WHEREAS, Desma Holcomb and Howard Wallace each served with great distinction as the first national Co-Chairs of Pride at Work, offices which were at first undefined and often little appreciated; and

WHEREAS, their performance in those positions served to set the course for the further development of the new organization, and that without their leadership Pride at Work would be not nearly the organization that it is today, and that our second national Conference would not have been the success that it surely was;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Conference appreciates their heroic efforts during their term of office; and hereby designates them as National Steering Committee members, ex officio, by virtue of their terms as previous national Co-Chairs.

WHEREAS, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people make up an estimated 10% of the general population and are reflected in all sectors of society, including workplaces and unions; and

WHEREAS, the AFL-CIO has 13 million members, 1 million are lesbian and gay (using a conservative 8% number); and

WHEREAS, LGBT people play integral and contributing roles in Union at all levels from worker to shop stead to union official to state and national leadership positions; and

WHEREAS, LGBT people have a proud history of fighting for economic and social justice for all, not solely for their own rights; and

WHEREAS, LGBT people have suffered discrimination, hatred, and ostracism from Hitler’s Holocaust to violent hate crimes today; and

WHEREAS, 41 states have no provisions to protect Americans from discrimination based on sexual orientation in either the workplace or housing; and

WHEREAS, LGBT people suffer discrimination in the workplace that can be directly addressed by the Labor Movement such as domestic partner benefits, firing simply for being lesbian or gay, etc.; and

WHEREAS, the majority of LGBT workers are unorganized, and organizing them into union should address their specifics needs and concerns, help boost the ranks of organized labor and help the Labor Movement better reflect the true diversity of the American workforce; and

WHEREAS, Pride at Work is the national organization of GLBT union members and their friend, representing over 500 members, 33 unions, and 15 regional chapters; and

WHEREAS, members of P@W have been organizing gay people into unions. fostering understanding between the lesbian and gay community and the Labor Movement and leading the Coors Boycott for 20 years; and

WHEREAS, P@W’s specific goals are to:

1. Work within the Labor Movement to foster better understanding of the needs of lesbian and gay union members;

2. Work within the lesbian and gay community for a better understanding of the union movement, its principles, and its achievements; and

3. Help to organize the vast majority of unorganized lesbian and gay workers into the trade union movement;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that SEIU support affiliate of Pride at Work as a constituency group of the AFL-CIO.

WHEREAS, this year the AFL-CIO has launched an unprecedented program of political and legislative education of its members called Labor ’96; and

WHEREAS, Labor ’96 seeks to educate its members of the anti-working family actions taking place by the Congress of the United States; and

WHEREAS, Pride at Work opposes these anti-working family actions;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Pride at Work go on record as fully supporting the Labor ’96 program; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that Pride at Work encourage its members and chapters to participate in Labor ’96 at the highest level possible.

WHEREAS, the labor movement has a proud history of supporting worker who are fighting back against management’s increasing attempts to control every aspect of their lives on and off the job; and

WHEREAS, In 1990, award-winning lesbian journalist, veteran unionist, and longtime radical, Sandy Nelson, was removed from her education reporting position to a swing-shift editing job at The News Tribune of Tacoma, Washington for participating in off-duty electoral activities to win and retain anti-discrimination laws that would protect job and housing rights of lesbians and gay men; and

WHEREAS, labor and the sexual minority movement has a vital interest in protecting and encouraging journalists like Nelson who are fair, accurate, and knowledgable about labor issues because of their unionism and involvement in movements for civil liberties; and

WHEREAS, after the NLRB refused to reinstate Nelson, and the newspaper decertified the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild Local 82, the ACLU of Washington sued The News Tribune on Nelson’s behalf in June 1993 and plans to continue this case which was heard before the Washington State Supreme Court earlier this month; and

WHEREAS, Nelson’s 6-year battle, with publicity provided by the Sandy Nelson Defense Committee, has garnered broad public support, has been featured in Newsweek and Ms., and has been endorsed by the Newspaper Guild, the Washington State Labor Council, international AFSCME, Northwest Women’s Law Center, Out Front Labor Coalition/Pride at Work Seattle, Seattle Gay News, and many other unions and community organizations; and

WHEREAS, a victory in this case will help protect the constitutional rights to free speech and association of reporters and all working people;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Second Biennial National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Labor Conference contribute a financial donation to the Sandy Nelson Defense Committee to continue to publicize this important case.

WHEREAS, the integrity of Pride at Work must be maintained by a procedure of accountability in regards to use of the P@W mailing list; and

WHEREAS, any mailings from the P@W membership list made on behalf of another organization could conceivably cause divisiveness and lack of unity among the membership;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that no mailings from the P@W membership list will be made on behalf of another organization without a vote of the Steering Committee. Or by a vote of the Executive Board in event of an emergency, to be reviewed at the next meeting of the Steering Committee.