HRC: Standing Together with Workers for Collective Bargaining Rights

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By Michael Cole-Schwartz
March 7th, 2011 at 2:21 pm

HRC has spoken out recently in support of workers, whose ability to bargain for workplace protections has been under attack. We’ve signed on to a LGBT labor solidarity statement sponsored by the organization Pride at Work and have released the following organizational position:

In the absence of federal and state legislation protecting LGBT employees from discrimination and ensuring equal access to benefits for domestic partners, HRC opposes legislation which would end the ability of state employees to engage in collective bargaining – a key tool in our ability to attain equal rights. Some of the earliest LGBT workplace protections were included in collective bargaining agreements negotiated by labor unions. For example, labor unions pioneered the provision of domestic partner benefits at the Village Voice in the 1980s and helped it become a mainstream practice when, through the collective bargaining process, the Big 3 automakers launched the benefits simultaneously in 2000. 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.