Grads, Unite for a Union!
UNITE FOR PROTECTIONS FOR QUEER AND TRANS GRAD STUDENTS AT PITT!
- In Pennsylvania, we do not have sexual orientation or gender identity or gender expression non-discrimination laws to protect LGBTQIA+ employees from being unfairly fired, not hired, or discriminated against. To fight this, grad union contracts often include a non-discrimination clause.
- Grad unions like the one at Temple University included a non-discrimination clause in their 2018 contract that stated that no employee will be discriminated against or in favor of “marital status, sexual orientation, ...gender, gender identity” among others.
- With a non-discrimination clause similar to this in our contract, we could take legal action against the employer if you are fired, not hired, or discriminated against on the basis of your sexual orientation, gender, or gender identity.
- Together as a union, we can have a voice in protecting ourselves, our colleagues, and our coworkers. We can have each others’ backs, and help to create a working environment where every grad employee is treated with dignity and respect. LGBTQIA+ rights are worker rights!
The Grad Student Organizing Committee (GSOC) members stand with LGBTQIA+ colleagues, coworkers, and fellow Committee members. And we want to let you know we’ve got your back. Our union has the potential to create a working environment where every grad employee is treated with dignity and respect in their academic labor. Queer and trans individuals experience aggressions that cisgendered or straight individuals may not notice, and these discriminatory acts are often intensified against black and brown bodies.
A union contract can protect you.
Union contracts protect employees from discrimination at work. Your contract would be a legal document that the administration must follow. In Pennsylvania, we do not have laws to protect LGBTQIA+ employees from being unfairly fired, not hired, or discriminated against. As a union with a contract, we can fight for equal rights for everyone.
Grad union contracts often include a non-discrimination clause.
The grad union at Temple included language in their contract that no employee will be discriminated against or in favor of “marital status, sexual orientation, ...gender, gender identity, ...familial, or domestic or sexual violence victim status” among others (Article 2, 2018 Contract). Similar language appears in graduate employee contracts at: the University of Illinois at Chicago (Article 5(A), 2012-15), the University of Massachusetts Amherst (Article 15), and the University of Michigan (Article 4). With this contract language, we could take legal action against the employer if you are discriminatorily fired.
Labor organizations and LGBTQIA+ activists began a tradition of unity, and it’s our turn to continue to expand on that work.
We are inspired by the story of the South Wales Union of Mineworkers who would have stood alone facing economic ruin in 1980s Thatcher-era UK had it not been for the group Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners. The miners and their families in return marched in a 1985 gay pride parade in London, and introduced and carried a motion to support equal rights for gay men and lesbians at a UK political conference. In the US, unions and labor organizations passed gay rights resolutions in the 1980s. Union members also helped advocate to expand queer and trans rights at work by striving for domestic partner benefits in the 1990s, and contract language for trans-inclusive health benefits in the 2000s.
Queer and Trans Rights are Worker Rights are Civil Rights are Human Rights!
GSOC stands against homophobia and transphobia. We are proud to follow the USW leadership’s affirmation that any discrimination, including on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression, has no place in the workplace or anywhere else because worker rights are LGBTQIA+ rights.
SOURCES: Available upon request, including articles from: lgsm.org; rcahmw.gov.uk; hrc.org; aflcio.org; solidarity-us.org; prideatwork.org; usw.org. Photos: @LGSMpride (Twitter); @PittGradUnion (Facebook).
A union contract can protect you.
Union contracts protect employees from discrimination at work. Your contract would be a legal document that the administration must follow. In Pennsylvania, we do not have laws to protect LGBTQIA+ employees from being unfairly fired, not hired, or discriminated against. As a union with a contract, we can fight for equal rights for everyone.
Grad union contracts often include a non-discrimination clause.
The grad union at Temple included language in their contract that no employee will be discriminated against or in favor of “marital status, sexual orientation, ...gender, gender identity, ...familial, or domestic or sexual violence victim status” among others (Article 2, 2018 Contract). Similar language appears in graduate employee contracts at: the University of Illinois at Chicago (Article 5(A), 2012-15), the University of Massachusetts Amherst (Article 15), and the University of Michigan (Article 4). With this contract language, we could take legal action against the employer if you are discriminatorily fired.
Labor organizations and LGBTQIA+ activists began a tradition of unity, and it’s our turn to continue to expand on that work.
We are inspired by the story of the South Wales Union of Mineworkers who would have stood alone facing economic ruin in 1980s Thatcher-era UK had it not been for the group Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners. The miners and their families in return marched in a 1985 gay pride parade in London, and introduced and carried a motion to support equal rights for gay men and lesbians at a UK political conference. In the US, unions and labor organizations passed gay rights resolutions in the 1980s. Union members also helped advocate to expand queer and trans rights at work by striving for domestic partner benefits in the 1990s, and contract language for trans-inclusive health benefits in the 2000s.
Queer and Trans Rights are Worker Rights are Civil Rights are Human Rights!
GSOC stands against homophobia and transphobia. We are proud to follow the USW leadership’s affirmation that any discrimination, including on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression, has no place in the workplace or anywhere else because worker rights are LGBTQIA+ rights.
SOURCES: Available upon request, including articles from: lgsm.org; rcahmw.gov.uk; hrc.org; aflcio.org; solidarity-us.org; prideatwork.org; usw.org. Photos: @LGSMpride (Twitter); @PittGradUnion (Facebook).