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As the year draws to a close, we want to thank you for everything you’ve done to make our unions, workplaces, and communities better for LGBTQ working people. Despite the challenges of this year, you showed up, you did the work, and we’re all moving forward because of it.
Pride at Work has been there too.
· We created one of the first and most
comprehensive COVID-19 resources for LGBTQ working people.
· We endorsed Joe Biden for president, our first
endorsement of a presidential candidate in our history, and then worked hard to
get him elected. We held online rallies, virtual brunches, and educational
events.
· We took a stand for Black lives and will
continue to push labor leaders to not only say “Black Lives Matter” but to put
their money where their mouths are.
Labor leaders must demand the shift in
resources from policing to education, health, protecting the environment, jobs,
and other social services. They must also work to end the white supremacy and
straight male dominance that penetrates the top levels of management and
executive boards in the labor movement. The leaders of the labor movement
should be as diverse as our members. It’s time for marginalized communities to
be lifted up as the faces and leaders of our movement.
2020 is a year none of us will forget soon. Globally, we have
faced a once-in-a-century pandemic that has taken hundreds of thousands of
lives. Nationally, the fallout from the pandemic has created the worst economic
crisis since the Great Depression. Layered on top of that, the scourge of
systemic racism and police brutality in America boiled over into righteous
anger and demands for justice and change.
There have also been some amazing advances in 2020 as well.
After a Supreme Court ruling in June, LGBTQ working people are now protected by
federal law from discrimination on the job. We also saw the Supreme Court stop
this Administration’s dismantling of the DACA program, so thousands of Dreamers
have been able to maintain their status in the program. And, most importantly,
voters chose to change course and put a pro-equality, pro-worker, pro-union
president in the White House.
We need to hold this new administration accountable to the bold
and substantial promises they made. We have to press forward on important
legislation, like the Equality Act and certain reforms to our democratic
institutions. And as we look toward what the end of the COVID crisis will look
like, we need to address the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on our
community and others.
We are stronger together. Bring it 2021.
In solidarity,
Shellea
and Gabe
Co-Presidents
Pride At Work
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