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ridc at Work— the Oregon chapter of
the national gay, lesbian, hi and trans
caucus of the AFL-CIO— educates
and advocates specifically for queer
««W
workers hut not exclusively for them.
Christa Orth, a member who joined this past
summer, is working to educate people on its
existence and purpose.
“We’re a democratic organizing model that
is inclusive of all people who are marginalized
in society: gays, people of color, women, old
people, people with disabilities, etc.,” she says.
“We are one of the most progressive organiza
tions in the country, so we work on issues of
economics and class, social justice, anti-racism,
transphobia issues and the like. So we’re in a
lot of different places. When someone comes
and joins PAW, they’re not just fighting for the
rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
people; they’re fighting for the rights of all peo
ple who want respect and dignity in what they
do.”
Some of the numerous resources PAW pro
vides are support to community campaigns and
local labor struggles, assistance in developing
leadership skills and practical organizing experi
ences, and information on how to deal with
work-related harassment. The chapter also
holds general meetings once a month.
PAW Oregon just was chartered as an official
affinity group at the state AFL-CIO convention
last spring. Since then members have had some
notable successes. They were able to get the
state AFL-CIO and the Vancouver AFL Central
labor council to affiliate, and they solidified a
partnership with Basic Rights Oregon on their
Fair Workplace Project.
With those successes, Joe Kear, a longtime
member of the national PAW and a co-founder
T aking P ride
O ne S tep B eyond
AFL-CIO chapter battles for queer rights on the job
by A n th o n y D av is
of the Oregon chapter, says one of his biggest
challenges will he getting the word out to poten
tial new members. “The best place for us to start
is to call all the local unions around and to see if
we can present to them a short presentation so
that they can know about us. Also, going to
events in the community and letting people
know that this group exists and ask people to
sign up with us.”
The Pacific Northwest shares a rich history
of queer activism that is unknown to many.
Workers’ rights and gay rights always have con
verged in one way or another.
“ I think it’s important to show people that
this is not a brand new movement,” says
Orth, who wrote her m asters thesis on queer
union activism. “Even though the Oregon
chapter o f PAW is not a year old, this type of
activism has been going on for decades right
here. For instance, Seattle Library Workers
got the sexual orientation law put in their
nondiscrimination clause in their union con
tract in 1974 and was one of the first unions
to have that provision in their contract. It’s
important for people to know the history and
that we have a foundation to build on. We
just have to organize and do it, and the world
would be a much bet
ter place for every-
H
one.
Making the world
a better place might
be difficult in certain Joe Rear (left, with L.C . and Ari Hansen at Creating Change) has
areas. Som e people, high hopes for Pride at Work Oregon
especially those who
are in the trades or more traditional blue-
nity know it’s here to help them, PAW has many
collar jobs, find it difficult to come out in
goals it wants to accomplish. Rear envisions the
the workplace.
chapter promoting policies that prohibit harass
ment and discrimination not just on paper but
“Right now we just talk to people about
PAW and let them know that it’s a resource if in practice, helping implement labor safeguards
they are having trouble,” Orth says. “But I’m via statewide legislation. Members also hope to
never one to tell people to just come out,
help people in low-wage jobs create unions at
their workplaces. J H
because I know there are real issues and people
can get fired or beat up. But when queer work
ers hear others talk about our coming-out expe P ride at W ork O regon will discuss last month's
riences at work and how we dealt with it, it real Creating Change conference and plan activities for
ly inspires people, and I think they start feeling next year 6:30 p.m. Dec. I Oat Communication
better about themselves. I’ve heard people in
Workers of America, 2950 S .E . Stark St. You
the trades especially talk about how it’s really don’t need to be a union member; everyone is
hard coming out, but they don’t regret it at all,
welcome. For more information call Christa Orth
and it’s made their working situations and work at 503-231-5759 or Joe Kear at 503-757-8907 or
ing environment much better. I can’t say that’s visit www.prideatwork.org.
the case in every situation.”
Besides letting the sexual minorities commu A nthony D avis is a Portland free-lance writer.
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