>From julie@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu Sun Dec 26 17:58:37 1993

"Lavender Labor Lost?"

Village Voice (12/07/93) Vol. 38, No. 49, P. 13 (Minkowitz, Donna)

Gay labor organizers, forming an alliance between the gay rights
movement and organized labor, have succeeded in securing domestic
partner benefits, educating workers about AIDS, and supporting gay
rights legislation. The health and hospital workers' union began to
form last spring and, so far, more than half of the staff at the Gay
Men's Health Crisis in New York has signed union cards--enough to call
an election. But "lavender labor," as it is called, is perceived by
managers at GMHC as a "conflict of interest" for GMHC's AIDS advocacy.
The agency has launched an aggressive campaign against the union.
Management has warned employees that, because the union is self-insured,
health benefits will be reduced if the union is voted in. Jeff
Richardson, executive director of GMHC, also contends that the union's
relationship with the New York archdiocese--a major hospital
employee--would jeopardize GMHC's commitment to safe sex instruction,
non-discrimination for those with HIV, and increased funding for AIDS
care. He insists that he is most concerned about how unionization would
affect "the most important people at our agency--the clients." But,
points out union steward and editor Jeff Weinstein, "If workers' own
needs aren't being taken care of, how can they take care of other
people's needs?"