Pride at Work: building power for LGBTQ workers

Join local chapters of the AFL-CIO trans and queer constituency group 

SEATTLE, WA (June 11, 2024) – LGBTQ workers are leading worker organizing across the US, with trans and queer workers at the forefront of some of labor’s biggest fights. That leadership is nothing new. While much progress has been made in the past few decades, LGBTQ workers still face discrimination on the job — and no matter what, we know the best tool we have to protect and exercise our rights as working people is a union contract. 

At our best, our labor movement is a powerful force for ensuring equal treatment for LGBTQ working folks — and a welcoming home for all trans and queer workers to organize for both economic and social justice. 

Enter Pride at Work (P@W), the AFL-CIO constituency group building power for LGBTQ workers, both those in unions and those not (yet) organized. P@W organizes mutual support between organized labor and the LGBTQ community to further social and economic justice. 

P@W organizes for full equality for LGBTQ Workers in our workplaces and unions. Their chapters work towards creating a Labor Movement that cherishes diversity, encourages openness, and ensures safety & dignity; aims to educate the LGBTQ Community about the benefits of a union contract for LGBTQ working people; and builds support and solidarity for the union movement in the LGBTQ community.

P@W offers many resources that all working people interested in building power should check out. Their website features model contract language to win strong contracts with full protections for queer and trans workers, along with many other helpful resources, like an LGBTQ 101 explainer for unions. 

We have decades of lived experience to show that when we fight for equity for marginalized workers, all working people benefit. That’s the power of solidarity across identity and experience – together, we can win justice for all of us.

PRIDE month is an excellent opportunity to plug in to your local chapters of P@W. In Washington, we have two chapters you can participate in: P@W North (King County) and P@W South (Pierce County). You can follow them on social media for news on events, labor actions, and resources for LGBTQ workers. 

Get more information on Pride at Work and join on the P@W website. 

And join P@W King County at the annual Seattle PRIDE parade, this year taking place on June 30 starting at 11am. If you’re interested in marching with the chapter, text Mike Andrew at 206-261-8110 for more information.