Pride and progress: How Rhode Island unions helped win LGBTQ+ rights
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In 2001, Rhode Island enacted its statewide
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When it came to benefits for same-sex couples, state workers were often left in limbo. At the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, where now president of IFPTE local 400 Denise Robinson worked and organized, the benefits for domestic partnerships added in state law were not openly advertised to workers. Some went years without accessing their full benefits. It became the role of the union to communicate to members about what they were entitled to and what their rights were.
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Still, these benefits did not come without their complications. Robinson experienced this firsthand when she added her partner to her health insurance, only to find out a year later that this benefit had been taxed as income, and as a result, she was liable for misreporting her income on her taxes. If she and her partner had been allowed to legally marry at that time, they would have never faced the same scrutiny for spousal benefits.
These were the kinds of quiet battles queer labor organizers fought every day: to be included, to be recognized, and to make our unions better and more inclusive for everyone. It was the work of union organizers, countless stewards and delegates, and local presidents to defend members, and to negotiate protections that extended beyond what the law provided.
Then came 2013. The campaign for
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It was labor's leadership, our formal endorsements, our organizing infrastructure, and our solidarity, that helped make that victory possible. And it will be the labor movement that makes sure that we can keep fighting.
Since taking office,
We are proud that our labor movement stood on the right side of history, and prouder still to give queer workers a sense of belonging and protection that has been fought for and earned. This Pride Month, we're proud to be union. We're proud to be queer. And we are proud to keep up the fight.
Karen Hazard is president of Rhode Island Laborers' District Council, and secretary-treasurer of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO. Denise Robinson is president of IFPTE local 400, and member of RI AFL-CIO executive committee
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