constituency group within the AFL-CIO. The organization now works to advocate for the rights of queer workers from the top down, creating a space for workers to be represented both as union members and as queer people. The advancement of queer rights within the labor movement was carried on the backs of queer workers fighting to improve their conditions both at work and at home. The labor movement consistently remained ahead of the nation in terms of recognizing and protecting the rights of queer workers. For many to this day, a union is the only form of workplace protection they have, which is why the victories won by persistent activists are so important. PAGE 8 VOL. 2, NO. 1 ZEITGEIST turned to a variety of minority community leaders, including Huey Newton of the Black Panther Party and Harvey Milk, a gay community organizer (12). These communities, inspired both by the desire to support fellow working-class people and by the discriminatory hiring practices within Coors, took up the boycott. Milk was able to convince the Tavern Guild, an association of more than one hundred gay bars, to participate in the boycott based on the discriminatory hiring practices enforced by Coors and the rumors that they specifically sought out gay men to fire. Still to this day, Coors beer is not sold in a single gay bar in San Francisco (12). The shared interest of the queer community and the teamsters lead to an extremely successful boycott. Although this boycott did not produce any major culture shifts within the Teamsters union or the broader labor movement, it did provide an inroad to work supported by mutual interests, which was increasingly important in the following years. The efforts of these small coalitions and strategic moves culminated with the creation and acceptance of Pride at Work representing the influence that queer people had on the labor movement. The organization was created by queer labor activists in 1994 as a way to lobby the union to continue their support of gay rights after the relative silence on the Defence of Marriage Act (13). PAW’s affiliation with the AFL-CIO was not easily won. In spite of the historic support, members of the executive council argued that the group did not represent a population that was historically discriminated against in the collective bargaining process(14). These complaints are representative of much of the pushback that activists throughout the twentieth century faced. However, a strong ally, John Sweney, was the president of the CIO at the time and pushed hard for their affiliation. Eventually, in 1997, Pride at Work was recognized as an official UFCW members at LA Pride in 2019. Courtesy of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Mjg3OTMy