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Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Nov. 14, 1996
issue of Workers World newspaper
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Auto workers support gay rights

Demand Chrysler extend benefits

By Martha Grevatt, Member, UAW Local 122, Cleveland

On Nov. 14, picket lines will go up at many Chrysler dealerships. Protesters will hit the auto company's refusal to add sexual orientation to the "equal application" clause in its national contract with the Auto Workers union.

The Campaign for Equal Rights at Chrysler is organizing pickets in at least 20 cities in 12 states-Alaska, Washington, California, Colorado, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts and North Carolina-plus Washington and London.

The union ratified a new contract in October. During negotiations the UAW pushed heavily for the additional language, but Chrysler management replied, in their own words, "No way."

The existence of widespread anti-gay harassment at Chrysler has been well documented by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered workers in several plants. This harassment has included physical assaults and numerous incidents of verbal abuse, graffiti, vandalism, sexual harassment and unfair discipline.

Further proof of Chrysler's unwillingness to provide equal treatment to its lesbian and gay employees was demonstrated in negotiations with the Canadian Auto Workers union, which pushed for domestic-partner benefits. Chrysler refused. But the CAW won these benefits at General Motors-Canada. This is a first in the auto industry.

Now that it is under fire for anti-gay discrimination, the company wants to downplay the extent of the problem. A company spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal: "Chrysler prohibits discrimination and will not tolerate harassment of or retaliation against any person in the work place. ... By singling out any one group, we would be implicitly excluding others."

But many articles in regional and national publications serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, as well as in the Wall Street Journal and other establishment media, have revealed the extent of the problem at Chrysler.

The Campaign for Equal Rights was initiated by Ron Woods, an openly gay Chrysler worker in Michigan who has endured years of vicious harassment. Woods helped get the UAW to add sexual orientation to its list of demands.

The Internet has been the main vehicle for spreading the word about the day of protest. The campaign now has a web page: http://www.critpath.org/chrysler-campaign.

[When the writer filed sex discrimination charges against Chrysler several years ago, the company argued emphatically that she was being harassed not for her sex but for her sexual orientation-which was okay, according to Chrysler.]

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