Union picket line defends LGBTQIA2S+ youth, hotline workers

New York City

Communication Workers of America Local 1180 held a spirited picket line on July 12 to protest the Trump administration’s announced dismantling of the 988 “Option 3” crisis hotline for LGBTQIA2S+ youth. The picket line, held outside Trump Towers in New York City, filled the entire city block.

Local 1180 represents over 220 workers at The Trevor Project, one of many suicide prevention hotlines on the chopping block.

In a promotion for the protest on Instagram, Local 1180 stated, “No more cuts: We DEMAND that the Trump Administration resume service for the LGBTQ+ Suicide Hotline and that all crisis workers effected keep their jobs!” The cuts, the union charged, are “putting thousands of lives at risk.”

Advocates for the services say 1.3 million children and youth would be impacted by the cuts. According to The Trevor Project, 39% of LGBTQIA2S+ youth in New York City have considered suicide. (cbsnews.com, July 12)

Other unions attended in solidarity, including Service Employees Union 1199 and the New York State Nurses Association. The action had over 30 endorsers, including: Professional Staff Congress at City University of New York, United Auto Workers Region 9A, New York Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Federal Unionists Network, Starbucks Workers United, New York City Central Labor Council and Pride at Work.

The Trevor Project is one of 22 private sector shops represented by CWA Local 1180, which mainly represents New York City public sector administrative workers. Local 1180 has more than 8,500 members, more than 90% of whom are women and people of color.

In 2019, CWA Local 1180 won a landmark labor civil rights case against the City of New York, which was paying women workers of color less than white males doing the same work.