NYS LABOR UNIONS FIGHTING FOR MARRIAGE EQUALITY; LABOR TAKES AN UNPRECENDENTED LEADING ROLE IN CAMPAIGN FOR CIVIL RIGHTS FOR ALL NEW YORKERS

left to right: CSEA Local 828 president Bess Watts, RWDSU worker Thorne
VanDerBroek and international RWDSU president Stuart Appelbaum at the Mott's
strike in Williamson, N.Y. in June of 2010.  photo:  Anne Tischer

Rochester, N.Y.--  RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum forwarded an invite to several high profile New Yorkers to attend an upcoming breakfast meeting he’s hosting with NYS AFL-CIO President Denis Hughes.  At the meeting, labor leaders will strategize and discuss the legislative fight over same-sex marriage and other LGBT workplace rights issues.  The event is being held on May 11 in Manhattan.  Appelbaum is an outspoken and influential advocate for working families and marriage equality in New York-- he came out in a very public fashion back in June of 2009.

He was also a very early supporter of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and was the first labor leader to publicly call for then-Gov. David Paterson to step aside and clear the way for Cuomo to avoid a potential nasty -- and racially charged-- intra-party Democratic battle. 

This comes at a time while Gov. Cuomo is ramping up his own efforts as well.  Lawmakers, faith groups, celebrities, the young and old, the union movement and almost every progessive group imaginable are now meeting up together to discuss not only marriage, but how LGBT issues affect all our working families and our workplaces.

Marriage advocates say this recent kind of coalition building is unprecedented in New York state civil rights history.  As part of this effort, Mr. Cuomo and his aides are working on assembling an effective team of union and progressive activists who, despite a shared agenda, have not always coordinated well together.

"Marriage cannot be seen as just an issue for the LGBT community," RWDSU chief Stuart Appelbaum told reporters.  "It is a union issue as well, as demonstrated by the support that has been shown by New York's labor movement. And most importantly it is an issue of importance for anybody who cares about justice. Justice is indivisible. You cannot be for justice for some, and not be for justice for all."

With no reservations, the majority if not all NYS labor unions support this bill.  It's time has come.  This year, NYS AFL-CIO and local unions will be holding lawmakers feet to fire on this one-- marriage equality advocates say the governor needs to win over at least six members of the Senate-- and, most likely, a few Republicans, none of whom backed the bill in 2009. 

Rochester area Senators Joe Robach and Jim Alesi are two lawmakers that have been targeted in this campaign.  In simpler terms, if these two senators want the labor endorsement next election cycle, they will have to vote yes on the marriage bill.

With citizen's approval ratings for marriage equality through the roof (a 22 percent spread, according to a April 2011 Siena Poll), Cuomo’s progressive post-budget policy agenda is clearly instigating a rallying point for civil rights advocates and our NYS unions.

ROCHESTER AREA LABOR UNIONS JOIN THE MARRIAGE FIGHT
On Septenber 26, 2010, over 300 labor activists and concerned citizens joined
a marriage equality march in downtown Rochester, N.Y..  Participating unions
included, SEIU, PEF, CSEA, UUP, IBEW, Pride At Work among others. The rally,
march and festival that day was sponsored by Marriage Equality New York.
photo:  Bess Watts

Still a way to go 

It's too early to speculate whether all of this coordination and unity will have any impact on the Senate vote, particularly when state Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long has made it clear this is a line-in-the-sand issue for him.  However, it is conceivable that supporting this bill might be a bargaining chip worth playing as Senate Republicans gear up for the next fight to keep the majority in 2012 election.

When the Legislature was controlled by Democrats two years ago, a bill to legalize gay marriage was defeated in the Senate by a 38-to-24 vote, with eight Democrats opposing the measure. Now, the Republicans control the Senate by a narrow 32-30 margin.

For those New Yorkers with short memories, remember that the NYS legislature passed the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act (SONDA) in 2002 by a 34-26 Senate vote when Republican George Pataki was living in the governor's mansion.  And, most marriage advocates agree that bipartisanship is essential for this bill to get out of committee in the Senate and eventually pass the full legislature.

SONDA remains significant because there is still no national law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity and expression, although efforts are underway to pass a comprehensive federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) to outlaw discrimination by the nation’s employers on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. As a result, the only protection LGBT Americans have from discrimination comes from work-related collective bargaining agreements and some state and local laws.

Pro-marriage equality groups will descend on Albany for a day of lobbying on May 9 sponsored by Empire State Pride Agenda.

Even so, Mr. Cuomo may introduce a bill to make same-sex marriage legal in New York by June.  The Republican Senate leader, Dean G. Skelos of Long Island, has said he will allow a vote; whether a Republican will support it remains an open question.

The Voice Reporter believes that if Gov. Cuomo actually introduces the Marriage Equality Bill from the Executive Branch, meaning it does not originate from the Assembly (O'Donnell) or Senate (Duane) chambers first, chances are it's very likely that marriage equality will already be a done deal.