Please our update and sign our new petition:
STATEMENT FROM U4TL ON A4TE’S “ECONOMIC RETRENCHMENT”
On Thursday, July 23rd, the Union for Trans Liberation (U4TL) met with Advocates for Trans Equality’s (A4TE) Executive Leadership Team (ELT) for the first time since A4TE announced “economic retrenchment” and “potentially eliminat[ing] some positions” to the public—and ELT showed up unprepared.
Our Union members organized, ratified our contract, and came to the table yesterday ready to work. We were surprised when management was unable to answer basic, specific questions about the financial health of our organization. Ideally, they would have been prepared to answer them before announcing potential layoffs to the organization and the public. Staff and the communities we serve deserve better than that.
A4TE’s announcement of potential layoffs has created hurt, fear, and uncertainty among our members. We rely on A4TE for our livelihoods, our healthcare, and supporting our families. We have dedicated our skills, our passion, and countless hours to this organization in service of the trans community—and the majority of us are trans ourselves. The threat of layoffs is daunting, but we are organized and ready to protect our workers.
U4TL recently ratified our collective bargaining agreement (CBA), which spells out exactly what management must do before any layoffs move forward: share information, bargain over alternatives, and work together to find a way forward that protects people’s jobs.
We are now beginning that process — which starts with requesting a lot of information from management —and we will continue to share verified updates as we move forward. If you want to support U4TL members, you can sign our open letter pledging to support U4TL in its demand that A4TE meaningfully consider the Union’s proposals and reach an agreement that preserves Union jobs, tagging A4TE in our Union posts, and emailing A4TE@transequality.org to voice your opposition to any layoffs.
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