➤ RWDSU V. HOUSING WORKS, from p.12 ➤ KAMALA HARRIS, from p.3
becomes a problem.”
David Ngo, a case manager technician
still employed by Housing
Works, said he has sensed unity
among staff members during the
union push. He appreciated that
because, he said, management
has not actively listened to workers’
perspectives.
“I’m at a loss of words,” he said.
“They make us seem like we’re the
aggressors invading their company.
They’re saying one thing, but in
reality they want to start over from
the beginning.”
Appelbaum echoed the astonishment
voiced by Housing Works
employees who point to a shift in
King, from a champion protesting
injustice to an employer hostile to
union efforts by his workers.
“It is so sad and disappointing
to see someone who once had a
reputation as a radical morph into
a union-busting, anti-union employer
turning to the Trump labor
board,” Appelbaum said.
The union is awaiting the next
move by the NLRB’s DC offi ce.
On July 29, the NLRB ordered a
stay of the election as it considers
undertaking the review Housing
Works seeks. Appelbaum complained
about Washington NLRB
offi cials inserting themselves into
the issue after “the Brooklyn director
saw that there was no validity
to King’s arguments and wanted
mail ballots to go out.”
“King comes up with all sorts of
excuses, just like Donald Trump,”
Applebaum said. “It’s amazing to
see how similar they’ve been in
trying to discredit elections.”
King reacted with irritation when
told of Appelbaum’s comment.
“Comparing an organization that
has spent 30 years serving and
fi ghting for the health and safety
of our communities to a president
who has spent the last four years
undermining them is truly unconscionable,”
he shot back. “In
fact, this issue is only in front of
the NLRB because the RWDSU
brought it to them months ago.”
Applebaum concluded, “I would
say this: That each member of
the board of directors of Housing
Works needs to be held responsible
for the union-busting activity of
Charles King.”
sites. That legislation, too, is seen
as a bar to making the environment
for sex workers safer.
Harris’ overall platform on LGBTQ
rights during the primary race
was largely aligned with many of
her colleagues on the crowded debate
stage. She vowed to pass the
comprehensive non-discrimination
bill known as the Equality Act,
said she would reverse Trump’s
ban on transgender military service,
supports allowing nin-binary
Americans to update their gender
marker on their passport with an
“X” designation, and wants to ban
discrimination against foster children
and prospective parents.
Harris also signaled her intention
to take on the violence facing
transgender women of color and
expressed support for training cops
to reduce the risk of violence facing
LGBTQ people of color. Furthermore,
she committed to opening
an offi ce focused on queer issues
led by a “Chief Avocate for LGBTQ+
Affairs in the White House.”
In the area of healthcare in general,
Harris did not stray far from
the centrist approach employed
by Biden during the primary process.
In 2017, Harris was the fi rst
senator to co-sponsor Vermont
Senator Bernie Sanders’ singlepayer
Medicare for All plan, and
she continued touting support for
that proposal in April of 2019, but
during her campaign she proposed
a healthcare plan that saw a continued
role for employer-sponsored
plans and private insurers.
Biden has proposed a “public
health insurance option like Medicare,”
which would still entail premium
payments and other costs,
though he asserts healthcare costs
would be reduced under his plan.
Harris also said she would seek
ways to “take action to reduce the
price of PrEP,” an issue that is also
mentioned by Biden on his campaign
website. The former vice
president’s website says he “will
ensure that federal health plans
provide coverage for PrEP and PEP
— lifesaving, highly effective HIV
prevention medications. Fortunately,
thanks to a recommendation
by the U.S. Preventive Task
Force, PrEP must be covered without
cost-sharing starting in 2021.”
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