LABOR
TLDEF Employees Mount Unionization Effort
Workers at prominent legal organization cite poor health coverage
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
Citing inadequate healthcare
coverage and other
shortcomings, employees
at the Transgender
Legal Defense and Education Fund
(TLDEF), a non-profi t transgender
litigation group based in New York,
unveiled plans on October 20 to
form a union — and the organization’s
leadership swiftly vowed to
recognize the labor drive.
TLDEF, which is known for
fi ghting anti-trans policies in
healthcare, work, schools, and
other areas, is facing an internal
reckoning after two trans employees
of color had gender-affi rming
surgeries denied under the company’s
healthcare plan. Members
of TLDEF’s unionization effort,
dubbed the Union of Legal Workers
for Trans Liberation, are demanding
improvements to healthcare
coverage and other workplace benefi
ts, including paid time off, sick
time, and cost-of-living raises. The
TLDEF unionization movement encompasses
all seven eligible staffers
in a team of 15 employees.
The employees are working on
the unionization initiative with the
Association of Legal Aid Attorneys –
UAW Local 2325, which represents
public defenders and non-profi ts.
In a tweet, the Association of Legal
Aid Attorneys wrote, “Welcome the
workers of @TLDEF to our union!”
Workers said in a written statement
posted on Twitter that they
sought quick recognition of their
union to avoid a lengthy election
process with the National Labor
Relations Board, which they say
“will take time away from our clients.”
In an email to Gay City News,
TLDEF executive director Andy
Marra responded with a message
of support to workers.
“I’m pleased to share TLDEF’s
leadership responded immediately
and positively the same day we received
the notifi cation of our staff’s
intent to unionize,” Marra said.
“Just last night, TLDEF’s board
unanimously endorsed the union’s
formation using a card-check process
for voluntary recognition, and
Andy Marra, executive director of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, said TLDEF’s
board is vowing to recognize workers’ union drive.
we’re following up with the union
to make that happen. We look forward
to a constructive collective
bargaining process and reaching
agreements in good faith and in
alignment with TLDEF’s values of
fairness and equity.”
The moment represents a critical
juncture for TLDEF at a time when
some other labor movements in the
community have culminated in
messy public disputes between upper
management and rank and fi le
employees. Two years ago, employees
at Housing Works — an organization
which serves people experiencing
homelessness and living
with HIV/AIDS — stormed off the
job as part of a unionization push
that dragged on for over a year after
workers faced resistance from
the organization’s leader, Charles
King. Employees eventually voted
to join the Retail, Wholesale and
Department Store Union.
Terrence Francois, a Black
transgender man and member of
the TLDEF unionization campaign,
welcomed the organization’s decision
to voice support of the union.
“I feel that’s a step in the right
direction towards recognizing their
deep shortcomings and committing
to listening and serving the needs
of staff who are the fi rst people
transgender and gender non-conforming
clients and ally supporters
engage with,” said Francois, who is
an associate for donor engagement
DONNA ACETO
and campaigns at TLDEF.
Leading up to the organization’s
recognition of the union drive,
Francois said the company’s health
insurance plan, United Healthcare
Oxford, denied covering his genderaffi
rming procedure. Just a couple
of weeks before his surgery, Francois
said he received a denial letter
from United Healthcare Oxford,
deeming his long-awaited surgery
as “cosmetic.”
“It was supposed to be a gift to
myself,” Francois said, noting that
the surgery came ahead of his
32nd birthday. “TLDEF has been
apologetic that I’ve experienced
this, and I feel like they’re very sincere.
Wishing someone didn’t go
through this terrible thing doesn’t
remove them from accountability
and the opportunity to do better.”
“We sue companies for not providing
comprehensive care for employees
to do the work that fulfi lls
this mission, and yet, I’m here experiencing
the very same thing,”
Francois added. “There are currently
no systems in place where
there should be for employees and
my coworkers and my comrades to
fi ght denial letters.”
Francois said United Healthcare
Oxford has “some of the biggest
and broadest exclusions” in LGBTQ
healthcare.
Casey Bohannon, a queer transgender
man and one of the organizers
behind the union, said the fi rst
red fl ag to him was when management
did not take action after a former
trans employee faced a similar
denial in health coverage.
“It kind of felt hypocritical…
especially because we have the
Trans Health Project, which fi ghts
for trans inclusive healthcare in
the industry,” Bohannon said.
Still, Bohannon said he’s “over
the moon” that the organization
is taking steps to acknowledge the
labor effort. He hopes negotiations
continue in a positive direction.
“Leadership understands that
we are unionizing because we want
what’s best for the organization,” Bohannon,
an associate for TLDEF’s
Name Change Project, told Gay City
News. “We all love our work here, our
clients, and our fellow colleagues,
and I think TLDEF is showing that
they are open to change.”
TLDEF employees said they
spoke up about these issues during
one-on-ones with their managers
and at monthly all-staff meetings.
Bohannon said staffers also
requested annual reviews to gauge
employees’ performance and sustain
the organization’s growth.
However, he said leadership appeared
to be dragging their feet in
addressing their concerns, contributing
to their decision to organize.
“Our main problem was, once it
reached the senior level, executive
level, that feedback didn’t go anywhere,”
he said, noting that management
wanted to delay those issues
to next year.
Francois hopes the unionization
action can help uplift the needs of
transgender workers who are often
forgotten about in the workforce.
“We live in a moment where there’s
more trans visibility, and that visibility
is structured in a way that
is only in entertainment,” Francois
said. “We get this narrative that you
can only be trans and non-binary
and fabulous when you’re making
other people happy.”
He added, “We need adequate
health insurance in workplaces
that are nine to fi ve because so
many more of us work in those
places. We exist in nine to fi ve work
cultures.”
NOVEMBER 4 - NOVEMBER 17, 2 14 021 | GayCityNews.com
/GayCityNews.com
