EPISODE · Jun 25, 2024 · 52 MIN
Power At Work Blogcast #51: Rainbow Revolution: Labor & the LGBTQ+ Community
from Power At Work · host The Burnes Center for Social Change
In this special Pride Month blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Jerame Davis, President of Pride At Work, Evette Avery, Southeast Regional Director of Teamsters' LGBTQ+ Caucus, and Jared Reece, Co-President of SEIU's Lavender Caucus, to discuss the state of the world for LGBTQ+ workers. Watch now to hear about why the labor and LGBTQ+ communities intersect, how labor can resist attacks on LGBTQ+ workers, and what union caucuses and other organizations can do to support LGBTQ+ workers. Subscribe to the Power At Work Blog. Follow us on social media: TikTok Instagram Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Jerame Davis (he/him) is a long-time LGBTQ and labor rights activist and has served as the executive director of Pride at Work, the nation’s only organization that focuses on LGBTQ working people in unions, since 2014. His first campaign was in 1999 when he led a coalition of labor unions and social justice organizations – including Pride at Work – to develop a successful campaign against an employer who fired him and two other workers because they are gay. In 2014, Davis began working for the Communications Workers of America, which led him back to the organization where he got his start in activism, Pride at Work. Davis and his husband, Bil, had their personal papers and mementos from their careers in activism archived by the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Evette Avery, LU-728 Atlanta, is a businesswoman, activist and organizer. Evette has been at UPS since 2006 and has been a Union Steward for the majority of those years. When it came to her attention that some UPS employees would never qualify for a pension, she filed a group grievance and had the contract language changed for the 2013-2018 Master Agreement. Evette experienced one of the biggest fights of her life with a former employer, Delta Air Lines, who terminated her for trying to organize workers! This experience gave birth to the #StandWithEvette Campaign. When she isn’t actively fighting for worker’s rights, Evette likes to spend time with her wife Millicent, children and grandchildren. Evette originally is from Gadsden, Alabama. She has been a resident of Georgia since 2003. Jared Reece is a Co-President of the International SEIU Lavender Caucus and the current Chair of SEIU Local 1000’s Lavender Committee. He is an outspoken honest member-leader committed to organized labor and the fight for LGBTQIA+ equality. On behalf of Local 1000 Jared also serves as a delegate to the California Central Labor Council as well as a delegate to SEIU International. Within Local 1000 he is the Vice President / Chief Steward of District 784 which represents a portion of downtown Sacramento, CA. He also serves on Local 1000’s Statewide Chief Steward’s Committee, Local 1000’s Cybersecurity Apprenticeship Program, and is a member of AFL-CIO’s Pride at Work.
What this episode covers
In this special Pride Month blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Jerame Davis, President of Pride At Work, Evette Avery, Southeast Regional Director of Teamsters' LGBTQ+ Caucus, and Jared Reece, Co-President of SEIU's Lavender Caucus, to discuss the state of the world for LGBTQ+ workers. Watch now to hear about why the labor and LGBTQ+ communities intersect, how labor can resist attacks on LGBTQ+ workers, and what union caucuses and other organizations can do to support LGBTQ+ workers. Subscribe to the Power At Work Blog. Follow us on social media: TikTok Instagram Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Jerame Davis (he/him) is a long-time LGBTQ and labor rights activist and has served as the executive director of Pride at Work, the nation’s only organization that focuses on LGBTQ working people in unions, since 2014. His first campaign was in 1999 when he led a coalition of labor unions and social justice organizations – including Pride at Work – to develop a successful campaign against an employer who fired him and two other workers because they are gay. In 2014, Davis began working for the Communications Workers of America, which led him back to the organization where he got his start in activism, Pride at Work. Davis and his husband, Bil, had their personal papers and mementos from their careers in activism archived by the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Evette Avery, LU-728 Atlanta, is a businesswoman, activist and organizer. Evette has been at UPS since 2006 and has been a Union Steward for the majority of those years. When it came to her attention that some UPS employees would never qualify for a pension, she filed a group grievance and had the contract language changed for the 2013-2018 Master Agreement. Evette experienced one of the biggest fights of her life with a former employer, Delta Air Lines, who terminated her for trying to organize workers! This experience gave birth to the #StandWithEvette Campaign. When she isn’t actively fighting for worker’s rights, Evette likes to spend time with her wife Millicent, children and grandchildren. Evette originally is from Gadsden, Alabama. She has been a resident of Georgia since 2003. Jared Reece is a Co-President of the International SEIU Lavender Caucus and the current Chair of SEIU Local 1000’s Lavender Committee. He is an outspoken honest member-leader committed to organized labor and the fight for LGBTQIA+ equality. On behalf of Local 1000 Jared also serves as a delegate to the California Central Labor Council as well as a delegate to SEIU International. Within Local 1000 he is the Vice President / Chief Steward of District 784 which represents a portion of downtown Sacramento, CA. He also serves on Local 1000’s Statewide Chief Steward’s Committee, Local 1000’s Cybersecurity Apprenticeship Program, and is a member of AFL-CIO’s Pride at Work.
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Power At Work Blogcast #51: Rainbow Revolution: Labor & the LGBTQ+ Community
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