Partnership forged in labor's trenches

The battle over same-sex marriage has spotlighted the strong political ties between gay activists and the Massachusetts labor movement.

When local union leaders rallied at the State House this month against a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, some political observers were surprised. But labor officials and gay activists say the two groups have found much in common during the past two decades as they worked together at rallies and along picket lines to boost wages and benefits and protect workers' rights.

"People, whatever their sexual orientation, want the same things -- good jobs, better wages, job security," said John Murphy, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 122 in South Boston.

The show of solidarity on the State House steps was also a union acknowledgement of the growing effect of gays and lesbians as organized labor is seeking to diversify its base and stem membership losses.

"It was important for labor to be there because it is presenting itself as an enlightened force," said Robert J.S. Ross, a professor of sociology at Clark University in Worcester. "It was important to labor's gay members and allies. It was also understandable that labor would speak out because the issue relates to fundamental worker rights, including the right to health insurance, the right to death benefits and pensions."

The show of solidarity on Beacon Hill, however, does not mean that there are no underlying tensions or that labor is united in support of same-sex marriage.

Many in the labor movement are still grappling with that issue, said Murphy, who is also a special assistant to the general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in Washington. "Every organization, from unions to corporations, now recognizes that some people have different sexual orientations," he said. "That is not controversial. The controversial part is having the state recognize legal marriages for gays."

Local unions supporting legalization of same-sex marriage include the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the Massachusetts Nurses Association, Service Employees International Union Locals 2020 and 509, and the National Association of Government Employees, along with a few labor councils and some trade unions.

By contrast, the 400,000-member Massachusetts AFL-CIO has not said it supports gay marriage. It does oppose the amendment to ban same-sex marriage because it would strip some workers of domestic partnership benefits or stymie attempts to introduce the benefits for gay and lesbian couples at the bargaining table.

State lawmakers met this month to consider passage of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. However, the constitutional convention ended without resolving the issue. Lawmakers will reconvene March 11.

The alliance that brought the unions to the State House protest has its origins in the 1987 formation of the Gay and Lesbian Labor Activists Network, or GALLAN. Its goal is to end homophobia at work and to strengthen links with the labor movement.

Harneen Chernow was a clerical worker at Boston University and an openly lesbian member of United Auto Workers District 65 when she helped launch the group.

"We wanted to build support for gay and lesbian union members," said Chernow, chapter leader. "We walked picket lines, we worked on the prevailing wage campaign of 1988, and we supported labor candidates for governor, city council, and the state Legislature. It was all about coalition-building and making a connection between the two movements."

GALLAN's efforts paid off. For example, in 1992, when Murphy and the Teamsters were embroiled in a wage and benefits dispute with Burke Distributing Corp., then exclusive distributor of Miller Beer Co., they sought help from gay activists. The union asked the gay community to boycott Miller beverages in bars. In return, Teamsters local members marched in the 1992 Gay Pride Parade.

"This was a major step for blue-collar workers who had never really had any contact with gay people, except when they delivered beer to gay bars," said Murphy. "Going to that march and getting involved with the boycott showed them that these were just human beings."

Today, Pride at Work, a 1,500-member gay activist group, is affiliated with the AFL-CIO in Washington. The group is an offshoot of GALLAN.

Even before GALLAN, gays and lesbians had promoted similar efforts around the country. At the SEIU they formed "lavender" caucuses at union locals nationwide in the 1960s and '70s.

Specialists believe an increase in the number of openly gay and lesbian union members in critical positions has also helped shape debate over workers' rights, including domestic partner benefits.

Tom Barbera, 46, is a vice president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, whose office is the first in the country to represent gays and lesbians. He estimates hundreds of gays and lesbians are in the labor movement in Boston, a factor he attributes to the progressive leadership of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and the city's large gay and lesbian community.

"In my own union, when I first came out, there were people who called me a faggot," said Barbera, a member of Service Employees International Union Local 509 and a national vice president of Pride at Work.

"But I wasn't one to quit. . . I am openly gay, and I feel supported by all the labor leaders in the movement. Things have changed."

Only a handful of gays and lesbians such as Barbera, however, hold key positions at major union institutions. Carolyn Federoff, 43, president of the AFGE Council of Housing and Urban Development Locals, is one. Based in Boston, she represents 6,000 federal HUD employees in the United States. She attributes the link between the gay and union movements to the "development of personal relationships and the fact that there is a certain amount of quid pro quo."

Celia Wcislo a lesbian, is the president of SEIU Local 2020, a 10,000-member healthcare union. During a speech at a labor convention two years ago, she urged the labor movement to protest any amendment preventing gays and lesbians from having equal rights and benefits.

The speech was partly responsible for a letter Massachusetts AFL-CIO president Robert Haynes sent to the Legislature this year. The letter opposed the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. "Labor leaders are realizing that they have to defend our rights just as they defend the rights of all other union members," said Wcislo.

Diane E. Lewis can be reached at dlewis@globe.com.