Labor Unions unite in opposition to amendment banning gay marriage in Minnesota

[Better Believe It]

Labor unites in opposition to amendment banning gay marriage in Minnesota
By Michael Moore
Michael Moore edits The Union Advocate, the official publication of the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation.
August 8, 2011

Minnesota’s largest labor federation Monday declared its opposition to the proposed constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman, which will go before the state’s voters in November 2012. In a unanimous vote, the general board of the 300,000-member Minnesota AFL-CIO approved a resolution opposing the marriage amendment, dismissing it as “an effort to enshrine discrimination into state law.”

“The labor movement is and has always been about protecting and advancing the rights of all people,” Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson said. “We will not stand by and allow discrimination to become part of Minnesota’s constitution.”

“The United States General Accounting Office has documented that over 1,000 federal benefits and protections acquired by civil marriage are not available to same-sex couples, including the ability to collect social security benefits, pension or death benefits in the event of a partner's death…

“Trade unionists believe that our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender brothers and sisters undeniably deserve the same benefits as their heterosexual counterparts.”

http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_4952