Fighting for Equal Treatment

Abstract

This article explores how the United Auto Workers (UAW) came to address the issues of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender/sexual (LGBT) union members. The UAW demonstrated its commitment to LGBT concerns through its successful fight to provide health care benefits to same-sex domestic partners during the contract negotiations of 1999 with the “Big Three” U.S. automakers. The UAW, however, does not fit the structural or demographic profile of a union likely to be proactive on LGBT issues because the union represents predominantly blue-collar men in private sector manufacturing jobs. An intensive qualitative case study of the UAW’s response to sexual orientation concerns was conducted to explore the adequacies of the predominant theories regarding labor unions and sexual orientation. The case study found that the responsiveness of the UAW was associated with individual and collective agency, the support of outside allies, and ideological traditions of social movement unionism.