by PageOneQ

Washington, DC - Pride at Work, the national LGBT labor organization has issued a statement in response to an announced boycott of Ford by a coalition of nineteen conservative organizations.
Ford has recently announced the closing of fourteen plants and the layoff of 30,000 American workers. A boycott," PAW's Program Director Jeremy Bishop, that results in even one car sale loss, is a direct slap in the face of American workers and the values that make America strong.

Pride at work's statement follows:

BOYCOTT OF FORD ONLY HURTS WORKING FAMILIES

Pride At Work, AFL-CIO is disappointed, though not surprised, by the boycott the American Family Association has instigated against Ford Motor Co. AFA has launched an official boycott against Ford, citing the company’s failure to “stop funding homosexual groups which promote homosexual marriage,” as the cause. This is clearly a move that, if actualized, will harm countless working American families.

“Ford has been leading corporate America in the path toward equality … they should be applauded for that, not punished,” said Josh Cazares, Pride At Work Co-President. “Once a company like Ford is forced to lower the bar, other companies are likely to follow that example instead. We cannot accept that threat.”

“It is unfortunate that the progress unions have worked long and hard for – not only in the form of benefits and policies, but toward perceivably fair workplaces – is being fought,” said Dan Sturgis, United Auto Workers member and Pride At Work Board Member. These organizations insist that they are enacting the boycott to protect families, when in reality they are really harming working American families across the nation by putting their jobs, benefits, and overall sense of security at risk.

With all of the Big Three Automakers currently facing record losses, the call for a boycott could not come at a worse time. Workers have already seen the negative consequences of this damage to the industry, and certainly do not deserve being put up against any extra hurdles.

The coalition of nineteen conservative, anti-gay groups are managing the boycott on a website, BoycottFord.com. The list of charges against the company reads more like an advertisement of all the positive contributions Ford has indeed given the LGBT community.

Supporting the fight for marriage equality, providing domestic partner benefits, and offering diversity trainings for employees are all commendable actions on the part of Ford. “I believe that Ford will not be bullied out of this dedication to the equal treatment of all workers. We have all worked too long and hard to get where we are now to turn back,” Sturgis continued.

LGBT workers and shoppers alike rely on these kinds of allies, and Ford has repeatedly made it clear that it is not severing its relationship with the LGBT community. These organizations must realize that their campaign to belittle lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals and families will prove nothing but detrimental to all of working America.

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Pride At Work is an affiliated constituency group of the AFL-CIO. Pride At Work seeks to mobilize mutual support between the organized Labor Movement and the LGBT Community around organizing for social and economic justice. We seek full equality for LGBT Workers in their workplaces and unions. Pride At Work has 14 chapters across the country. http://www.prideatwork.org

Originally published on Wednesday March 15, 2006.