WHEREAS:
AFSCME has a long history of fighting injustices and demanding that all persons be treated with humanity, dignity and respect within our union, in the workplace and in society; and
WHEREAS:
The AFSCME Bill of Rights for Union Members reflects these core values and guarantees that no person shall be discriminated against on the basis of their identity, status or beliefs; and
WHEREAS:
Conservative organizations like the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Heritage Foundation have worked over decades to delegitimize and dismantle affirmative action, DEI, anti-discrimination laws and other programs and institutions that were created to address the discrimination, harassment and disparities in opportunity that people of color, people with disabilities, women and the LGBTQ+ community have historically faced in this country; and
WHEREAS:
AFSCME has previously condemned the way these and similar organizations have cynically appropriated the language of equal treatment to dismantle affirmative action and stifle any effort to address or acknowledge persistent racial discrimination; and
WHEREAS:
Since 2016 these organizations have also cynically appropriated the language of equal protection under the 14th Amendment and Title IX — which is meant to prohibit sex-based discrimination in educational programs — as well as the continued vulnerability of women to harassment and abuse to legitimize and further the discrimination, harassment and barriers to equal access already faced by transgender and gender nonconforming people in this country; and
WHEREAS:
As of 2026 these organizations have successfully lobbied state policymakers across the country to create new restrictions on transgender peoples’ access to correct identity documents, life-saving health care for minors and adults and bathrooms and other public accommodations under threat of criminalization and imprisonment while preempting more progressive municipalities from creating new protections in response; and
WHEREAS:
Since the beginning of President Trump’s second term and his issuance of an executive order targeting “gender ideology,” federal agencies have taken significant actions to erode federal employment and pay protections, including using the threat of funding cuts and investigations to pressure institutions like public schools, colleges and universities, medical schools and hospitals to discriminate against or discontinue recognition or care for transgender individuals as well as directing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to disallow any federal discrimination claims by transgender people and rescind previously issued guidance that recognized discrimination against transgender and gender nonconforming people as unlawful sex discrimination; and
WHEREAS:
The Trump administration has simultaneously sought to curtail women’s economic freedom and security by all-but-eliminating the Women’s Bureau of the Department of Labor, which worked for a century to break down the barriers to women’s employment such as through grants for programs intended to increase women’s participation in apprentice programs and research into barriers to women’s employment like lack of child care and paid leave; rescinding protections against sex discrimination for employees of federal contractors; proposing to strip home care workers, the majority of whom are women, of minimum wage and overtime protections; taking actions to reduce the presence of women in the military; and launching wholesale attacks against programs that support working women and families, including Head Start and the Child Care and Development Block Grant and
WHEREAS:
The DOL and EEOC have worked more broadly to dismantle the government’s tools to fight historical discrimination against women and minority workers, including by DOL shuttering the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, which oversees and audits employment practices of federal contractors; the EEOC voting to end aggregate collection of racial and gender demographic data from employers, which has been used to identify patterns of discrimination and target enforcement actions; and the EEOC issuing a new nationwide enforcement plan that will make it harder to fight real discrimination by prioritizing harder-to-prove intentional discrimination claims over disparate impact claims, heavily scrutinizing DEI and other programs intended to remedy historical employment discrimination and emphasizing claims brought by plaintiffs belonging to majority groups and claims involving religious accommodations; and
WHEREAS:
AFSCME has previously committed itself to addressing historic inequities and biases within our institutions, procedures and cultures that weaken our solidarity, deny advancement opportunities to qualified people and interfere with our ability to secure better wages and working conditions for our members; and
WHEREAS:
AFSCME has repeatedly reaffirmed these values at prior International Conventions including, most recently, our resolution to defend affirmative action and diversity, equity and inclusion at the 46th International Convention (Resolution No. 6) in 2024, to commit our union to racial and gender equity at the 45th International Convention (Resolution No. 33) in 2022 and to protect the rights of transgender and gender-nonconforming people at the 43rd International convention (Resolution No. 14) in 2018.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
That AFSCME condemns the hypocrisy of the individuals and groups with long records of hostility to civil rights who use America’s legal tools of equality to further discriminate against already marginalized minority groups; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME opposes any effort, at either the state or federal level, to restrict the right to fair and equitable treatment in the workplace, education and public accommodations; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME will advocate for new legislation and to strengthen existing federal, state and local laws to protect women and minority workers, including transgender and gender-nonconforming people, from discrimination and harassment; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME will continue to develop and advocate for apprenticeship, workforce training and civil service preparation programs that recognize the value of diverse workforces and provide equal access to women and minority workers; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME will publicly oppose bad-faith, ideologically motivated “anti-DEI” and “anti-woke” smear campaigns targeting employers, unions and others for practices intended to promote equal access to economic opportunity for all workers, including women and minority employees; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:
That AFSCME will continue to bargain and advocate for anti-discrimination and equal treatment protections for our members at work, including policies that allow members regardless of their gender or sexual orientation to access appropriate work identification, uniforms, bathrooms and changing facilities, paid leave and other employer-provided materials, facilities or benefits and to avoid discrimination in employment decisions and disciplinary procedures.
SUBMITTED BY:
International Executive Board