Layoff threat ignites labor fight at major transgender rights group

Less than a month after workers at Advocates for Trans Equality ratified a contract designed to protect their jobs, one of the nation’s most prominent transgender rights organizations warned that some of those jobs may disappear. Now, employees are accusing A4TE’s leadership of financial mismanagement, withholding essential information and violating the collective bargaining agreement the two sides spent more than a year negotiating.The Union for Trans Liberation said A4TE management notified union representatives after 5 p.m. July 20 that the organization was entering a period of “economic retrenchment.” Less than 24 hours later, A4TE sent donors an appeal saying it may “potentially eliminate some positions,” according to the union.There had been no organization-wide communication to staff, the union said, and no opportunity to negotiate alternatives before management took the warning public.“A4TE management just publicly announced layoffs in violation of our new CBA,” U4TL wrote on Instagram on July 21.Related: Planned strike at transgender advocacy group called off after last-minute tentative deal See on Instagram The contract requires management to work with the union to protect employees’ job security, develop a plan to avoid layoffs, discuss alternatives and provide financial documentation supporting the need for retrenchment, according to language released by U4TL.The union says none of that happened before donors learned that jobs were at risk.The conflict deepened Thursday, when union representatives met with A4TE’s executive leadership team for the first time since the announcement. Workers said they arrived prepared to negotiate. Management, they said, arrived unable to answer basic questions about the organization’s finances.“Ideally, they would have been prepared to answer them before announcing potential layoffs to the organization and the public,” U4TL said in a statement. “Staff and the communities we serve deserve better