Workers fought to save jobs at a national trans rights group. Then came a one-sentence layoff email

Advocates for Trans Equality, a national transgender rights group, says 12 employees departed Wednesday after a months-long labor dispute over a multimillion-dollar deficit, alternatives to layoffs, and whether management did enough to protect workers’ jobs.“Yesterday was an extremely difficult day at Advocates for Trans Equality,” Maxwell Scales, the organization’s chief operations and equity officer, told The Advocate in an email Thursday. “Yesterday, we said goodbye to 12 people, including staff at every level of the organization — from the bargaining unit to executive leadership.”A4TE said its board approved a plan to eliminate a $2.4 million deficit and reach a balanced budget in 2027 after what Scales described as significant funding losses from corporations and longtime donors. Personnel costs account for 86 percent of the organization’s annual budget, Scales said.Management says it cut discretionary non-personnel spending, combined positions, delayed hiring, and ultimately reduced pay for managers and executives in addition to cutting staff.Related: Layoff threat ignites labor fight at major transgender rights groupThe union says management had other optionsThe Union for Trans Liberation, which represents A4TE workers through UAW Local 2325, says management still had other options. In the final days before the departures, the union said it was losing nearly half its membership and accused leadership of failing to make its contractually required “best efforts” to avoid layoffs. It said it planned to file a grievance and was prepared to pursue unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board.A4TE disputes that it violated the agreement. See on Instagram “Management followed the process, as outlined in the collective bargaining agreement,” Scales said. “The contract that union and management successfully negotiated also lays out a process for when we disagree.”The contract requires A4TE, when economic retrenchmen