N.Y. Teamsters Local, Which Reps Entertainment Union Staff, Passes Resolution to Organize for Abortion-Rights Causes
Teamsters Local 210, the New York-based Local that represents some New York City-based SAG-AFTRA and Actors’ Equity staff in collective bargaining, has passed a resolution focused on women’s rights in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.
The resolution, passed on Monday by the Local’s Executive Board, states that the Local “condemns the Supreme Court’s attack on women and affirms that reproductive healthcare services should be private, safe, accessible and legal” and outlines several steps the Local is committing to taking in the wake of the decision, including working with other unions, legislators and organizations to “ensure reproductive health care access for Teamster members who live in New York and those traveling here for care.” Local 210 recording secretary Bernadette Kelly announced the news on Twitter on Monday, calling it “a resolution that commits to ally ship [sic], resistance and organizing.”
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The resolution further states that the roughly 9,000-member Local will be supporting “pro-choice, pro-union” political candidates, that it will back legislation pushing “reproductive freedom and social programs for working families” and will talk to members about how “the Supreme Court’s attacks on our rights hurt unions and all workers” at work sites and in union meetings.
Teamsters Local 210 also resolved to assist the international union’s Women’s Caucuses and any new efforts to form related caucus programs, to promote women’s leadership in their collective bargaining activities and to “recommit to building a labor movement that is intersectional with civil rights, including the rights of immigrants, the LGBTQ community and the disabled.”
In late June, other unions with ties to the entertainment industry issued statements and decisions responding to the reversal of Roe v. Wade. The Directors Guild of America’s Directors Guild Foundation announced that it would be providing financial aid for travel to members crossing state lines “to ensure they have access to safe abortion services,” while SAG-AFTRA said it would make legislative efforts to “protect women’s right to choice and self-determination that has been recognized for decades.” Actors’ Equity pledged to assist members in accessing abortions, while IATSE, the Writers Guild of America East Council and the Writers Guild of America West Board of Directors all issued statements condemning the decision.
The Teamsters international union, meanwhile, has retweeted several statements in opposition to the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision; The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to the international for comment specific to the decision. In addition to staffers at the performers’ unions SAG-AFTRA and Actors’ Equity, Local 210 represents airline, healthcare, delivery and retail workers as well as workers in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries.
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