The 1998 Conference on Trade Unions, Homosexuality and Work, taking place in Amsterdam from July 29th until July 31th, attended by 170 participants from more than 30 countries, delegates of many trade unions and trade union confederations, as well as delegates from lesbian and gay organizations and many individuals concerned with the situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers in the work place

notes the Vienna Declaration and programme of Action following the UN Conference on Human Rights declares that:
"human rights and fundamental freedoms are the birthright of all human beings; their protection and promotion is the first responsibility of Governments."

The 1998 International Conference on Trade Unions, Homosexuality and Work acknowledges the Vienna Declaration which further states:
"All human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent and interrelated. The international community must treat human rights globally in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing and with the same emphasis. While the significance of national and regional particularities and various historical, cultural and religious backgrounds must be borne in mind, it is the duty of States, regardless of their political economic and cultural systems, to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms."

The 1998 International Conference on Trade Unions, Homosexuality and Work recognizes the struggle for the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender workers as being part of the wider struggle for workers rights.

Thus, the conference after substantive discussion and international cooperation concludes:

1. Discrimination in employment needs to be tackled both through legislation which recognizes the fundamental equality of all people and through measures to change employment policies and practices.The lack of anti-discrimination policies is detrimental to equality at the workplace. In those countries that still criminalise homosexuality and/or transgenderness, the situation is in opposition to basic human rights.
   Discrimination against homosexuality and transgenderness, at the workplace as well as in any other area of the society, has its basis in the legislation and rules in many countries. No country can offer an environment for lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgendered workers equal to that of their colleagues.
2. Employers and trade unions should have a major role in creating a climate in which homophobic and transphobic behaviour is unacceptable.
3. People often hide their sexual orientation or transgenderness in the workplace because it is often an unsafe place because of sexual harassment, legal restrictions, lack of protection for job loss, and social prejudice, which are all common features of their work experience.
4. Many gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender workers are severely hindered in their career opportunities. Lesbians face multiple discrimination as lesbians and as women. In addition, transgender people, black people, people of colour and disabled people face multiple discrimination because of their homosexuality or gender identity.
5. Trade unions should be the strongest allies of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers, because they are a powerful player in the field of work related politics. However, until now, in general trade unions have not sufficiently taken up issues of homosexuality and transgenderness and work.
6. Anti-discrimination measures and equal employment conditions benefit employers as well as workers. Discrimination at work is both detrimental to the individual well-being of the workers involved, to the working climate as a whole and to the productivity of the organization.
7. Language, cultural and social diversity should be integrated into trade union policies and practices when addressing issues of homosexuality and gender identity and employment.
8. Developing countries face special issues because homosexuality and transgenderness is often hidden, making discrimination more difficult to address. These issues of visibility should be tackled by unions from developed countries and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights movements.

In view of these conclusions, the 1998 International Conference on Trade Unions, Homosexuality and Work recommends trade unions, the institutions with which they negotiate, and gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender organizations to:

1. Address the issues surrounding discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity and work, formulate equal opportunities policies and assign financial and human resources to actively implement those policies.
2. Sustain the networks built at this conference and create other networks between all unions in order to work towards full equality and anti-discrimination policies for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers.
3. Use the networks to encourage international trade union confederations, such as European Trade Unions Confederation (ETUC) and International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and its regional organizations, World Council of Labour (WCL) and the International Trade Secretariats to create and/or improve their level of commitment to gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender issues.
4. Use the networks to encourage international institutions like the International Labour Organisation (ILO), United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), World Health Organisation (WHO) to create and/or improve their level of commitment to gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender issues.
5. Use the networks to identify and fight organised homophobia, organised heterosexism and organised transphobia.
6. Integrate defending gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender workers' rights into the human rights activities and into the equality programmes of national and international trade union structures.
7. Develop policies on HIV/AIDS and chronic diseases at the workplace in which the rights of infected and affected workers are protected against dismissal and isolation. Acceptance of workers with HIV/AIDS should be promoted by the unions in cooperation with employers and management.
8. Be aware of the diversity of the lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender communities and address the differences in relation to work accordingly.

  Ger Rolsma (r) and Michiel Odijk (l)

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