GOVERNMENT RELATIONS ACTION ALERT

Call Senators on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and Urge Them to Support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act!

ACTION NEED: Call your respective Senator on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee by dialing the Capitol Switchboard at 202/224-3121, and urge him or her to support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (S.1284).

ISSUE: The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (S.1284) may come up for a vote in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee the week of April 22, 2002. Most Committee Democrats support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act as indicated during the February 27, 2002 hearing.

LEGISLATIVE INTENT: It remains legal in 38 states to fire someone simply because they are lesbian, gay or bisexual. Decisions should be based on a person’s ability to do the job, rather than their sexual orientation. S.1284 would provide statutory protections against workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and will afford to all Americans basic employment protection from discrimination based on irrational prejudice. America’s corporate and civil rights leaders support E.N.D.A.’s fair-minded approach. Fortune 500 companies such as AT&T, Microsoft, and Eastman Kodak have endorsed this legislation and many more have employment policies similar to E.N.D.A. Organizations like the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, NAACP, National Council of La Raza, AFL-CIO and the Human Rights Campaign support this federal response to disparate treatment. E.N.D.A. does not create any "special rights". Rather, it protects a right which should belong to every American – the right to be free from job discrimination based on illogical fear.

SOCIAL WORK ACTION: NASW remains committed to the principles of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and to redressing societal inequality through vigorous legislative advocacy. Public support for E.N.D.A. is strong. A June 2001 poll conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates found that 85% of Americans think lesbians and gays should have equal rights in the workplace, and 63% of Americans believe there should be legislation to ensure those rights. In November 1999, a Gallup Poll found that 83% of Americans think lesbians and gays should have equal rights in the workplace. It is clear that Americans know that E.N.D.A. represents a measured and pragmatic response to unjust prejudice and discrimination. Please call, write, or e-mail your Senator on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and urge him or her to join NASW in the fight for equality by supporting E.N.D.A. A vote is tentatively scheduled the week of April 22, 2002.

SENATE HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR AND PENSIONS COMMITTEE