LAS Workers Win Bathrooms For All

by Michelle McGrath

All-gender restroom sign

On August 15th, LAS management made all bathrooms gender neutral in the wake of sustained worker pressure. This change was the culmination of a years-long campaign led by the LAS Attorney and 1199 LGBTQ Caucuses which fought through transphobia, deadnaming, and management intransigence.

Just two years prior, several meetings between caucus members and management broke down when Twyla Carter, the LAS CEO, invoked a number of transphobic tropes. Despite this harmful history, this spring workers renewed their push to make LAS offices more welcoming to trans and gender expansive workers by changing bathroom signs. In an LGBTQ caucus meeting with Ms. Carter, workers emphasized how telecommuting policies affect people who have no bathroom on their floor consistent with their gender. Ms. Carter minimized the workers’ concerns, but at their next meeting the caucus made a specific demand to change bathroom signs to “all gender.” Under growing pressure from both unions, Ms. Carter for the first time agreed to the change, but still wouldn't commit to a timeline to fix the issue. Undeterred, the caucus members broadened support by bringing a resolution in favor of gender neutral bathrooms at the LAS Attorneys May Chapter meeting which overwhelmingly passed 41-3-1. A group of workers also took matters into their own hands, putting up all gender bathroom signs on the new construction on the 3rd floor of Water Street. The lack of any resulting issues demonstrated how easy and unproblematic the long-overdue change could be.

Workers in the 1199 LGBTQ had also been organizing around justice for trans and gender expansive people for years, but were met with broken promises and outright resistance. They recently filed a group grievance in response to rampant deadnaming, and each caucus has supported the other’s actions.

In June, management requested a copy of the May resolution and soon agreed to implement the demand. It is unlikely any of this would have happened without a long-term, strategic worker campaign. The caucus is thrilled that the most marginalized will no longer have to wander the halls to find a safe and inclusive space to use the bathroom.