| AT&T
and two of its unions reached an agreement last Tuesday about a contract
that includes domestic partner benefits for the company's gay and
lesbian employees. The Human Rights Campaign was quick to praise the giant
technological company.
"Every
time a Fortune 100 company institutes these benefits, it demonstrates
that domestic partner benefits make good business sense," said HRC
Education Director Kim Mills, who oversees workplace issues for the
organization. "AT&T and the unions agreed to these benefits in one
of the most congenial negotiating sessions ever -- further evidence that
these benefits are a cost-effective means of attracting and keeping
good employees."
AT&T,
the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood
of Electrical Workers announced today that they have reached a tentative
agreement on a four-year contract. The settlement came nearly three
weeks before the expiration of the current contract.
"Once
this contract is ratified, AT&T will join the growing ranks of
major U.S. corporations that have realized domestic partner benefits
amount to equal pay for equal work," Mills said.
The
Human Rights Campaign has documented more than 500 U.S. employers
that offer such benefits to their gay and lesbian employees. Among them
are such household names as Disney, Kodak, IBM, Hewlett Packard and Reebok.
(The full list can be found on HRC's website at http://www.hrc.org/issues/workplac/dp/index.html.) |
