A Boston labor union representing some 6,000 members has amended its benefit plans to exclude gay married couples from receiving health and pension benefits, evoking fears that this could set a dangerous precedent for other unions and employers throughout Massachusetts, reports the Boston Globe. Trustees and administrators of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 103 issued a clarification of the phrase "dependent spouse" to mean "a person of the opposite sex." The move effectively denies gay married couples the same benefits other married couples receive under the union's pension plan, health plan, and deferred income benefits.
Says union administrator Russell F. Sheehan, "I'm sure we have
plenty of gay members, and that's OK. They shouldn't have expected
benefits if they knew their plan." The Globe story adds that
"Sheehan brushed aside any suggestion that the step could be
discriminatory and stressed that his union is free to extend
benefits as it sees fit." No, not discriminatory at all. It's not
like they're real married couples, is it?