I’m not just saying this flippantly, as I can garner enough info from our past interactions to give specific-enough advice. You should join the public sector union. I know past and present members closely. I have a trans friend who got their help getting a manager who wouldn’t use her correct pronouns reprimanded by HR. My mum was also a member for over a decade.
I completely agree with where you’re at, and I’m really sorry that you’re living with this fear. I do believe though that a strong public sector union, with queer members in its ranks, would be capable of fighting the government on it. The construction union where I’m at showed up in force to protect trans folks from the alt-right at a TDOV rally.
My experience with my union hasn’t been great. I was a member, and when I needed their assistance (not about anything trans related), they were completely non helpful. They brushed me off, asked for my employers version of events (airing my grievance with my employer without my consent), and then closed the issue down as soon as my employer gave a reply.
Here in Spain we just got a progressive left leaning coalition government… that right the other day split into a “trans-inclusive feminist march” and a “trans-exclusive feminist march”, with the populist right-wing addon march of “the country is breaking apart”.
Which got the most support? I’ve been very impressed with the political landscape of Spain.
I’m planning on moving to Barcelona as soon as I have citizenship where I am now.
It’s complicated. There were about 2-3x as many people on the trans-supporting ones, but they were organized by the minority parties in the governing coalition, while the majority parties in the governing coalition were on the no-trans ones. Meanwhile, almost 50% of the population voted right-wing and populist extreme-right, who also organized some marches with about 1/10th the people. So it’s hard to say which side has actually more support. It also wasn’t a vote, so some of the same people could have been to more than one march 🤷
If you come to Barcelona in the following year or so, you’ll also have to deal with the Catalonian nationalist separatists, who are an orthogonal split to everything else, and right now it isn’t really clear what they want (not to be part of Spain, not to be ruled by the King, but stay part of the EU, maybe just get a separate representation in the EU, but the EU is pushing towards a federal structure… it’s also complicated).
I work in the public sector myself (though in a different country). I constantly find myself wondering if this is in my future too.
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I’m well aware. I know the effort will be made, but whether it happens depends on political outcomes here.
I’m not just saying this flippantly, as I can garner enough info from our past interactions to give specific-enough advice. You should join the public sector union. I know past and present members closely. I have a trans friend who got their help getting a manager who wouldn’t use her correct pronouns reprimanded by HR. My mum was also a member for over a decade.
I completely agree with where you’re at, and I’m really sorry that you’re living with this fear. I do believe though that a strong public sector union, with queer members in its ranks, would be capable of fighting the government on it. The construction union where I’m at showed up in force to protect trans folks from the alt-right at a TDOV rally.
My experience with my union hasn’t been great. I was a member, and when I needed their assistance (not about anything trans related), they were completely non helpful. They brushed me off, asked for my employers version of events (airing my grievance with my employer without my consent), and then closed the issue down as soon as my employer gave a reply.
Ugh, I’m really sorry, that’s the worst.
If you’re in Europe, then with the way things are going in a lot of countries here, I wonder the same.
Here in Spain we just got a progressive left leaning coalition government… that right the other day split into a “trans-inclusive feminist march” and a “trans-exclusive feminist march”, with the populist right-wing addon march of “the country is breaking apart”.
Which got the most support? I’ve been very impressed with the political landscape of Spain. I’m planning on moving to Barcelona as soon as I have citizenship where I am now.
It’s complicated. There were about 2-3x as many people on the trans-supporting ones, but they were organized by the minority parties in the governing coalition, while the majority parties in the governing coalition were on the no-trans ones. Meanwhile, almost 50% of the population voted right-wing and populist extreme-right, who also organized some marches with about 1/10th the people. So it’s hard to say which side has actually more support. It also wasn’t a vote, so some of the same people could have been to more than one march 🤷
If you come to Barcelona in the following year or so, you’ll also have to deal with the Catalonian nationalist separatists, who are an orthogonal split to everything else, and right now it isn’t really clear what they want (not to be part of Spain, not to be ruled by the King, but stay part of the EU, maybe just get a separate representation in the EU, but the EU is pushing towards a federal structure… it’s also complicated).