Yes, the coalition of forces in the Dems make alliances with factions of capital willing to agree to more progressive policies, often because those corporate groups benefit when "low road" employers (as they are sometimes labelled) lose their exploitive advantages.
Some employers recognize the advantages of maximizing their employee choices through civil rights-- and love to see racist and homophobic employers penalized by the law since it's too their economic advantage. Yes, taking advantage of that corporate factionalism is not revolutionary, but it's often useful for progressive gains.
Nathan
----- Original Message ----- From: "Chuck0" <chuck at mutualaid.org> To: <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org> Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2004 11:32 PM Subject: [lbo-talk] Poll: a Third of Employers Back Gay Health Benefits
> Nathan got on my case earlier for my comments about how employers were
> embracing gay right in the workplace, which means that Kerry is jumping
> on this bandwagon. Here is a breaking news article relevant to that
thread.
>
> Chuck
>
> --------
>
> Poll: a Third of Employers Back Gay Health Benefits
>
> Thu Jun 24,12:23 PM ET
>
>
> By Kim Dixon
>
> CHICAGO (Reuters) - A third of U.S. employers would extend health
> benefits to same-sex spouses, in the wake of a Massachusetts court's
> backing gay marriage and after the U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites)
> sidestepped the issue, a poll found on Thursday.
>
>
>
> The survey of human resources officials at 216 companies found that 33
> percent would be willing to extend health benefits to same-sex spouses,
> according to consulting firm Aon Corp.
>
> The poll found that "if an employee requested that a health benefit plan
> recognize a same-gender spouse," the company would grant that request,
> according to Aon, which advises companies on employee benefits issues.
>
> About 40 percent of companies said they do not intend to honor such
> requests and about 28 percent said they didn't know what they would do.
> (The numbers slightly exceed 100 percent, due to rounding.)
>
> "It is such a politicized issue that there will be more pressure on
> employers to examine their plans and look at the issue, or provide the
> benefits in the future," said Paul Sullivan, an assistant vice president
> at Aon. "It is not an issue that is going to go away."
>
> Aon collected the anonymous results over the past two weeks. The poll
> has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.
>
> PRIVATE SECTOR AHEAD OF POLICY
>
> President Bush (news - web sites) in February called on Congress to
> approve a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, after
> Massachusetts' highest court ruled gay couples had the right to wed and
> San Francisco began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
>
> A vote in the U.S. Senate is scheduled next month on a constitutional
> amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman, though
> Republicans admit they lack the votes to pass it. Many Democrats say the
> issue should be left to the states to decide.
>
> In May, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a challenge to block the start
> of gay marriages in Massachusetts, when it denied without comment a bid
> for an injunction by conservative groups.
>
> Regardless of public policy, the private sector seems to be moving in
> the direction of providing health benefits, according to some studies.
>
> The Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group, said by the end of 2003,
> 40 percent of the Fortune 500 companies offered health benefits for
> same-sex domestic partners. In 1998, just 13 percent of the Fortune 500
> offered the benefits.
>
> COST ISSUES
>
> Consumer products giant Procter & Gamble Co. began providing health
> benefits for same-sex domestic partners in 1999, according to
> spokeswoman Linda Ulrey.
>
> And despite double-digit rises in health-care costs, P&G did not see any
> significant change in benefit costs, she said. "It was a small section
> of our employees."
>
> In the Aon study, about 45 percent of the companies had taken a look at
> their benefit plans to determine whether the term "spouse" could include
> a same-gender spouse.
>
> Aon's poll included about 30 companies with more than 10,000 workers,
> and about 66 companies with fewer than 500 employees. About 11 percent
> of the companies provide health coverage for same-sex domestic partners.
>
>
>
> The survey also found that just 14 percent of the same companies would
> be willing to extend retirement benefits to same-sex spouses.
>
> The biggest roadblock to granting those benefits is the U.S. tax code,
> the poll found. Employers fear extending these benefits would violate
> the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
>
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>
>