03-April-2000 04:28 PM
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Pride
Contact John Lane x6-3914
Atlanta PRIDE Festival: June 23, 24, 25 Piedmont Park , Atlanta The 2000 Atlanta Pride Parade will begin at the MARTA Civic Center Station on Sunday June 25, at 12:00 noon. The parade will once again run from the Civic Center MARTA Station, down Peachtree Street, to Tenth Street and into Piedmont Park at the Charles Allen entrance.We do not know exactly what we will be doing as a group. We will at least have a tent setup. If you are interested in organizing something, please contact John.
Millennium March April 30, 2000
The Millennium March on Washington for Equality, which will take place in Washington DC on April 30th, 2000, will be the fourth national march for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights. The Millennium March promises to be one of the largest and most powerful civil rights demonstrations in recent history. The purpose of the Millennium March is to energize and galvanize the GLBT and allied communities to work for equality at all levels, to strengthen the overall movement for equal rights, and to empower and inspire voters for the 2000 elections.
For more information, contact the Millennium March office by phone at (202) 467-8100, by e-mail at mmow2000@aol.com , or by paper mail at 1000 16th St. NW, Ste. 300, Washington, DC 20036. You can also get more information from the Millennium March Website at www.mmow.org.
Millennium March newsletter:
(See attached file: Millennium March.rtf)
Please help us spread the word about the March, and pass this newsletter on to anyone and any listservs you think might be interested!
Survey
The main purpose of KOLAGE's Executive Steering Committee is to keep KOLAGE on track with what its membership desires. However, due to the recent re-organization, the KOLAGE membership has gone through some changes.
Instead of charging blindly onward with our current plans, we thought it would make more sense to ask our membership just what they want. Attached is a survey that is similar to one we distributed about a year ago. It is not very long, but if you do not want to complete the whole thing, at least send us a message with what you want from KOLAGE.
We need for you to complete the attached survey and return it via notes or interoffice mail to Robert C. Marshall OAC424C no later than April 14th. (See attached file: Survey.doc)
David Beauchamp's meeting with Juan Johnson
David Beauchamp, co-founder of KOLAGE and former employee, met with Juan Johnson, Vice President of Diversity Strategies to discuss domestic partnership benefits here at KO.
Here is David's summary of the meeting:
I had a meeting with Juan Johnson, VP of Diversity Affairs, at Coca-Cola, per his request, on Tuesday, March 28, 2000. I met with Mr. Johnson for over an hour. Here is a brief list of the highlights of our conversation.
Topics discussed:
- History and mission statement of KOLAGE.
- How associates felt discriminated against working for a company without DP benefits.
- The need for recognition of all associates who are different at the Company and equal pay and benefits for equal work performed. Request for Company sponsorship and funding of KOLAGE member's community participation in various events. (e.g. Pride Parade, AIDS Walk, Habitat for Humanity, Bowling for Kid's Sake, HRC functions)
- Who KOLAGE works closely with, e.g. Georgia Equality Project, HRC, Coca-Cola Human Resources contacts, transitioning consultants from Witeck-Combs Communications, Bell-South, IBM and others. The need for expedient resolutions to the domestic partnership benefits issue at Coca-Cola.
- Georgia Equality Project plan to promote the 3 best and worst businesses in Atlanta concerning DP benefits issues during the Pride Parade in June. (Coca-Cola to be displayed as a "worst" unless policy has begun to change by that time.) The need to have Coca-Cola demonstrate leadership in the business world versus being a "follower".
Mr. Johnson agreed with my presentation on the above subjects and many others. He has provided me with the assurance that the Company is expediting their process for addressing issues and problems the Company has previously put off or not addressed concerning diversity in the workplace.
I left the meeting feeling confident knowing that Mr. Johnson will be a valuable asset to KOLAGE and the Company in moving forward on these and other issues prior to year's end.
Next Steps:
Mr. Johnson will be meeting with Jack Stahl and Carl Ware in the next couple of days to discuss Diversity issues and will also be meeting with key HR personnel to implement plans to address these concerns as soon as possible. Robert C. Marshall will be meeting with an HR representative tomorrow (Friday, March 31, 2000 to discuss DP benefits in the workplace.
Robert's Meeting with HR about DP Benefits
On Friday April 31, I met with Theresa Fortuna about DP Benefits. Theresa is the director of Compensation and Benefits. Unfortunately, there is a disconnect between the Diversity Strategies area and the Benefits area. Theresa knows of no plans to implement DP benefits at this time, but she is interested in what we have to say. Quite possibly, Diversity Strategies will present it to her group as a fait accompli and then her group will just have to implement it. We have asked Juan Johnson to keep Theresa in the loop on any plans they make.
The next step will be for the KOLAGE ESC to gather up as much DP information as we can and consolidate it into a report. We will give this report to Theresa by the end of the week. We will use this report to address her concerns. The main areas of concern are: Additional Costs, added administrative burden, how will they know who is in a relationship and who is not (fyi-currently no proof is required for married couples), and potential public relations problems.
HRC Work Alert Bulletin
News and developments concerning the struggle for workplace equality for GLBT Americans
(See attached file: HRC WorkAlert.doc)
Miscellaneous
Distribution List Changes
Only two members of the ESC maintain the distribution list for the KOLAGE update: Robert C. Marshall and John Lane.For any changes to the distribution list (e.g. moving your name from blind copy to carbon copy, vice versa, or changing your email address) please contact either Robert or John. If you know someone who would like to be added to the distribution list please have them contact either Robert or John.
Clearing House
If you would like to host or organize an event for KOLAGE members, let the ESC know. We will publish it in the next bulletin. If you do not want your name included in the bulletin, one of the ESC members will act as the contact, and pass the information on to you.