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The report found that deep, rapid and sustained greenhouse gas emission reductions across all sectors will be necessary; global emissions will need to be slashed almost in half by 2030. Releasing the report, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said nations “must stop expanding oil and gas production, begin phasing out existing fossil fuels, and reach clean electricity by 2035 for developed countries.”

Some trade unionists have gotten the message. On March 21 retired members from over 30 international unions rallied, marched, and demonstrated for climate protection. They stated, “Science tells us we have to stop burning fossil fuels and cut emissions by 50% in the next seven years or face climate disasters far worse than we are already experiencing.” They called for a stop to “all new investment in fossil fuel expansion, including production, infrastructure, and exploration,” and for funds to be redirected to “projects that will build renewable energy infrastructure and meet the other needs of our communities, especially workers and their families who are negatively impacted either directly or indirectly by the transition away from fossil fuels.”

Unfortunately, some unions are still promoting fossil fuel burning that will destroy them and their members. When President Joe Biden announced approval of the giant ConocoPhillips Willow Project in Alaska, whose hundreds of oil wells will cancel the emissions cuts provided by all renewable energy developments over the next decade, the project was endorsed by the Alaska AFL-CIO, North America’s Building Trades Unions, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Secretary-General Guterres has proposed a “Climate Solidarity Pact” for accelerated climate action. It is time for US unions to join the Climate Solidarity Pact – and to quit the fossil fuel industry’s Climate Suicide Pact.

Public schools need a Green New Deal, and educators are ready to win it. From April 16th-22nd (the week of Earth Day), educators across the country are taking action for green, healthy, fully-resourced schools.

Are you an educator who is passionate about climate justice?

Pledge to take action

Right now, new congressional funding is available that can be harnessed by school districts for this green, pro-worker, community-centered transformation. Educators, alongside their unions, are mobilizing to pressure their districts into seizing this opportunity– and turn schools into a vehicle for climate action.

In Chicago, educators will be demonstrating for green, healthy schools. Minneapolis educators will be fighting against the local Hennepin Energy Recovery Center, which burns garbage and pollutes a low-income community of color. Some educators, such as one ECAN member who belongs to the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, will be teaching her students about climate justice. In Oakland, educators will be participating in community cleanup with the Alameda Labor Council. 

These are just some of the educators and unions involved in the week of action. You can see ECAN member Jessica Garraway break it down for folks in this brief video. If you are an educator wanting to join in the action, pledge to take action here. By signing the pledge, you’ll receive a free toolkit and an organizer will contact you to provide any support you may need.

As Project Manager of the LNS Young Worker Listening Project and an organizer of the LNS Young Workers Convergence on Climate, Maria Breschia-Weiler has worked with, surveyed, and interviewed hundreds of young workers. In a talk March 3, 2023 to the DC Youth Climate Strike, organized by Fridays for the Future, Maria provided some reflections on what she has learned from the process. Here are some excerpts: 

I work with young workers ages 18-35 who have been mobilizing their co-workers, pushing their employers, and showing up in their communities to take action at the intersection of workers’ rights and the climate crisis. It is impossible to ignore the incredible energy and sharp analysis young people are bringing to every part of the movement: in the urgency and relentlessness of youth climate organizing, in mass mobilizations around racial justice and police violence, in demanding protections for immigrants, in organizing Amazon warehouses and Starbucks stores, in finding ways to care for and protect each other when the government has not.

Climate change deeply shapes how young people are thinking about and planning for their futures. We always ask young workers how they ideally envision their life and work 20 years from now. This question is almost always met by a blank stare, or some kind of sigh or groan and a long pause. But after that long pause, they paint pictures of a beautiful future, where we all have more time off to care for our loved ones and grow sustainable local food, where union construction workers have made public buildings like schools and post offices into community resilience hubs run on green energy, where they have access to safe, clean and reliable public transportation but there’s so much affordable housing in their community that they can walk to work.

There are young climate activists everywhere – in science labs and on picket lines, in schools and on both sides of pipeline protests, driving buses and trucks, sorting and delivering mail, waiting tables and checking you out at the grocery store.

These folks have realized that you always have the power to organize.

On March 21 senior citizens held more than 100 climate actions around the country. Participants included retired trade unionists from 30 different international unions.

They demanded that Chase, Wells Fargo, Citibank, and Bank of America, which invested more than $1 trillion into oil and gas between 2016 and 2021, stop funding fossil fuels. The actions were organized by Third Act, a climate protection group for people aged 60 and older, co-founded by Bill McKibben of 350.org.  

The statement by the Retired Union Members Working Group of Third Act says in part:

Retired union members have spent their lives uniting our country’s multi-ethnic, multi-racial working class to fight their bosses and to work with their allies for broader social justice. We want to bring that experience and those skills to the struggles around the two great existential issues of our time–democracy and climate change.

In our working lives as trade unionists we organized, bargained contracts, fought employers, elected officials, lobbied for and passed legislation. Every struggle takes time, compromise, and a continuing agenda–la lucha continua.

The simple physics of climate is different. Science tells us we have to stop burning fossil fuels and cut emissions by 50% in the next 7 years or face climate disasters far worse than we are already experiencing. We can’t bargain and compromise with and ask physics to slow down.

We have to threaten the profits of these 4 dirty banks–Citi, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Chase– so they stop investing in future extraction and infrastructure and instead invest in renewable energy–and do it now.

As retirees, we all have amazingly full plates. But leaving a legacy of a cleaner planet for our children and grandchildren isn’t an item for our bucket list. Physics doesn’t have time, and we don’t have time. We have to join this fight now.

For the full statement and more information on the Retired Union Members Working Group of Third Act:  thirdact.org/working-groups/retired-union-members/

By: Sydney Ghazarian

“You braved the cold, you braved the wind, you braved some hail, and you braved the hellish rains. And we took the fight to every corner of Los Angeles. We had strong picket lines, we had massive rallies, and we, together, put LAUSD on notice!”

United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) President Cecily Myart-Cruz’s comments were met with seismic applause from the sea of red and purple that stretched across L.A. State Historic Park- tens of thousands of workers and community allies rallying on the third and final day of an historic UTLA and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) local 99 strike. The Unfair Labor Practice strike was led by SEIU local 99, with UTLA striking in solidarity. The two unions represent a combined 65,000 education workers across the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD)-- teachers, cafeteria workers, custodians, special education aides, bus drivers, and other essential school workers who, after a year of bargaining without results, were fed up with poverty wages for workers and underinvestment in schools.

Direct action, and solidarity, gets the goods. Days after the rally in L.A. State Historic Park, SEIU 99 announced they had reached a tentative agreement with LAUSD. The agreement includes an average 30% pay increase, raised minimum wage, more staffing for student services, and a 3 million dollar education fund for workers to train and promote in-district. The new agreement could be transformative for SEIU local 99 members– many of whom are food and housing insecure.

UTLA is still at the bargaining table– alongside their visionary Beyond Recovery Platform. The platform, born from discussions among UTLA and community partners, lays out demands to transform public education in Los Angeles. The major planks are:

• Fully staff schools through measures that attract and retain educators
• Equitable and sustainable access to academic opportunity for all students
• Equitable and sustainable access to needed technology
• A safe school climate
• Healthy, green public schools
• Targeted support for students, parents, and our school communities
• Equitable school funding

One thing is certain; UTLA and SEIU local 99 are backed by parents, students, and community members who will stand with them in the fight for something better– even in the cold and rain.

Image Source: Photo Granary- stock.adobe.com

On March 20 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, [IPCC], the world’s most definitive voice of climate science, released its latest Synthesis Report. It found that extreme weather caused by climate breakdown has led to increased deaths from intensifying heatwaves in all regions, millions of lives and homes destroyed in droughts and floods, millions of people facing hunger, and “increasingly irreversible losses” in vital ecosystems. It also said that deep, rapid and sustained greenhouse gas emission reductions across all sectors will be necessary; global emissions will need to be slashed almost in half by 2030.

Releasing the report, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said nations “must stop expanding oil and gas production, begin phasing out existing fossil fuels, and reach clean electricity by 2035 for developed countries.” That must include:

• Ceasing all licensing or funding of new oil and gas.
• Stopping any expansion of existing oil and gas reserves.
•  Establishing a global phase down of existing oil and gas production compatible with the 2050 global net zero target.[1]

 Image Source: Gillfoto, The Oil Pipeline in the interior of Alaska. Wikimedia Commons.

On March 13, the Biden administration announced approval of ConocoPhillips’ Willow Project, the largest fossil fuel extraction project on federal lands in history. It is expected to produce five hundred and seventy-five million barrels of oil over the next thirty years. Burning that oil will result in the emission of about ten million tons of carbon dioxide per year, or some three hundred million tons over the life of the project. The project will wipe out the emissions cuts provided by all renewable energy developments over the next decade, adding the equivalent of two million new gasoline cars to the roads.

The Laborers, the Electrical Workers, and the Alaska Federation of Labor AFL-CIO cheered the decision. However, The Willow Project directly violates the conditions necessary to avoid the worst aspects of climate disaster. It also directly violates President Biden’s own climate goals. An analysis by the Center for American Progress finds that the carbon emissions expected from Willow would cancel out the carbon reductions in the president’s goals of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030 and permitting 25 gigawatts of solar, onshore wind, and geothermal energy on public lands by 2025. The Willow project will double the carbon pollution that all renewable progress on public lands and waters would avoid by 2030.

Image Source: den-belitsky- stock.adobe.com

There is a through-line between the denial of sick days to railroad workers and residents of East Palestine fleeing their homes in the aftermath of a derailed freight train poisoning their town. The through-line is the rail industry’s drive for profit costing workers and communities their health and safety. The through-line is workers sounding the alarm, to no avail.

For decades, the railroad industry has been increasing profits by raising prices and cutting labor costs, resulting in degraded safety standards and short-staffing. This, and the pursuit of short-term profit, are at the heart of why 45,000 rail workers have lost their jobs since 2015, why rail industry lobbyists have spent millions to undermine safety regulations, why the industry has delayed the electrification of railroads, and why a “100% preventable” rail disaster in East Palestine has caused residents to flee, animals to die, and at least 1.1 million gallons of water and 15,000 pounds of soil to become contaminated. To those who own the railroads, all of this has been a great success: CEOs at five of the largest railroad conglomerates have made $200 million over the last 3 years.  After all, the point of private industry is profit.

Private interests must be prevented from dictating the future of rail– critical infrastructure that serves as a backbone for the economy, communities, and a climate-safe future. To that end, the Labor Network for Sustainability supports Railroad Workers United’s demand to nationalize the railroads.

Alongside necessary public investments, public ownership of rail will allow us to transform our rail system into one that truly serves the common good. Untethered from the market, we can electrify and expand rail, institute fairer working conditions, and engage communities throughout the process so that equity, sustainability, and justice are at the forefront. 

The latest Synthesis Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) clearly stated that the choices we make in the next decade will impact us now and for the next thousand years. Now is the time for bold decisions. Without public and democratic ownership of rail, many of those crucial decisions will not be made by us– they will be made by a wealthy few.

To our partners and allies who value democracy, workers rights, and climate justice– join us in demanding that rail becomes a public good!

Submit your organization's statement of support here

For more information, visit RWU's website about the rail nationalization campaign: www.railroadworkersunited.org/public-ownership-of-the-railroads

 Image Source: Quality Stock Arts- stock.adobe.com

Seventeen years ago California passed one of the nation’s first workplace heat stress rules. Since then California has been inundated with heat waves resulting from global warming. A new study, “Feeling the Heat: How California’s Workplace Heat Standards Can Inform Stronger Protections Nationwide,” finds that the state’s heat stress rule provides some protection, but that its coverage is limited, it is often unenforced, and that penalties are so modest that many employers simply ignore it. The study calls for expanding the rule to all California workers, increasing enforcement, and establishing a federal heat standard for all workers in the US.

The California rule requires employers to provide heat training, free drinking water, and shade to employees. It covers only outdoor workers, but the study identified heat-related cases in 463 different industries outside agriculture and construction, including janitorial services, home health care, museums, and newspaper publishers.

The study found that hundreds of businesses repeatedly violated the rule but avoided the usually higher fines meted out to repeat violators. UPS received 41 citations for violating the heat standard but was issued only one for a repeat violation.

Only Minnesota, Oregon, Colorado, and Washington have similar workplace heat stress rules. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has been working for years on a national heat stress standard but none has so far been issued. Rep, Judy Chu and Sen. Alex Padilla of California and Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio have introduced legislation to accelerate development of such a standard.

In the past two years there has been a wave of state legislation and executive action that sets and implements new standards for greenhouse gas emissions. States have greatly expanded their plans for wind and solar energy and energy efficiency. In most cases these are combined with policies specifically designed to create good quality jobs and to counter inequality.

States have the power to implement much of the Green New Deal – and some states are using that power. States regulate power generation, local distribution of electricity, and siting decisions. They set the parameters for urban planning and public transit. Most states have adopted renewable portfolio standards that require utilities to use a certain percentage of electricity from renewable sources. Many have adopted policies for energy storage, electric vehicles, energy efficiency standards for appliance and buildings, low carbon fuel standards, and emissions trading. And some are combining such climate protection policies with strategies to create good jobs and overcome longstanding economic and social injustices.

There are organizing efforts for programs that embody the principles of the Green New Deal in every one of the fifty states. In many states some of these policies have already been established and are starting to be implemented. This is largely a result of popular pressure and organization. It also results from politicians trying to appeal to concerned electorates. These victories have typically been produced by coalitions whose objectives combine climate, jobs, and justice.

Two new “Commentaries on Solidarity and Survival” by LNS Co-Founder and Senior Advisor Jeremy Brecher describe job-creating, justice-promoting climate protection in Hawaii, Illinois, and California.

“The Green New Deal in the States – Part 1”:  www.labor4sustainability.org/articles/commentary-the-green-new-deal-in-the-states-part-1/

“The Green New Deal in the States – Part 2”: www.labor4sustainability.org/strike/commentary-the-green-new-deal-in-the-states-part-2/

Members of the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) have been integral to the LNS Young Worker Organizing Committee since its inception. CLUW is a national organization that advocates for the rights and empowerment of women in the workplace. Now, participants in the LNS Young Worker Project are organizing the first ever CLUW Young Working Women Conference, May 7 - 9 in Las Vegas, Nevada!

The upcoming young women worker conference, in conjunction with the broader education conference organized by CLUW May 9 - 11, will be a valuable opportunity for young women to network, learn from experienced professionals, and develop skills to advance their careers. These conferences will provide a platform to discuss and address issues affecting women workers, such as pay inequality and discrimination. Folks will also get a chance to hear from many of the incredible facilitators and panelists who made the Young Worker Convergence on Climate a success, including Crystal Herrera and Celina Barron, IBEW Local 11; Teresa Oller, American Postal Workers Union Local 128; Amy Calandrella, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 98; Gabbi Pierce, Communication Workers of American Local 7250, as well as Barbara James, United Brotherhood of Carpenters Local 1907 and Maria Brescia-Weiler of LNS who will lead a workshop on the crucial intersection of climate justice and young women workers.

Register by April 3rd to receive a discounted hotel block rate! By bringing together diverse perspectives and experiences, we hope these conferences can inspire and empower the next generation of women leaders in the labor movement!

Our Mission

To be a relentless force for urgent, science-based climate action by building a powerful labor-climate movement to secure an ecologically sustainable and economically just future where everyone can make a living on a living planet.

Making a Living on a Living Planet is published by the Labor Network for Sustainability: