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For over a decade, the Labor Network for Sustainability has been working to alert organized labor to the threat climate change presents to American workers. It is, as we’ve often called it, a dagger pointed at our jobs, our unions, our livelihoods and our communities. Climate change, we’ve repeated, is the real job-killer.   

Now many unions are stepping up to address the threat. You can read in this issue of Making a Living on a Living Planet how the Machinists union, for example, has decided to “take bold steps” to address the climate crisis. Their actions point a path that other unions are taking or could take. 

Efforts to protect the climate are often portrayed as a threat to workers’ jobs. But as the review below of recent job statistics shows, the growing effort to protect the climate is actually creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and, if expanded, will create millions more. And, as a recent agreement between the United Steelworkers and a leading solar manufacturer illustrates, unions have the opportunity to fight to make them union jobs.

That’s the vision; now the task is to make it so. As LNS president Joe Uehlein recently put it, “Above all, we have to build a powerful labor-climate movement that will be a relentless force for urgent, science-based climate action, and create visions of a future that will actually work for not only working people, but for all people and the planet.”

Sydney G., LNS Strategic Campaigns Director

On October 1, American Postal Workers Union (APWU) members are rallying across the country to demand better staffing, better services, and that postal workers and the public have a say in how this vital public service serves us.  

Americans rely on the Postal Service to receive medications, pay bills, and vote, but Trump-appointed Postmaster General Dejoy’s restructuring of this critical institution has led to massive mail delays and understaffing — with disastrous implications. Workers and the public have been raising urgent concerns, but with little avail. The Postal Board of Governors recently limited public comment periods in their hearings to just once a year, and appear to be stonewalling APWU at the bargaining table (union contract negotiations between USPS and APWU are currently underway).  

Despite this, postal workers are working hard to defend democracy and deploy “extraordinary measures” that will ensure that every mail-in ballot is delivered on time. But it shouldn’t take “extraordinary measures” to ensure that a crucial public service runs like it’s supposed to year-round. That’s why postal workers and allies are hitting the streets on October 1 to demand public input, better staffing, better services, and a fair union contract.

APWU has been a long-time ally of climate and social justice movements, and the Labor Network for Sustainability (LNS) is proud to stand with them in defending this public service, demanding a fair union contract, and ensuring that everyday people have a say in how our public institutions serve us. Not only do we see robust, democratic, public institutions as a key element of a Green New Deal, but President Biden’s directive to electrify the postal fleet (and postal management’s missteps in doing this) make the Postal Service particularly important. We at LNS believe that the Postal Service can and must be a leader in demonstrating a science-driven and just transition away from fossil fuels and toward a future as a robust, zero-emissions public institution, with a unionized workforce, that serves the needs of communities across the country. Winning a strong union contract, better services, and public input help us get there (and give people a voice in advocating for it), which is why we are proud to support APWU’s October 1st nationwide actions.

A recent headline from the Machinists union proclaims “IAM Takes Bold Steps in Addressing Climate Crisis and Embracing Green Technologies.” It reports that the 2024 IAM Grand Lodge Convention in August passed a groundbreaking climate resolution: 

"Members passed a resolution to include the concept of 'Just Transition.'

This concept asserts that workers displaced from jobs by climate change should     receive supplemental income, insurance, and pension benefits. It aims to address and correct the inequities faced by people of color who have been systematically excluded from jobs in the energy sector. Additionally, it seeks to support their communities, which have been disproportionately impacted by the presence of highly polluting power plants.

The resolution also includes language to ensure that green technology used in America is made in America and by IAM members. This commitment to ‘Just Transition’ underscores IAM’s dedication to social justice and equality in the face of climate change.

The vote on the resolution was preceded by release of a study conducted for the IAM by Cornell University in partnership with the IAM Strategic Resources Department and Communications. Shortly before the vote delegates heard a panel with Zach Cunningham of the Cornell University Climate Jobs Institute and John Harrity, retired President of the Connecticut State Council, President Emeritus of the Connecticut Roundtable on Climate and Jobs, and member of the LNS Board of Directors. Harrity told the convention, You have heard some about the dangers of climate, and the incredible opportunities it can also mean in terms of organizing workers in the emerging green technologies. “This fight on climate change is literally about our collective survival – but it is also about our growth and renewal as a union if we are smart enough to seize the opportunities before us." 

The IAM notes that

        The IAM’s proactive stance on climate change is a testament to its   commitment to not only preserving the planet but also securing a prosperous future for its members. By embracing innovative solutions and advocating for sustainable industrial practices, IAM is leading by example in the labor movement’s fight against climate change. This advocacy involves not only implementing green technologies within IAM-represented industries but also influencing and encouraging key players to adopt and advocate sustainable practices.

To read more about the IAM Convention’s action on climate and see its climate panel: IAM Takes Bold Steps in Addressing Climate Crisis and Embracing Green Technologies, Releases Report on Clean Energy Economy for the Future - IAMAW 

To read the full report “Reclaiming Our Future: A Climate Jobs Agenda for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers”:  https://2024convention.s3.amazonaws.com/IAM_ConventionReport_R2.pdf

Image: Courtesy of The ULiners

LNS President Joe Uehlein has just published an article in the environmental publication Earth Island Journal titled “Pitfalls & Possibilities: The US labor movement needs to expand worker solidarity to human solidarity.” Here’s a brief excerpt:

Labor, in my opinion, has a moral duty not only to watch out for worker interests today, but also to guard the future of our movement. On this, it has failed. Global warming represents a dagger pointed at the very heart of this great movement of working people. What do we have to do to turn this around? 

I’d say, we have to build a bottom-up movement for climate protection within the labor movement that fights to end the use of fossil fuels and other petrochemical products as well as dubious climate solutions.

To do this we have to disassemble the construct that divides us. Worker solidarity is the bedrock principle of the labor movement. Naomi Klein wrote that climate change changes everything. Building off her phrase, I like to say that climate change changes everything, including how we see our role in society as trade unionists. We need to expand worker solidarity to human solidarity.

At LNS we’ve developed talking points about how climate change is the real job killer, not the efforts to address climate chaos. We need to refrain from beating around the bush about this. We have to demand more accountability from our international and national institutions, which so far have failed us. Above all, we have to build a powerful labor-climate movement that will be a relentless force for urgent, science-based climate action, and create visions of a future that will actually work for not only working people, but for all people and the planet.

For Joe’s full article: https://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/magazine/entry/in-a-just-transition-no-worker-should-be-left-behind

Labor Network for Sustainability recently brought together members of the AFT and NEA from the Educators Climate Action Network (ECAN) along with members  of AFSCME for a workshop training on Pension Power. The workshop was facilitated by two incredible organizers, Jay O’Neal of the Sunrise Project (and former union  educator), as well as Danielle Fox of Climate Finance Action (CFA). Attendees came together to discuss ways that pensions and worker capital can be a more powerful  avenue for worker organizing and a force for better futures for working people– dignified working conditions and retirements; access to safe workplaces, educational spaces, and home lives; and a safer climate future for the health of our communities. The training showcased the range of ways pension funds can  protect themselves from climate risk and advance real-world solutions that foster a healthier, more stable economy that serves the public good.

Union members were challenged to think about critical questions related to power over their pensions, including: How well do you know your fund?

Do you know who your pension trustees are? Do you know if they’re appointed or elected? Are these trustees members of your union? What opportunities are coming up (e.g. trustee meetings, Board elections, policy reviews, year-end performance evaluations, etc.)? If you are a union public employee, try asking yourselves these questions and check out critical tools for power mapping your pension fund at this CFA website.

To get in touch, please contact Oren Kadosh at oren@labor4sustainability.org

or reach out directly to Jay and Danielle at this form.

Kevin Young, labor-climate activist featured in this issue's “Spotlight” above, has recently published Abolishing Fossil Fuels: Lessons from Movements that Won. Young is historian at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and a leader in the LNS-coordinated Educators Climate Action Network and the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA).

According to Young, climate destruction is a problem of political power. Activists have been most successful when they’ve targeted the fossil fuel industry’s enablers: the banks, insurers, and big investors that finance its operations, the companies and universities that purchase fossil fuels, and the regulators and judges who make life-and-death rulings about pipelines, power plants, and drilling sites. This approach has jeopardized investor confidence in fossil fuels.

Young observes that the most powerful movements in US history succeeded in similar ways. He examines four classic victories: the abolition of slavery, battles for workers’ rights in the 1930s, Black freedom struggles of the 1950s and 1960s, and the fight for clean air. Those movements inflicted costs on economic elites through strikes, boycotts, and other mass disruption. Those historic movements offer lessons for building a multiracial, working-class climate movement that can win a global green transition that’s both rapid and equitable.

LNS co-founder and senior strategic advisor Jeremy Brecher says, "Young presents a careful analysis of the powers that are purveying fossil fuels—and of how ordinary people can defeat them by inflicting sustained disruption on the elites that are perpetuating climate destruction. If the original Abolitionists could take down the slaveholders—the greatest power in the land—why can't we abolish fossil fuels? Kevin Young's answer is we can. I hope this book will become the strategic handbook for the climate protection movement."

Photo Credit: WikiImages 

The summer of 2024 had the hottest global temperature on record, putting the earth on course for the hottest year in human history. Samantha Burgess of the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said the world had also experienced the hottest day on record. “The temperature-related extreme events witnessed this summer will only become more intense, with more devastating consequences for people and the planet unless we take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” 

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/06/climate-crisis-world-logs-its-hottest-summer-on-record.html

Photo Courtesy of  Sara Löwgren

The first full year of the Inflation Reduction Act created nearly 150,000 clean energy jobs according to a new report by nonpartisan business group E2.

Nearly 3.5 million people now work in clean energy jobs in the US, more than the total number of nurses nationwide, with 1 million of these jobs centered in the South.

Clean energy jobs grew by 4.5% last year, nearly twice as fast as overall US employment growth, and account for one in 16 new jobs nationally, the report found. New roles in energy efficiency led the way, followed by an increase in jobs in renewable energy, such as wind and solar, electric car manufacturing and battery and electric grid upgrades.

For story on IRA jobs: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/17/biden-environment-clean-energy-jobs-inflation-reduction-act

For full report: https://e2.org/reports/clean-economy-works-two-year-review-2024/ 

And this just in: The just-released annual IREC National Solar Jobs Census of the Interstate Renewable Energy Council reports that the number of jobs in the U.S. solar industry grew by 6% in 2023 to 279,447. The report notes that as the industry grows it faces a shortage of skilled workers.  

The United Steelworkers Union (USW) recently announced an agreement with Convalt Energy mutually pledging to prioritize workers’ rights as together they work to bring solar energy manufacturing back to the United States.

According to USW International President David McCall, Domestic workers are more than up to the challenge of combating climate change. But as ways in which we meet our energy needs shift, we must ensure that the jobs of the future are good, community-sustaining jobs. We applaud Convalt for trusting in its workforce and taking this decisive step forward.

The agreement between the USW and Convalt commits the company to refrain from pressuring or intimidating workers during their unionization efforts, ensuring a free and fair election.

Source: https://m.usw.org/news/media-center/releases/2024/usw-reaches-agreement-with-convalt-energy-to-respect-workers-rights 

By Bakari Height

The mayor’s office of Washington DC is cutting a vital service to the riders, visitors, and especially workers of the region- the red yellow colored downtown buses known as the DC Circulator.  Originally created to serve a void in the larger metro transit system of subways and buses, these 100% electric buses will cease to exist at the beginning of 2025.  The fate of the workers, many belonging to the ATU Local 689, is up in the air as there is no guarantee that they will all go to WMATA, the regional transit agency.  On September 23rd, the ATU Local held a rally featuring the current president, past president, supporting ward and council members, as well as workers.  This served as a great moment of solidarity in a time where bureaucracy has`failed on keeping promises. 

Members of Teamsters Local 657, which represents workers at 22 UPS facilities in

Texas, rallied  August 28 to demand the company move faster on the union

contract it signed  with the Teamsters last year.

Workers at UPS represented by the Teamsters won protections for workers

exposed to extreme heat in their 2023 contract including language to include air conditioning in vehicles

purchased after 1 January 2024 and to include cooling devices in 28,000

UPS package delivery  vehicles by the end of the contract in 2028. According to

CNN, however, UPS has not  purchased any new vans since 1 January.

According to Teamsters spokesperson Kara Deniz,  “The company is behind on air conditioning, and that is unacceptable.” Workers interviewed  by the

Guardian newspaper they have never seen air conditioning in one of UPS’s  

delivery vans. 

Sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/sep/07/ups-heat-death-texas

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/23/ups-delivery-workers-

air-conditioning 

https://x.com/Teamsters/status/1828923138085634375?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%

5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1828923138085634375%7Ctwgr%5Ee6f340f066e75ad5986d

9fa278dedf117e4339cf%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2F

www.theguardian.com%2Fenvironment%2Farticle%2F2024%2Fsep%2F07%2Fups-heat-death-texas

Photo credit Wikipedia Commons

Lois Gibbs was born in a blue-collar area of Grand Island, NY; her father worked in steel mills and her mother was a housewife. After she graduated high school she married chemical worker Harry Gibbs, had two children, and moved to Love Canal. In 1987 she discovered that her two previously healthy children developed unusual health issues. She then discovered that the local school was built on a toxic waste dump. 

Gibbs created a petition and went door-to-door to gather support, but the local school board refused to take any action. She talked with other parents and they started the Love Canal Parents Movement. They petitioned New York State, which eventually closed the school and purchased homes close to Love Canal. The Love Canal movement raised Gibbs and the issue of toxic waste sites to the center of national attention, leading to the passage of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act – the “Superfund” – which provides for cleanup of toxic waste sites throughout the US. 

In 1981, Gibbs formed the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, a grassroots environmental crisis center that has provided information, resources, technical assistance and training to community groups around the nation. It seeks to form strong local organizations to protect neighborhoods from exposure to hazardous waste. It recently became a project of the People’s Action Institute.

Gibbs's initially defined her role as a mother fighting to protect her children's health. She says that many doubted her ability to be effective. Her own mother told her, “You’re forgetting you’re just a housewife with a high school education." 

That never stopped her.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lois_Gibbs 

Love Canal: My Story by Lois Marie Gibbs

For more on the Center for Health, Environment and Justice today: https://chej.org 

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: