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In Rhode Island the trade union coalition Climate Jobs Rhode Island helped pass legislation requiring all electricity sold in the state to come from renewable sources by 2033. In Bridgeport, CT, building trades workers, teachers, parents and students have joined together in the Bridgeport Carbon Free and Healthy Schools campaign. And in New Jersey, the union of faculty and graduate workers at Rutgers University is joining with community, environmental, and environmental justice organizations to block a plan to haul liquified fracked gas across southern New Jersey, increasing greenhouse gas emissions and threatening the safety of Camden and other cities.

At the recent Labor Notes Conference, which as far as we know was the largest convening of grassroots labor activists ever, there were six panels devoted to the intersection of work, unions, and climate change. And looking ahead, the Labor Network for Sustainability is organizing a Young Worker Climate Convergence September 15-18 “to bring young workers together to build a common narrative and ensure that their voices are heard in the growing labor-climate movement.”  

All you need to do to join the Labor-Climate Movement is to start participating in these activities – or start your own. The Labor Network for Sustainability is here to help.

 The Labor Network for Sustainability (LNS) is still accepting applications for the position of LNS Executive Director. These are big shoes to fill, and we have high expectations.

LNS has worked for the past 16 years as a relentless force for urgent, science-based climate action, 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.

The LNS Executive Director is the key public voice for LNS and oversees all of its operations. Here is a downloadable description of the position we will be filling and the characteristics we seek in our new Executive Director.

If you have thoughts about who could be the right choice for LNS, we are eager to hear them. Or, if you yourself are interested in being considered, please let us know.

Write to us at jobs@labor4sustainability.org and a member of our search team will reach out. 

In Solidarity,

The Labor Network for Sustainability Board of Directors

By Oren Kadosh, LNS Staff

Several LNS staff recently attended the 2022 Labor Notes Conference in Chicago, IL. It was the largest ever held, and by many accounts, the most inspiring and energizing to date. Between the numerous panels, workshops, and meetings covering all facets of building a strong and democratic labor movement, there were six devoted to discussing and teaching about the intersection of work, unions, and climate change.

LNS staff member Liz Ratzloff presented on one of these panels entitled “An Introduction to Labor and the Climate World: A Bird’s Eye View” where she spoke about LNS’s ongoing work to build a powerful labor-climate movement and answered audience questions. The weekend featured a keynote address from Senator Bernie Sanders who shared a stage with some of our movement’s inspiring labor leaders, like Chris Smalls, President of the Amazon Labor Union.

Staff also held a presence at its dedicated LNS table, meeting longtime friends and members of the organization but also welcoming many new interested organizers and individuals into its fold. Staff will now get to work synthesizing takeaways from the vast expertise of those who used their workshop forums to educate conference participants about all manner of strategies, tactics, and first-hand experiences in movement building. This knowledge will be invaluable in informing LNS’s current and evolving work to build a just transition, expand equitable public transit, and organize with young workers eager to act on the climate crisis.

By Oren Kadosh, LNS Staff

At the 2023 Labor Notes Conference (see previous piece), one of LNS’s main goals was to build support and strategic outreach for its upcoming Young Worker (YW) Convergence in Los Angeles, where young union members and climate activists will meet to strategize around how young workers can move forward a just transition with an urgency commensurate with the climate emergency. There was great enthusiasm for the project from young union members across a vast range of occupations, from tradespeople and longshore workers to teachers and transit workers. Staff will be following up on all the connections that were forged during the weekend and help ensure that these crucial young union voices are represented at the YW Convergence.

 Additionally, the learning that staff members were able to do at the excellent panels and workshops presented by conference participants will help to inform the programming and substance of the YW Convergence. A panel called “Climate Demands in Legislation and Bargaining” was especially insightful and will help shape the learning and strategizing that will be worked through by YW Convergence attendees. Also of great interest and benefit were forums hosted on topics such as building community coalitions with labor unions, organizing strategically under particular employers and within particular sectors of the economy, and engaging in meaningful and effective communications with your organization’s members.

The relationships and learning made possible by this inspiring weekend will be of immense value in making the YW Convergence an effective vehicle for young workers to push the envelope moving us toward a just, green future.

By Maria Brescia-Weiler, LNS Staff

The Young Worker Climate Convergence at the IBEW Local 11 office in Los Angeles, California from September 15th-18th will bring together young workers (18-35) who believe unions and union members have a crucial role to play in responding to the climate crisis. Through discussions, workshops and panels around place-based and sectoral challenges and opportunities in labor-climate organizing, we hope to create a space for young workers to gain a deeper understanding of where they are in the labor-climate landscape, who is around them, and how they can learn from each others' efforts, laying the groundwork for sustained collaboration between young workers at the intersection of economic and environmental justice.  

The AFL-CIO convention in June passed "Resolution 14: Renewing the Promise of Young Workers," acknowledging the necessity of investing in projects like this one to harness the momentum of young workers in the labor movement. They recognized that "For too many young workers, the American dream is an unattainable fantasy they will work toward but never realize...Young workers are fighting for transparency, dignity in the workplace and increased opportunities for people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals and people with disabilities."

From 1:1 conversations with over 70 young workers from across the country representing more than 25 different unions and environmental organizations, LNS’s Young Workers Listening Project knows that taking collective action to confront the climate crisis is central to young workers' fight for a more equitable and just economy, and that investing in young workers means investing in a sustainable future. In light of this renewed commitment, there has never been a better time to bring young workers together to build a common narrative and ensure that their voices are heard in the growing labor-climate movement.  

If you are interested in attending the Young Worker Climate Convergence, email Maria at maria@labor4sustainability.org.

By Sydney Ghazarian, LNS Staff

On the 5 year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire that killed 72 people, the Clean Up Kingspan campaign held a vigil in Downtown Los Angeles at a Capitol Group HQ building– one of Kingspan’s largest outside stakeholders. An ongoing UK government Inquiry revealed that for over 14 years, Kingspan’s UK insulation division misrepresented fire safety issues with Kooltherm K15, one of the products used in the Grenfell Tower. The vigil was attended by SMART members, clergy, environmentalists, and local activists. 

This tragedy is not the first time the building materials manufacturing company, Kingspan, has betrayed the public’s trust. Kingspan workers in Santa Ana, CA are standing up to Kingspan and its so-called ‘green’ manufacturing processes that are polluting the indoor air and local watershed. These factory workers are organizing to demand safe working conditions, including addressing unhealthy levels of PM2.5 pollution inside the workplace that they measured in collaboration with UC Irvine pollution scientist Dr. Shahir Masri. The workers also blew the whistle on Kingspan for misrepresenting its daily operations and water pollution clean-up efforts to the CalEPA.

The Labor Network for Sustainability was proud to organize a virtual teach-in about the Kingspan factory worker’s efforts for our environmental and climate allies. Together, we gathered over 45 organizational signatures to pressure the Green Buildings Community to stop partnering with Kingspan. 

At the vigil, I shared an important update; the pressure worked! The U.S. Green Buildings Council has responded by removing Kingspan from the USGBC-Live Platinum Sponsor list!

Now it’s time for Capitol Group to join them and do the right thing. We call on Capitol Group to divest from Kingspan!

Image Source: Joe Biden at the press conference after Day 2 of COP26 via Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.

On June 6, President Joe Biden issued a “Presidential Determination” under Section 303 of the Defense Production Act to expand US production of heat pumps, declaring it a matter of national security. “Ensuring a robust, resilient, and sustainable domestic industrial base to meet the requirements of the clean energy economy is essential to our national security, a resilient energy sector, and the preservation of domestic critical infrastructure.” The Determination found:  

Electric heat pumps are industrial resources, materials, or critical technology items essential to the national defense;

without Presidential action under section 303 of the Act, United States industry cannot reasonably be expected to provide the capability for the needed industrial resource, material, or critical technology item in a timely manner; and

purchases, purchase commitments, or other action pursuant to section 303 of the Act are the most cost effective, expedient, and practical alternative method for meeting the need.

“Action to expand the domestic production capability for electric heat pumps is necessary to avert an industrial resource or critical technology item shortfall that would severely impair national defense capability.”  -- Memorandum on Presidential Determination Pursuant to Section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended, on Electric Heat Pumps.

The Presidential Determination follows a public campaign to persuade President Biden to invoke the Defense Production Act to produce heat pumps to reduce European dependence on – and payments for -- Russian natural gas that is helping pay for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The June issue of Making a Living on a Living Planet published a letter and petition from 11-year-old activist Lillian Fortuna asking Biden to “immediately invoke the Defense Production Act to get American manufacturers to start producing electric heat pumps in quantity, so we can ship them to Europe where they can be installed in time to dramatically lessen Putin’s power.” She cited an article by Bill McKibben laying out how the Defense Production Act could be used to expand heat pump production to compensate for natural gas shortages and price increases in Europe, the US, and worldwide.  

A child has led them – to produce climate-saving heat pumps!

Read Bill McKibben’s “Heat Pumps for Peace and Freedom” here.

Image Source: dizain- stock.adobe.com

The faculty and graduate worker union at Rutgers University has stepped out to oppose a plan to haul liquified fracked gas across southern New Jersey. The Star-Ledger has just published an op ed by two union leaders explaining why:

A proposal to transport liquified fracked gas on trains and in trucks through densely populated Camden, Philadelphia and southern New Jersey threatens enormous harm across the region. As Rutgers-Camden faculty, we stand with Camden residents and community groups in opposing this dangerous and potentially catastrophic proposal.

Our faculty and graduate worker union at Rutgers believes in “bargaining for the common good”; a labor strategy that builds community-union partnerships to achieve a more equitable and sustainable future. As this project demonstrates, our lives and well-being are deeply interconnected. We are stronger when we organize together with our partners against threats to our communities, our environment, and our collective future. We must work together to make our communities safer and more sustainable. Opposing the transport of LNG is one way to address these concerns, given the risks of the proposed plan and the carbon emissions associated with LNG.

The opinion piece was written by Jovanna Rosen, assistant professor of Public Policy at Rutgers-Camden and a member of the Rutgers AAUP-AFT Climate Justice Committee and Jim Brown, associate professor of English at Rutgers-Camden and president of the Camden Chapter of Rutgers-AAUP-AFT.

Image Source: Oleksandr- stock.adobe.com

On May 31, autoworkers and teachers rallied in Washington, DC to call on states, local governments, and school districts around the country to electrify the nation’s school bus fleet with union-built, climate-safe, pollution-free electric school buses.

AFT President Randi Weingarten called the rollout a “win-win-win” for children’s health, for the climate and for the economy. “We need to make sure these electric buses are made in America at unionized factories. We need to ensure that students and drivers are protected from environmental hazards. We need to address the climate crisis.”

UAW President Ray Curry said he wants to see electric buses not only in a handful of cities but in every school district in the country—for “a future that all of us can thrive in.” The workers who build these vehicles need a voice on the job, he said, so that each bus will be built to union standards. 

The UAW represents workers at two of the largest bus manufacturers in the nation, Thomas Built in North Carolina and IC Bus in Oklahoma. As a result of the federal infrastructure bill, Thomas Built and IC Bus plan on significantly increasing their hiring to meet the demand for electric school buses. Thomas Built Buses, for example, will supply hundreds of electric school buses to Montgomery County, MD, which will provide the largest single deployment of electric school buses in North America.

You can rewatch the AFT-UAW press conference and rally here.

Image Source: only_kim- stock.adobe.com

The Rhode Island legislature has just required that 100 percent of electricity sold in the state comes from renewable sources such as wind and solar by 2033. That’s sooner than any other state in the country.

 According to the Boston Globe, “Labor and environmental groups have joined together in the Climate Jobs Rhode Island coalition” which is advocating for a “just transition to a pro-worker and pro-climate green economy” in Rhode Island. 

Patrick Crowley, secretary-treasurer of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO and Co-Chair of Climate Jobs Rhode Island said,

 We’re hoping that by demonstrating that the labor movement and the environmental movement can work together, that other states—my sister and brother labor organizations across the country—can look at this as an example for how to get things done in a big way.

“If we continue down this path, we will show the labor and environmental communities across the country that this is how it’s done,” Crowley said. “If you want to get it done, you do it the Rhode Island way.”

Image Source: Rawpixel.com- stock.adobe.com

Local initiatives around the country are advancing the goals of the Green New Deal and Build Back Better. A good example is the Bridgeport Carbon Free & Healthy Schools campaign. The campaign was launched May 14 at Bridgeport Public Schools’ Volunteer Day, where members of the building trades, teachers, parents, and students worked to make improvements to a Bridgeport school.

An opinion article in the Connecticut Post by Bridgeport superintendent of schools Michael Testani explained why these groups have joined to fight for Carbon Free and Healthy Schools:

The climate crisis and extreme weather events contribute directly to the well-being of our faculty, staff and students. We’ve seen the impact of the climate crisis on Bridgeport when floods from Tropical Storm Irene in 2011 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012 revealed the city’s vulnerabilities and damaged homes, businesses and public school buildings.

We can conduct energy audits and get students involved through an apprenticeship program so they can assist in the modernization of their own schools. We can expand our rooftop solar initiative, build solar carports, install fuel cells, address the battery shortage in some of our schools, upgrade the boiler systems, provide EV charging stations, and invest in small-scale wind demonstration projects.

Not only are these projects good for the environment, they are good for the city’s budget. Renewable energy and energy efficiency projects will save the city and the district money that can be reinvested in after-school and summer programs, in addition to the recruitment and hiring of highly qualified teachers.

Image Source: redgreystock- stock.adobe.com

The Supreme Court has just overruled the fifty-year-old Roe v. Wade decision that protected women’s reproductive rights. In anticipation of the decision, unions joined women’s, civil rights and liberties, and many other groups to decry the threat to women’s healthcare and their right to control their own bodies and lives:

AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler: “Access to health care without fear and intimidation is every person’s right. We must be able to control our own bodies — which has a direct impact on economic justice and the ability of working people to make a better life for themselves and their families.”

Association of Flight Attendants-CWA President Sara Nelson: The draft opinion is “not just a radical assault on our rights and settled law, it is an attack against the majority of this country and the ideals upon which it was founded.” The Constitutional right affirmed by the court in 1973 to safe access and the legal right to an abortion was “transformational for women’s rights and our jobs.”

United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew: “We are outraged at the Supreme Court’s apparent decision to overturn precedence on women’s constitutional right to health care, privacy and safe abortion. Our history as union members reminds us that every right and benefit is hard fought and only maintained through continued struggle. The constitutional right to privacy regarding reproductive health is in peril. If our highest court takes that right away, we must fight for legislation to guarantee it.”

New York Nurses Association: “The draft opinion leaked on May 2 from the Supreme Court would undermine Roe V. Wade and decades of reproductive rights for women in the U.S. As nurses and healthcare professionals, we affirm women’s right to healthcare and full reproductive healthcare services, including abortion.”

International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees: The proposed decision would be “one of the worst contractions of freedoms in modern US history” that  “would directly harm the welfare of our union sisters and kin.”

Writers Guild of America West: “Women’s rights are human rights, and any laws that ban or limit a woman’s right to choose are dangerous and set a precedent for further erosion of our collective civil rights. We call on our employers to consider the laws of each state when choosing production locations to ensure that our members will never be denied full access to reproductive healthcare.”

Coalition of Labor Union Women President Elise Bryant: “The Supreme Court’s draft opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade is an outrage and an affront to the opinion of the majority of Americans who support a woman’s right to reproductive freedom including a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy.

Coalition of Black Trade Unionists: The CBTU unequivocally condemns any court ruling anywhere that strikes down Roe v. Wade, and we will do everything in our power to defend the reproductive rights of women.”

For more, check out ‘Labor Must Defend the Rights of Women’: Unions Blast SCOTUS Draft Opinion Ending Federal Right to Access Abortion'

For a documentary on the history of the struggle over the right to abortion and contraception written by Jeremy Brecher, editor of Making a Living on a Living Planet, see The Roots of Roe here.

 He has assisted with leadership transitions and facilitated the creation of and strengthening of coalitions and networks.

Jim also served as Interim Executive Director for four organizations, Earthworks, PennFuture, US Climate Action Network, and the Nevada Wilderness Project, as they transitioned from a long time director to a new permanent director. And he has assisted in Executive Director evaluations and searches for new Executive Directors and other senior staff for several groups. 

Jim was the founding Executive Director of the Environmental Support Center, an organization that provided capacity building assistance to over 2,500 regional, state and local environmental and environmental justice groups in North America. Sixteen years of experience as Executive Director of a national organization has given him a strong background in creating strategies that enable adaptation to changing circumstances. 

Since leaving ESC, his consulting clients have included national, regional, state and local groups working on a variety of environmental and conservation issues in the United States and other countries and several private foundations that support those groups.

 where she helped lead the creation of the Partnership for the Future of Learning, a network of educators, organizers, advocates, union leaders, scholars, and funders working together to protect and strengthen public schools for all students. 

Previously, she served as the vice president for development at the League of Conservation Voters and as the development director of the Campaign for America's Future where she helped launch the Apollo Alliance. She has consulted for a variety of progressive organizations including the Environmental Support Group under the leadership of Jim Abernathy. On the weekends, Terri teaches yoga for the Willow Street Yoga studio in her home community of Takoma Park.

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: