As a climate justice organization we know that a just transition from fossil fuels cannot happen without workers and communities. Working class communities are some of the most impacted by the fossil fuel industry’s efforts to destroy and extract every bit that they can from communities.
May Day March. Workers of the World Unite.
Advancing climate justice means that any efforts to solve the climate crisis must also uplift workers as they stand to benefit most from the millions of of jobs that would be created in a just transition to a renewable energy economy. That is why so many workers are at the forefront of the fight for a Green New Deal, a proposal for tackling the climate crisis, which would create millions of good, high-wage jobs and ensure prosperity and economic security for all.
Check out these five awesome worker and union-led efforts to advance a Green New Deal:
- The Executive Board of SEIU local 32BJ, the largest property services union in the US passes a resolution supporting the Green New Deal
- The San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, which is made up of 200,000 working families passes a resolution supporting the Green New Deal
- The Lost Angeles AFL-CIO representing 800,000 workers supports the Green New Deal
- The Executive Board of SEIU Local 509, representing 20,000 human service and educators in Massachusetts, endorses the Green New Deal
- International President of the Association of Flight Attendants, a union representing 50,000 flight attendants, knows that workers like her are feeling the impacts of climate change and they stand to benefit from policies like the Green New Deal.
The Green New Deal needs grassroots support from working class communities in order to shape the transformative projects and policies that the Deal would create. These worker-led initiatives are just the beginning, as millions of more workers join the struggle for a Green New Deal and a thriving renewable energy economy that uplifts working people.
Check out these great resources on labor, the Green New Deal, and economic justice:
Union Resolutions to Support GND
SEIU 32BJ resolution to support GND
San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council Supports GND
Los Angeles AFL CIO Endorses Green New Deal
SIO 509 Executive Board Resolution in Support of GND
Articles
Flight attendants, climate change
Open letter from EJ and CJ orgs on May Day (2017)
How Climate Protection Has Become Today’s Labor Solidarity (2015)
Biggest Union Gains in 2017 Were for Younger Workers (2017)
Portland Clean Energy Initiative – How it prioritized jobs and economic justice
18 Strategies for a Green New Deal (Labor Network for Sustainability)