EcoUnionist News #28

Compiled by x344543 - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, February 5, 2015

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are not the official position of the IWW (or even the IWW’s EUC) and do not necessarily represent the views of anyone but the author’s.

The following news items feature issues, discussions, campaigns, or information potentially relevant to green unionists:

Lead Story:

• Register now for the Future of Railroads: Safety, Workers, Community & the Environment Conferences: Richmond, California (March 14, 2015) and Olympia, Washington (March 22, 2015) - railroadconference.org

USW Refinery Workers Strike News:

• Greens get behind striking oil workers - By John Light, Grist, February 3, 2015
• In Stand for People and Planet Over Profit, Green Groups Back Oil Worker Strike - By Lauren McCauley, Common Dreams, February 3, 2015
• Local Union President Says National Oil Refinery Strike Isn’t About Wages, It's About Safety - By Sydney Brownstone, The Stranger, February 2, 2015 [USW video]
• Martinez: Tesoro refinery among nine plants where strikes planned - By George Avalos and Rick Hurd, Bay Area News Group / San Jose Mercury News, February 2, 2015
• Refinery workers in Martinez, elsewhere go on strike - By Michael Cabanatuan, San Francisco Chronicle, February 1, 2015
• Solidarity with Striking Refinery Workers - By David Turnbull, Oil Change International, February 2, 2015
• Strike negotiators back at the table Tuesday night - By LM Sixel, FuelFix, February 3, 2015
• Tesoro Refinery workers strike over work conditions, contract - By Laura Anthony, KGO ABC 7, February 2, 2015
• Tough talk from Shell, union as refinery pay talks resume - By Erwin Seba, Reuters, February 3, 2015
• United Steelworkers stage downtown Houston protest at LyondellBasell HQ - By LM Sixel, FuelFix, February 3, 2015
• For bargaining updates call 888-429-4217

Crude by Rail:

• Safety Board Says Transport Canada Must Do More To Keep Railways Safe - By John Kristensen, Railroaded, February 2, 2015

Carbon Bubble:

• Drilling contractor may cut 2,000 jobs - By Jennifer Hiller, FuelFix, January 30, 2015
• Economist: A short-term ‘bloodbath’ in oil and gas; More layoffs - By Jennifer Hiller, Collin Eaton and Ryan Holeywel, FuelFix, February 2, 2015
• More oil jobs threatened as cheap crude persists - By Ryan Holeywell, FuelFix, February 2, 2015
• Oil rig count falls by 94 in biggest drop since 1987 - By Collin Eaton, FuelFix, January 30, 2015
• Russian pipe maker OAO TMK laying off at Pennsylvania plants - Associated Press, FuelFix, February 2, 2015

Green Jobs and Just Transition:

• Greenwire: Groups pressure Congress to invest in passenger rail, transit infrastructure - Environmental Law & Policy Center, January 30, 2015 [related] Report: Long-term Federal Funding Needed in Passenger and Transit Rail Projects - By Anika Reed and Jasmine Whittington, Capital News Service, January 30, 2015
• MACED statement on announcement of President Obama’s proposed budget plan to aid Central Appalachian communities - By Ivy Brashear, Renew Appalachia, February 2, 2015
• New Report Showcases America’s Rail, Transit Manufacturing Opportunity - By the Blue-Green Alliance, Mass Transit Magazine, February 1, 2015

Other News of Interest:

• Crossing the River of Fire: The liberal attack on Naomi Klein and ‘This Changes Everything’ - By John Bellamy Foster and Brett Clark, Monthly Review, February 2015
• EPA should strengthen the standards for clean air - By Heather Albright, Sacramento Bee, January 31, 2015
• In an Age of Soulless Mass Production, the Artisan Craft Worker Still Lives On - By W. Rand Smith, In These Times, February 2, 2015
• Nuclear power plant’s security changes mixed one year after ‘unusual’ death - By Joe Jordan, Nebraska Watchdog, February 2, 2015
• Review: Another Politics by Chris Dixon - By Alexander Reid Ross, Earth First! Newswire, February 1, 2015
• UWAC: More than 5500 trees uprooted in one month! - La Via Campesina, February 2, 2015

For more green news, please visit our news feeds section on ecology.iww.org; Twitter #IWWEUC