EcoUnionist News #38

Compiled by x344543 - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, February 26, 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 Stories:

• Register now for the Future of Railroads: Safety, Workers, Community & the Environment Conferences: Richmond, California (March 14, 2015) and Olympia, Washington (March 21, 2015) - railroadconference.org
• OSHA Whistleblower Investigator Blows Whistle on Own Agency; Employee says the federal whistleblower program isn’t protecting whistleblowers or the public - By Vicky Nguyen, Liz Wagner and Felipe Escamilla, NBC Bay Area, February 24, 2015

USW Refinery Workers Strike News:

• Flare-up roars at BP Whiting Refinery - By Joseph S. Pete, NWI.com, February 23, 2015
• On strike against the next "accident" - By Ragina Johnson, David Judd and Elizabeth Schulte, Socialist Worker, February 24, 2015
• Some contractors (unionized) not so bad, Steelworkers say - By LM Sixel, FuelFix, February 25, 2015
• Steelworkers union, Occupy Wall Street dump manure at ExxonMobil Torrance refinery - Staff, Daily Breeze, February 22, 2015
• Strike at U.S. Refineries Widens; Workers Walk Out of Three More Facilities - By Erin Ailworth and Alison Sider, Wall Street Journal, February 22, 2015
• Union chief says U.S. refinery strike could spread - By Erwin Seba, Reuters, February 24, 2015
• Union is striking for safety, Steelworkers’ international head says - By LM Sixel, FuelFix, February 24, 2015

1267-Watch:

• Bill to regulate vans and shuttles for railroad crews draws fans and foes - By Cathy McKitrick, Ogden Standard-Examiner, February 23, 2015
• Canada: Oil train accident shows new safety rules inadequate - Associated Press, February 23, 20155
• CN derailment shows new safety standards inadequate, watchdog says - By Paola Loriggio, The Globe and Mail, February 23, 2015
• Report Predicting 10 Oil-train Derailments Per Year Underscores Need for Immediate Moratorium on Crude-by-rail; Dangerous Trains Risk Hundreds of Deaths, $4 Billion in Damages Annually - By Jared Margolis, Center for Biological Diversity, February 23, 2015
• Unifor reaches late-night deal with CN - By Ella Bedard, Rabble.ca, February 24, 2015
• Why bitumen isn’t necessarily safer than Bakken - By David Thomas, Railway Age, February 23, 2015

Carbon Bubble:

• Labor negotiations at a standstill at Bruce Mansfield power plant - By Sam Kusic, Pittsburgh Business Times, February 24, 2015
• Oil Giant Shell Shelves Dirty Tar Sands Mine - By Andy Rowell, Oil Change International, February 24, 2015
• Is Oil Returning To $100 Or Dropping To $10? - By Martin Tillier, OilPrice.com, February 22, 2015
• Shell pulls plug on long-delayed Alberta oil sands mine - By Jeff Lewis, The Globe and Mail, February 23, 2015
• Shell Withdraws From Largest Tar Sands Project Yet - By Ari Phillips, Think Progress, February 25, 2015
• Texas oil tool companies cutting more than 1,100 jobs - By Collin Eaton, FuelFix, February 23, 2015

Green Jobs and Just Transition:

• Labour and Nature: Power in Numbers - By Tegan Tallullah, Post Growth Institute, February 24, 2015

Other News:

• Climate Strike! - By Sean Farmelo, Slaney St, January 18, 2015
• Flood Wall Street goes on trial - #Flood11 Collective Statement, February 24, 2015
• Government Documents Reveal Canadian Embassy Backed Mining Abuses in Mexico - By United Steelworkers Union and Mining Watch Canada, Mining Watch Canada, February 25, 2015; [related]: Community Responds to Report Revealing Complicity between Canadian Embassy in Excellon Violations against La Sierrita - By Ejido La Sierrita de Galeana, Tlahualilo, Durango, Mining Watch Canada, February 25, 2015
• Palisades Nuclear Power Plant denies wage lawsuit claims - By Jim Hayden, Holland Sentinel, February 24, 2015
• The Paris climate talks and the failure of states - By Gabriel Levy, People and Nature, February 25, 2015

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