EcoUnionist News #106

Compiled by x344543 - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, May 31, 2016

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

Lead Stories:

• Niger Delta Avengers militants shut down Chevron oil facility - By Ruth Maclean, The Guardian, May 26, 2016; [related] Who are the Niger Delta Avengers? Deep Sea Divers, Sophisticated Explosives, and Sabotage - By staff, Earth First! Newswire, May 26, 2016; [and]: Local leaders supporting militants attacking Nigerian oil production - By Associated Press, FuelFix, May 27, 2016
• The Oil World in Chaos - By Michael Klare, Tom Dispatch, May 26, 2016
• American Unions Form Alliance to Prevent Climate Disaster and Promote Prosperity - By Joe Uehlein and Jeremy Brecher, Labor Network for Sustainability, May 24, 2016
• Leading US union SEIU makes fighting climate change a campaign priority - By Jana Kasperkevic and Oliver Milman, The Guardian, May 24, 2016
• Progressive Nonprofits That Oppose the New Overtime Rules for Low-Income Workers Are Hypocrites - By Ethan Miller, In These Times, May 23, 2016
• Why the Environmental Movement Is Not Winning - By Peter Montague, Huffington Post, (updated) May 23, 2016

Ongoing Mobilizations:

• Convergence In Support of Eco-Prisoners & Against Toxic Prisons - June 11-13, 2016
• Flush the TPP - Ongoing through 2016 | #FlushtheTPP
• March for a Clean Energy Revolution - July 24, 2016, Philadelphia | #CleanEnergyMarch
• TWAC Cascadia 2016 - August 8th-15th 2016

The Thin Green Line:

• Dangling from a trestle, protesters provoke police - By Elizabeth Floyd Mair, Hudson Valley Earth First!, May 26, 2016
• Supporters of shipping coal through Oakland say it will bring jobs [in fact there will likely be more jobs if coal isn't shipped through Oakland; see No Coal in Oakland's analysis for details] - By Erin Baldassari, East Bay Times, May 24, 2016
• Fracking Comes to the UK for First Time in Five Years Despite Concerns Over Gas Leaks and Safety Breaches - By Victoria Seabrook, DeSmog UK, May 23, 2016 
  

Just Transition:

• Is the real rich v poor climate battle about to start? - By Ed King, Climate Change News, May 27, 2016
• Environmental groups should come to the aid of coal country - By Pete Maysmith, Grand Junction Sentinel, May 22, 2016
• Electrify the Rail System for a Just Transition From Fossil Fuels - By Patrick Mazza and Bill Moyer, Truthout, May 12, 2016

Bread and Roses:

• Food sovereignty and climate change - By La Via Campesina, Climate and Capitalism, May 28, 2016
• United Church of Christ, representing one million followers, endorses Wendy’s boycott! - By staff, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, May 27, 2016
• Insurgency, conflict and communalism in Colombia - By José Antonio Gutiérrez D. and Janet Biehl, ROARmag, May 26, 2016
• ZIMSOFF and Ucama farmers join hands to fight for farmer saved seeds - By staff, La Via Campesina, May 26, 2016
• “As people of faith… we pledge to join the boycott of Wendy’s until Wendy’s commits to justice for the workers that make your profits possible.” - By staff, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, May 25, 2016
• From the Green Revolution to GMOs: Living in the Shadow of Global Agribusiness - By Colin Todhunter, Counterpunch, May 25, 2016
• Kazakhstan: land protesters face police rampage - By Andrei Grishin, People and Nature, May 25, 2016
• Poultry Industry “Sustainability Workshop” Shuts Door to Farmers, Workers, Consumers, Animal Rights Groups - By Jean Willoughby, Rural Advancement Foundation International, May 25, 2016
• Publication: Farm Succession in Romania - By staff, La Via Campesina, May 25, 2016
• Revolt of the ‘Chapulines’: After Strike, Indigenous Mexican Farmworkers Vote To Unionize - By David Bacon, In These Times, May 25, 2016
• Bayer and Monsanto: A Marriage Made in Hell - By Martha Rosenberg and Ronnie Cummins, Organic Consumers Association, May 24, 2016; [related]: Bayer ‘Confident’ It Can Still Strike Deal with Monsanto, Merger Could Spell Disaster for Farmers and Global Food Supply - By Lorraine Chow, EcoWatch, May 26, 2016; [and] Small Farmers Are Foundation to Food Security, Not Corporations Like Monsanto - By Dr. Vandana Shiva, EcoWatch, May 23, 2016
• Bold, fruity, with a hint of RoundUp... - By Christian Kallen, Sonoma Index-Tribune, May 23, 2016
• Unions join the fight to ban glyphosate in the European Union - By staff, European Trade Union Institute, May 23, 2016
• Toxic ‘red tide’ in Chile prompts investigation of salmon farms - By Jonathan Franklin, The Guardian, May 17, 2016

An Injury to One is an Injury to All:

• MCC delay report on fatal accident - By staff, Post Courier, May 27, 2016
• New Study Reveals Just How Brutal Meat and Poultry Work Is for Workers - By Elizabeth Grossman, In These Times, May 26, 2016; [related]: Slaughterhouse injuries are being hidden from regulators - By Grant Gerlock, Net Nebraska, May 25, 2016; [and]: Meat And Poultry Workers Are Forced To Sacrifice Their Health Just To Do Their Jobs - By Esther Yu-Hsi Lee, Think Progress, May 26, 2016; [also]: The hidden horrors in poultry plants - By Dorian Bon, Socialist Worker, May 26, 2016
• Revamped chemical safety law gives EPA more power - By Elizabeth Shogren, High Country News, May 26, 2016; [related]: House Passes Zika Bill That Won’t Fight The Virus But May Put More Pesticides In Your Water - By Natasha Geiling, Think Progress, May 25, 2016; [and]: Will Congress End the Era of Unlimited, Untested Chemicals and Reform TSCA? - By Elizabeth Thompson, EcoWatch, May 24, 2016
• Minimizing Worker Safety Risks in the Wind Energy Industry - By William Steel, Renewable Energy World, May 25, 2016
• Federal Asbestos Ban is Long Overdue - By Diane Beckett, Sierra Club Canada, May 24, 2016
• Pit collapse at jade mine in Myanmar leaves at least 13 dead - By Cecilia Jamasmie, Mining.Com, May 24, 2016
• Victim name released in Calumet incident - By staff, Shreveport Times, May 24, 2016
• Sweatshop Free: An Intersectional Feminist Fight -  By staff, People & Planet's Grassroots Blog, May 23, 2016
• Stop the Injustice Against Victims of McIntyre Powder, Says Steelworkers Director Marty Warren -  By United Steelworkers, CNW, May 18, 2016
• Meet the Abusive 'World's Largest Company' You've Never Heard Of -  By Jim Hightower, AlterNet, May 17, 2016

Whistleblowers:

• Court ends cormorant slaughter in all eastern states - By Kirsten Stade, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, May 26, 2016
• Fired BNSF whistle-blower awarded $1.6 million by jury - By Hal Bernton, Seattle Times, May 26, 2016
• New safeguards for fracking fluid discharge - By Kirsten Stade, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, May 26, 2016
• School Bus Company First Student to pay $11.5 million to settle SF school-bus lawsuit after driver health and safety whistleblowers sued -  By Jill Tucker, San Francisco Chronicle, May 25, 2016
• Stream restorations flow from Tennessee lawsuit settlement - By Kirsten Stade, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, May 24, 2016

Wobbles:

• Huge protest at Sheffield Barclays branch over investments in fracking project approved by Council - By Peter Nolan and David Burghly, People & Planet's Grassroots Blog, May 28, 2016
• University of Massachusetts Divests From Fossil Fuels - By UMass Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign, Earth First! Newswire, May 28, 2016
• Lessons learned on the road to breaking free - By Duncan Meisel, 350.org, May 27, 2016
• Why we occupied Leeds University today - By staff, People & Planet's Grassroots Blog, May 26, 2016
• Here and no further, mass action against coal - By staff, New Internationalist, May 24, 2016
• Kinross Gold workers strike at Tasiast mine in Mauritania, shares plummet - By Cecilia Jamasmie, Mining.Com, May 24, 2016
• 'Everyday There's Resistance': Peaceful Pipeline Protesters Arrested in NY - By Nika Knight, Common Dreams, May 22, 2016
• Argentine Workers Call for General Strike Against Macri - By staff, Telesur, May 21, 2016

Other News:

• More Than 8.1 Million Working For Global Renewable Energy Industry - By Joshua S Hill, Clean Technica, May 26, 2016; [related]: IRENA Reports 5% Growth in Renewable Jobs - By Roy L Hales, The EcoReport, May 25, 2016; [and]: Renewables employed 8.1m people in 2015, led by 11% increase in solar jobs - By Sophie Vorrath, REnew Economy, May 25, 2016; [also]: Global clean energy employment rose 5% in 2015, figures show - By Damian Carrington, The Guardian, May 25, 2016; [furthermore]: Worldwide Jobs in Renewable Energy Surge to 8.1 Million. Where Does Canada Fit in? - By Judith Lavoie, DeSmog Canada, May 25, 2016
• The Socialist Revolution Beyond Sanders and the Democratic Party - By Dan Arel, Counterpunch, May 25, 2016
• Is Sustainability Only for the Privileged? - By Lucie Bardos, DeGrowth, May 23, 2016
• Portland Public Schools Ban Educational Materials Denying Climate Change - By Rachel Dicker, U.S. News & World Report, May 20, 2016; [related]: Portland Public Schools bans material that casts doubt on climate change - By Eder Campuzano, The Oregonian, May 21, 2016; [and]: Portland school board bans climate change-denying materials - By Shasta Kearns Moore, Portland Tribune, May 19, 2016
• The Ex-Anarchist Construction Worker Who Became a World-Renowned Scientist - By Daniel Gumbiner, The Atlantic, May 19, 2016

For more green news, please visit our news feeds section on ecology.iww.org; Twitter #IWWEUC; Hashtags: #greenunionism #greensyndicalism #IWW. Please send suggested news items to include in this series to euc [at] iww.org.

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.