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EcoWobbles - EcoUnionist News #123

Compiled by x344543 - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, October 12, 2016

News of interest to green unionists:

BART to pay $300,000 in wrongful death suit for worker killed in 2013 - Erin Baldassari, Bay Area News Group, October 5, 2016 - Union Busting BART management and board to pay $300,000 in wrongful death suit for scab worker killed in 2013.

Bulgaria coal miners stay underground to protest layoffs, delayed salaries - By Cecilia Jamasmie, Mining.Com, October 12, 2016 - More than 100 Bulgarian coal miners are refusing to come up to the surface from a mine located in the southwest of the country, in an attempt to renegotiate conditions of their planned layoffs and delayed salaries.

Drilling through danger: Worker safety is compromised when a drilling site turns into a web of subcontractors - By Monte Whaley and John Ingold, Denver Post, September 25-28, 2016

Hawaii solar sector on the 'brink of collapse' as employment dips 42% - By Robert Walton, Utility Dive, October 7, 2016 [and] Solar workforce in isles declines 42 percent - By Kathryn Mykleseth, Honolulu Star Advertiser, October 6, 2016 - Hawaii's solar industry appears to be in trouble, with employment in the sector taking a hit since the end of net retail rate net metering and the state's largest utility reaching the capacity cap on a popular successor program. According to the Hawaii Solar Energy Association (HSEA), there are more than two dozen solar companies operating and almost all have cut jobs since the state lowered remuneration rates last year. The sector has lost about 450 jobs, with total employment now just above 600.

How D.C. Drivers Put the Brakes on Unsafe Buses - By Samantha Winslow, Labor Notes, October 6, 2016 - How can you force city leaders to confront the effects of privatization? Subcontracted bus drivers in Washington, D.C., did it through their contract campaign.

New website on carcinogens at work - By staff, European Trade Union Institute, October 10, 2016 - People interested in the issue of workers' exposure to carcinogens can find useful information and resources on www.roadmaponcarcinogens.eu. This website was developed as part of the European "Roadmap on Carcinogens" campaign, a joint initiative by the EU Council presidencies of 2016 (Netherlands) and 2018 (Austria), the European Commission, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work and the European social partners (the European Trade Union Confederation and BusinessEurope).

No Fines, No Follow-Up After Massive Explosion At Wyoming Natural Gas Plant - By Stephanie Joyce, Wyoming Public Radio, October 5, 2016 - In 2014, a massive explosion tore through the Williams natural gas processing plant in Opal. It forced the evacuation of the southwestern Wyoming town and caused a spike in the price of natural gas. Wyoming’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration conducted an investigation in the aftermath and found a number of safety violations. But the agency never collected the corresponding fines and never released a final report about the investigation.

"Our rights, our needs, our identities have been defined on behalf of us, but not by us", Tanmay Joshi, a young farmer from India - By staff, La Via Campesina, October 6, 2016 - At the recently concluded Global Consultation on Farmers' Rights in Bali, organsied by the Ministry of Indonesia with the support of the Ministry of Norway and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), Tanmay Joshi, a young farmer from the state of Maharshtra in India spoke passionately. Here is the full text of this speech.

Pet coke transport workers vote to join ILWU - By staff, ILWU, October 7, 2016 - JBA Transport workers who haul petroleum coke from California oil refineries to storage facilities and docks voted overwhelmingly to join the ILWU on September 1.

6 years after Deepwater Horizon oil spill, thousands of people are still sick - By Linda Marsa, Newsweek, October 10, 2016 - The oil spill, the worst in maritime history, dumped 4.2 million barrels of oil, and officials released 1.8 million gallons of Corexit, a chemical dispersant used to break up the oil, into the Gulf before the well was sealed. Six years later, controversy still rages about the wisdom of carpet-bombing the Gulf with these chemicals, and newly released documents reveal that government scientists expressed concern at the time about the health consequences of mixing such large quantities of dispersants with the millions of barrels of sweet crude. Occupational health experts now believe it created a toxic mix that sickened thousands of locals—including some of the 47,000 people that worked in some capacity on BP’s cleanup operation—crippling them with chemically induced illnesses that doctors are unable to treat.

Trans-Pacific Partnership: WA Unions, Greens protest as senate inquiry hearings held in Perth - By staff, Perth Now, October 5, 2016 - With public hearings held in Perth by the senate inquiry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, protests opposing the deal have rallied on. The Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network, UnionsWA and The Greens voiced their opposition on Wednesday outside state parliament.

Work stoppage ends at 20-MW Lower Modi Khola hydropower facility - By Gregory B. Poindexter, Renewable Energy World, October 5, 2016 - Construction resumed Oct. 4 on tunnel works after a brief work stoppage that began on Sept. 28 at the 20-MW Lower Modi Khola run-of-river hydropower facility.

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