Richmond IWW Stands in Solidarity with Virginia Pipeline Resisters

By Joe Sabo - Richmond IWW, March 12, 2018

The Richmond General Membership Branch (GMB) of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) Stands in Solidarity with Resistance to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and Mountain Valley Pipeline and the Movement for Environmental Justice.

Whereas: Dominion Energy, EQT Midstream Partners, and their corporate and banking partners are guilty of and complicit in surveying without consent, property rights loss, decline in property values, construction of over-sized extreme-pressure pipelines on unstable terrain, water contamination, forest fragmentation, endangerment of at-risk species, harm to the natural resources relied upon by the working class, insufficient emergency preparedness, and the jeopardization of the cultural and natural history of the Commonwealth of Virginia in their efforts to construct the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) and the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP); and

Whereas: The coal, oil, and gas industry, and many other unsustainable industries, sacrifice the health and safety of the working class and poor communities, especially many indigenous communities and communities of color. These communities are subject to environmental racism and classism and are often ignored and violated during the permitting process of such projects; and

Whereas: These communities often are forced to defend themselves with direct action which puts them at greater risk of violence and incarceration from the state and private security; and

Whereas: Contrary to the woefully inadequate assessments of greenhouse gases emitted by the ACP and MVP made by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the construction of these pipelines will contribute to the acceleration of already dangerous levels of currently existing greenhouse gas emissions which are contributing to the already dangerous effects of climate change, which could lead to a dead planet with no jobs; and

Whereas: Water protectors have supported regulatory and judicial efforts to halt the ACP and MVP but acknowledge that direct action in the form of resistance camps and other tactics will also be needed to shut down construction of the pipelines to protect the water and natural resources such as the rivers, mountain passes, and agricultural areas that the working class in the area depend upon; and

Whereas: Neither the ACP nor the MVP will provide anywhere near the number of permanent union jobs the promoters of these projects promise they will; and

Whereas: More permanent union jobs can be created at union wages by decommissioning oil pipelines and upgrading water pipeline infrastructure, such as in Flint, Michigan. LiUNA and many labor unions currently have jobs working in the renewable energy sector such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric and could organize for a rapid transition of energy production and manufacturing to be safe for the workers, the surrounding communities and the environment. Though these renewable energy jobs are currently, typically non-union, trade unions, if so determined, could easily develop a successful green energy organizing program, using solidarity unionism, which would revitalize the currently struggling labor movement. Far more jobs currently exist in the growing renewable energy sector than in the declining fossil fuel sector. Also, these pipeline projects will not deliver the promised “energy security” or “energy independence” promised by their promoters, including the Building Trades officials among them, and;

Whereas: Many unions, including the IWW, ILWU, ATU, APWU, LiUNA-City Employees Local 236, CWA, UE, SEIU, NNU, Pride at Work, A. Phillip Randolph Institute, the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, the Coalition of Labor Union Women, the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, Labor for Standing Rock, and many members of other Labor organizations have already publicly stated opposition to pipelines; and

Whereas: President Donald Trump’s executive orders that dismantle environmental regulation and ostensibly “clear a path” for the completion of the aforementioned pipelines are contradictory in nature and are designed primarily to divide workers and environmentalists over the false dichotomy of “jobs versus the environment”; and

Whereas: Virginia’s elite leadership, notably former Governor Terry McAuliffe and current Governor Ralph Northam, as well as a large majority of Dominion-funded legislators in Richmond, many of whom are so-called “environmentally friendly” Democrats, have repeatedly ignored the wishes of the People of the Commonwealth of Virginia to enact and enforce legislation that curbs the destructive actions of Dominion Energy; now, therefore be it

Resolved, that the Richmond GMB of the IWW:

1. reaffirms the IWW’s opposition to the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Keystone XL Pipeline as well as officially declares its opposition to the construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Mountain Valley Pipeline; and

2. donates $100 to the ACP/MVP resistance camp supply fund and urges our Union’s members, the Labor Movement, and the working class to make Dominion Energy and EQT Midstream Partners struggle for every mile of pipeline, and to pass resolutions like this one, and donate, join, and organize in solidarity with the resistance to ACP and MVP and the movement for environmental justice, locally and abroad; and

3. calls on rank and file members of the Building Trades, Teamsters, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, the Laborers’ International Union of North America, and other unions who have declared support for these pipelines and other unsustainable projects to implement Green Bans and take direct action by striking and/or slowing down in solidarity with the communities resisting the MVP and ACP and other projects that are exploitive of the working class and the planet we inhabit; and

4. calls on the working class, unions, and the unsustainable companies that employ them, including Dominion Energy and EQT Midstream Partners, as well as their financial supporters, such as Virginia-based Union Bank & Trust, to develop and rapidly implement a “Just Transition” plan for workers in unsustainable industries, such as pipeline and oil industry workers, to be trained and given union jobs in the green energy sector; and

5. reaffirms our belief and commitment to revolutionary industrial unionism, environmental justice, and community self-defense with our goal to “organize as a class, take possession of the means of production, abolish the wage system, and live in harmony with the Earth.”

(Credit, with solidarity and gratitude, to fellow workers at Twin Cities IWW for inspiration and common content.)

Please support this campaign:

• https://fundly.com/nopipelinesva
• Venmo: @NoACP
• PayPal: noacpva@gmail.com

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.