You are here
Bay Area and California Green Unionism Report: May 2024
By x344543 - IWW Eco Union Caucus, May 20, 2024
This report, unfortunately, does not cover the numerous and growing student occupations of university campuses in support of Palestine (or the support from unions and strike votes by unionized campus workers), because they’re simply too many to comprehensively mention here, but these are not unrelated to green unionism. A detailed report may be forthcoming in the future. Watch this space for more details.
World Resources Institute (WRI) Just Transition Framework:
- World Resources Institute has produced a very thorough and well written article on just transition for refinery workers: In a Clean Energy Future, What Happens to California’s Thousands of Oil Refinery Workers? - https://www.wri.org/insights/ca-oil-refineries-just-transition
- They recently presented their findings at a recent meeting of the Richmond Refinery Transition Working Group and announced their intent to conduct ongoing research with the intent of developing a set of policy recommendations for the state, for affected unions, communities, and environmental organizations;
- Their recommendations will incorporate previous studies by the UC Labor Center (including Putting California on the High Road: a Jobs and Climate Action Plan for 2030 - https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/putting-california-on-the-high-road-a-jobs-and-climate-action-plan-for-2030/ and Fossil fuel layoff: The economic and employment effects of a refinery closure on workers in the Bay Area - https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/fossil-fuel-layoff/), PERI (including especially the California Climate Jobs Plan, aka “The Pollin Report” - https://www.californiaclimatejobsplan.com/), and Labor Network for Sustainability - https://www.labor4sustainability.org/)
Protecting SB 1137 (the Oil Well Setbacks Law)
SEIU 1021 has published a web page in support of it - https://www.seiu1021.org/article/fall-vote-yes-keep-oil-wells-out-your-neighborhoods
Anti-Chevron Day: Sunday, May 19, Noon- 4 PM, Unity Park, 1605 Ohio Ave, Richmond, CA:
- Event: Anti-Chevron Day: From Richmond to Palestine - a Community Gathering for Global Solidarity - https://actionnetwork.org/events/anti-chevron-day-richmond-2024
- Background: Join World-Wide Anti-Chevron Day, May 19 - https://www.sunflower-alliance.org/join-world-wide-anti-chevron-day-may-19/
- Labor Rise will have a table at this event
- Background: Climate Justice Groups Confront Chevron on San Francisco Bay - https://insideclimatenews.org/news/06052024/san-francisco-bay-kayaktivists-confront-chevron/
East Palestine Ohio:
- A new coalition of union members and environmental activists has formed in East Palestine, Ohio, in the wake of the Northfolk Southern derailment last year; this coalition is being assisted by members of Railroad Workers United and Bay Area labor activists;
- The coalition’s website is here: https://www.eastpalestinejustice.com/
- For more details and news, see the articles compiled here: East Palestine
Of Note - staff employees at the Audubon Society have organized a union and are in a running dispute with management:
- They’re now calling themselves the “Bird Union” and their website is https://www.birdunion.org/
- Background: Bird Union Workers Tell Audubon Union Busting Won't Fly - https://inthesetimes.com/article/bird-union-workers-audubon-union-busting-contract-negotiations
Web links - stay abreast of these developments by routinely checking the following sites (in addition to those previously mentioned):
- California Labor for Climate Jobs - https://calaborforclimatejobs.org/
- IWW Eco Union Caucus - https://ecology.iww.org
- Labor Network for Sustainability (LNS) - https://www.labor4sustainability.org/
- Labor Rise - https://laborrise.org/
- Railroad Workers United - https://www.railroadworkersunited.org/ (recently upgraded)
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.
The Fine Print I:
Disclaimer: The views expressed on this site are not the official position of the IWW (or even the IWW’s EUC) unless otherwise indicated and do not necessarily represent the views of anyone but the author’s, nor should it be assumed that any of these authors automatically support the IWW or endorse any of its positions.
Further: the inclusion of a link on our site (other than the link to the main IWW site) does not imply endorsement by or an alliance with the IWW. These sites have been chosen by our members due to their perceived relevance to the IWW EUC and are included here for informational purposes only. If you have any suggestions or comments on any of the links included (or not included) above, please contact us.
The Fine Print II:
Fair Use Notice: The material on this site is provided for educational and informational purposes. It may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. It is being made available in an effort to advance the understanding of scientific, environmental, economic, social justice and human rights issues etc.
It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have an interest in using the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. The information on this site does not constitute legal or technical advice.