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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:

  1. 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
  2. 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;
  3. 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:

  1. Event: Anti-Chevron Day: From Richmond to Palestine - a Community Gathering for Global Solidarity - https://actionnetwork.org/events/anti-chevron-day-richmond-2024
  2. Background: Join World-Wide Anti-Chevron Day, May 19 - https://www.sunflower-alliance.org/join-world-wide-anti-chevron-day-may-19/
  3. Labor Rise will have a table at this event
  4. Background: Climate Justice Groups Confront Chevron on San Francisco Bay - https://insideclimatenews.org/news/06052024/san-francisco-bay-kayaktivists-confront-chevron/

East Palestine Ohio:

  1. 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;
  2. The coalition’s website is here: https://www.eastpalestinejustice.com/
  3. 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:

  1. They’re now calling themselves the “Bird Union” and their website is https://www.birdunion.org/
  2. 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):

  1. California Labor for Climate Jobs - https://calaborforclimatejobs.org/
  2. IWW Eco Union Caucus - https://ecology.iww.org
  3. Labor Network for Sustainability (LNS) - https://www.labor4sustainability.org/
  4. Labor Rise - https://laborrise.org/
  5. 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.

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