Updates from California Labor for Climate Jobs

By Veronica Wilson - Labor Network for Sustainability, April 30, 2024

On May 8, 2024, California Labor for Climate Jobs (CLCJ) will rally for a Day of Action at the California state capitol. As legislators head into final days of committee hearings and Governor Gavin Newsom prepares to announce his 2024-2025 State Budget revisions, CLCJ will turn up the volume to voice their pro-worker and pro-climate demands. Now with 15 unions on board, the coalition already has some wins like EV manufacturing block grant programs in the state to prioritize high road employers to enhance labor standards, community benefits and labor peace agreements.

Adding to that momentum, the coalition’s manufacturing, home care, service, education, food and commercial, and public employees unions will link arms to call for climate resilient schools, Cal OSHA staffing, indoor and outdoor heat protections for workers, and more. Track #workerledtransition and #labormustleadonclimate and please help amplify the worker-led transition to a climate-safe economy. You can follow these and more on CLCJ social media, including CLCJ Instagram, CLCJ Facebook, and CLCJ Twitter/X.

Leading up to the Day of Action, CLCJ hosted two Worker Summits earlier this spring, which brought together union members including teachers, caregivers, food packing employees, refinery operators, sound techs, and groundskeepers, among many others. They gathered to hear and share how climate change is affecting them at work and in some cases how it’s changing their work. One union member talked about her typical workday in a food processing plant where indoor temperatures reach 120 degrees fahrenheit. The physical toll of extreme indoor temperatures are exacerbated at times by heat waves in summer, with hundreds of dollars in electricity bills adding an economic burden onto the negative health impacts.

Climate hazards for workers are undeniable, and at the same time climate investments are opening opportunities. Teachers talked about making sure federal climate investments reach schools and communities that need it most. Others are working with their union leaders to be ready for climate disasters like the extreme flooding that devastated parts of Southern California this past winter. Moreover, despite working in different industries, unionists agreed that urgent action on climate change is paramount and our best chance is organizing together to build a vision of hope and solidarity.

For more on CLCJ, please visit calaborforclimatejobs.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.