Bristol IWW

By staff - Earth Strike UK, March 30, 2022

We are pleased to announce that the Bristol branch of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) has become the first union branch to affiliate with Earth Strike UK. The IWW organises workers of all types along industrial lines. One of its stated aims is to “live in harmony with the Earth”. We look forward to working with them to bring the struggle against the climate crisis to their members’ workplaces. We anticipate this will be the first of many branches and unions to join our cause.

The climate crisis will hit the global working class the hardest. By withdrawing our labour and taking other actions we can change the catastrophic course we are currently on. Our individual efforts to reduce emissions will not be enough to avert disaster, and typical protests can be easily ignored by politicians and the capitalist class – those most responsible for the crisis we find ourselves in. We must revive worker and union power and hit those who control the economy where it hurts by disrupting their ability to make profits. Together, we aim to free unions from restrictive anti-union laws through our Empower the Unions campaign, whilst also winning environmental improvements in our workplaces. Step by step we will create the solidarity and organisation necessary to carry out a global general strike against the climate crisis. Bristol IWW has brought us one step closer to achieving these aims by affiliating with us.

If you would like your union or union branch to affiliate with Earth Strike UK please follow this link where you can find a model motion to use https://earth-strike.co.uk/action/union-affiliation/

We need unions of all types, in all industries, to join the cause!

By Earth Strike UK - Bristol Earth Strike, April 21, 2021

What is Earth Day?

Earth Day was started on 22nd April 1970 and has continued annually since then. Each year, on 22nd April, a wide range of events take place globally with the aims of enacting transformative changes to tackle environmental crises and build a sustainable future.

Why is this important?

The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned us that we must cut carbon emissions by 45% by 2030, and reach carbon neutrality by 2050, or we risk the planet heating beyond 1.5 degrees. If we fail to curb our carbon emissions and the average global temperature continues to increase, we risk triggering a climate breakdown that we will have no hope of stopping, causing global devastation.

Despite this stark warning by the scientific community, many governments and employers continue to act as if there were no crisis at all.

To bring about the change needed will require holding all sectors of the global economy accountable for their role in the environmental crisis and calling for bold, creative, and impactful solutions. This will require action at all levels, and we as workers have a part to play in ensuring a global just transition, the sustainability of our workplaces, and the compliance of our industries with scientific climate targets.

Regardless of how important you feel the Climate and Ecological emergency is, changes to the economy to address these issues are already happening. We feel it is important that Workers are fully involved in how these changes happen so that they can secure the rights and livelihoods of themselves and future generations.

By staff - Bristol IWW, November 15, 2018

Bristol IWW has voted to give it’s full support to Rising Up! and it’s Extinction Rebellion campaign and establish an Environmental Unionism Caucus. Please join us in London this Saturday to demand action on the impending climate catastrophe.