agricultural workers and peasants

By Edgar Franks - Front and Centered, April 21, 2016

We at Community to Community (C2C) have been in solidarity with the Boycott Driscoll’s campaign led by Familias Unidas por la Justicia (FUJ) since 2013. We believe that movements are most successful when led by the most affected. It’s not often, if at all, we see a union that is led by indigenous people, FUJ union members are Mixteco and Triqui people and they are dramatically shifting the ways in which we think about farm worker organizing. We have learned from Cesar Chavez and the California farm workers’ strategies on winning contracts using the boycott and in WA State we are continuing that legacy.

FUJ is making history not only in taking on a corporate giant but in the ways they have been able to educate people on the complexities of the food system. Through the boycott of Driscoll’s we are now able to see the dramatic shift that agriculture has been going through. Driscoll’s is an example of why we need a new food system. Apart from the tremendous amount of labor exploitation the fight against Driscoll’s is also about climate and environmental justice.

We can’t call corporate businesses farms or say that they are practicing agriculture. Our campesino way of food production and feeding our people is at odds with the profit/commodity market. Through the industrial agriculture model we see an intensifying use of pesticides and fertilizers, most of which are petroleum based and contribute to ozone depletion. The water that is extracted is drying up our rivers and reservoirs. For example, California is currently going through a historic water shortage mostly due to the amount of water that is used in industrial agriculture.

So when farm workers are calling for a boycott of Driscoll’s berries, it is a much deeper call to action. It is a challenge to all of us to fight for a better way of living and build the food system and economy that we need to thrive in harmony with Mother Earth. We at C2C are working to create a local solidarity economy where profit is not the motive, but living well is the driving factor of our labor. We want food sovereignty for all communities, where communities can decide how to feed their people in an equitable, participatory manner. We want agroecology as the way to build the new food system and to end the corporate industrial model of food production. By doing this we can raise the political consciousness of our people and build solidarity across movements.

Compiled by x344543 - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, April 25, 2016

The following news items feature issues, discussions, campaigns, or information potentially relevant to green unionists*:

Lead Stories:

• Climate Change Emergency Shakes Canada’s Corporate Establishment - By Roger Annis, Counterpunch, April 22, 2016
• Kuwaiti Oil Workers End Three Day Strike - By Homoud Halabi, Facts For Working People, April 22, 2016
• Why BP's $20 Billion Settlement is Business as Usual in the Gulf of Mexico - By Antonia Juhasz, The Real News Network, April 20, 2016
• An Insider’s Exposé of the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster - By Katsuya Hirano and Hirotaka Kasai, Counterpunch, April 19, 2016
• NGO Releases Open Letter to UNFCCC Climate Secretariat & IPCC SEEKING IMMEDIATE SURVIVAL MITIGATION by Acknowledging of Global State of Climate and Oceans Emergency on Eve of Signing the Ineffectual Paris Agreement at UN Headquarters, New York - Media Release, GLOBAL CLIMATE & OCEANS EMERGENCY, April 18, 2016
• The Only Force That Can Combat Imperialism Today Is a Worldwide Struggle of Workers - John Bellamy Foster interviewed by Mohsen Abdelmoumen, Monthly Review, April 16, 2016

Ongoing Mobilizations:

• Break Free 2016 - May 2016
• Convergence In Support of Eco-Prisoners & Against Toxic Prisons - June 11-13, 2016
• Flush the TPP - Ongoing through 2016 | #FlushtheTPP
• March for a Clean Energy Revolution - July 24, 2016, Philadelphia | #CleanEnergyMarch
• TWAC Cascadia 2016 - August 8th-15th 2016

The Thin Green Line:

• Fabulous Win for Anti-Fracking Movement as Another Major Pipeline Bites the Dust - By Jon Queally, Common Dreams, April 23, 2016
• Constitution Pipeline Permit Denied - By Josh, Energy Justice Network, April 22, 2016
  

Just Transition:

• Leap Manifesto our best chance to start the national climate conversation we sorely need - By Miles Krauter, Rabble.Ca, April 23, 2016
• Declining prices, stable outlook drive utilities, large companies to wind power - By Herman K. Trabish, Utility Dive, April 21, 2016
• New Solar Jobs Could Surpass New Oil Jobs In 2016 - By Jake Richardson, Clean Technica, April 21, 2016
• On Earth Day, look -- then Leap - By John Dilllon, Rabble.Ca, April 21, 2016
• Until Nova Scotia looks seriously to renewable energy, it will remain a dying province - By James Hutt, Rabble.Ca, April 21, 2016
• Breaking Free, Free at Last - By staff, Northern Rockies Rising Tide, April 19, 2016
• Report supports need for ‘Future Fund’ - By Ken Ward Jr., Charleston Gazette-Mail, April 19, 2016
• This Kentucky Startup Employs Former Coal Miners And Teaches Them To Code - By Adele Peters, Co.Exist, April 18, 2016
• Dear Leap Manifesto critics: there will be no jobs on a dead planet - By Gary Engler, National Observer, April 14, 2016
• Green energy has opportunities for tradespeople, former oilsands worker says - By Liam Britten, CBC News, April 10, 2016
• Naomi Klein-inspired 'Leap Manifesto' shakes up Canadian left - By John Riddell, Links, April 3, 2016
• Report: The Clean Energy Future - By Amanda Koellner, GB&D, March & April 2016

Bread and Roses:

• Familias Unidas Supporters Participate in International Day of Peasants and Farmers Struggles - By staff, Boycott Sakuma Berries, April 23, 2016
• Ahead of Passover, Jewish community turns spotlight on Wendy’s for turning its back on human rights! - By staff, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, April 22, 2016
• Pay farmers their dues, demands Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) - By Staff, The Hindu, April 21, 2016
• “Enough with Wendy’s excuses…!” - By staff, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, April 20, 2016
• When Meaningful Work Means Healthy Food - By Sarah Burke, East Bay Express, April 20, 2016
• Repression Against Landless Peasants Movement in Brazil (video) - By Joaquin Pinero, The Real News Network, April 19, 2016
• USFSA Takes Action Across the Country for April 17: International Day of Peasants and Farmers Struggles - By Staff, U.S. Food Sovereignty Alliance, April 19, 2016
• Every day should be international day of peasants' struggles - By Adrian Bebb and Ramona Duminicioiu, EU Observer, April 18, 2016
• International Solidarity on April 17th - By Staff, Landworkers Alliance, April 17, 2016
• 5 Latin American Campesino Movements You Really Need to Know - By Staff, Telesur, April 16, 2016

Compiled by x344543 - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, April 19, 2016

The following news items feature issues, discussions, campaigns, or information potentially relevant to green unionists*:

Lead Stories:

• Is the Seafood You Eat Caught by Slaves? Meet the Pulitzer Winners Who Broke Open a Global Scandal - Robin McDowell and Martha Mendoza by Amy Goodman, Democracy Now, April 18, 2016
• Justice for Berta: Join us to stand in solidarity with COPINH - By Friends of the Earth Europe and Protection International Invitation, La Via Campesina, April 16, 2016
• Noam Chomsky: There's a Huge Desire to Revamp Our Exploitive Economy, Bubbling in the Collective Unconscious - By Noam Chomsky, Alternet, April 15, 2016
• Can We Reduce CO2 Emissions And Grow the Global Economy? - By Fred Pearce, Yale Environment 360, April 14, 2016
• Clinton misleads public; fracking cannot be regulated - By Deborah Burger and Sean Sweeney, Trade Unions for Energy Democracy, April 14, 2016
• Peabody’s Declaration of Bankruptcy is “No Surprise” - By Jihan Gearon and Wahleah Johns, Indigenous Environmental Network, April 14, 2016

Ongoing Mobilizations:

• Break Free 2016 - May 2016
• Convergence In Support of Eco-Prisoners & Against Toxic Prisons - June 11-13, 2016
• Earth Day to May Day! - April 22-May 1, 2016
• Flush the TPP - Ongoing through 2016 | #FlushtheTPP
• March for a Clean Energy Revolution - July 24, 2016, Philadelphia | #CleanEnergyMarch
• TWAC Cascadia 2016 - August 8th-15th 2016

The Thin Green Line:

• Oregon LNG withdraws Warrenton project - By Derrick DePledge, Daily Astorian, April 15, 2016; [related] The Ten-Year-Long Fight against Oregon LNG Is Over - By Roy L Hales, The EcoReport, April 15, 2016
• Pipeline Rights vs Private Property Rights - By Mark Hand, CounterPunch, April 12, 2016

Just Transition:

• Oil and Gas Workers Respond to Alberta Budget: Positive Steps on Training and Renewable Energy - By Robbie Jarvis, Iron and Earth, April 18, 2016
• Vattenfall takes US$3bn hit to exit German coal operations - By Megan Darby, Climate Change News, April 18, 2016
• Australia’s biggest super fund makes start on fossil fuel divestment - By Dan Gocher, REnew Economy, April 15, 2016
• The Leap: Time for a reality check - By Naomi Klein, Rabble.Ca, April 14, 2016
• To 'Leap' or to sleep? That is the question - By Ole Hendrickson, Rabble.Ca, April 14, 2016
• Taking a Leap - By Staff, Northern Rockies Rising Tide, April 14, 2016
• Tata Steel & new energy infrastructure: is it really that hard to put 2 & 2 together? - By Adam Corner, Climate Outreach, April 14, 2016
• CCA Transforming Electricity in California - By Paul Fenn, Local Power, April 13, 2016
• More Californians work in “Advanced Energy” jobs than in farming or Hollywood - By Heather Smith, Grist, April 13, 2016
• Ontario needs a bold new steel strategy - By Carter Vance, Rabble.Ca, April 12, 2016
• Wind energy construction rebounds across U.S., Texas - By James Osborne, FuelFix, April 12, 2016
• Climate justice movement shakes Canada’s New Democratic Party - By Richard Fidler, Life on the Left, April 11, 2016
• Energy Democracy Perspectives: David Boys (PSI) [video] - By Transnational Institute, YouTube, April 8, 2016

Bread and Roses:

• PFF opposes capitalism model of agriculture to save land and livelihoods - By Staff, La Via Campesina, April 18, 2016
• Public land for public good - By Staff, La Via Campesina, April 18, 2016
• Sarasota Herald Tribune: “Farmworkers’ coalition has transformed Florida fields…” - By Staff, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, April 18, 2016
• Solidarity Action by BAFLF & NWFA - By Bangladesh Agricultural Farm Labour Federation and National Women Farmers & Workers Association, La Via Campesina, April 18, 2016
• UAWC's statement on the occasion of international Peasant Day - By Union of Agricultural Work Committees, La Via Campesina, April 18, 2016
• Brazil at Brasilia: Camp for Democracy already counts with more than 3.5 thousand people - By Adi Spezia and Flávia Quirino, La Via Campesina, April 17, 2016
• International Day of Peasant Struggles 2016: Celebration, resistance and mourning - By European Coordination Via Campesina, La Via Campesina, April 17, 2016
• Farmworker Rights Advocates from Watsonville CA Commit to Pressure Driscoll’s at their Corporate Headquarters - By Staff, Boycott Sakuma Berries, April 16, 2016
• La Vía Campesina: In defense of democracy and the social civil rights in Brazil - By La Via Campesina International, La Via Campesina, April 16, 2016
• USFSA Statement on International Day of Peasants and Farmers Struggles - By US Food Sovereignty Alliance, La Via Campesina, April 16, 2016
• Fighting for Food - By Ben O’Hanlon, New Internationalist, April 15, 2016
• Millions Face Starvation As Haiti’s Drought Stretches Into Its Third Year - By Beenish Ahmed, Think Progress, April 15, 2016
• Mundemba Declaration: Women and the expansion of oil palm plantations and industrial palm oil - By various, World Rainforest Movement, April 15, 2016
• The Right to Food Sovereignty: public peasant consultation - By Staff, La Via Campesina, April 15, 2016
• Tea strike! Women workers unite and win in Kerala, India - By Smita Ramanathan, Rabble.Ca, April 14, 2016
• Mexico: Military Sent to Intimidate Land Defenders Fighting Airport Construction | 12 abr: Incursiona el Ejército en tierras ejidales de Atenco - By Staff, Centros de Medios Libres | (translated by Earth First! Journal), April 13, 2016
• Global Fisheries Are Collapsing: What Happens When There Are No Fish Left? - By Dahr Jamail, Truthout, April 12, 2016
• Rice not bullets: Social and climate justice for Filipino farmers - By Chaya Ocampo Go, Rabble.Ca, April 12, 2016; [related] Food, not bullets! (A Statement on the Kidapawan Massacre) - By Philippine Task Force on Indigenous Peoples' Rights, X Rappler, April 12, 2016
• Worker Wisdom in a Changing Climate | Tina Sandoval | Fight for $15 - By Brooke Anderson, Climate Worker, April 12, 2016
• Mexico: Indigenous Land Defenders Attacked by State Police in San Francisco Xochicuautla - By Erin Gallagher, Revolution News, April 11, 2016

By Bradley Allen - Indybay, April 5, 2016

On Sunday, April 3, Michael Garcia and fellow Watsonville Brown Berets traveled a short distance to Salinas, California to attend the annual Cesar Chavez March and Rally presented by United Farm Workers (UFW). The Watsonville Brown Berets were joined by members of Familias Unidas por la Justicia (FUJ), an independent farmworker union in Burlington, Washington fighting for a union contract, and initiators of the boycott against Driscoll's.

The Watsonville Brown Berets (WBB) and FUJ activists spoke with people assembled at Cesar Chavez Community Park and handed out flyers about the growing movement to boycott Driscoll's, the world's largest berry distributor. FUJ, along with tens of thousands of farmworkers in San Quintín, México, are fighting to end wage theft and poverty wages, inhumane production standards, and retaliation from protected union activity.

Although advocating for farmworkers' rights seems like it would be warmly welcomed by UFW, that was unfortunately not the experience for WBB and FUJ members. Garcia, born and raised in Watsonville, noticed that his friend was working the stage and asked if his group could have some time later to speak about the Driscoll's boycott. Garcia's friend, who was both the owner of the stage and a mariachi musician performing at the event, agreed to provide Garcia time. The stage owner, however, was then reportedly approached by UFW representatives and specifically told that UFW does not want WBB or FUJ speaking from the stage.

Prior to parading through the streets of Salinas, Garcia enthusiastically approached UFW Regional Director Lauro Barajas and asked if it was OK if they carried their “Boycott Driscoll’s” banner towards the front of the march. Garcia was denied and then told that UFW did not want him to carry the banner at all during the march.

Compiled by x344543 - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, April 12, 2016

The following news items feature issues, discussions, campaigns, or information potentially relevant to green unionists*:

Lead Stories:

• Bernie Sanders is Right: Regulation Isn’t Enough, We Need to Ban Fracking - By Deborah Burger, Common Dreams, April 7, 2016
• Changing Everything - By Steven Gorelick, Counterpunch, April 7, 2016
• Martin Luther King Was Assassinated On (April 4) in 1968—While Fighting For Unions - By Peter Cole, In These Times, April 4, 2016
• The Panama Papers Could Lead to Capitalism’s Great Crisis - By Rana Foroohar, Time, April 4, 2016
• The Dammed of the Earth: The Deadly Impact of Mega Hydroelectric Projects in Latin America - By Sian Cowman and Philippa de Boissière, Dorset Chiapas Solidarity, April 3, 2016
• Gas Pipeline Resisters [including IWW members] Arrested, Held for Outrageous Bail - By Anne Meador, DC Media Group, March 31, 2016

Ongoing Mobilizations:

• Break Free 2016 - May 2016
• Convergence In Support of Eco-Prisoners & Against Toxic Prisons - June 11-13, 2016
• Earth Day to May Day! - April 22-May 1, 2016
• Flush the TPP - Spring 2016 | #FlushtheTPP
• March for a Clean Energy Revolution - July 24, 2016, Philadelphia | #CleanEnergyMarch
• TWAC Cascadia 2016 - August 8th-15th 2016

The Thin Green Line:

• The Thin Green Line: Victories and Challenges (audio) - By Keiko Budech, Sightline Institute, April 7, 2016

Just Transition:

• Organizers 'heartened' by NDP's adopted Leap Manifesto resolution - By Various, Rabble.Ca, April 11, 2016
• Imagining a new post office for the post-carbon economy (audio) - By Redeye Collective, Rabble.Ca, April 9, 2016  
• THANK YOU!!! - By Iron and Earth, Iron and Earth, April 7, 2016
• Oakland Police and Fire Pension Considers Fossil Fuel Divestment - By Darwin BondGraham, East Bay Express, April 6, 2016
• COAL: the Vagina Monologues of climate change - By Veena Vasista, Transformation, April 4, 2016
• I have seen the techno-future, and I’m not so sure it works - By Gabriel Levy, People and Nature, April 4, 2016
• Oilsands workers for renewable energy - By Sheelagh Matthews, Western Wheel, March 30, 2016
• Considering Just Transition in an Australian Context - By Elizabeth Perry, Work and Climate Change Report, March 28, 2016
• Solar Skills Press Conference Audio (audio) - By Devin Tepleski, Iron and Earth, March 21, 2016
• Doubling Today’s Share of Renewables will Create 24 Million Jobs, Boost GDP by $1.3 Trillion and Save 4 Million Lives a Year - By Ilario D'Amato, The Climate Group, March 17, 2016

Bread and Roses:

• Capitalism And Global Agribusiness: From Ford To Monsanto, It’s For Your Own Good - By Colin Todhunter, Counterpunch, April 11, 2016
• Familias Unidas at Labor Notes Conference in Chicago, IL - By Staff, Boycott Sakuma Berries, April 11, 2016
• MST: Call for International Mobilizations on April 15 - By MST, La Via Campesina, April 11, 2016
• Oakland and Watsonville Supporters Take Action to Support Farm Workers - By Staff, Boycott Sakuma Berries, April 10, 2016
• Military police and gunmen attack Landless families, murder two workers - By MST, La Via Campesina, April 8, 2016
• Freedom Network, national leader in fight against modern-day slavery, makes its voice heard in Wendy’s Month of Outrage! - By Staff, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, April 7, 2016
• Patrick Holden: 'cheap' food is costing the Earth, and our health - By Emily Lewis-Brown, The Ecologist, April 7, 2016
• La Via Campesina organizes the International Conference of Agrarian Reform in Brazil - By Viviana Rojas Flores, La Via Campesina, April 6, 2016
• Monsanto's Evil Twin: Disturbing Facts About the Fertilizer Industry - By Martha Rosenberg and Ronnie Cummins, Organic Consumers Association, April 6, 2016
• Urgent: Campaign for remission of Andrés Bódalo's sentence - By Union of Agricultural Workers-Union of Andalusian Workers, La Via Campesina, April 5, 2016
• Agriculture on the Brink - By Dahr Jamail, Truthout, April 4, 2016
• CIW, Florida allies kick off “Month of Outrage” in Naples! - By Staff, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, April 4, 2016
• Criminalizing farmers' activism in Colombia - By Fernanda Sánchez Jaramillo, Rabble.Ca, April 4, 2016
• Two books that swim against the tide - By Sarah Ensor, International Socialism, April 4, 2016
• When there is an advance in food sovereignty in one part of the world, our entire movement advances - By Staff, La Via Campesina, April 4, 2016
• EPA Set to Approve Use of Toxic Pesticide Dicamba for Newest GE Crops - By Nathan Donley, Center for Biological Diversity, April 1, 2016
• Whole Foods Gets Educated on Driscoll's Berry Boycott - By R. Robertson, Indybay, March 31, 2016

Compiled by x344543 - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, April 4, 2016

The following news items feature issues, discussions, campaigns, or information potentially relevant to green unionists*:

Lead Stories:

• Fueling Fascism: The Secret History of How Texaco Supplied Oil to Fascists in Spain - Adam Hochschild interviewed by Nermeen Shaikh and Amy Goodman, Democracy Now, March 31, 2016
• Reframing The Economics Debate Could Lead To More Action To Fight Climate Change - By Farron Cousins, DeSmog Blog, March 30, 2016
• Recycling is important: and recycling workers deserve better conditions - By Gail Bateson and Barbara Rahke, ILWU Dispatcher, March 29, 2016
• Death of a Shale Gas Salesman - By Andrew Nikiforuk, The Tyee, March 28, 2016
• Cuba’s sustainable agriculture at risk in U.S. thaw - By Miguel Altieri, The Conversation, March 25, 2016

Ongoing Mobilizations:

• Break Free 2016 - May 2016
• Convergence In Support of Eco-Prisoners & Against Toxic Prisons - June 11-13, 2016
• Earth Day to May Day! - April 22-May 1, 2016
• Flush the TPP - Spring 2016 | #FlushtheTPP
• March for a Clean Energy Revolution - July 24, 2016, Philadelphia | #CleanEnergyMarch
• TWAC Cascadia 2016 - August 8th-15th 2016

The Thin Green Line:

• Big Oil’s time running out at the Port of Vancouver? We hope so - By Dan Serres, Colombia Riverkeeper, April 2, 2016
• FERC Denies Jordan Cove LNG! Oregon LNG: You’re Next! - By Dan Serres, Colombia Riverkeeper, April 2, 2016
• Your Call: Utah coal stirs up concerns in Oakland - By Laura Flynn, KALW 91.7 FM, March 29, 2016

Just Transition:

• Canada: Leap Manifesto unites broad forces, builds climate justice campaigns - By John Riddell, Climate and Capitalism, April 3, 2016
• Catching The Sun: Documentary Highlights Link Between Solar Energy And American Job Creation - By Alex Kotch, DeSmog Blog, April 3, 2016
• New investments bring ray of hope for Winnipeg Transit - By Lynne Fernandez, Rabble.Ca, March 31, 2016
• Study: ‘Quiet recreation’ brings in $173 million, employs more than 1,700 - By Rebecca Moss, Santa Fe New Mexican, March 31, 2016
• 568,979 Clean Energy Workers In Midwest (2016 Survey) - By Jake Richardson, Clean Technica, March 30, 2016
• 2.5 Million Americans Work In Clean Energy (Report) - By Jake Richardson, Clean Technica, March 30, 2016
• Report: Re-Member-ing the Electric Cooperative - By John Farrell, Matt Grimley & Nick Stumo-Langer, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, March 29, 2016

Bread and Roses:

• First union of agricultural women workers launched in Pakistan - By Staff, International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations, April 2, 2016
• Berry Farmworkers Toil 12 Hours A Day For $6. Now They’re Demanding a Raise - By Esther Yu-Hsi Lee, Think Progress, April 1, 2016
• Honoring Cesar E. Chavez’ Legacy - By Staff, Boycott Sakuma Berries, April 1, 2016
• Hunger pangs of starving farmers met by a barrage of bullets - By Zeph Repollo, 350.Org, April 1, 2016; [related] 3 dead, 87 missing, 116 hurt as police fire on Cotabato human barricade - By Jeff Caparas, InterAksyon.com, April 1, 2016
• Boycott Driscoll’s West Coast Tour at Driscoll’s HQ in Watsonville - By Bradley Allen, Bradley Allen, March 31, 2016
• “Wendy’s has lost my respect as well as my patronage…” - By Staff, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, March 31, 2016
• 5 Million Nigerians Oppose Monsanto’s Plans to Introduce GMO Cotton and Corn - By Lorraine Chow, EcoWatch, March 29, 2016
• Global Agribusiness, Dependency and the Marginalisation of Self-Sufficiency, Organic Farming and Agroecology - By Colin Todhunter, CounterPunch, March 29, 2016
• HC&S sugar plantation in Hawaii to close - By Staff, ILWU Dispatcher, March 29, 2016

An Injury to One is an Injury to All:

• Biotech Tree Company ArborGen Settles with Defrauded Employees - By Staff, Global Justice Ecology Project, April 1, 2016
• In Coal Blood: Feds Seek Maximum Sentence for Don Blankenship - By Russell Mokhiber, CounterPunch, March 30, 2016
• The Assassinations of Honduran Activists: Where Are the Roots of the Violence? - By Staff, Peaceful Uprising, March 29, 2016
• Averting Thousands of Vehicle Exhaust Deaths - By Kirsten Stade, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, March 29, 2016
• Thousands of Peru Mineworkers Struggle for Decent Work - By Oscar Muro, AFL-CIO Solidarity Center, March 29, 2016
• Malibu Toxic Schools Case Clears Hurdle for Trial - By Kirsten Stade, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, March 28, 2016

By Frances Moore Lappé - Great Transition Initiative, April 2016

Compiled by x344543 - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, March 29, 2016

The following news items feature issues, discussions, campaigns, or information potentially relevant to green unionists*:

Lead Stories:

• Jerry Brown celebrates World Water Day as he promotes salmon-killing tunnels - By Dan Bacher, Red Green & Blue, March 25, 2016
• How Montanans stopped the largest new coal mine in North America - By Nick Engelfried, Waging Nonviolence, March 24, 2016
• Rail Workers: Deadly Tired…but Still Working - By Georgetta Gregory, NTSB Safety Compass, March 21, 2016
• Time to stop new oil leases off coast - By Anne Rolfes and Cherri Foytlin, The Advocate, March 21, 2016
• How Women-Led Movements Are Redefining Power, From California to Nepal - By Rucha Chitnis, Yes! Magazine, March 8, 2016
• Against Activism - By Astra Taylor, The Baffler, Spring 2016

Ongoing Mobilizations:

• Break Free 2016 - May 2016
• Convergence In Support of Eco-Prisoners & Against Toxic Prisons - June 11-13, 2016
• Earth Day to May Day! - April 22-May 1, 2016
• Flush the TPP - Spring 2016 | #FlushtheTPP
• March for a Clean Energy Revolution - July 24, 2016, Philadelphia | #CleanEnergyMarch
• 2016 Labor Notes Conference - April 1-4, 2016

The Thin Green Line:

• Proposed Oakland Shipping Terminal Stirs Health, Environmental Concerns Over Coal - Darwin BondGraham and Jessica Yarnall Loarie interviewed by Mina Kim, KQED 88.1 FM, March 25, 2016
• Updates on the campaign to stop coal exports through Oakland - By Brittany King, Sierra Club Yodeler, March 23, 2016
• Utah Governor Signs Bill to Advance Oakland Coal Plan - By Ted Goldberg, KQED News, March 22, 2016

Just Transition:

• Pilgrim critics offer their take on the pending plant closure - By Frank Mand, Wicked Local Plymouth, March 25, 2016
• Contra Costa votes ‘Yes’ to Community Choice - By Carol Weed, Sierra Club Yodeler, March 23, 2016
• India Solar Power Push May Produce Over 1 Million Jobs - By Smiti Mittal, Clean Technica, March 23, 2016
• The Unsexy Climate Solution That's a Total No-Brainer - By Jimmy Thomson, DeSmog Canada, March 23, 2016
• World Water Day 2016: Louisiana, Water and Coastal Restoration Jobs - By Emily McCalla, Restore The Mississippi River Delta, March 22, 2016
• From Whaling to Whale Watching: SCCF Gets a First-Hand Look at the Green Transition in Action - By Diane Beckett, Sierra Club Canada, March 8, 2016

Bread and Roses:

• April declared “Month of Outrage” in national Wendy’s Boycott! - By Staff, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, March 28, 2016
• Monsanto vs Indian Farmers - By Dr Vandana Shiva, Dr Vandana Shiva, March 27, 2016
• Final media round-up from Workers’ Voice Tour! News of Wendy’s boycott spreads far and wide… - By Staff, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, March 26, 2016
• Carbon Farming: Hope for a Hot Planet - By Brian Barth, Modern Farmer, March 25, 2016
• Interview of Ramon Torres regarding PCC - By Staff, Boycott Sakuma Berries, March 24, 2016
• Position of the La Via Campesina in Honduras against the increasing criminalisation of the peasant and indigenous social struggle - By La Via Campesina Honduras, La Via Campesina, March 22, 2016
• Strawberries! Get your Fair Food Program strawberries here!… - By Staff, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, March 22, 2016
• Selling TPP as the Farm Economy Drops off a Cliff - By Ben Lilliston, CommonDreams, March 21, 2016

An Injury to One is an Injury to All:

• Full #SolidariTea to the #JuniorDoctors - By admin, A Green Trade Unionist in Bristol, March 28, 2016
• ArborGen workers take confidential settlement over $53M verdict in compensation case - By David Wren, Post and Courier, March 24, 2016
• Callaway Residents Still Can't Go Home After Train-Truck Crash - By Jennie Lissarrague, KSTP TV (ABC 5), March 24, 2016
• Forty-two years later, OSHA OKs rule protecting workers from silica - By Jamie Smith Hopkins, Center for Public Integrity, March 24, 2016; [related] OSHA issues final silica rule - By Emily Peiffer, Construction Dive, March 24, 2016
• Largest U.S. Restaurant Company Targeted Over Treatment of Workers, Animals, Environment - By Stephanie Feldstein, et. al., Center for Biological Diversity, et. al., March 24, 2016
• 105 Years Later, Remembering the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire - By Kyle Sturmann, Washington Square News, March 24, 2016
• The verdict is in: Bundy-inspired bill would endanger our park rangers - By Aaron Weiss, Center for Western Priorities, March 24, 2016
• Berta Cáceres: "To Fight Against Repression in Honduras Is to Fight for Our Whole Continent" - By Beverly Bell, Other Worlds, March 23, 2016; [related] Gustavo Castro Soto and the Rigged Investigation into Berta Cáceres’ Assassination - By Beverly Bell, CounterPunch, March 22, 2016
• International Mission ‘Justice for Berta Cáceres’ expresses its concern in relation to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights - By La Esperanza, World Rainforest Movement, March 23, 2016
• Grand Rapids Police Intimidating, Threatening to Arrest Students, Workers - By Staff, United Students Against Sweatshops, March 23, 2016
• OSHA’s New Severe Injury Reporting Requirement: One Year In - By Staff, National Nurses United, March 23, 2016
• Fukushima Radiation: a Killer - By Robert Hunziker, CounterPunch, March 22, 2016
• Supreme Court Hands A Major Victory To Workers Who Were Stiffed On Overtime Pay - By Cristian Farias and Dave Jamieson, Huffington Post, March 22, 2016
• Why Honduran activist Berta Cáceres was assassinated - By Redeye Collective, Rabble.Ca, March 21, 2016
• Compensation program for sick nuclear workers plagued by problems, ombudsman finds - By Jamie Smith Hopkins, Center for Public Integrity, March 21, 2016

Compiled by x344543 - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, March 22, 2016

The following news items feature issues, discussions, campaigns, or information potentially relevant to green unionists*:

Lead Stories:

• Jobless oilsands workers look to alternative energy - By Staff, CBC News, March 21, 2016; [related]: Former oil sands workers eye renewables market - By Cecilia Jamasmie, Mining.com, March 21, 2016
• Slain Activist Berta Cáceres' Daughter: US Military Aid Has Fueled Repression & Violence in Honduras - Bertha Isabel Zúniga Cáceres and Lilian Esperanza López Benítez interviewed by Amy Goodman, Democracy Now, March 18, 2016
• Koide Hiroaki: an insider's exposé of the Fukushima nuclear disaster - By Katsuya Hirano & Hirotaka Kasai, The Ecologist, March 17, 2016
• Unhealthy environments kill 12.6 million a year - World Health Organization News Release, Climate and Capitalism, March 15, 2016
• Bill Gates' Nuclear Pipe Dream: Convert Depleted Uranium to Plutonium to Power Earth for Centuries - By Josh Cunnings and Emerson Urry, Enviro News TV, March 14, 2016
• An Army of Ocean Farmers: On the Frontlines of the Blue-Green Economic Revolution - By Bren Smith, In These Times, February 26, 2016

Ongoing Mobilizations:

• Break Free 2016 - May 2016
• Convergence In Support of Eco-Prisoners & Against Toxic Prisons - June 11-13, 2016
• Earth Day to May Day! - April 22-May 1, 2016
• Flush the TPP - Spring 2016 | #FlushtheTPP
• March for a Clean Energy Revolution - July 24, 2016, Philadelphia | #CleanEnergyMarch
• 2016 Labor Notes Conference - April 1-4, 2016

The Thin Green Line:

• The Senator Versus Coal - By Darwin BondGraham, East Bay Express, March 16, 2016; [related] Coal = Death! No Coal Trains to Oakland! - By Staff, Speak Out Now, March 16, 2016
• 25 Michigan Communities, Four Tribes Pass a Resolution to Stop the Oil Flowing through Enbridge’s Line 5 Pipelines in the Mackinac Straits - By Mariah Urueta, Joanne Cromley, and Kelly Thayer, Indigenous Environmental Network, March 15, 2016
• The West Coast Is the World’s 5th Largest Economy. Can It Unite to Stop Big Oil? - By Arun Gupta, Yes! Magazine, March 3, 2016

Just Transition:

• The executives [and workers] leaving oil and gas behind for jobs in clean energy - By Cassie Werber, Quartz, March 15, 2016
• Renewables can diversify Montana’s energy economy - By Jeff Fox, The Missoulian, March 15, 2016 
• OIL TAX FACTS: Dispelling North Sea Oil Myths - By Greg Muttitt, Oil Change International, March 14, 2016
• Rewiring Energy: The renewable power grid envisioned - By Patrick Mazza, Cascadia Planet, March 12, 2016

Bread and Roses:

• Federal Budget 2016: The NFU’s Recommendations - By Jan Slomp and Hilary Moore, La Via Campesina, March 18, 2016
• Landworkers’ Alliance joins the Farming to London march - By Ed Hamer and Adam Payne, La Via Campesina, March 18, 2016
• San Diego and Imperial Labor Councils Vote to Sanction the Driscoll’s and Sakuma Boycott - By Staff, Boycott Sakuma Berries, March 18, 2016
• “We are under an institutional dictatorship in Honduras” - By Real World Radio, La Via Campesina, March 18, 2016
• Court Ruling a Victory for Mexico Farmers and Anti-GMO Activists - By Mercedes López Martínez and Ercilia, Organic Consumers Association, March 16, 2016
• Farmworkers in Mexico, Facing Human Rights Abuses, Prepare to March in Protest - By Griselda San Martin, Transborder Media, March 16, 2016
• Sakuma Farmworkers Depart on Month Long Tour to Promote Driscoll’s Boycott; Press Conference Outside Sakuma Processing Plant to Begin Tour - By Staff, Boycott Sakuma Berries, March 16, 2016
• Trump’s Tomatoes - By Andrew Cockburn, Harpers, March 16, 2016
• Wendy’s spokesperson Bob Bertini: “We take all human rights and labor practices issues seriously and expect the same from our suppliers…” - By Staff, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, March 16, 2016
• With its latest measures the EU Council mocks milk producers - By Jose Miguel Pacheco Goncalves, et. al., La Via Campesina, March 16, 2016
• Farm Workers in Two Countries Boycott Driscoll’s Berries - By David Bacon, The Progressive, March 14, 2016
• “If you’re going to make an impression, come to the place where the chairman is on holiday”… - By Staff, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, March 14, 2016
• Farmworkers protest by home of Wendy's billionaire chairman - By Staff, CBS News, March 13, 2016
• Francisca Ramirez, a Leader in the Struggle to Stop the Nicaragua Canal Project - By Arlen Cerda, Havana Times, March 12, 2016

Compiled by x344543 - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, March 15, 2016

The following news items feature issues, discussions, campaigns, or information potentially relevant to green unionists*:

Lead Stories:

• Letter to U.S. Sec. of State Kerry Condemning the Honduran Assassination of Berta Caceras - By Various, Family Farm Defenders, March 12, 2016
• A Current Longshore Battle Shows that the NLRB Is Not a Friend of Organized Labor - By Joe Burns, In These Times, March 11, 2016
• Assassination of Berta Cáceres sparks outrage - By Raul Burbano, Rabble.Ca, March 7, 2016
• Poisoned, Marginalised, Bankrupt and Dead - By Colin Todhunter, CounterPunch, March 7, 2016
• Ten-second procedure might have averted Lac-Mégantic disaster - By Grant Robertson, Toronto Globe and Mail, March 7, 2016
• Today's Slaves Often Work For Enterprises That Destroy The Environment - By Kevin Bales, NPR, January 27, 2016

Ongoing Mobilizations:

• Appalachia Resist: Regional Action Camp for Social & Environmental Justice - March 18-21
• Break Free 2016 - May 2016
• Convergence In Support of Eco-Prisoners & Against Toxic Prisons - June 11-13, 2016
• Earth Day to May Day! - April 22-May 1, 2016
• Flush the TPP - Spring 2016 | #FlushtheTPP
• March for a Clean Energy Revolution - July 24, 2016, Philadelphia | #CleanEnergyMarch
• 2016 Labor Notes Conference - April 1-4, 2016

The Thin Green Line:

• The Vermont gas pipeline: where do we go from here? - By Staff, Rising Tide Vermont, February 1, 2016

Just Transition:

• Clocking off: Can Wales’ steel heartland survive in a greener world? - By Alex Pashley, Climate Change News, March 10, 2016
• How many jobs do wind farms create? - By Guest, Clean Energy Footprints, March 9, 2016
• Change is in the air - By David Suzuki, Rabble.Ca, March 8, 2016
• Just How Democratic Are Rural Electric Cooperatives? - By John Farrell, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, March 7, 2016
• A Campaign to Demand Canada Post Deliver A New Green Economy - Katie McKenna and Mike Palecek interviewed by Nadia Kanji, The Real News Network, March 6, 2016

Bread and Roses:

• Support the Berrypickers Union!: March 18th & 19th - By Maralena, Rising Tide Portland, March 13, 2016
• Familias Unidas por la Justicia Newsletter - By Staff, Boycott Sakuma Berries, March 12, 2016
• Wendy’s Boycott wins key court battle for right to protest today in Palm Beach as Workers’ Voice Tour rolls into Florida with triumphant Day 9 action in Gainesville! - By Staff, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, March 12, 2016
• Day Six: The Mid- South stands up for Fair Food! - By Staff, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, March 10, 2016
• Review: Farmageddon, The True Cost of Cheap Meat - By Martin Empson, Climate and Capitalism, March 10, 2016
• The farm that grows climate solutions - By Eric Toensmeier, Ensia, March 9, 2016
• Union of Agricultural Work Committees' Statement on the occasion of March 8th; International Women's Day - By Staff, La Via Campesina, March 9, 2016
• Violence on the Factory Farm: How Not to Feed the World - By Colin Todhunter, Counterpunch, March 9, 2016
• “We are not tied down by slavery… we are embraced by freedom.” - By Staff, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, March 9, 2016
• West African Caravan for Land, Water and peasant seeds - By Staff, La Via Campesina, March 9, 2016
• Internationally Recognized Rights Defender Berta Cáceres Murdered in Honduras - By Shannon Young, Truthout, March 7, 2016
• Wendy’s Boycott takes Columbus by storm! - By Staff, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, March 7, 2016
• Food, hunger, health, and climate change - By Alistair Woodwardemail and John R Porter, The Lancet, March 2, 2016