Resolution passed by Railroad Workers United - November 2, 2016
Whereas, the unprecedented $3.78 Billion, 1,172-mile Dakota Access Pipeline would carry over half a million barrels of dirty crude oil from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota, through South Dakota and Iowa to Illinois to connect to other pipelines bringing oil to the East Coast and the Gulf; and
Whereas, the pipeline is slated to pass through the tribal lands of Standing Rock Sioux near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, and underneath the Missouri River, the main source of water for the tribe; and
Whereas, the pipeline is slated to pass under the Missouri River a second time before passing under the Mississippi River, a total watershed coving 40% of the continental United States; and
Whereas, the pipeline has already disturbed the lives of millions of Americans; and
Whereas, millions of workers--including many union members and their their families--live in communities that are in thepath of the proposed pipeline; and
Whereas, the transport of heavy crude is particularly volatile, leading to 18.4 million gallons of oils and chemicals spilled, leaked, or released into the air, land, and waterways between 2006 and 2014 in North Dakota alone, causing death, contamination of soil and water, and numerous types of disease; and
Whereas, scientists have warned that in order to avoid wide-scale, catastrophic climate disruption, the vast majority of known remaining fossil fuel reserves must be left in the ground; and
Whereas, people engaged in protecting their land and water have been brutally attacked by private security forces in both Iowa and North Dakota; and
Whereas, Native Americans and other activists defending their land and water have the same right to defend their land and engage in non-violent protest as workers who are protesting the actions of an unfair employer; and
Whereas, the U.S. Congress has repealed the ban on exporting oil, meaning that the oil transported by the pipeline is likely to be sold overseas and not contribute to US energy independence; and
Whereas, we know that a very real threat to workers’ lives and livelihoods is the prospect of catastrophic climate change; and
Whereas pipelines accidents, such as the recent Helena, Alabama gas pipeline explosion which killed one and injured five, pose a threat to workers and their communities; and
Whereas, many large corporations, and especially fossil fuel corporations, have been putting profits ahead of the common good of workers, the public, and the environment, and these corporations have been unjustly granted the constitutional rights and powers of “person-hood”, diminishing democracy and the voice and power of the people; and
Whereas, numerous national and international unions have already passed resolutions against construction of the pipeline, including National Nurses United, the Amalgamated Transit Union, the Communications Workers of America, the United Electrical Workers, Service Employees International Union, and others; and
Whereas, these unions have an economic, environmental and racial justice strategy which has been employed to win membership strikes through broad base support by non-unionized workers and community members; and
Whereas, unions in support of Standing Rock, and against the Dakota Access Pipeline have come under attack from reactionary unions who have engaged in the bad practice of collaborating with bosses, such as the virulently anti-union Koch Brothers; and
Whereas, Railroad Workers United is already on record supporting the development of a just transition plan for
workers affected by fossil fuel elimination; and
Whereas, more long-term good paying jobs would be created by investing in sustainable energy infrastructure projects using already existing technologies while at the same time reducing greenhouse gases; and
Whereas, we support the rights of our union brothers and sisters building the pipeline to work in safe environments at jobs that are consistent with respect for the environment and the rights and safety of frontline communities;
Therefore Be it Resolved, that we call upon the Federal Government to make permanent the moratorium on construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline by revoking permits for construction issued by the Army Corps of Engineers; and
Be it Further Resolved, that Railroad Workers United calls on the labor movement to support a just transition to a renewable energy economy and investment in the construction of a nationwide sustainable energy infrastructure that will address the growing threat of climate change and its consequent droughts, floods, fire, crop failure, species extinction and other dire consequences of global warming;
Be it Finally Resolved, Railroad Workers United urges all railroad craft unions and the rest of the labor movement to become actively involved in promoting a just transition to a sustainable alternative energy economy that protects the environment and respects the rights of all working people to good paying safe jobs, human rights and justice for all.