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Alliances of Nurses for Healthy Environments

Labor Joining September 17 NYC Climate March

By Maria Brescia-Weiler - Labor Network for Sustainability, August 30, 2023

On September 17 thousands of people will march in New York City calling on President Biden to make good on his promises to deliver a just transition for workers and our communities, to provide solutions to the economic and climate injustices we face, and to end fossil fuels. Five hundred organizations have endorsed the march. For more information on the March including list of endorsers visit https://www.endfossilfuels.us

The Labor Network for Sustainability is coordinating a labor hub for the march, because it is essential that working class environmentalism is at the forefront of any true transition to a more sustainable economy. We welcome workers and union members who will be in New York on September 17th to come march with us! Sign up here.

To The CEOs of General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis:

By various - Labor Network for Sustainability, et. al., August 16, 2023

(Mary Barra, Jim Farley, and Carlos Tavares)

We, the undersigned climate, environmental, racial, and social justice organizations, stand in solidarity with auto workers and their union the United Auto Workers (UAW) in their upcoming contract negotiations with the “Big 3” automakers: General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis. We firmly support the UAW members’ demands and believe that the success of these negotiations is of critical importance for the rights and well-being of workers and to safeguard people and the environment. Only through meeting these demands will the United States ensure a just transition to a renewable energy future.

Lack of fair wages, job security, and dignified working conditions have left workers and our communities reeling. Worse, in recent months, workers and their communities have experienced unprecedented extreme heat, smoke pollution, flooding, and other disasters. The leaders of your companies have historically made decisions that exacerbated both of these crises over the past few decades — driving further inequality and increasing pollution. That is why we are standing in solidarity with the UAW and all workers and communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis and the necessary transition.

Within the next few years — the span of this next contract — lies humanity’s last chance to navigate a transition away from fossil fuels, including away from combustion engines. With that shift comes an opportunity for workers in the United States to benefit from a revival of new manufacturing, including electric vehicles (EVs) and collective transportation like buses and trains, as a part of the renewable energy revolution. This transition must center workers and communities, especially those who have powered our economy through the fossil fuel era, and be a vehicle for economic and racial justice. We are putting you on notice: Corporate greed and shareholder profits must never again be put before safe, good-paying union jobs, clean air and water, and a liveable future.

One USF Nurse’s War on Fracking: A Struggle for Public Health

By Ed Carpenter - University of San Francisco, August 12, 2014

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’s.

USF’s Barbara Sattler is at the forefront of a growing national movement to shine a public light on the controversial method of hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, and its adverse health risks.

Fracking uses high-pressure water mixed with sand and toxic chemicals, pumping them deep underground to force open fissures and pump out oil and gas.

Dramatic growth in fracking

Some of the more severe effects of the extraction method include groundwater contamination, difficulty breathing, and severe skin and eye irritations. These and other health issues have been reported across the country by scientists and residents who live near fracking wells. Though fracking has been around since 1949, new technology and cheaper extraction costs have fueled dramatic growth in its use in recent years and stoked a heated public debate about the effects on human health and the environment. 

In June, Sattler led the nation’s first multi-day nursing seminar on fracking. A registered nurse and USF professor of public health, Sattler taught nurses from all over California how fracking is done, the health risks associated with it, and how to use online databases to locate fracking wells where they live and work.

The two-dozen nursing professionals also learned public advocacy, including how to talk to regulators and the media, and met with lawmakers in the state’s Capitol.

The Fine Print I:

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The Fine Print II:

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