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“Conscious Capitalism” Icon Whole Foods Exploits Prison Labor

Submitted by x344543 on Wed, 07/22/2015 - 19:03

By Ben Norton - CounterPunch, July 17, 2015

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.

Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, whose net worth exceeds $100 million, is a fervent proselytizer on behalf of “conscious capitalism.” A self-described libertarian, Mackey believes the solution to all of the world’s problems is letting corporations run amok, without regulation. He believes this so fervently, in fact, he wrote an entire book extolling the magnanimous virtue of the free market.

At the same time, while preaching the supposedly beneficent gospel of the “conscious capitalism,” Mackey’s company Whole Foods, which has a $13 billion and growing annual revenue, sells overpriced fish, milk, and gourmet cheeses cultivated by inmates in US prisons.

The renowned “green capitalist” organic supermarket chain pays what are effectively indentured servants in the Colorado prison system a mere $1.50 per hour to farm organic tilapia.

Colorado prisons already grow 1.2 million pounds of tilapia a year, and government officials and their corporate companions are chomping at the bit to expand production.

That’s not all. Whole Foods also buys artisinal cheeses and milk cultivated by prisoners. The prison corporation Colorado Correctional Industries has created what Fortune describes as “a burgeoning $65 million business that employs 2,000 convicts at 17 facilities.”

The base pay of these prison workers is 60¢ per day. Whole Foods purchases cheeses from these prisons, which literally pay prison laborers mere pennies an hour, and subsequently marks up the price drastically.

This is by no means the only questionable practice of Whole Foods—a corporation that presents itself as the leader in a new generation of Benevolent Big Business. In June, it was revealed that the company had systematically overcharged customers in a variety of locations for at least half of a decade.

The double standards are striking. One would think exploiting prisoners—individuals incarcerated by the state—would contradict putative libertarian values of voluntarism, voluntary association, and non-coercion. Yet critics would argue right-wing libertarians have never been ones to demonstrate moral consistency.

In fact, Mackey also firmly opposes basic libertarian values vis-à-vis workers’ rights and labor organizing. He forbids Whole Foods employees from unionizing, comparing workers’ democratic control over their own workplaces and lives to herpes. A union “doesn’t kill you, but it’s unpleasant and inconvenient, and it stops a lot of people from becoming your lover,” the Whole Foods CEO declared.

Tags: 
right-libertarianism
green unionism
Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
Food and Retail Workers Union
green syndicalism
prison labor
greenwashing
climate change

Sid Ryan on the unstoppable alliance of labour, environment and Indigenous groups

Submitted by x344543 on Tue, 07/21/2015 - 15:44

Sid Ryan Interviewed by Steve Cornwell - Rabble.Ca, July 16, 2015

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.

The recent March for Jobs, Justice, and the Climate brought together -- among others -- Indigenous, labour, and environmentalist groups. What do you expect to arise out of such a diverse movement of groups and communities?

The march is a way to announce to the world that there is a very powerful coalition coming together. I think people are beginning to believe that a lot of what we need to be doing is dealing with the climate. We know that all of our different groups, labour, First Nations, environmentalists, if we don't come together to put the pressure on, we're not going to be successful.

I was at the Battle in Seattle. You had the community activists, environmentalists, and you had a lot people from around the world and different organizations coming into Seattle. The labour movement had its own separate demonstration in a football stadium five miles out of town in a football field. There were all these wonderful speeches taking place in this football field.

But downtown Seattle was erupting with running battles between police, environmentalists, students and activists from around the world. We were completely disconnected. I thought "wow, now I can see why sometimes these other organizations say to the labour movement that we don't see you guys involved in the fight." Even though we think we're supportive of all of their issues, we seem to be doing it apart from them.

I see the July 5 march as a coming out of a new movement -- the beginnings of us saying that we're willing to work together. We know that shifting away from a carbon-based economy is a difficult decision, certainly for labour. But we're going to be there and we're going to be a part of it, and the hope is to build something much much bigger.

The aim is to say to the world that there is a new game in town, and keep your eye on it because it can build into something very powerful.

Tags: 
Sid Ryan
Ontario Federation of Labour
green unionism
climate justice
indigenous
intersectionality
just transition
green jobs

GMB: as Hinkley C collapses, it's time to get over nuclear!

Submitted by x344543 on Sat, 07/18/2015 - 13:30

By David Elliott, Ian Fairlie, Jonathon Porritt et al - The Ecologist, July 15, 2015

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.

Dear Gary Smith (GMB National Secretary for Energy),

The undersigned are scientists, academics and energy policy analysts who read with concern your Press Release objecting to the Austrian Government's appeal against the UK Government's proposed subsidies to the planned Hinkley Point C (HPC) nuclear station. Your statement contains several misconceptions, unsupported assertions and inaccuracies.

Let's start with your view that HPC is "much needed". It isn't: UK electricity demand is steadily declining. In fact it has declined 14% since 2000, while GDP has increased 18% in the same period.

It's true that some coal-fired stations will be closing over the next few years, some of which may need replacing by quick-to-build gas-fired stations and an array of renewable sources. But there's no way new nuclear could make any contribution in the next decade.

Maybe you should seek another legal opinion?

Second, you allege the Austrian appeal is "almost certainly doomed to fail". The opposite is the case: the Austrian Government has retained a team of about a dozen European lawyers - experts in EC Competition Law.

They have been assessing this case since November last year and consider the appeal to be very robust and likely to succeed: the EC's decision flies in the face of several European Directives, Policy statements, and previous EC decisions. And it is not just Austria: Luxembourg will be joining shortly, and several European renewable energy utilities also launched their appeal today.

You state Austria's appeal is "more about playing to a domestic audience rather than a serious challenge to stop new nuclear in the UK." On the contrary, Austrian Government's press statement of July 6 is clearly serious in opposing nuclear - not just in the UK but in the rest of Europe.

As the Austrian Chancellor stated: "Nuclear power plants are dangerous, expensive, and compared with the technologies of the future like wind and solar energy, are neither economically nor ecologically competitive."

Tags: 
nuclear power
nuclear power workers
General Municipal Boilermakers (GMB)
green unionism
just transition
energy democracy

The root of climate change

Submitted by x344543 on Mon, 07/13/2015 - 16:48

By Tyler Hansen - Socialist Worker, July 9, 2015

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.

In his book Storms of my Grandchildren, leading climate scientist James Hansen writes that "continued exploitation of all fossil fuels on Earth threatens not only the other millions of species on the planet but the survival of humanity itself and the timetable is shorter than we thought."

The effects of this are apparent all over the world. For example, California is facing its worst drought in 1,200 years. "Right now, the state has only about one year of water supply left in its reservoirs," warns NASA water scientist Jay Famiglietti. "And our strategic backup supply, groundwater, is rapidly disappearing."

Meanwhile, record levels of flooding in Texas and Oklahoma this spring have killed 23 people, while a heat wave that sent temperatures as high as 122 degrees Fahrenheit has devastated South Asia--India's death toll is over 2,300, while more than 1,000 people have died in Pakistan.

In the Midwest and Northeast U.S., "February 2015 ranked as one of the coldest Februaries on record for many major cities," wrote Chris Dolce at weather.com. "In Syracuse, New York, and Bangor, Maine...it was...the coldest of any month since records began."

The cold winter prompted Oklahoma Republican James Inhofe, speaking on the floor of the Senate, to foolishly attempt to disprove climate change because of...the existence of a snowball. "In case we have forgotten," Inhofe lectured, "because we keep hearing that 2014 has been the warmest year on record, I ask the chair, you know what this is? It's a snowball. And that's just from outside here. So it's very, very cold out."

As chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Inhofe ought to know that one of the effects of climate change in certain areas is extreme winters--which doesn't negate the fact that 2014 was, indeed, the warmest year on record. In fact, 13 of the 15 warmest years in history have all happened since 2000.

Africa has seen some of the worst effects of climate change. The Department for International Development (DfID) estimates that during the 2011 drought in the Horn of Africa, between 50,000 and 100,000 people died in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya--more than half of them children under five.

Across the world in 2013, "22 million people were displaced by disasters brought on by natural hazard events," according to the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees. The number of climate refugees is only expected to increase, possibly up to 200 million by 2050.

Tags: 
climate change
climate justice
global warming
capitalism
ecosocialism
green unionism
just transition

How the Labor and Environmentalist Movements Can Put Workers at the Center of Climate Justice

Submitted by x344543 on Fri, 07/10/2015 - 15:45

By Trish Kahle - In These Times, July 1, 2015

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.

2015, only halfway over, has already been an extreme year for both labor and the climate: the Midwest and Texas are experiencing record rainfall while California is in a record-breaking drought, and 2015 is the hottest year on record so far (the standing record is from 2014), including a heatwave in India that left more than 2,300 people dead. The Obama administration continues to try and push through the Trans-Pacific Partnership on fast-track, with millions of workers livelihoods hanging in the global balance and attacks on unions like the United Steelworkers continue to threaten worker, community and environmental safety. Meanwhile, energy companies insist that drilling in the soon-to-be ice-free summertime arctic will create jobs—even as it may mean game over for the climate.

There has perhaps never been a more prescient moment to emphasize what a growing number of people already know: the fate of labor and the climate are linked. In his most recent piece for The Nation, Jeremy Brecher notes how well suited the traditions of the labor movement are to the fight for climate protection: "The labor movement's most essential value is solidarity ... that we will survive and prosper only if we look out for one another. Climate protection is the new solidarity." Brecher, a founder of the Labor Network for Sustainability and author of Climate Insurgency: A Strategy for Survival as well as the classic labor history Strike! is at the forefront of the struggle to break down the false dichotomy of "jobs versus environment" and to fight for a just transition that puts workers at the center of a vision of climate justice. 

Tags: 
green unionism
labor and environment
climate justice
green syndicalism
Trish Kahle
Jeremy Brecher
Labor Network for Sustainability (LNS)
Joe Uehlein
Railcon15
Railroad Workers United (RWU)
United Steelworkers of America (USW)

March for Jobs, Justice and the Climate over 10,000 strong

Submitted by x344543 on Fri, 07/10/2015 - 15:33

By Megan Devlin - Rabble.Ca, July 5 2015

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.

The March for Jobs, Justice and the Climate filled the streets of downtown Toronto today, demanding a justice-based transition to a green-energy economy.

A press release sent after the Toronto march pegged the number of marchers at over 10,000 including celebrities Jane Fonda and David Suzuki.

The thousands in Toronto were not the only people to take part this weekend. Events for jobs, justice and the climate were held in cities and towns across Canada.

In Toronto, speakers at the march called out the myth of the choice between the economy and the environment as they pushed for a new, green energy economy. 

"They are saying we do have to choose between the environment and the economy -- that is a false choice," said Fonda, who came to Toronto to support the march. "In fact, renewable energy and doing away with the fossil fuel-based economy will create more jobs, more justice and more democracy."

Tags: 
green unionism
climate justice
Naomi Klein
Canada

Canadian Neocolonialism in Colombia: Oil, Mining and the Military

Submitted by x344543 on Fri, 07/10/2015 - 15:27

By Asad Ismi - Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Monitor, July 2015

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.

In May, the board of Pacific Rubiales, a Canadian firm and the biggest private oil producer in Colombia, announced its support for a takeover bid by the Mexican conglomerate Alfa and U.S.-based Harbour Energy. Pacific Rubiales operates Colombia’s biggest oil field, in the province of Meta, and during the past seven years the company has become synonymous with a doubling of oil exports, from half a million to a million barrels a day. Oil came to account for half of Colombia’s exports and 20% of official revenue, making Pacific Rubiales the most valuable company on the Colombian stock market.

However, by January, the sharp drop in oil prices, and the firm’s trouble developing new oil fields, had cut share prices by 90% from their 2011 high. It was unclear whether Pacific Rubiales shareholders would accept the takeover offer when the Monitor when to print, but Alfa chairman Armando Garza Sada was optimistic: “We maintain our positive view regarding Pacific Rubiales’ excellent track record and on the strength of their people. Thus, by incorporating ALFA and Harbour Energy as new equity holders, we foresee Pacific Rubiales successfully developing investment projects in Colombia.”

The emphasis in the above statement is added, because outside the business pages of daily newspapers, there is nothing excellent about the company’s track record. Pacific Rubiales is just as synonymous with human rights and labour rights violations as with oil export success, and if new production is to occur, there’s slim evidence it will benefit anyone outside the corporate boardroom. Still, the problem in Colombia is much bigger than one company. And the case of Pacific Rubiales, regardless of whether it remains a Canadian firm, holds important lessons on the evolution of Canadian neocolonialism going back 20 years.

Tags: 
extractivism
mine workers
Colombia
green unionism
green syndicalism

EcoUnionist News #55

Submitted by x344543 on Tue, 07/07/2015 - 18:08

Compiled by x344543 - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, July 7, 2015

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.

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

Lead Story:

Bread and Roses:

An Injury to One is an Injury to All:

Just Transition:

Other News:

For more green news, please visit our news feeds section on ecology.iww.org; Twitter #IWWEUC; Hashtags: #greenunionism #greensyndicalism #IWW

Tags: 
Eco Unionist News
green unionism
just transition
health and safety
toxics
agricultural workers and peasants
green syndicalism
green-anarchism
Peter Kropotkin
mine workers
strikes
combating racism
railroad workers
transportation workers
National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA)
South Africa
Railroad Workers United (RWU)

A world beyond tar sands: the fight for climate jobs

Submitted by x344543 on Sat, 07/04/2015 - 16:28

By Jesse McLaren - Socialist Worker, June 17, 2015

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.

The IPCC report from last year said that climate change would produce “severe, widespread, and irreversible impacts” if not reduced, and a report in the journal Nature this year showed that 85 per cent of tar sands must remain in the ground to avoid a 2 degree rise.

As the Globe and Mail explained, “Domestic estimates of Alberta’s oil reserves come in at about 168 billion barrels, with hundreds of billions more available for extraction if future oil prices make the resource more attractive. The study uses a more conservative estimate of 48 billion barrels as the current reserve and then finds that only 7.5 billion barrels of that, or about 15 per cent, can be used by 2050 as part of the global allotment of fossil-fuel use in a two-degree scenario." The Council of Canadians have done the math: “The proposed Keystone XL, Northern Gateway, Energy East, Trans Mountain and Arctic Gateway pipelines. Together, those pipelines would move about 3.45 million barrels of oil per day or about 1.26 billion barrels a year. If all of these pipelines were to become operational, they would exceed the 7.5 billion barrel limit noted in this British study in less than six years.”

So this is an urgent question, and what happens in Canada will have a major impact on the global climate. As NASA scientist James Hansen explained: “If Canada proceeds, and we do nothing, it will be game over for the climate.” But this risk is not evenly distributed. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans it disproportionately affected poor and racialized communities. Hurricane Sandy and typhoon Haiyan’s destruction in Haiti/Philippines is linked to the history of colonialism and imperialism in the region. Tar sands disproportionately affect indigenous communities, including the Athabasca Chippewyan First Nation at ground zero, Aamjiwnaang First Nation surrounded by refineries in Chemical Valley, and Chippewas of the Thames whose territory Line 9 crosses (and who are appealing its reversal).

Tags: 
green unionism
just transition
tar sands
green jobs
climate justice
transportation workers
public transit
Naomi Klein

Trade Union Climate Summit: Registration Extended

Submitted by x344543 on Sat, 07/04/2015 - 16:20

Announcement - Global Climate Jobs, June 29, 2015

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.

No jobs on a dead planet!

Trade Union Climate Summit #unions4climate 14 & 15 September, 2015 Paris

You can download a flyer for the summit here: flyer_climate

• Join trade union leaders, experts & activists campaigning to mobilise for a zerocarbon future
• Showcase how the union movement is working to de-carbonise our workplaces and industries
• Campaign to secure jobs with a Just Transition as industries transform
• Let’s ensure workers have a right to know about how employers plan for a zerocarbon future and what governments can do.

Guest speakers include: Laurent Fabius (French Minister of Foreign Affairs & upcoming COP21 President); Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber CBE (tbc) (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact); an interview with Naomi Klein (Canadian author This Changes Everything); Hassan Yussuff (CLC Canada President) and Jerry Dias (Unifor Canada President); Guy Ryder (tbc) (ILO Director General); Sharan Burrow (ITUC General Secretary), and Global Union Federation and National Union leaders.

PLACES LIMITED TO 250 PARTICIPANTS REGISTRATION CLOSES 15 JULY

Does this sound like you?
• Are you passionate about climate change and concerned for a just transition to a zero-carbon economy?
• Has your union committed to support climate action?
• Do you have plans or ideas for union actions on climate?

Join the Trade Union Climate Summit on 14 & 15 September in Paris

Agenda: Industrial Transformation – Opportunities for growing decent jobs out of an ambitious climate agenda – Just transition – Building alliances – Mobilisation towards COP21 and beyond, and more.
Show-cases: Experiences from unions working to secure jobs and save the planet. Panellists from unions, environmental and development NGOs, employers, experts & activists will take part in debates demonstrating how unions are ensuring a zero-carbon world.

Language: The meeting will be conducted in English, French and Spanish.

Where: French Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE) Paris, France

Registrations: Places are limited – the deadline for applications is 15th July

Send nomination to Anabella.rosemberg@ituc-csi.org with your name, union, country
 and an indication that your union leadership supports this nomination.

We have limited funds, but let us know if you’re from a developing country
and need some support to come.

This meeting is organised by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), in cooperation with Global Union Federations, Sustainlabour, the One Million Climate Jobs campaign, and French national trade union centres CFDT, CGT and FO. It is supported by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.

Contact: Anabella Rosemberg, Anabella.rosemberg@ituc

Tags: 
climate justice
green unionism
jobs
green jobs

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