green unionism

By staff - Morning Star, March 2023

A GROUNDBREAKING alliance of unions and campaigners have announced their commitment to stand with Extinction Rebellion as the climate group is set to take mass action next month.

Thousands are expected to descend on Parliament between April 21 and 24 for The Big One, a weekend of protest against the government’s ongoing failure to tackle the climate emergency.

PCS union, NEU Climate Change Network, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Global Justice Now and Black Lives Matter (BLM) are among groups that have joined the alliance.

John Moloney, PCS assistant general secretary, said: “PCS members taking strike action understand the need to co-ordinate across our movements to win our demands for better pay and to safeguard jobs.

“The climate and nature emergency requires the same to win the future we desperately need in the face of multiple crises — this is why we are supporting XR’s action.”

The announcement falls on the day the latest UN intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) report is published, warning that drastic action is needed to meet its target of limiting global temperature rises to 1.5°C.

By Robin Bravender - E&E News, March 1, 2023

Staff at the Natural Resources Defense Council have launched a unionization campaign, organizers announced, making the environmental organization the latest national green group to see a union organizing push in recent years.

Bruce Jett, an organizing director with the Washington-Baltimore News Guild, sent a letter to NRDC President and CEO Manish Bapna on Wednesday stating that the union — which represents news and nonprofit groups — is seeking to represent NRDC employees.

“We urge the Natural Resources Defense Council to join with The NewsGuild to champion the rights of your outstanding employees to perform the above activities as we undertake a respectful dialogue and move forward together with the transparent, inclusive and equitable mission of both The NewsGuild and your organization,” Jett wrote.

The NRDC union effort launched a Twitter account Wednesday saying that staff at the environmental group is “working to build an organization that treats workers with dignity and respect, listens to our concerns, and makes it easier for all of us to safeguard the planet and its people.”

Representatives of the unionization effort did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

By Shawn Hubbard and Don Hill - Iron and Earth, February 28, 2023

By Steve Share - Minneapolis Labor Review, February 25, 2023

Labor unions and environmental groups joined with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and legislative leaders February 7 for a bill-signing ceremony at the Saint Paul Labor Center to celebrate historic clean energy legislation.

The bill, Senate File 4, puts Minnesota on a path to 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2040 — while creating new clean energy jobs.

“Our children are counting on us to get this right,” said Governor Walz, addressing the packed meeting room at the Labor Center. “We can’t move too fast when it comes to addressing climate change.”

“It’s our skilled trades who are going to be building this future,” Walz emphasized.

Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman, in her remarks, noted that “a very strong coalition” worked to pass the bill, including labor, environmentalists, and young people.

“We have a climate crisis and we need to take action to address it,” she said.

“Today’s action is the strongest action Minnesota has taken on climate change. Full stop,” declared Representative Jamie Long (DFL-Minneapolis), who was the chief author of the bill in the Minnesota House.

By Jeff Kurtz, Mark Burrows, and Maximillian Alvarez - The Real News Network, February 23, 2023

By Alan Fisher - Alan Fisher, February 23, 2023

By Hugh Sawyer and Steve Zeltser - Work Week Radio, February 23, 2023

By Union Jake, and David Story - Valley Labor Report, February 22, 2023

By Kari Lyderson - This is Hell!, February 22, 2023