By Lorenzo Nericcio, Newsletter Editor
Labor and climate have inseparable goals: the good of working people, and indeed everyone, is dependent on a healthy and functioning environment. But the climate movement has not always acknowledged this, and many organizations’ sustainability efforts continue not to prioritize labor’s role in a bold and just solution to our current climate crisis.
Similarly, many in labor are hesitant to embrace an environmentally aggressive program. Fossil fuels currently employ almost 2 million workers nationally. Without any clear guidelines for a transition from their current jobs to new, green jobs, it’s understandable that many workers, and many unions, would be skeptical. But these issues can’t wait much longer. Catastrophe is at our doorstep. What is the right path, then? One convincing view is that only a climate movement working fully in tandem with an organized labor movement can succeed. The reason the two areas are inseparable is that global inequality and the climate crisis are the direct result of the same ill: a system of global capital that enriches a select few, marginally benefits others, and immeserates the rest. And, because the richest in the world will be able to avoid suffering from many changes to the climate and will continue to get richer through extractive industries that destroy environments, petitioning them to change their ways is simply not going to work. Already, poor and marginalized people, especially in poorer countries, are bearing the burdens of climate change. The only way out of the current debacle is what those on the Left and in labor have understood for over a century: direct organizing and action against the interests of fossil fuel, and in favor of cleaner energy and infrastructure. Only collective action by organized working people, with solidarity from climate activists, can hope to stop the processes that currently ensure environmental catastrophe. But what does that look like? Globally, examples are beginning to spring forth. The language of a “climate strike” for example, suggests an understanding of the interrelatedness between workers and climate action. There is more cause for hope when focusing on a local context, however. Here, in San Diego, several unions have taken up the cause to support more aggressive climate action. The AFT Union (American Federation of Teachers) and the California Nurses Association (through Nurses United) have each released pledges to sustainability, environmental justice, and—importantly—a transition to green jobs. This latter point stands to be reiterated. For many union workers employed in fossil-fuel industries, the thought of a transition to green energy can seem threatening: their livelihoods and the well-being of their families depend on their secure union wages and benefits. So, a firm commitment to a just transition into new jobs is a necessary part of any union-backed sustainability initiative. Transitioning from good, union jobs in fossil fuels to precarious non-union jobs in green energy is an unacceptable outcome. It may seem easy for a nurses’ or teachers’ union to support a societal transition to green energy, but the push for sustainability has begun to extend into labor movements with a more direct connection to the energy sector. The IBEW 569 Local—San Diego County’s chapter of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers—has announced partnerships working toward sustainability. The Let's Go San Diego coalition is working toward a ballot measure aimed at a brighter transportation future for San Diego. It aims to extend trolley lines, improve infrastructure, and preserve green and open spaces, potentially reducing emissions by as much as 20%. Crucially, this initiative will include thousands of good-paying, union construction jobs. It’s a strong step in the right direction, and may begin to reduce concerns among labor that the push toward green energy and infrastructure means a push away from jobs. And nationally, there is further cause for optimism. Recently, the first very Amazon labor union was successfully voted in—a feat attributed to good old-fashioned organizing. Workers have also successfully created several Starbucks unions in the past month. Unions forming in some of the largest, most recognizable companies suggests to some a renewed interest in the labor movement. This moment is important for environmentalists as well. We have an opportunity to rally behind this new wave of unionization, emphasizing our shared interest in creating jobs that are both environmentally sustainable and fair and good to workers. | 
