Over the past couple of years, the American labor movement has become an enthusiastic supporter of expanding “green jobs” that fight global warming. But policies to reduce carbon emissions to levels scientists say are safe have been a harder pill to swallow. Now, in a significant breakthrough, three significant unions have come out [...]

[Fifth in the series “Labor goes to Copenhagen] The effort to address the worst environmental catastrophe in human history is coming in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.  Business and governments have used economic adversity as an excuse to limit efforts to address climate change.   As representatives of [...]

[Third in the series “Labor Goes to Copenhagen] According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a UN-sponsored scientific body that was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its work, keeping global temperature within 2 degrees C of historic levels requires reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by specific targets. The global trade union movement has committed [...]

[Second in the series “Labor goes to Copenhagen"] At the core of global labor’s strategy for climate protection is the idea of a “just transition” to a low-carbon economy. A just transition means that the burden of change that benefits everyone will not be placed disproportionately on a few.  It means that those most vulnerable to change [...]