In early June, LNS participated in the Labor Research and Action Network (LRAN) conference at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Our Young Worker Organizer, Martina Manicastri, presented on a panel entitled “Challenges and Strategies for Worker-led Energy Transition and Young Worker Organizing” alongside Jessie Hammerling, Co-Director, of the Green Economy Program at UC Berkeley Labor Center, Batul Hassan, Labor Director at the Climate & Community Institute, and Nikki Luke, Assistant Professor of Human Geography in the Geography and Sustainability Department at the University of Tennessee.
Martina shared findings from our young worker report, “Earth is a Hot Shop,” and from her experience in running our Young Worker Training Program. The presentation spoke to the ambitions of young workers in the labor-climate movement who care deeply about cross-movement intersections, and who yearn for class-struggle unionism. She also discussed the need for greater opportunities for democratic participation in the labor movement and the importance of comprehensive political education in the fight for a just transition.
This year, LRAN prioritized the experiences of migrant workers, federal workers, and southern workers, all of whom are facing both old and newfound challenges under the Trump administration. The conference echoed national calls for solidarity within the labor movement and with communities being directly attacked by the state.
If you want to learn more about the LNS Young Workers Program, please contact our Young Worker Organizer and program instructor Martina Manicastri at [email protected].”
For the Young Workers Project Report “Earth Is a Hot Shop: Findings of the Young Workers Listening Project”: https://www.labor4sustainability.org/files/YWREPORT2025.pdf
For more on the LNS Young Worker Project: https://www.labor4sustainability.org/ywlp/ywlp-in-depth/