The just-released anthology Power Lines: Building a Labor-Climate Justice Movement features an article by Maria Brescia-Weiler, LNS project manager for young worker organizing and Liz Ratzloff, LNS co-executive director, titled “Young Workers Can Bridge the Labor and Climate Movements.” They write:
Young workers have already demonstrated leadership on social and economic justice issues. From school climate strikes to nationwide protests against police brutality to recent union drives among the young workforces of Starbucks and Amazon, these workers are actively engaged in political work. But labor has been slow to capture the energy young workers can bring to the movement. […] If the labor movement doesn’t begin to invest in young workers, there is little chance that we will build the power needed to secure an ecologically sustainable and economically just future. Understanding the perspective of young workers is a crucial first step in bringing these workers into the labor movement.
Varshini Prakash, executive director of the Sunrise Movement, says of Power Lines:
The climate movement needs the labor movement to win a just transition. Power Lines is an essential how-to manual for organizers looking for the most creative, visionary, and practical strategies to bridge our movements.
And Frances Fox Piven, author of Challenging Authority: How Ordinary People Change America, says:
This is a book that could brighten your life and stiffen your spine. These experienced and wise organizers search the world we share for the stories of movement uprisings that could spark something big enough to save us yet.
Power Lines is edited by Jeff Ordower and Lindsay Zafir and published by The New Press.
For more information: https://thenewpress.com/books/power-lines