Above: As LNS gets ready to join the Student Climate Strikes starting on September 20, 2019, we pay tribute to the late Hector J. Figueroa, former president of 32BJ Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Hector was an influential champion in the labor-climate justice movement. In this photo, Hector joins hundreds of thousands of protesters who filled Central Park West in New York, Sunday, September 21, 2014, demanding “system change not climate change” while addressing the labor contingent. Credit: Thomas Good – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0.


This week, Service Employees (SEIU) President Mary Kay Henry sent local SEIU leaders this message:

When the SEIU Executive Board voted on a resolution supporting the Green New Deal, we said that we would join with the climate and environmental justice movement in demanding action on climate change, structural racism and economic inequality. Recently, these demands aligned on the streets of Detroit as our union united with youth and environmental justice organizations in a mass rally and march at the Democratic presidential debates.

The next opportunity for cross movement mobilization is coming up on September 20th with the global climate student strike. On that day, young people across the world will be striking. Here in the U.S., young people along with allied organizations will be rallying in cities across the country. This link provides background and mobilization locations across the country. If your local can participate, please contact Jon Barton at [email protected].

This will be an exciting day to lift up voices along with youth and allied organizations as we build a wider movement to demand a greener, safer and more just world.