Photo: From the Sunday, March 17,2019 edition of The Washington Post. Omaha’s Monument to Labor submerged in water–a result of winter storms causing the Missouri River to overflow. The image symbolizes our current climate crisis and the need for labor to take urgent action toward just transition.

On Friday, June 28 through Sunday, June 30, 2019, the Labor Network for Sustainability will hold its Third National Labor Convergence on Climate in Chicago. In the spirit of this year’s theme, which is:

Strengthening Labor’s Voice to Help Shape the Green New Deal

…this year’s Convergence will result in an action agenda for labor around climate change as well as a draft strategy for organizing around that agenda. If you’re interested in joining us, or if you want to nominate another person to attend, please click below to complete and submit our online form. You may nominate up to five (5) individuals, but you will need to do so using one form per nominee.

We are seeking candidates who:

• Want to engage the labor movement in climate protection steps that achieve the targets for greenhouse gas emissions that are required by climate science and provide a just transition for impacted workers.
• Are active in trade unions, worker centers, and worker organizing as rank-and-file members, leaders, or staff.
• Are active in climate protection activities within and beyond their union.
• Will help connect the Convergence with diverse racial, ethnic, gender, regional, age, occupational, organizational, and other constituencies. You can nominate up to five individuals; one form per nominee.

Your submission/s will be reviewed by the National Convergence Planning Committee, who will either: 1) reply to you once decisions have been made; or 2) if approved, add your nominees to our distribution list to receive a registration email, which we send twice a week. If you have questions, please contact Judy Asman, admin manager, at [email protected].

About the Convergence

Merriam-Webster defines “con·ver·gence” as “moving toward union.” The Labor Network for Sustainability organizes Labor Convergences on Climate to support the movement to create better jobs for workers now and a better environment for both their communities and our planet’s future. We aim to help create a powerful voice within organized labor to advocate for good jobs through a just transition to a climate-safe, worker-friendly economy in a timeline consistent with the scientific consensus.

The Convergences support labor-climate advocates to organize locally and nationally in their own unions; educate labor’s leadership and rank and file on the realities of climate change; transform the discourse and strengthen the climate policies of the labor movement and build cooperation among climate protection advocates and labor. Read more about our Convergences below.

This year, we will share examples where labor is engaged in climate protection efforts including campaigns for renewable energy, public transit, successful labor/community transitions from fossil fuels to clean energy, the Green New Deal and more.

Participants are already registered from:

• Alameda Labor Council
• Alameda Labor Council Environmental Justice Caucus
• Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU)
• American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)
• American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
• American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
• American Postal Workers Union (APWU)
• Association of Flight Attendants-CWA
• Black Workers for Justice
• BlueGreen Alliance (BGA)
• California Labor Federation (CFL)
• California Nurses Association (CNA)
• CFL Workforce & Community Initiative
• Central Florida Jobs with Justice
• Center for Community Change
• Chicago Federation of Labor / United Way of Metro Chicago
• Chicago Jobs with Justice
• Clean Air Coalition
• Climate Justice Alliance
• Coalition for Economic Justice
• Communications Workers of America (CWA)
• Community Labor United
• Earthworks
• Greenpeace
• International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE)
• International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW)
• Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
• International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART)
• International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters
• International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE)
• Jobs Move to America
• Jobs With Justice San Francisco
• Labor Rise for Climate, Jobs, Justice & Peace
• Maine AFL-CIO
• Massachusetts AFL-CIO
• Moving Forward Network, Urban & Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College
• National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC)
• National Education Association (NEA) / North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE)
• National Nurses United (NNU)
• New York State Nurses Association
• North Carolina A. Philip Randolph Institute
• North Carolina League of Conservation Voters / PowerUp NC
• North Shore Labor Council
• Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU)
• Oregon AFL-CIO
• Peralta Federation of Teachers / AFT Local 1603
• Professional Staff Congress / AFT Local 2334
• Progressive Workers Union
• Railroad Workers United
  Rutgers LEARN; AAUP-AFT; UAW 1981
• Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
• Service Employees International Union (SEIU) State Council
• Service Employees International Union (SEIU), United Healthcare Workers – East
• Sierra Club
• The Leap
• The U-Liners
• Trade Unions for Energy Democracy (TUED)
• United Auto Workers (UAW)
• United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE)
• United Food and Commercial Workers International (UFCW) Local 1994 MCGEO
• United Steelworkers (USW)
• United Steelworkers (USW) / Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees (SOAR)
• University of Illinois, Chicago, School of Public Health
• U.S. Green Building Council
• U.S. Labor Against the War
• Women’s Institute for Leadership Development (WILD)
• Women Thinking Out Loud

BE A PART OF IT…