Climate Strikes

After a week-long occupation of the University of Barcelona campus by students from End Fossil Barcelona, the university agreed that all students will have to take a mandatory course on the climate crisis. The university will also devise a training program on climate issues for its 6,000 academic staff.

my Calandrella is an Operating Engineer with IUOE Local 98 in Western Massachusetts, USA. She operates heavy equipment (bobcats, loaders, bulldozers, etc) on construction sites all over Massachusetts, VT, and NH ranging from road construction to rail line repair. Amy began her work as an Operator in 2015 as an apprentice in her union.

Larry Williams, Jr. Executive Director of the Labor Network for Sustainability, sent a message to LNS friends and supporters that said in part: “We’re celebrating the recent defeat of US Senator Joe Manchin’s “Dirty Deal.” This was a proposal to undermine environmental reviews and fast-track fossil fuel projects like the Mountain Valley Pipeline…”

The International Association of Machinists, a venerable union representing half-a-million workers in more than 200 manufacturing and transportation industries, passed a powerful resolution on climate change at its October national convention.

In a convergence of labor, student, community, and climate forces, Rutgers University students, faculty, graduate workers, and staff joined for a day of speakouts, rallies, and marches for climate justice and fair contracts for the university’s 19,000 union employees.

UNITE HERE Local 11 represents over 32,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona, including airline catering workers. In September Local 11, joined by more than 40 environmental organizations, wrote American Airlines demanding action to protect the environment.

Cindy Estrada is a long-serving Vice President of the UAW. Ramon Cruz is President of the Sierra Club. Coming from such different affiliations, it is striking that they have just published a joint article about Autoworkers and the Environmental Movement in the Nonprofit Quarterly.

Shortly after Hurricane Ian devastated Florida, Adriana Phillips, a community organizer with South Bronx Mutual Aid in New York began hearing from new immigrants who were being offered lucrative jobs in Florida through flashy ads in Spanish on online platforms like Telegram and WhatsApp.

Hundreds of thousands people marched and rallied October 1 in over 50 towns and cities across the UK on a National Day of Action protesting the soaring cost of living and inaction on the climate crisis. The actions were called by Enough is Enough, a 700,000 member campaign supported by the trade union movement and community groups including tenant unions and foodbanks.

Travis Epes lives in Portland, OR. He’s worked as a clerk for the United States Postal Service since 2014.