Image: Postcard illustration by Curt Teich. Haymarket Square; Scene of Haymarket Riot. Holding institution: The Newberry, Chicago, Illinois.

The Labor Network for Sustainability will hold its third National Labor Convergence on Climate June 28-30. This year’s theme is “Strengthening Labor’s Voice to Help Shape the Green New Deal.”

The major goal of the Convergence is to produce an action agenda for labor around climate change and to draft a strategy for organizing around that agenda. It is an opportunity to learn, share and help strengthen labor’s voice in the movement to build a just equitable and sustainable environment and economy. We will also invite allies in the climate protection movement who are partnering with the labor movement for good jobs and healthy communities.

This year, we convene in Chicago. We are honored to meet in the birthplace of May Day and the Haymarket martyrs of 1886, and now—in 2019—the largest U.S. city to commit to 100-percent renewable energy by mid-century. In this historic city, LNS will convene labor and our allies to strategize about how best to enhance labor’s roles and priorities in the climate protection movement.

Leaders and activists from dozens of local and national unions and federations participate in setting strategy for the labor climate movement.

Highlights include:

  • Video welcome from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Opening panel:

  • Sara Nelson, President, Association of Flight Attendants
  • Cecil Roberts, President, United Mine Workers of America
  • Maria Castanada, Executive Vice President, Service Employees International Union, 1199

 Panels, workshops, and breakout sessions include:

  • A Just Transition for Workers and Communities
  • Building a National Resilience Force
  • Building Transportation Systems with Justice and Equity
  • Transforming Waste Systems
  • Transforming Agriculture and Ecosystems
  • Climate Change and Workplace Health and Safety
  • Militarization and Climate Change
  • Local, state, and regional labor climate action
  • Training for labor climate education trainers