The May 5th Newsletter of Trade Unions for Energy Democracy provides an early assessment of “Why U.S. unions marched for the climate” . The article lists some of the many unions who marched in Washington D.C. on April 29 in the March for Climate, Jobs and Justice, highlighting the unique perspective of the National Nurses Union and 1199 SEIU, who see the public health effects of climate change in their daily work. TUED also mentions a meeting convened by Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis and hosted by the American Postal Workers Union, “bringing together roughly 30 labor, community and social movement activists and organizers, to reflect on possibilities for building on the Canadian Leap Manifesto framework to advance the struggle for energy democracy and just transition in the U.S. context.”
Finally, the TUED article credits the Labor Network for Sustainability (LNS) with much of the work in building participation in the March. The latest LNS newsletter reports that over a dozen unions and more than 3000 members marched in Washington, including 100 members from AFSCME’s local DC37 in New York. The newsletter also describes marches on the West Coast, where climate change was included in the May 1 messages. The LNS Facebook page has more details and photos.
A joint press release (April 26) includes brief statements from each of the members of the labour steering committee for the march: Service Employees International Union ( SEIU), Communications Workers of America (CWA), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) (including the local from the EPA), and BlueGreen Alliance.
