An injury to one is an injury to all. Last night, Rainforest Action Network, Global Exchange, and the Ruckus Society joined the picket line at Berkeley Honda, the longest running strike in auto dealer history.

When Berkeley Honda was sold to millionaire real estate developers in June 2005, some of the most senior and talented mechanics and technicians were fired. The rest of the mechanics, members of the Machinists Union (IAM Local 1546) and Automotive Teamsters Local 78, went strike in protest. The shop was filled with scabs with far less experience and earning half the pay of the senior level mechanics.

A unionized Honda worker is one of the most endangered species in America. Honda’s manufacturing in the U.S. is almost entirely non-union and Honda as a company is anti-union. But at some of the dealers, like the one in Berkeley, workers’ rights are protected by the union. After years of protesting at Ford dealerships, RAN, GX and Ruckus took abreak to rally with the stiking workers and community leaders.
In the immortal words of Judi Bari, there are no jobs on a dead planet. America is addicted to oil, and we need the skills and support of American workers to break that addiction. Environment and workers’ rights have always been intertwined; workers are the first to suffer from pollution and workers are the first to pay the price when all the forests have been logged. We all sincerely hope that the next generation of autoworkers will be building petroleum-free pollution-free cars.