I’m a big fan of blue and green solidarity. No, I’m not talking about color patterns. I’m talking about labor and environmentalists organizing, marching, picketing, holding lines and supporting each other as much as possible. You know: Teamsters and Turtles at the WTO; Judy Bari (a personal she-ro) organizing with loggers during the Redwood Summers; RAN’s Freedom From Oil Campaign own recent work with auto-workers.
It isn’t just about mindlessly doing actions together either. It’s about having a dialogue that interconnects issues of environmental justice and economic justice.
It’s important work and we need to do more of it and now’s our chance.
Security workers in Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in San Francisco are going on strike this week. They are demanding a fair wage from the city’s leading security contractors such as Securitas, Allied-Barton, ACSS, ABM, and Universal Protective Service. The first-ever, city-wide master contract expired June 30, 2007. Community leaders, clergy, congregations and, yes, a few environmentalists will be out in the streets with SEIU demanding those fair wages.
Appalachian union organizer Mother Jones (another she-ro) once said “Pray for the dead, but fight like hell for the living.” Many of us engaged in struggles to save ancient forests and reverse global warming will honor the spirit of her words and continue the dialogue that connects issues of labor rights and ecological sanity in the streets with SEIU.
For more information, visit: www.StopTheDoubleStandards.org
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Written by Scott Parkin
Topics: Oil