Labor Organizing + How It Intersects with Environmental Justice
On this episode of The Joy Report, we’re discussing the labor movement in the U.S. and how its legacy, and its current momentum, is linked to the fight for environmental justice.
"The Joy Report" is a podcast dedicated to sharing stories about climate solutions and environmental justice grounded in intersectionality, optimism, and joy. Tune in to hear stories and updates on all things climate, social, and environmental justice explained in a succinct, accessible way by Arielle King (@ariellevking), an environmental justice advocate and attorney passionate about environmental education.
✍🏾Script by @ariellevking + @mkaytiff
📚 Research by @ariellvking + @philthefixer
🗣️ Narration by @ariellevking
🦋Audio Engineering + Music by @awesomenostalgia
🌿Graphic Design by @eileenjawn
🍄Produced by @philthefixer
Episode Transcript
“Welcome to The Joy Report, a podcast dedicated to sharing stories about climate solutions and environmental justice grounded in intersectionality and optimism. Tune in to hear updates on all things climate, social, and environmental justice explained in a succinct and accessible way by me, Arielle King, an environmental justice advocate and attorney passionate about environmental education. This podcast aims to give you the tools you need to stay informed and take action to protect the planet.”
Episode Agenda:
In this episode, we’re discussing the lessons we can take away from labor movements throughout American history
Main Topic
“The Why” Topic Background Info
All people deserve safe places to live, pray, play, and work.
This principle has been a central part of the movement for environmental justice since its inception.
Historically, the mainstream environmental movement has centered on the idea of preserving the planet without consideration of the humans who live on it.
Yet, the duty to protect the planet must also include protecting its human inhabitants.
International treaties, national laws and local ordinances all have a role in prioritizing the needs of people most impacted by the harms of fossil fuels, overconsumption, and capitalism. Unfortunately, they often do not work together with these communities to create effective policy.
Using the strength of collective action, some communities have come together to create necessary change.
One community organizing idea that has had a recent resurgence are Labor Unions.
Throughout American history, unions have played a critical role in ensuring those who keep our world running, receive necessary rights and protections. Workers have continuously advocated for themselves through collective action to create meaningful change to ensure their work can be done as safely as possible.
Unions have acted as a link between their members and the business that employs them by providing workers with the power to negotiate for more favorable working conditions and other benefits through collective bargaining. In the industrial sector, unions have generally fought for better hours and wages, and safer working environments.
A conversation about labor would be incomplete without acknowledging the role race has played in perpetuating harm and disenfranchisement for people of color. Labor organizing has played a significant role in advocating against environmental hazards workers experience on the job.
https://youtu.be/kMDE659njgY [2:33 - 3:41]
Let’s take the Memphis Sanitation Strike for example…
https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkivebeentothemountaintop.htm
In 1968 protests were organized in Memphis, Tennessee as horrendous working conditions for sanitation workers caused the death of Black two sanitation workers, Echol Cole and Robert Walker. Afterward, the 1,300 Black sanitation workers began a strike and demanded better working conditions, higher pay, and equal consideration by the city.
https://youtu.be/ClNubFaosuU [8:35-9:34]
Protestors lined the streets of Memphis holding signs that read “I Am A Man.” During one of Martin Luther King’s visits to Memphis, [he reminded the crowd](https://www.beaconbroadside.com/broadside/2018/03/the-50th-anniversary-of-martin-luther-king-jrs-all-labor-has-dignity.html#:~:text=Fifty years ago—on March,in Christ in Memphis%2C Tennessee.&text=In his speech%2C Dr.,those in the service economy.) of 25,000 protesters that, “whenever you are engaged in work that serves humanity and is for the building of humanity, it has dignity, and it has worth.” Many view this strike as one of the starting points of the national movement for environmental justice, and the “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech that Martin Luther King Jr. gave at the Memphis Sanitation Strike protest on April 3rd, 1968 would, unfortunately, be his last.
https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkivebeentothemountaintop.htm
One of the key principles of the environmental justice movement is the advancement of “self-determination” for those experiencing environmental burdens and limited involvement in decision-making practices. In this context, self-determination means having the ability to speak for yourself, create for yourself, and develop yourself instead of allowing or encouraging others to do so. It means centering those impacted by decisions in every part of the decision-making processes, listening to their needs, and making decisions informed by active engagement.
That’s what so many of us want: a voice in decision-making and the information necessary to contribute to rules and policies that will impact our lives. Many also want access to resources and restitution when we have been harmed.
Labor movements have been a bedrock of American society that have played a pivotal role in protecting those on the frontlines.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lptz-nLZKEo
Coal miners in Appalachia were, and still are, at high risk of developing heart disease, lung cancer, and other severe health conditions from their work. 100 years ago coal miners in West Virginia fought for their right to unionize, the need for improved working conditions and livable wages, and to limit the control coal companies had over their lives. This effort came to a tipping point at The Battle of Blair Mountain, known as one of the largest labor uprisings in American History.
According to a Gallup poll, we’re currently experiencing the highest level of national support for labor unions since 1965.
With workers at Starbucks locations all over the country voting to unionize we are witnessing people coming together to advocate for their rights in organized, strategic ways to fight for a more meaningful role in decision-making processes that will impact their work environments.
But the current movement for labor unions is providing more than just collective bargaining power for workers, it’s providing opportunities for building community and creating lasting change. Unions all over the country are recognizing their influence and working to ensure their members are making informed decisions that will further safeguard their abilities to live and work in safe, healthy environments.
The impact of the Memphis Sanitation Strike, Blair Mountain, what we’re seeing at Starbucks locations nationwide, and countless other examples have led to the creation of a worker’s union at the second largest employer in the United States— a worker-led movement with the goal of putting power back in the hands of employees who have continued to work throughout the pandemic to bring comfort and consistency in the midst of chaos and uncertainty. Our society's desire for instant gratification and cheap consumption has fueled companies in creating unhealthy working environments for those tasked with fulfilling consumerist wants and needs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMc280EtXxs
Featured Story
It’s March 2020. Uncertainty abounded. What is COVID? How long is this going to last? Should we wear masks? Why is there no toilet paper on the shelves? Since when does everyone like making bread?
The COVIC-19 pandemic, especially in the pre-vaccine, early stages of 2020, caused fear, uncertainty, joblessness, houselessness, and countless other catastrophes all at once.
People of color were dying at disproportionately higher rates due to the byproducts of environmental injustice. Lack of access to healthcare, preexisting medical conditions, and high levels of air pollution.
Meanwhile, profits soared for e-commerce behemoths like Amazon. Fueled by the demand to have groceries, gadgets, and other items delivered, without direct human contact, revenues exceeded One Hundred and Twenty Five billion dollars during the last quarter of 2020.
Who kept Amazon running while so most of the population stayed home in lockdown?
1.6 million global employees did. Front line associates worked mandatory overtime, adhered to inconsistent COVID protocols, and endured awful working conditions.
[sounds of the city to set the scene that we’re in NYC] [00:17-00:24]
Amazon’s Staten Island warehouse was no exception. Known as JFK8, this warehouse, roughly the size of 15 football fields, is the only Amazon fulfillment center in New York City.
As positive COVID-19 cases rose throughout New York City exponentially, Amazon provided inconsistent information to warehouse employees about who amongst their co-workers had contracted the virus.
JFK8 employees hadn’t been informed that Amazons practice of firing low productivity workers had been paused. This caused many workers to skip essential covid-19 protections, like regular handwashing, during their shifts.
Workers were afraid for their health and their jobs.
That’s when JFK8 warehouse employees sought to create a safer work environment. They stood beside two longtime workers, best friends Derrick Palmer and Chris Smalls, who asked management to close down the JFK8 facility for two weeks for deep sanitation.
When their request went unanswered and working conditions didn’t improve, Palmer and Smalls led a walkout in protest. Their demands were access to paid sick leave, better Covid-19 safeguards, and hazard pay since their labor was deemed essential.
Chris Smalls was fired the same day. Soon after investigations were called by the mayor of New York City and the New York state attorney general to have the city’s human rights commissioner and the National Labor Relations Board investigate the cause of termination, which Smalls believed to be in retaliation for his activism. The findings later led to a lawsuit against Amazon filed by the state of New York for their “flagrant disregard for health and safety requirements” during the coronavirus pandemic, which put the lives of workers and the general public at risk.
Soon after his termination, Smalls raised money through GoFundMe to begin organizing. He turned the bus stop used by JFK8 workers into his central office. He’d stay there for hours talking to workers on the way home from work. Chris hosted bonfires and handed out free food to workers every day. While doing so, he listened to people. He fostered community, built trust, and validated people’s experiences.
During this time Amazon was spending millions to fight against the union campaigns and urged employees to vote No to the formation of a worker’s labor union during mandatory meetings.
In December of 2021 Amazon reached a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board to allow its employees to freely organize without retaliation. Through this settlement current and former Amazon workers were notified of their right to organize, and Amazon pledged it wouldn’t threaten workers with discipline for engaging in union activity in exterior non-work areas during non-work time.
But when Chris tried to enter the facility as a guest to bring food to workers, he and two other current employees were arrested for trespass.
Soon after, workers voted by more than 10 percentage points in favor of being represented by the Amazon Labor Union, a movement with the intention of establishing workers’ right to negotiate for a better, safer, and more equitable workplace.
Chris’s early mornings and late nights at the bus stop building relationships, prioritizing and listening to people’s needs and grievances resulted in a tremendous win.
The next part is negotiating the union contract, which legitimizes the union’s efforts.
During his opening statement before the Senate Banking Committee Chris Smalls addressed Lindsey Graham:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3RwzqKyreI [0:01-1:29]
There’s so much more that can all learn from Chris Smalls’ work. Through compassion, showing up, listening, and understanding the history and impact of labor movements of the past, he has created a blueprint for the way to meaningfully engage and support those most impacted by poor decision-making.
Chris Smalls, president of the Amazon labor union
Topic Related Calls To Action
Remember, we have an obligation to fight for the protection of the people of this planet just as much as the planet itself. Here are some things that you can do to get involved:
Spread the word. The more national attention and support union organizing receives, the better.
Check to see if your state has anti-union labor laws enacted. If so, contact your elected officials and urge them to make changes to ensure workers have the ability to organize without penalty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMjLo2EJcUI [00:17- 1:42]
Positive News Stories
Here’s some positive climate news you should also know about:
The United States Environmental Protection Agency just released an updated version of their Environmental Justice Legal Tools with the goal of helping EPA decisionmakers and partners understand their authorities to consider and address environmental justice and equity in decision-making, and to promote meaningful engagement.
Portugal is set to begin working on Europe’s largest floating solar farm with over 12,000 solar panels
Both the United States Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services have launched Offices of Environmental Justice to advance environmental justice enforcement and address climate-related health issues, particularly affecting low-income and marginalized Americans
The highest court in India has declared that nature is a living being with legal rights on par with humans, and explained that humans have a responsibility to preserve the natural world for posterity.
In Connecticut, schools will soon be required to teach climate change and climate solutions as part of the science curriculum.
IE + Community Updates
And in the world of Intersectional Environmentalist:
We’re going on an organizational break for two weeks in June. As we already know, rest is an essential part of sustained movement building, so we’re looking forward to taking some time to rest and enjoy all that summer has to offer then come back ready to keep going.
This episode marks the halfway point for season 1 of The Joy Report! It has been such a pleasure to share these stories with you all, and I hope you’ll stay tuned for what we have in store for the rest of the season. If you’ve been enjoying the podcast, please don’t forget to leave a rating and review!
Additional Closing
I would be remiss to not acknowledge the string of gun violence we’ve witnessed across America over the last few weeks. I want to send my deepest condolences and support to the families who have lost loved ones in Buffalo, New York; Laguna Woods, California; and Uvalde, Texas. Please support the families and other survivors of these atrocities in any way that you feel comfortable, whether that be contacting your local representatives and demanding they take action on gun control or identifying mutual aid organizations who are providing support. Please remember to rest and take care of yourselves, and continue nurturing your communities.
Closing Statement
As always, remember, fighting the climate crisis is a marathon, not a sprint. We need everyone to get involved in a way that feels right for them, now more than ever.
Tune in next episode where we’ll discuss the need for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the outdoors.
I’m your host, Arielle King, and thank you so much for listening to this episode of The Joy Report.
