Standing on the shores of Lake Superior at the foot of the historic Aerial Lift Bridge, labor and environmental leaders launched the Minnesota Blue Green Alliance, a grassroots coalition to promote the creation of good jobs while protecting the air, water, and land.
?We need to invest in technology for our future that creates good jobs and protects the environment while reducing our dependency on foreign oil,? said Tara Widner of the United Steelworkers of America.
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Labor and environmental leaders gathered at the Duluth harbor to announce formation of a new alliance. |
Several speakers at Tuesday?s event outlined how the Bush administration has failed to protect Minnesota?s environment and jobs.
?All of our organizations represent Americans who are affected by the Bush administration?s harmful policies. We?ve come together because we want our country to do better. We can create good jobs that keep our air and water clean,? said Clyde Hanson of the Sierra Club.
Over the last three years, Minnesota?s average wage has fallen while mercury contamination in the water has remained high. While President Bush has defended tax breaks for corporations that ship American jobs overseas, Minnesota has lost 43,000 manufacturing jobs, leaving more working families without the income and benefits they need. Additionally, in the last three years, mercury pollution has reached such high levels that Minnesota is one of 19 states with a statewide advisory on all its freshwater lakes and 4,100 miles of rivers, making it unsafe to eat fish caught there, the group said.
The group warned politicians who are thinking about trying to exploit the differences between labor and environmental organizations for their own selfish political gain.
?For years, we?ve let politicians pit working people and environmentalists against each other,? said Minnesota AFL-CIO President Ray Waldron. ?The choice between good jobs and a clean environment is a false one. We need to work together to get both.?
The Blue Green Alliance builds on over 10 years of efforts by Minnesota labor unions and environmentalists to oppose unfair trade policies and encourage corporate accountability. Unions, conservation groups and environmental groups are joining forces for change through large memberships, strong grassroots organizing skills and a shared tradition of activism.
?Labor unions, conservation groups, and environmental organizations have large memberships, strong grassroots organizing skills, and long-term activist traditions,? added Rosie Loeffler-Kemp of Clean Water Action Alliance. ?The combination will be much more effective than going it alone.?
?Our members hunt and fish,? concluded Tara Widner of the Steelworkers. ?Our members are upset that all too often their wives and children can?t eat the walleye they catch because of mercury poison.?
Blue Green Alliance Partner Organizations include the Minnesota AFL-CIO, Sierra Club North Star Chapter, United Steelworkers of America District 11, Clean Water Action Alliance, AFSCME Council 6, SEIU Minnesota State Council, Teamsters Joint Council 32, Minnesota Building Trades and Environment 2004, Izaak Walton League of America -Midwest Office, Minnesotans for an Energy-Efficient (ME3) Economy, Institute for a Sustainable Future (ISF) and the League of Rural Voters.
The coalition?s action plan includes:
? Challenging the ?environment vs. jobs? myth that has been used as a wedge to divide working people and environmentalists/conservationists;
? Promoting our shared goals of fair trade, corporate accountability, workplace health and safety, workers? rights, and environmental protection;
? Developing a policy agenda focused on growing the economy, creating jobswhile protecting the environment; and
? Advancing the right of all people, and their children and grandchildren after them, to enjoy the outdoors in recreational activities such as hunting, birding, hiking, fishing, and canoeing.
This article was adapted from a story on the United Steelworkers of America website, www.uswa.org
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Standing on the shores of Lake Superior at the foot of the historic Aerial Lift Bridge, labor and environmental leaders launched the Minnesota Blue Green Alliance, a grassroots coalition to promote the creation of good jobs while protecting the air, water, and land.
?We need to invest in technology for our future that creates good jobs and protects the environment while reducing our dependency on foreign oil,? said Tara Widner of the United Steelworkers of America.
|
|
Labor and environmental leaders gathered at the Duluth harbor to announce formation of a new alliance. |
Several speakers at Tuesday?s event outlined how the Bush administration has failed to protect Minnesota?s environment and jobs.
?All of our organizations represent Americans who are affected by the Bush administration?s harmful policies. We?ve come together because we want our country to do better. We can create good jobs that keep our air and water clean,? said Clyde Hanson of the Sierra Club.
Over the last three years, Minnesota?s average wage has fallen while mercury contamination in the water has remained high. While President Bush has defended tax breaks for corporations that ship American jobs overseas, Minnesota has lost 43,000 manufacturing jobs, leaving more working families without the income and benefits they need. Additionally, in the last three years, mercury pollution has reached such high levels that Minnesota is one of 19 states with a statewide advisory on all its freshwater lakes and 4,100 miles of rivers, making it unsafe to eat fish caught there, the group said.
The group warned politicians who are thinking about trying to exploit the differences between labor and environmental organizations for their own selfish political gain.
?For years, we?ve let politicians pit working people and environmentalists against each other,? said Minnesota AFL-CIO President Ray Waldron. ?The choice between good jobs and a clean environment is a false one. We need to work together to get both.?
The Blue Green Alliance builds on over 10 years of efforts by Minnesota labor unions and environmentalists to oppose unfair trade policies and encourage corporate accountability. Unions, conservation groups and environmental groups are joining forces for change through large memberships, strong grassroots organizing skills and a shared tradition of activism.
?Labor unions, conservation groups, and environmental organizations have large memberships, strong grassroots organizing skills, and long-term activist traditions,? added Rosie Loeffler-Kemp of Clean Water Action Alliance. ?The combination will be much more effective than going it alone.?
?Our members hunt and fish,? concluded Tara Widner of the Steelworkers. ?Our members are upset that all too often their wives and children can?t eat the walleye they catch because of mercury poison.?
Blue Green Alliance Partner Organizations include the Minnesota AFL-CIO, Sierra Club North Star Chapter, United Steelworkers of America District 11, Clean Water Action Alliance, AFSCME Council 6, SEIU Minnesota State Council, Teamsters Joint Council 32, Minnesota Building Trades and Environment 2004, Izaak Walton League of America -Midwest Office, Minnesotans for an Energy-Efficient (ME3) Economy, Institute for a Sustainable Future (ISF) and the League of Rural Voters.
The coalition?s action plan includes:
? Challenging the ?environment vs. jobs? myth that has been used as a wedge to divide working people and environmentalists/conservationists;
? Promoting our shared goals of fair trade, corporate accountability, workplace health and safety, workers? rights, and environmental protection;
? Developing a policy agenda focused on growing the economy, creating jobswhile protecting the environment; and
? Advancing the right of all people, and their children and grandchildren after them, to enjoy the outdoors in recreational activities such as hunting, birding, hiking, fishing, and canoeing.
This article was adapted from a story on the United Steelworkers of America website, www.uswa.org