Climate, Jobs and Justice Newsletter: September 2023
Edition 11
English | Spanish
SEIU members and worker leaders in the Fight for $15 and a Union are confronted daily by the impacts of climate change and environmental injustice. This newsletter offers a snapshot of how we’re combating climate change and fighting against environmental injustice in our workplaces and communities as well as calling on major industries, corporations, and governments to protect the health, safety and long-term economic well-being of all working people across America.
Devastating fires in Maui, Texas, Louisiana, Washington and Canada. Storms on the East, Gulf, and West Coasts: Climate change impacts have ravaged communities across the world this summer
This year has been another record breaking summer for extreme heat. July was the hottest month on record, making 2023 likely to be the hottest year ever recorded. Just a few weeks ago the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pleaded for immediate radical action on climate change, saying that record-shattering July temperatures show Earth has passed from global warming into an “era of global boiling”
According to a recent report in Scientific American, new analyses shows July is the hottest month on record for the planet by a wide margin, as a result of global warming amplified by an El Nino climate pattern this year.
We can see the catastrophic impacts across the US in Canada impacting our communities and taking hundreds of lives. As you’ll see in our newsletter our members are taking action to fight for environmental justice at work and in our communities.
SEIU on climate change in the news:
Newsweek - It's American Workers Who Are Paying the Price for Climate Change | Opinion
New York Times - How Extreme Heat Affects Workers And The Economy
The New Lede - Climate groups rally for stronger power plant emissions standards
The Guardian - It’s become unbearable’: Texas workers toil through extreme heatwave
Washington Post - Workers exposed to extreme heat have no consistent protection in the US
*Read more about SEIU's efforts to clean up Power Plant pollution
Environmental Justice Webinar Series
This July we kicked off our Environmental Justice Webinar Series. Led by EJ committee Chair Maria Castenda, the webinar focused on climate change and maternal health in communities of color. The webinar featured Dr. Pradnya Garudm, a subject matter expert and member of Local 503.
Our next webinar on heat impacts is TONIGHT, September 7th at 7pm ET/ 4pm PT. Join the Zoom at https://seiu-org.zoomn.us/j/92...
Updated Sep 07, 2023