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.
End of Summer Newsletter – This Union Cares about Climate Jobs and Justice
Hurricane Helene
A couple of weeks ago, Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in a sparsely populated part of the Florida panhandle and then began a destructive march through Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee. Inland flooding is projected to worsen as climate change continues, according to the Fifth National Climate Assessment, released in 2020. When the atmosphere heats up, the air traps more water vapor, which can be quickly unleashed during a severe storm like Helene, which has been estimated to have dumped 40 trillion gallons of water according to NOAA on communities who were ill prepared for the destruction.
So far it has killed more than 150 people, and devastated communities in its path, sending rivers to flood stages not seen in hundreds of years. Hurricane Helene has impacted states in which our members live and work in.
What you can do:
Become involved in your community's disaster preparedness efforts.
Advocate for your employer to have emergency plans that account for severe climate induced hazards.
The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed a new standard in July to protect workers from extreme heat. The OSHA Heat Illness rule comment period opened in late August and will remain open until December 30, 2024. The proposed Heat Injury and Illness Prevention standard would protect indoor and outdoor workers by ensuring employers take measures to protect workers from excessive heat. Some of the requirements established include required paid rest breaks, making drinking water available, and training workers to detect signs of heat-related illness. If finalized, the proposed standard would be the nation’s first-ever safety standard for excessive heat in workplaces, reduce heat injuries and death, and protect 36 million workers. We are calling on all of our members and locals to join us in supporting this vital standard and submitting comments to the Department of Labor. Here is the form to submit your comment. For more information, please find the OSHA heat rulemaking fact sheet here.
Airport, Fast-Food Employees Among Those Demanding Protections from Dangerous Temperatures During Record Heat Wave
The record-setting heat wave that enveloped much of the country in late June has cast a spotlight on workers who are increasingly faced with dangerous heat levels on the job.
For airport workers, especially those who work outside or have to clean airplane cabins, and fast food cooks who spend all day in boiling kitchens- the increasing outdoor temperatures can make simply showing up for their shifts a life-threatening event if proper precautions are not taken.
Several of these workers joined fast-food and other employees from across the country as they visited their members of Congress to urge them to support heat safety legislation. Linda Ressler, a cabin cleaner at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor Airport who helped fight for a city ordinance aimed at protecting workers from extreme heat, has had to clean airplane cabins in nearly 100-degree temperatures and has fallen ill from the extreme heat while on the job. “Just having access to water and a place to cool can be the difference between life and death when you are experiencing heat-related illness,” said Ressler. “It’s so simple. But someone – our employers, the city, or the airlines – who controls our workplace conditions, needs to ensure ALL workers are safe from the heat.”
Linda and dozens of other workers who face extreme heat on the job were backing the new proposed rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration-- which aims to safeguard around 50 million people who regularly face high temperatures at work.
This historic measure would be the first major federal government regulation to protect workers from extreme heat on the job, and in many cases would require more breaks and access to water, shade, and air-conditioning. Earlier this month, workers in California moved a step closer to winning new safety measures from CALOSHA that require employers to provide cooling areas and monitor workers for signs of heat illness when indoor workplace temperatures reach or surpass 82 degrees. Temperatures over 87 degrees will require additional precautions to be taken
Keep Us Updated
The SEIU EJ team and other locals would like to see the great things you're doing to act on climate and address environmental justice.! Let’s build community and keep one another updated by using the hashtag SEIUEJ (#SEIUEJ).
Vice President Harris and Governor Tim Walz Stands on Climate Change
Vice President Harris and Governor Tim Walz are true champions for Environmental Justice. You can read more on their Environmental Justice and Climate stands from the links below.
