@DoctorVive @Fisher_DanaR @mmildenberger @rsgexp @NaomiAKlein @jnoisecat @JooBilly @aldatweets @sunrisemvmt @MobilizeClimate K I’ll try to reply more thoughtfully later or tomorrow
@DoctorVive @Fisher_DanaR @mmildenberger @rsgexp @NaomiAKlein @jnoisecat @JooBilly @aldatweets @sunrisemvmt @MobilizeClimate I’m going to send some semi incoherent tweets to this vital question as I sit in my diner coffee Loading ;) I’ll remove everyone else on this thread (others can read later if you want to see some commentary and case study on labor and climate).
@DoctorVive My deets: I wore multiple hats for @CWAUnion for a decade, focused primarily on NY. I did political, organizing support, mobilization for contract fights, strikes, corporate campaigns etc. They are a great union. I’m of course a huge fan of unions and labor. /1
@DoctorVive @CWAUnion I got progressively more tweaked out about climate change. I decided to change up and work on this here issue in a serious and aggressive way. That’s not really possible inside a (not-alternative) union. /2
@DoctorVive Unions are under siege from corporate America and pols. The house is burning down, and they’re overwhelmingly (and rightly) in a defensive crouch, fighting back for members. In that situation it’s quite hard to fight battles other than either contracts or organizing. /3
@DoctorVive It’s hard enough for a union to not shrink let alone grow when labor law and the entire economy is structured the way it is. Never mind add issues where you’re going to expend real energy on something that’s ancillary. /4
@DoctorVive Still, the better, progressive unions manage to do so in some cases. They will take some progressive issue or battle and fight for it. But at the end of the day, there’s enormous pressure to deliver for members. 5/
@DoctorVive The AFL-CIO is the main confederation. But it is structured/cultured where effectively any affiliate can veto action. Same at state/city levels. And unions like to stick together! That whole solidarity thing! So... the building trades. 6/
@DoctorVive The leadership of key trades are working people who are in the middle class because of pipeline and power plant construction work. This is not some thing they’re making up: large swathes of middle class membership are via pipe work etc. 7/
@DoctorVive Building trades are also generally business unionists: they are ideologically AFL anti commie unions that act in concert with employers. They see their interests and their employers interests as often interchangeable. 8/
@DoctorVive There are ideological and also functional day to day nature of the industry reasons for this. The upshot is that they are in a defensive crouch described above to preserve their members pay and benefits. 9/
@DoctorVive Under no realistic near or medium term circumstances are they going to alter their m.o. because some set of nice environmentalists works with them. They will support fossil fuel infra. And other construction. 10/
@DoctorVive And climate is all about the near and medium term! As you know. The best one can hope with trades is to moderate some opposition here and there and maybe pick up support from some highly unusual local entity. 11/
@DoctorVive And no new fossil fuel infra is possible now. So there’s the rub with the trades. That is, imho, an irreconcilable contradiction (for at least the multi-year, medium term future) /12
@DoctorVive In practical reality, there is a whole history of entities and activists that tried to bridge the gap between mainline enviros and mainline labor. It didn’t work.
[also: the hype on “green jobs” that then failed to materialize has also been very damaging] /13
[also: the hype on “green jobs” that then failed to materialize has also been very damaging] /13
@DoctorVive You can find select issues here and there that matter on climate to work with labor. But you cannot build a real, united front for a green new deal. At least not yet. Not at federal levels. Because of the problem described above. /14
@DoctorVive But you might ask... what about non trades unions? They matter a lot! Can’t they join this fight? /15
@DoctorVive Well they could but if you expect them to stand and fight powerful Democratic Party leaders like Schumer, Pelosi, and a Democratic President on this... well that’s going to lead to disappointment.
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@DoctorVive They are extraordinarily reluctant to fight democrats openly, like actually push them in public with protests, rallies etc. They will not do so on a secondary issue. Not in the near term/medium term future. /17
@DoctorVive Taking a sight break here to take a call
@DoctorVive /18 Ok! I'm back up on my bullshit ;) So here's the other impossible contradiction: we cannot win a Green New Deal with insider maneuvering. The only way to win is to build an intense outside pressure movement effort.
@DoctorVive /19 Climate now means truly radical change. Little stuff you can win through beltway maneuvering... hey nothing wrong with that on some level maybe it helps, but the only thing that matters is radical change.
@DoctorVive /20 This is stuff WAY beyond the current tolerance/willingness of the political system. To win, it requires a big popular multiracial multi-generational movement that is also effective and targeted.
@DoctorVive /21 Not just a street parade calling for climate action, tho that's a good thing, but a focused movement effort that applies bone crushing political pressure to democratic decision makers. (forget the Rs nationally... not getting into that tho).
@DoctorVive /22 Sunrise is trying to do this! So is @nychange, our group. You can only do this if you do not value access-based relationships AND you aren't willing to trade off one issue for another.
@DoctorVive @nychange /23 People like Schumer and Pelosi understandably do not like being attacked for failing to push a Green New Deal. So... you can now see the big contradiction for much/nearly all of labor that isn't a building trade.
@DoctorVive @nychange /24 Many large non-building trade unions aren't even willing to clearly oppose all new fossil fuel infra. Federally. But how about the state/local level?
@DoctorVive @nychange /25 Aren't local entities going to be willing to fight for a Green New Deal? My answer is yes, in some limited case, they might be willing to do so. And there are probably a couple national/internationals willing to do so. But the NY experience ain't great.
@DoctorVive @nychange /26 @nychange drove forward the campaign to pass NYC "Green New Deal" law, Local Law 97 of 2019. It requires large buildings, which are the top source of city's pollution, to slash their climate pollution. It will create 10s of 1000s of jobs.
@DoctorVive @nychange This is the first law of its kind worldwide (which ought to scare you a lot because buildings are about 40% of US wide emissions, 70% in NYC, and this is effectively the first requirements anywhere). /27
@DoctorVive @nychange The real estate industry, which is immensely powerful in NYC and in nearly all places, heavily opposed this law. Very tough effort to win this. On paper, we had support from many unions.
@DoctorVive @nychange And in the end game, several unions were very helpful! For example, DC37, the large NYC umbrella for city workers and AFSCME affiliate, came in big at the end stages. /29
@DoctorVive @nychange However, below the surface, we were in a union by union fight, each with it's own dynamics, to retain their on-paper support, keep them neutral, or defang their emerging opposition /30
@DoctorVive @nychange And SEIU 32BJ, which reps a building workers (and other people) and is an excellent union, went in big to oppose the law. They lobbied hard alongside the big real estate lobby, the Real Estate Board of NY, to try and stop the bill. /31
@DoctorVive @nychange [Side note: NRDC also testified alongside REBNY and 32BJ in opposition to the bill. For those of you nerds, in this fight, EDF was actually better and very helpful, while NRDC literally testified alongside the polluter lobby. Wild stuff.] /32
@DoctorVive @nychange Now, SEIU 32BJ would dispute that they opposed the concept of the law, they just wanted to re-write it to a different, in their public view, more effective standard. 32BJ is a wonderful entity for their members. In this case, they were simply dead wrong. /33
@DoctorVive @nychange So here in the most dense part of labor in America under an acid test, we were mostly working to minimize labor opposition in the end game of the fight. /34
@DoctorVive @nychange Another practical NYC example, on point federally: we are trying to get Rep. Jeffries to support a Green New Deal. We've had several district based events to push him. 32BJ, which has said it's strongly in favor of a federal green new deal, hasn't joined those. /35
@DoctorVive @nychange I suspect they are making a perfectly reasonable political calculation that they've got bigger fish to fry from their perspective than aggravating Jeffries. /36
@DoctorVive @nychange And this is a union that has a history of progressive alliance work on a variety of issues! You can see my points. In the end, it's better to consider how to go around or neutralize key parts of labor as part of a broader near/medium term strategy /37
@DoctorVive @nychange We're going to win if we build a bad ass movement. We will lose if we don't. Spending a lot of mental and $$$ investment on trying to figure out how to engage with and get labor engaged in that is a distraction. /38
@DoctorVive @nychange It's vital that Green New Deal legislation include good jobs standards that max union work and local hire provisions that max community of color and low income employment/careers. (Not because that helps move labor politically but because it's actually needed.) /39
@DoctorVive @nychange In the end, labor is vital to a left project and a better world. It's inseparable from a Green New Deal objectives. I talk to a lot of activists who all have the very good thought: we need labor. /40
@DoctorVive @nychange We do! But it's not worth trying to spend a ton of effort to get unions on board for the most vital aspects of the fight, which is not insider lobbying. It's building the focused movement that can deliver the unrelenting pressure at scale needed for radical change NOW. /41
@DoctorVive @nychange Now tagging in peeps at top of thread in case they want to read the hot blather above. @Fisher_DanaR @mmildenberger @rsgexp @NaomiAKlein @JooBilly @aldatweets @sunrisemvmt @MobilizeClimate
