<
https://hechingerreport.org/teachers-unions-leverage-contracts-to-fight-climate-change/>
"In Illinois, the Chicago Teachers Union won a contract with the city’s schools
to add solar panels on some buildings and clean energy career pathways for
students, among other actions. In Minnesota, the Minneapolis Federation of
Educators demanded that the district create a task force on environmental
issues and provide free metro passes for students. And in California, the Los
Angeles teachers union’s demands include electrifying the district’s bus fleet
and providing electric vehicle charging stations at all schools.
Those are among the examples in a new report on how unionized teachers are
pushing their school districts to take action on the climate crisis, which is
damaging school buildings and disrupting learning. The report — produced by the
nonprofit Building Power Resource Center, which supports local governments and
leaders, and the Labor Network for Sustainability, a nonprofit that seeks to
unite labor and climate groups — describes how educators can raise demands for
climate action when they negotiate labor contracts with their districts. By
emphasizing the financial case for switching to renewable energy, educators can
simultaneously act on climate change, improve conditions in schools and save
districts money, it says.
As federal support and financial incentives for climate action wither, this
sort of local action is becoming more difficult — but also more urgent,
advocates say. Chicago Public Schools has relied on funding for electric buses
that has been sunsetted by the Trump administration, said Jackson Potter, vice
president of the Chicago Teachers Union. But the district is also seeking other
local and state funding and nonprofit support.
Bradley Marianno, an associate professor in the College of Education at the
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said that educator unions embracing climate
action is part of a move started about 15 years ago in which more progressive
unions — like those in Chicago, Los Angeles and elsewhere — focus on
“collective good bargaining,” or advocating for changes that are good for their
members but also the broader community. But this approach is unlikely to catch
on everywhere: “The risk lies in members feeling that core issues like wages
and working conditions are being overlooked in favor of more global causes,” he
wrote in an email.
I recently caught up with Potter, the CTU vice president, about the report and
his union’s approach to bargaining for climate action. Collaborating with local
environmental and community groups, the Chicago Teachers Union ultimately
succeeded in winning a contract that calls for identifying schools for solar
panels and electrification, expanding indoor air quality monitoring, helping
educators integrate climate change into their curriculum, and establishing
training for students in clean energy jobs, among other steps."
Via
Reasons to be Cheerful:
<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/what-were-reading-zohran-mamdani-election-new-york-american-cities/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
