[At Third Act, we fight to save democracy and our planet; at the
intersection of these two existential issues are workers and unions.]
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WORKERS RIGHTS ARE KEY TO OUR MOVEMENT  
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Bob Muehlenkamp
September 1, 2023
Third Act
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_ At Third Act, we fight to save democracy and our planet; at the
intersection of these two existential issues are workers and unions. _


Union election win in Georgia is one of the labor movement's largest
victories in the South in decades, (photo: United Steelworkers)

 

The most important election in the U. S. this year occurred on May 12
in Fort Valley, Georgia, where workers at the Blue Bird school bus
company voted 697-435 in a National Labor Relations Board election to
join the Steelworkers Union. (Badgers may disagree.)

At Third Act, we fight to save democracy and our planet; at the
intersection of these two existential issues are workers and unions. 
We can’t have democracy unless workers have their own organized
voice to counter the organized voice of employers, and we can’t save
this planet unless workers are involved in that struggle.

That’s why the union election in Fort Valley is so important.

We can be proud that Third Act  got the September 17  NYC Climate
March coalition to include in its three demands that we must
“provide a just transition to a sustainable clean energy economy
that supports workers and community rights, job security, and
employment equity.”

But using the words “just transition” isn’t enough. Creating
millions of jobs in the new sustainable economy isn’t good enough.
Even creating _good _jobs isn’t enough.  We have to make sure
workers get the chance to make them good_ union_ jobs.

[PEOPLE-vs-fossil-fuels-jan-burger]

“PEOPLE VS FOSSIL FUELS” BY JAN BURGER

That’s what happened in Fort Valley.  Blue Bird, Peach county’s
largest employer, didn’t engage in union busting, so workers
actually had a fair election. Why?  Because Blue Bird gets tens of
millions of dollars in federal funds from both the infrastructure and
Inflation Reduction Acts to build electric school buses.  Those funds
come with a requirement that the recipient “have committed to remain
neutral in any organizing campaign ….”  In other words, no union
busting.

If workers can actually organize and grow unions in the new economy,
they will both help to save democracy and support the climate justice
movement.

So, as Third Actors this Labor Day, let’s honor “labor” by
continuing to make workers’ rights to organize central to our fight
to save democracy and the planet.

_Bob Muehlenkamp has been on the front lines of our country’s social
justice and trade union movements for a half century. He served as
Executive Vice President and National Organizing Director at
SEIU-1199, the hospital workers union, and as the Teamsters Union
Organizing Director. Bob is a co-facilitator for Third Act’s
Retired Union Members Working Group
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22, he was arrested in front of Chase Bank with 10 others as part of
the Rocking Chair Rebellion
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dirty banks._

* Environmental Justice
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* fossil fuels
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* Climate Change
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* union organizing
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