Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) supports the refinery workers in the United Steelworkers International Union (USW) in their ongoing nationwide strike against oil refining corporations in the U.S.
At stake are worker health and safety rights—and, ultimately, our environmental health and safety, and yours.
Environmental justice demands everyone’s right to a safe and healthy work environment and challenges the false choice that would force us to choose between our health and our jobs. Indeed, fighting for worker rights protects community health and safety.
Our research documents a grim reality in refinery communities: preventable ‘incidents’ injure and kill workers and nearby residents alike while oil companies that fight stronger oversight still cut corners on safety in refineries. The workers on the front line, operating the plants, are our last line of defense against another toxic spill, fire, or explosion.
Worker rights are critical, also, to protecting our climate. The transformation from fossil energy to sustainable energy that we need to avert a climate disaster is a big job that will take all of us, and our solution needs to take care of all of us. CBE’s vision for climate justice demands a ‘just transition’ for workers, and that starts with worker rights.
The fight for clean, safe jobs is your fight too. We can be healthier and safer together.
Articles on the oil workers struggle:
East Bay USW Tesoro Workers Strike