A New Climate Movement Is Forming
“Climate justice and social justice go hand in hand,” Chris Mitchell, the branch convenor for Scotland’s GMB union refuse workers, said. “At the end of the day, we’ve had a lot of support. We’ve been on strike for five days, and a lot of the activists have come and supported us so we wanted to show our solidarity back.”
Unions and the climate movement have increasingly become aligned around the world, including in the U.S. The Texas AFL-CIO voted earlier this year to endorse a green jobs plan and just transition. The International Trade Union Confederation also endorsed a major global climate strike in 2019. But seeing the flags of GMB flying next to climate groups like Fridays for Future and Extinction Rebellion represents an even closer alignment that could be a potent political force.
