As President Donald Trump abandons a promise the U.S. made in Paris nearly a decade ago, organized workers across Colorado are joining forces to address a climate emergency which, according to global scientific consensus, threatens the very biosphere needed to sustain life as we know it.
Nate Bernstein, executive director of Climate Jobs Colorado, said today's economy is not working for all Coloradans. He believes ramping up clean energy production can help reduce income and racial inequality.
"As of 2018, we had the highest gap in equality and wealth in over 100 years," Bernstein pointed out. "One way that we can help bridge that gap is by creating good solid union jobs across the state of Colorado."
Trump has issued executive orders to achieve energy dominance by increasing production of oil, gas and coal. When burned, the fossil fuels release greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. More than two centuries of industrial pollution has led to rising global temperatures and an increase in catastrophic events including massive wildfires, flooding, prolonged drought and polar vortexes.
Bernstein noted a worker-centered roadmap created in partnership with Cornell University would expand opportunities for high-paying careers to all Coloradans, including workers in rural parts of the state where coal-fired power plants are set to retire as cheaper energy sources come online.
"We know that workers that work in those facilities have the skill set and/or can be trained to operate stable energy like geothermal and other sources," Bernstein explained.
The coalition includes the Amalgamated Transit Union, Colorado AFL-CIO, Colorado Building and Construction Trades Council and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Bernstein added they are working on a bill to end a 1943 law requiring a second, supermajority election to form a union.
"We're continuing to build the coalition to make sure that the laws enacted at the Capitol continue to be favorable for working people as well as the environment," Bernstein emphasized. "All while assuring that we close the gap on racial and economic inequity within our state."
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By Nina B. Elkadi for Sentient.
Broadcast version by Judith Ruiz-Branch for Illinois News Connection reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collaboration
Eighty-one percent of evaluated poultry workers were found to be at high risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders, a new study from the U.S. Department of Agriculture says. This risk is primarily driven by high piece rates, which is the number of animals or pieces of meat handled by each slaughterhouse worker. Nearly half of pork processing workers evaluated were also at high risk for injury.
On January 10, the department released the results of two studies, one on poultry workers and one on processed pork workers, that looked at the impact of line speed and workloads on worker health. The studies showed that piece rate was an important metric in determining workplace safety. While line speed is important, the number of people working on each line combined with line speed provides a more comprehensive risk analysis. Among surveyed poultry workers, 40 percent reported moderate to severe pain in the last year. Most did not report that pain to supervisors.
“These USDA studies reaffirm what we have long known – that poultry and swine slaughter poses serious risk to workers, regardless of line speed. We must take stronger action to protect these workers and ensure the safety of our food supply chain,” United Food and Commercial Workers International Union president Marc Perrone wrote in a press release.
According to United Nations FAO estimates, each day 206 million chickens and 4 million pigs are killed for food. The vast majority are raised on factory farms and killed and processed in meatpacking plants, where risks to workers such as amputation and severe falls are common.
The studies’ authors recommend lowering piece rates by increasing staffing, adapting workstations for better ergonomic practices and improving medical management within workplaces. According to data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, poultry and meat companies remain among the most dangerous to work for, in large-part due to injuries from keeping up with fast line speeds.
“Since the first term of Trump’s administration the problem of increasing the line speed and the decrease of the workforce have become some of the most important issues workers have been struggling with every day,” Magaly Licolli, executive director of Venceremos, an Arkansas-based poultry-worker advocacy group, wrote to Sentient.
“The findings of the reports are alarming, but not surprising to us because we’ve seen how for the past years, the industry has been putting workers’ health and safety at risk for the sake of their own profits,” wrote Licolli, who also called on the USDA and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to pass standards to prevent increasing line speed.
During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump administration used federal legislation to declare meatpacking facilities essential, forcing workers to spend hours inside of buildings that would become hotspots for the virus. The Trump administration also granted poultry plants the ability to increase line speed, which some groups, like the Food Integrity Campaign, have been working to reverse through litigation. The studies released last week were a result of these lawsuits and pushback. During the height of the pandemic, as many as 269 meatpacking employees died and 59,000 workers tested positive for the virus.
“Industrial animal agriculture operates on a model of systemic exploitation to increase their profit margins at the expense of the well-being of animals, workers and rural communities. Today’s USDA studies on swine and poultry processing workers clearly show the human cost: life-altering injuries, painful work conditions and high risks tied to relentless production speeds and piece-rate pay structures,” Jessica Culpepper, executive director of FarmSTAND, a legal advocacy group, wrote to Sentient. “The incoming administration’s history of deregulating Big Ag and advancing policies that strip protections from vulnerable workers will only deepen these injustices.”
Nina B. Elkadi wrote this article for Sentient.
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Iowa is making $14 million available to take on the critical lack of child care in the state.
Many families said both parents want to work and would, if not for a critical lack of child care services. The funds will be used to build more than 870 new child care centers and expand existing ones in Iowa.
Jillian Herink, executive director of the Iowa Association for the Education of Young Children, said while more buildings will help, the bigger problem is a critical shortage of qualified child care providers.
"A lot of that stems from the low pay for child care providers," Herink pointed out. "And many of the places have a lack of ability to offer benefits, as well."
The funds were awarded to 13 employers who said they will build or expand child care facilities, giving more parents the chance to go to work.
Iowa also recently launched the Childcare Solutions Fund program, which provides communities with money to raise wages and offer health benefits to child care providers.
Herink noted it is one of many compensation strategies the state is using to address a yawning wage gap between traditional classroom educators and child care providers.
"For an example, a child care provider with a bachelor's degree, on average, makes of $16 an hour, where a kindergarten teacher with the same degree is making $30 an hour," Herink outlined. "The discrepancy is very large in the state of Iowa."
In an effort to help working parents find child care quickly, Iowa also recently launched a website, called Iowa Child Care Connect, which allows people to see when and where child care is available in real time.
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The United Auto Workers union is negotiating its first union contract with Volkswagen at its Chattanooga plant, covering more than 4,000 members.
The union said its key demands include higher wages, affordable health benefits and retirement protections.
Steve Cochran, co chair of the bargaining committee, said the workers should have the same pay structure as the other automotive groups recognized in contracts with the United Auto Workers.
"Right now, at the end of the Big Three's contract, compared to what we have now is 24% higher," Cochran pointed out. "We're asking for right at about a 24% pay raise over the length of our contract, just to get us equal with the Big Three."
Cochran noted Volkswagen has offered a 16.5% raise over four years, leaving them several percentage points behind the current rates of the Big Three automakers. He added the cost-of-living raises are capped, unlike theirs. The Big Three -- Ford, General Motors and Chrysler -- were the first Southern autoworkers to unionize.
Cochran noted affordable health insurance is a key demand. His family plan costs around $400 a month, totaling $11,000 a year with deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses, an amount he said is unaffordable for many workers. He added some UAW autoworkers have secured fully paid family coverage with low co-pays.
"Some of us have to make a decision based on, 'Am I going to pay for this doctor visit and get this treatment, or am I going to pay my mortgage?'" Cochran observed. "We've had several members take 401(k) loans out, for example, or they may even remortgage your house. We've had several had to file bankruptcy."
Cochran emphasized the company recently eliminated its attendance bonus, which offered 8% of quarterly wages for perfect attendance. However, the strict policy meant even missing a single minute would forfeit the entire bonus.
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