Workers' Climate Action
Encyclopedia
Workers' Climate Action is a direct action and solidarity network made up of socialists, anarchists and other class struggle
activists involved in both the environmental
and labour
movements.
It formed as a result of collaboration between activists from various political backgrounds around the 2006 Heathrow Camp for Climate Action, during which activists were involved in engaging with aviation and transport workers working in and around Heathrow.
WCA was central to worker-engagement and outreach around the 2007 Kingsnorth
climate camp, staging daily visits to the gates of the power plant to talk to workers.
In 2009, WCA activists were the first to respond to the announcement of the closure of the Vestas
wind turbine blades factory on the Isle of Wight
and were integral to organising the 3 July public meeting which began the organising process which culminated in an ongoing worker occupation of the factory.
WCA stands for a worker-led just transition to a low-carbon economy
and believes that organised labour, particularly in frontline industries such as aviation, energy and transport is a key agent which is fundamentally capable of effecting meaningful social change. It looks to the history of working-class environmentalism and direct action, including the Lucas Aerospace workers' struggle of the 1970s and the New South Wales Builders' Labourers Federation's "Green Bans" as inspiring lessons for contemporary struggle and sees tactics such as sit-down strikes
as crucial.
It also seeks to struggle within the trade union
movement to change what it sees as the conservative policies of some unions on issues like aviation, coal mining and nuclear power, as well as supporting the self-organisation of workers in the energy industry.
Class struggle
Class struggle is the active expression of a class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote "The [written] history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle"....
activists involved in both the environmental
Environmental movement
The environmental movement, a term that includes the conservation and green politics, is a diverse scientific, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues....
and labour
Labour movement
The term labour movement or labor movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and governments, in particular through the implementation of specific laws governing labour...
movements.
It formed as a result of collaboration between activists from various political backgrounds around the 2006 Heathrow Camp for Climate Action, during which activists were involved in engaging with aviation and transport workers working in and around Heathrow.
WCA was central to worker-engagement and outreach around the 2007 Kingsnorth
Kingsnorth
Kingsnorth is a village and civil parish near Ashford in Kent, England.-Features:The Greensand Way, a long distance footpath stretching from Haslemere in Surrey to Hamstreet in Kent, passes through the parish on the final stretch....
climate camp, staging daily visits to the gates of the power plant to talk to workers.
In 2009, WCA activists were the first to respond to the announcement of the closure of the Vestas
Vestas
Vestas Wind Systems A/S is a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines. It is the largest in the world, but due to very rapid growth of its competitors, its market share decreased from 28% in 2007 to 12.5% in 2009...
wind turbine blades factory on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
and were integral to organising the 3 July public meeting which began the organising process which culminated in an ongoing worker occupation of the factory.
WCA stands for a worker-led just transition to a low-carbon economy
Low-carbon economy
A Low-Carbon Economy or Low-Fossil-Fuel Economy is an economy that has a minimal output of greenhouse gas emissions into the environment biosphere, but specifically refers to the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide...
and believes that organised labour, particularly in frontline industries such as aviation, energy and transport is a key agent which is fundamentally capable of effecting meaningful social change. It looks to the history of working-class environmentalism and direct action, including the Lucas Aerospace workers' struggle of the 1970s and the New South Wales Builders' Labourers Federation's "Green Bans" as inspiring lessons for contemporary struggle and sees tactics such as sit-down strikes
Sitdown strike
A sit-down strike is a form of civil disobedience in which an organized group of workers, usually employed at a factory or other centralized location, take possession of the workplace by "sitting down" at their stations, effectively preventing their employers from replacing them with strikebreakers...
as crucial.
It also seeks to struggle within the trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
movement to change what it sees as the conservative policies of some unions on issues like aviation, coal mining and nuclear power, as well as supporting the self-organisation of workers in the energy industry.