Let's reclaim Earth Day from greenwash! In 1970 the first Earth Day took place with an estimated 20 million Americans participating in rallies, marches, and teach-ins responding to toxic pollution of their air, waters and land by corporations pursuing profit in the absence of environmental regulation. Then, as now, the worst exposed to these hazards were working class and non-white Americans. The largest source of funding for the first Earth Day was organised labour, in particular from the United Auto Workers (UAW) which also provided practical support for printing and telephone communications. The national organiser for Earth Day later said "Without the UAW, the first Earth Day would have likely flopped."
More background - The Radical Roots of Earth Day
Posters
For your trade union noticeboards here's a poster (A4 pdf) and an editable poster (A4 Word Doc) which can be edited to include your own details.
Climate Quiz
Short quiz that can be used for stalls and at meetings. How much do you know about the climate crisis: how it's affecting us now, why it's a social justice issue and why drilling in the North Sea won't help our energy bills? Download as Word doc (space at the end if you want to edit to add your own union branch details). For a bit more background about the quiz answers the page here has links to further reading.
Flyers
Five things trade unionists need to know about the climate crisis
Trade union year of climate action
Workplace survey about climate action
For green reps and anyone else who'd like to find out about more about their fellow workers' concerns about climate change and where they'd like to take action, here is a survey template here (Word doc). We strongly suggest that you use this as a starting point that you can adapt to be appropriate for your own workplace and sector.
There's more about taking action focused on your workplace in the TUC toolkit: Greener Workplaces for a Just Transition



