Climate Justice Campaign

The CFT made history in 2016 when it became the first statewide organization in the United States to adopt a Climate Justice Agenda. Delegates to the CFT Convention passed Resolution 29, committing the union to educating members about climate change, pushing for green legislation, moving toward divestment in fossil fuels, and establishing a Climate Justice Task Force within CFT. 

After the Convention, the task force crafted a mission statement making climate justice a permanent part of the CFT’s work. The Executive Council adopted the statement and recommendations to commit our union to ongoing member education, incorporate a climate justice question on our candidate endorsement questionnaire, make climate a part of CFT’s legislative agenda, and promote community partnerships with environmental groups and environmental caucuses in local unions and central labor councils. 

At Convention 2017 the task force distributed its first educational materials. Since then, the AFT has adopted a similar resolution, promising greater climate awareness in AFT local unions and statewide organizations across the United States. 

In these dark times, with the Trump administration doing everything it can to promote climate denial and roll back federal efforts to address climate change, it is the CFT’s goal to be one of the lights in the darkness, calling for sanity in the face of the grave threats that face us.

Below are educational materials you can use in your classrooms and in your unions.

Top 10 reasons CFT members should care about climate justice:
The name says it all. Simple and straight forward, with a call for action. (pdf, 2-sided)

Core tenets of the CFT Climate Justice Agenda:
A quick summary of the CFT’s climate justice priorities. (pdf)

Healthy Communities + Strong Economy:
How we can create good union jobs while building a more sustainable economy. (pdf)

Resolution 29: Committing CFT to a climate justice agenda. (pdf)

HELPFUL LINKS

California Teacher: Read about the work of the CFT Climate Justice Task Force in California Teacher, Sep-Oct 2017.

San Diego and Imperial Counties Environmental Caucus was the first labor organization in the nation to adopt a climate justice agenda. Find the group’s mission statement and other resources here.