A2. Green Unionism

The federal government has announced it will extend the current holiday on the federal excise tax on gasoline and diesel fuel for another 4 months, until January 31, 2027. New research from the Centre for Future Work confirms that extension will not solve the underlying problem of oil-fueled inflation that is hurting all Canadians, not just drivers.

The tax holiday first came into effect on April 20, and was originally set to end on Labour Day. It was intended to offset some of the impact of rising oil prices (resulting from the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz) on Canadian consumers.

While the tax holiday may be appreciated by drivers, it has not addressed the underlying inflationary shock arising from this latest global oil price shock. In fact, Canadian gasoline and diesel prices are higher now than they were before the tax holiday came into effect (and have been higher through most of the 18 weeks since it began). The full value of the tax holiday (to fuel consumers) has thus been more than offset by continued increases in the cost of petroleum products.

New national income data released last week by Statistics Canada confirms Canadian consumers are paying billions of dollars extra for petroleum products despite the cushion from the excise tax holiday. There are also signs that the price shock is spreading into other products beyond petroleum, including air travel, other transportation, and food. This raises the spectre of another spike in broader inflation, sparked by petroleum prices. Statistics Canada data also confirms the petroleum industry in Canada has received record profits as a result of the current oil price shock.

The Centre for Future Work has published a new briefing paper analyzing the latest Statistics Canada data on consumer costs, average prices, and petroleum profits. Highlights include:

• There was a large increase in consumer expenses for petroleum products, despite the tax holiday. This includes $3 billion in extra consumer costs for motor vehicle fuels in just three months April through June).
• There is a growing gap (called the ‘crack spread’) between prices of gasoline and diesel, and underlying prices for crude oil. This has exacerbated the impact of the oil price shock on Canadian consumers.
• There are some early signs of spillover from higher petroleum prices into other prices, and hence into broader inflation – enhancing the risk of future interest rate increases.
• The price shock has produced a dramatic increase in profitability for the Canadian petroleum industry, a direct result of the extra costs paid by consumers. Combined after-tax profit in the upstream and downstream sectors reached $23 billion in the second-quarter, more than double their profits in the first quarter.
• But just 5% of additional profits, and 2% of additional revenues, have been reinvested by the industry in new capital spending.

The paper concludes with several policy recommendations regarding how Canada can better protect itself against repeated cycles of oil-fired inflation, affordability crises, and higher interest rates.

Please see the full briefing paper, Another Band-aid: Extending Gas Tax Holiday Won’t Fix Fossil Fuel Inflation, by Jim Stanford.

The post Extending Gas Tax Holiday Won’t Fix Fossil Fuel Inflation appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

By Jeremy Brecher,
Senior Strategic Advisor, LNS Co-Founder

Listen to the audio version >>

The threats presented by hyperscale data centers are galvanizing resistance in hundreds of communities around the country. How are those movements developing? What is their significance? And how might they help shape a “Greentech New Deal” to address our climate, affordability, and democracy crises? 

Anti-data-center sentiment in rural Kansas neighborhood, May 24, 2026, Photo credit: Catboy69, Wikipedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

Artificial Intelligence (AI), and data centers in particular, are generating an unprecedented resistance – in Texas they call it the Texas Data Center Rebellion. Robinson Meyer of the climate news website Heatmap recently told the New York Times,

“Every quarter, we poll about 4,000 Americans and we ask: Would you support or oppose a data center being built near where you live? We asked that question in August of last year, and Americans were very split. They were about 43 percent in support and 42 percent against. We asked again in the spring, and this time, 21 percent of Americans said they would support a data center being built near where they live, and 71 percent said they would oppose it. So it is a staggering shift, basically, in how Americans feel about this industry and about this form of land use in their communities.”

In the latest poll from Heatmap three-quarters of Americans now say that they would oppose a new data center being built near where they live. Just 4% say they would “strongly support” a data center proposed in their area. 

A June poll from Data for Progress finds that a majority of voters (63%), including 67% of Democrats, 66% of Independents, and 58% of Republicans, support pausing the construction of all US AI data centers nationwide for at least one year. Most voters think AI will increase unemployment in the U.S. and support regulations to give workers decision-making authority over how AI is used in the workplace.

Data centers are meeting unprecedented local resistance. According to a recent report, data center opponents blocked or delayed at least 75 projects around the country worth about $130 billion just from January through March 2026. Active opposition groups have grown from 396 at the end of 2025 to 833 by the end of March 2026. 

According to Brad Johnson of Hill Heat, “a strong pattern has emerged of hyperscale data centers causing popular revolt at the ballot box. 

“After the city council of Festus, Mo. voted in favor of a $6 billion hyperscale proposal, voters promptly kicked out all four incumbents on the ballot in an April election. On the same day in April, voters in the Milwaukee suburb of Port Washington WI. showed their irritation with a massive $15 billion hyperscale facility by overwhelmingly approving a ballot measure to restrict future hyperscale projects from receiving tax-increment financing. 

“In May, supervisors in Meridian, Mich. voted to put a six-month pause on data center proposals. Meanwhile, in the Grand Rapids suburb of Lowell Township, township board members refused to adopt a data center moratorium, with the majority of the council opting to court a $1 billion proposal from Microsoft instead. Now, recall petitions are circulating against the board members who voted against a moratorium, with the chair of the effort accusing Lowell board members of ‘representing Microsoft more than the people who elected them.’”

Some, even on the left, have portrayed the Data Center Resistance as affluent NIMBY-ism. Data scientist Geoff Holtzman analyzed a dataset of current and proposed data center projects alongside US census data and came to these startling conclusions:

1. The poorest neighborhoods resisted data centers at nearly five times the rate of the wealthiest (19.0% vs. 3.8%).

“The highest rate of resistance comes from neighborhoods with a median income of between $8 thousand and $72 thousand. The lowest rate of resistance is in neighborhoods where the average household makes between $133 thousand and $250 thousand per year.”

2. Recently proposed data centers that faced pushback were canceled or suspended at more than five times the rate of data centers that didn’t (28.2% vs. 5.2%).
3. Cancellation rates are highest in lower-income areas, a fact fully explained by their higher rates of pushback.

“The odds of cancellation are six times higher in neighborhoods that fight than in neighborhoods that don’t. Increased cancellation in low-income areas is fully explained by high rates of pushback in these neighborhoods, so continued proposals in these areas may stoke outrage, drive resistance, and increase cancellation rates.”

The Moratorium Cometh

According to a new review of public records conducted by Heatmap Pro, more than 500 counties or municipalities now actively restrict or block new data centers. These constraints, such as steep setback requirements, impossible noise limits, or outright bans on permit approvals, all but forbid the construction of data centers. The overwhelming majority of these restrictions have been enacted since the beginning of 2026. Nearly 190 have been passed since June 1.

Earlier this year the New York state legislature passed a one-year moratorium on new data centers. The law would block data center permits for “hyperscale” facilities, which it defines as those with a peak load of more than 20 megawatts. Soon thereafter, New York governor Kathy Hochul imposed the nation’s first-ever statewide freeze on new “hyperscale” data centers that can use 50 megawatts or more of power. A recent report found that bipartisan proposals for moratoriums on constructing data centers were introduced in 14 states from January through March.

Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have proposed a national data center moratorium that would temporarily ban the construction of data centers in the U.S. to “buy time to create strong, federal guardrails for AI.” Sen. Ed Markey and others have made other proposals for reigning in data centers. More surprisingly, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, recently called for a nationwide halt to data center construction.

Efforts to constrain data center impacts have taken a variety of forms besides moratoriums. Michigan, Oregon, and Minnesota passed laws in the last 18 months designed to protect their pre-existing requirements that electric utilities use only emissions-free energy sources by 2040. Minnesota and Oregon ordered regulators to ensure that the energy that supplies data centers is in line with their emissions-reduction goals, while Michigan required hyperscale data centers to use 90% clean energy within six years to receive its lucrative sales tax exemption. Ohio, Illinois, and Arizona paused subsidies and tax incentives for data center developers.

The Data Center Rebellion and the Greentech New Deal

Servers, Photo credit: Victorgrigas, Wikipedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

However ludicrous the more extreme claims made for AI’s impact, that impact is too great to ignore. The continued growth of AI and data centers at current rates threatens to derail the Greentech revolution. Unrestrained they will lead to aggravated climate change, local ecological devastation, unaffordable electricity, and a substantial growth and centralization of oligarchical power. It’s hard to see who they will benefit except a handful of the world’s richest men. 

Just as there is little precedent for the explosive proliferation of hyperscale data centers, so there is little precedent for the data center rebellion. David Wallace-Wells and Robinson Meyer discussed in the New York Times whether the gathering coalition of Americans against data centers “could be the next Occupy Wall Street movement or Tea Party.” Perhaps the closest we have to a historical precedent is the anti-toxics movement that followed the exposure of toxic chemical dumps under low-income neighborhoods at Love Canal and the nationwide explosion of protest that followed as hundreds of communities around the country discovered that they too were exposed to toxic dumps. They created a nationwide movement against toxic dumps and won the landmark Superfund law which established unprecedented accountability for corporate polluters.

The local anti-data center movements are about as close as you can come to true grassroots rebellion. While many organizations are providing support, they are not the result of an organizing campaign or national call. Close examination shows that they are being created by people talking with their neighbors, banding together in their neighborhoods, packing meetings, confronting politicians, and throwing out officials who don’t take a stand against local data centers. Red and blue communities are joining together across party and ideological lines. Participants are overwhelmingly non-affluent – working class if you will. While there is little common ideology, there is certainly a widespread ethos based on the idea that wealthy, powerful elite forces are threatening the livelihoods and wellbeing of ordinary people and that people must force government to put a halt to such threats. 

The outcome of any such movement is unpredictable. It could, like the Tea Party, be captured by rightwing populist elites. It could, like Occupy Wall Street, dissipate in the face of repression and lack of clear direction while leaving a transformed political landscape behind. It could, like the post-Love Canal anti-toxics movement, impose significant limits on corporate depredations through local campaigns and federal legislation. Or it could become part of a far deeper transformation of the political, economic, and social landscape.  

One constructive outcome might be for the Data Center Rebellion to converge with an emerging Greentech New Deal. For the past eight years, the Green New Deal has provided a highly popular vision and program that would protect the climate in ways that would create good jobs for working people, end poverty, and alleviate injustice. 

The original Green New Deal called for “a new national, social, industrial, and economic mobilization on a scale not seen since World War II and the New Deal.” The Green New Deal aimed to save the climate by meeting scientific targets for the reduction of greenhouse gases. It would seek to end the epidemic of poverty by mitigating deeply entrenched racial, regional, and gender-based inequalities in income and wealth and distributing federal aid and other investment equitably to historically impoverished and marginalized communities. And it would provide good jobs constructing a just and climate-safe economy. A poll soon after it was initially proposed in 2018 found that 40% of registered voters “strongly support” and 41% “somewhat support” the concepts behind the Green New Deal. Another poll five years later in 2024 found that “the Green New Deal is still incredibly popular.” 

Since the original proposal for a Green New Deal, the “Greentech revolution” has transformed the cost and viability of fossil free energy. Today a “Greentech New Deal” can be driven forward by an entirely different economic environment – one in which the transition to fossil free energy is not a costly and painful duty, but rather a “free lunch” that the American people can use to make a happier, healthier, and more just society and world. Indeed as I have shown elsewhere, that Greentech revolution is driving forward at local and state levels despite opposition from Trump, MAGA, and the fossil fuel industry.

While a convergence of the Data Center Rebellion and the Greentech New Deal is far from inevitable, we can envision some steps that might help lead in that direction:

• Continue and expand the local struggles against data centers. Those struggles have put the issue squarely in the public eye, shown that communities are not powerless, and already blocked a remarkable number of data center proposals. They can take heart from the local struggles to shut down coal-fired power plants which have led to retirement commitments for over 70% of coal plants since 2010.
• Continue and expand the burgeoning coalitions promoting data center bans and moratoriums at city, state, and national levels. Force politicians and elected officials to impose such policies with no ifs, and, or buts.
• Encourage the broad array of forces that backed the Green New Deal, and continue to implement it at local and state levels, to use their considerable power and resources to champion the struggle against data centers. 
• Steadily broaden the Data Center Rebellion’s implicit– and often articulated – goal of replacing oligarchic with democratic control of the economy.
• Demand that the “precautionary principle” – that new innovations not be permitted until they are proven harmless — be applied both to data centers and to fossil fuel infrastructure.
• Prioritize the blocking of fossil fuels for data centers. 
• Present the Greentech New Deal as an alternative to the billionaire plan to dominate our communities, our economy, and our lives. 
• Promote the Greentech New Deal as at once the solution to the climate, the jobs, and the affordability crises. 

A handful of hyperscalers are trying to shape the future through AI and the data centers on which they depend. But the future may also be shaped in part by the unprecedented popular mobilization against data centers.

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The post The Data Center Rebellion first appeared on Labor Network for Sustainability.

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Sanchioni Butler is a veteran labor organizer, policy advocate, coalition builder, and leadership development professional with more than three decades of experience advancing workers’ rights, workplace democracy, racial and economic justice, and community empowerment.

Sanchioni began her career at Ford Motor Company in 1988 and later became an organizer and International Representative with the United Auto Workers. She organized workers and supported campaigns across Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, Mississippi, and other parts of the South. Her international collaborations with trade unionists in South Africa, Brazil, France, and Japan strengthened her commitment to advancing worker and human rights globally.

After retiring from the UAW in 2018, Sanchioni expanded her work in public policy, political engagement, education, and community organizing. Her professional roles have included Senior Organizer with Jobs to Move America, Political Campaign Coordinator for the Mississippi AFL-CIO, and American Rescue Plan Coordinator for the Mississippi Association of Educators.

Sanchioni is the Founder and Principal Consultant of Impact Strategies and Consulting LLC, where she provides strategic planning, leadership development, team building, workforce advocacy, coalition building, organizational support, and youth engagement services. She also remains active in labor and civil-rights leadership through the Central Mississippi Central Labor Council and the NAACP Jackson Branch.

A skilled facilitator, trainer, and strategist, Sanchioni is committed to preparing emerging leaders and strengthening partnerships among labor, community, education, faith, and social justice organizations. Her work is grounded in the belief that lasting change occurs when people have the knowledge, confidence, and opportunity to advocate for themselves and their communities.

The post September 2026 LNS Spotlight: Sanchioni Butler first appeared on Labor Network for Sustainability.

Joe Uehlein’s tour for his new book Three Roads: Labor, Music, Ecology rolls on. Joe says,

The book tells the story of how LNS was founded, while also tracing my life’s trajectory from growing up along the banks of the Great Lake Erie and all the intrigue of a life in the labor movement, and my dedication to worker rights and environmental justice.

At many of the early stops I was introduced by LNS ED, Joshua Dedmond, and ably assisted by LNS Development Director, Yasmin Gabriel. We’ve played Detroit, Denver, San Francisco, Berkeley, Champaign-Urbana, IL, and Chicago.

Upcoming confirmed dates include Amherst, MA, Boston, MA, Portland, ME, Seattle, WA, Portland, OR, Homestead, PA, Takoma Park, MD/Washington, DC.

For information contact Joe at joeuehlein@mac.com; 202-256-7848

The post LNS Prez Joe Uehlein Book-and-Music Tour Coming to Boston September 16 first appeared on Labor Network for Sustainability.

By Joe Uehlein

Global warming causes climate change. Climate Change is here. Many wrongly talk about what we are experiencing now as the new normal; it is not. Think of this year as the least extreme. It will get worse every year until we stop burning fossil fuels. Not reduce, but stop burning fossil fuels; and reduce meat consumption.

If we plot out the last 10,000 years, which is when society really began to develop, carbon in the atmosphere remained stable at 280ppm. Since 1850, almost overnight, we’ve gone to 430ppm. That’s “parts per million” and that’s how scientists measure carbon concentrations in the atmosphere. The warming rate has doubled since 2015.

Our most marginalized communities are living on the front lines of climate change and in the places with the fewest resources to prepare and recover. We need climate justice. The communities need a seat at the table. And we need climate action. They go hand in hand.

A massive heat dome is sent temperatures to 126 degrees across the western US this summer. 100 million Americans were breathing toxic smoke. This isn’t weather. It’s climate catastrophe, and it was a choice. Fossil fuel executives made it. Politicians protect it. Working people are paying for it with their pocketbooks and their health. Scientists are now warning that Earth is on track to cross a climate point of no return and become uninhabitable.

Even with the incredible build-out of renewable energy over the past 20 years, carbon emissions continue to skyrocket, and the planet continues to warm. Carbon (CO2) levels in the atmosphere are now at 430 ppm (parts per million), higher than ever before in human history. Research reveals that the US accounted for 50% of the worlds increase in emissions last year.

My conviction at starting LNS was that labor is blocking action on global warming and climate change, and without labor on our side we will lose. So we dedicated ourselves 20 years ago to working with unions and allied organizations to help them better understand their self interest in the fight to end global warming and climate change, and we work with enviro and climate justice/change orgs to help them better understand and work with unions.

We need power. Unions have power. Even in their reduced state, unions have economic power, and considerable power in the electoral arena. Most importantly, the American labor movement is the most powerful counterbalance to corporate power and control.

Our core, bedrock principle in the labor movement is worker solidarity. We are now challenged to bring this core principle to everyone, everywhere, and nurture human solidarity.

The post Prez Uehlein on What We’re Really Facing first appeared on Labor Network for Sustainability.

By LNS Executive Director Joshua Dedmond

On July 28th, representatives from the Labor Network for Sustainability (LNS), alongside comrades from sister organizations including the Just Transition Alliance, The Chisholm Legacy Project, and Taproot Earth, joined the picket line in Jackson, Mississippi. The delegation stood in direct solidarity with striking transit workers represented by Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1208.

ATU Local 1208 represents 80 bus operators, mechanics, cleaners, and customer service representatives operating Jackson’s public transit system, JTRAN. This picket line mobilization took place alongside a joint planning meeting focused on aligning Labor and Environmental Justice (EJ) strategies across the region.

Following a resilient 39-day strike, ATU Local 1208—led by Local President Charles Tornes Jr.—officially ratified a new contract with private contractor MV Transportation. The agreement secured immediate wage increases, protected essential working conditions, and fully restored regular bus service routes across the city.

In a state with a 4 percent union density rate and strict “right-to-work” laws, the victory of ATU Local 1208 demonstrates the transformative power of organized labor and community-wide solidarity. LNS and its environmental justice partners remain committed to uplifting ATU Local 1208 and continuing the shared struggle for transit equity, climate resilience, and worker dignity across the South.

The post Climate Justice Leaders Support Striking Transit Workers first appeared on Labor Network for Sustainability.

A recent article by Sasha Abramsky in TruthOut tells how “Fired Federal Employees Are Bringing Climate Change Info Back to the People.”

Soon after Donald Trump was inaugurated President, the government’s premier educational website on climate change, Climate.gov, was shut down and most of the staff that produced it were fired by Elon Musk’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE). But now fired NOAA employees have resurrected it as Climate.us to bring climate information back to the people. Advised by a distinguished group of climate scientists, it is already receiving nearly a million hits a month.

Abramsky reports that their work has proven to be “an inspiration” for ex-government employees in a number of other agencies and branches of government. For example, former Environmental Protection Agency workers are preparing to resurrect climate-related EPA pages that have been taken down; Public Environmental Data Partners is rescuing specialist environmental monitoring tools; and the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative is saving specialized environmental justice screening tools.

The post Fired Federal Workers Want to Let You Know What the Government Won’t Tell You about Climate Change first appeared on Labor Network for Sustainability.

A  new report from the nonpartisan business group E2 found that since Donald Trump was inaugurated, 216 major clean energy generation and manufacturing projects were scrapped, closed, or downsized. That led to the loss of nearly half a million potential jobs. The projects would have generated an estimated $53 billion in wages for workers during construction and more than $31 billion annually after they began operation.

For more: Trump’s clean energy attacks are costing the US jobs | Canary Media

For the full report: “One Year Since the One Big Beautiful Bill: An Economic Impact Analysis Of America’s Clean Economy”

The post Trump’s Attacks on Clean Energy Cost Half-a-Million Jobs first appeared on Labor Network for Sustainability.

Image source: Los Angeles skyline viewed from Griffith observatory at sunrise by martinm303, Envato Elements.

An AP/NORDC poll conducted in July asked people tell whether extreme heat has impacted their lives. 90 percent answered that it had.

Fifty percent of respondents said that extreme heat has had either a major or minor impact on their sleeping patterns, while only 44 percent said it has had no impact on their sleep. Fifty-two percent of respondents said extreme heat has impacted their travel or vacation plans, while only 44 percent said it hasn’t.

Two-thirds of Americans, 68 percent, said that their family’s outdoor activities have been impacted by extreme heat, while only 31 percent said their outdoor activities have not been impacted. Meanwhile, 81 percent said extreme heat over the past year has affected their electricity bills, while only 15 percent said they haven’t noticed a difference.

For More: Truthout: “9-in-10 Americans Polled Say Extreme Heat Is Affecting Their Lives”

The post 9 in 10 Americans Say Extreme Heat Is Affecting Their Lives first appeared on Labor Network for Sustainability.

Overall, climate protection policies create jobs and improve conditions for workers. But employers can try to take advantage of climate policies in ways that harm workers instead.

The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach handle nearly 40% of containerized imports to the US. Most of its existing technology is mechanical – and highly polluting. California air pollution regulators have proposed that equipment like trucks, cranes, and yard tractors should be electrified to meet the ports’ targets of 100 percent zero-emission operations. But workers and local communities are concerned that employers will take advantage of the need to reduce pollution through electrification as an excuse to automate the ports and eliminate jobs that have been the backbone of the local economy for generations.

A new report from the UCLA Labor Center warns that Southern California regulators’ efforts to electrify the ports create “a real risk of driving terminal operators to pursue port automation under the pretense of meeting environmental standards.” Rich Dines, a former Long Beach harbor commissioner and member of the ILWU longshoreman’s union, who contributed to the report says, “Electrification is an excuse for automation.”

Both ILWU and the Teamsters — who represent truckers moving goods from the ports to inland warehouses — stress they’re not against electrification and other zero-emission technologies in themselves. “We absolutely support green transportation and electric vehicles,” said Peter Finn, Teamsters’ western region vice president. But the companies are trying “to conflate the issues to engage in some PR spin and imply the technology is somehow more environmentally friendly,” Finn said.

The UCLA Labor Center report points the way toward a possible resolution. Industry stakeholders questioned the immediate benefits of increased automation. Terminal operators and labor representatives alike expressed significant doubts about automation’s presumed efficiencies. Instead, they championed a wide range of possible solutions other than automation, including increasing hours of operation, investing in inland ports, better worker-training programs, optimizing existing infrastructure to achieve standardization across terminals, shifting containerized cargo to on-dock rail systems, and the planned Goods Movement Training Campus. The report found that, “unlike automation, these solutions offer a systematic approach to maximizing port productivity and mitigating job loss.”

To learn more:

Politico: “California dockworkers have a new target in their fight against automation”

For the report:

“Automation and the Future of Dockwork at the San Pedro Bay Port Complex”

The post Climate Protection vs. Jobs? first appeared on Labor Network for Sustainability.

An on-the-clock, worker-to-worker education session trains farmworkers on the FFP’s protections, including its heat stress standards The Packer: “By pairing electrolyte access with shade and rest, the upgraded rules give agricultural workers critical defense against chronic heat-related health risks.” Oscar Londoño, co-executive director of WeCount! in Florida Trib: “We think the model pioneered by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers is capable of doing what government can’t do right now, which is guaranteeing life-saving protections for workers.”

Last week, we shared how the Fair Food Program’s new rule mandating the year-round provision of electrolytes across all participating farms is generating a wave of national news. Today, we want to share three more stories that dive deeper into the new rule — highlighting both its urgent importance in protecting farmworkers from the growing dangers of extreme heat and the power of the FFP model to inspire workers in other industries to build enforceable protections of their own.

The stories underscore two distinct aspects of an increasingly stark reality: The dangers facing workers in a rapidly warming world are growing every day, but workers are also increasingly building proven solutions capable of meeting those dangers head-on. And as the Fair Food Program continues to expand, the Worker-driven Social Responsibility model pioneered by the CIW is providing a roadmap toward enforceable protections for workers far beyond the fields where it was born.

This week, we’d like to share a few more news stories that dive deeper into the FFP’s new rule and explore its impact beyond just the fields where it is being implemented. To start, here is the produce industry’s leading outlet, The Packer, providing an overview of the new rule, its reach, and the unique enforcement mechanisms underlying the FFP:

Fair Food Program Rolls Out Year-Round Electrolytes to Protect Farmworkers From Heat Illness By pairing electrolyte access with shade and rest, the upgraded rules give agricultural workers critical defense against chronic heat-related health risks.

Fair Food Program (FFP) has instituted a new rule requiring all participating agricultural growers to provide electrolyte beverages or supplements to workers year-round, effective Aug. 1.

The mandate expands the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ existing Heat Illness Standards, which already mandate shade, cool drinking water, paid rest breaks, and heat safety training, to combat both acute heat illness and chronic conditions like long-term kidney damage.

“Sweating in the heat pulls electrolytes out of the body faster than water alone can replace them,” Roxana Chicas, associate professor at Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, says. “Making electrolytes available year-round, alongside shade, rest, and water, is a practical way to help keep workers safe from heat illness and to guard against kidney damage. Many growers already work hard to protect their crews in the heat, and this is one straightforward step that growers and workers can build into the daily work routine together,” she adds.

Unlike voluntary government guidelines, FFP standards carry binding market enforcement. Supported by agreements with 14 major retailers, including Walmart, McDonald’s, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s, participating buyers must suspend purchases from growers who fail to comply. The Fair Food Standards Council handles independent monitoring and enforcement through farm audits and a 24-hour complaint hotline.

Workers attend an education session as part of the FFP in New Jersey

“The health and safety of our employees is non-negotiable. It is incumbent on all employers to do everything possible to ensure that responsibility,” says Jon Esformes, CEO of Sunripe Certified Brands and a founding member of the FFP’s Working Group. “The formalization of what has been a best practice for some time is a singular action that is one of many to fulfill that responsibility. Here at Sunripe, and the Fair Food Program, we are always honored to lead the way.”

The Fair Food Program protects tens of thousands of farmworkers harvesting dozens of crops across 23 states and three countries, including the United States, Chile, and South Africa.

The importance of those protections becomes even clearer when viewed against the human toll of rising temperatures. More than 550 workers die from heat every year in the United States, according to La Jornada in its own coverage of the FFP’s new electrolyte rule. And for farmworkers — who labor for hours under the sun performing some of the most physically demanding work this country has to offer — the danger is especially acute.

But the FFP demonstrates that those dangers are not inevitable. Workers, growers, and buyers have built a system capable of identifying emerging threats, developing practical solutions, and, critically, ensuring that those solutions are actually implemented in the fields.

And just a few hours east of Immokalee, workers in Homestead’s massive plant nursery industry face many of the same dangers farmworkers confronted when the CIW began organizing more than three decades ago: extreme heat, wage theft, harassment, and retaliation. Inspired by the FFP’s example, those workers are now attempting to build enforceable protections of their own. 

To read about that effort, check out excerpts of The Florida Trib’s article below. To read the full article, click here, and to read more about how the CIW is working with WeCount! to help replicate the FFP’s protections in the plant nursery industry, read our post about that initiative here.

Weakened federal heat protection rules leave Florida workers sweating

…“There’s no way to talk about the ongoing fight for heat protections nationally without talking about what’s happening in Florida, both on side of the problem and more importantly on the side of the solution,” said Oscar Londoño, co-executive director of WeCount!, a human rights group pushing for heat safety protections in the plant nursery industry.

Dozens of American workers die from heat-related illnesses each year and thousands more are injured, according to federal statistics. Those numbers probably undercount heat’s true toll, since toiling under the sun gradually contributes to chronic illnesses such as kidney failure and raises the risk exhausted workers will have accidents like falls or crashes. In Florida, heat kills a worker almost every summer.

With few other options, workers are organizing protests and boycotts to pressure companies into giving them water and breaks, following the example of farmworkers in Immokalee, Florida, who won some of America’s strongest heat protections.

In Homestead, WeCount! is organizing plant nursery workers like Sandra along with plant buyers and community members to demand stronger labor protections as part of a campaign called Planting Justice.

“We think the model pioneered by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers is capable of doing what government can’t do right now, which is guaranteeing life-saving protections for workers,” said Londoño.

A laboratory for change

In the absence of government regulations, Florida has become the national epicenter of workers organizing for heat protections.

Immokalee farmworkers created the most successful model. Starting in the ‘90s, tomato pickers organized protests against abusive employers. In 2001, they launched the Campaign for Fair Food and fanned across the country, visiting churches and college campuses to tell Americans about the dangerous labor conditions under which their food is grown.

The workers drafted a code of conduct that included protections from violence, wage theft and sexual harassment. They demanded Florida tomato growers agree to follow the rules, and they also called on fast food companies and grocery stores to buy tomatoes whenever possible from participating farms. Then they asked Americans to protest and boycott companies, starting with Taco Bell, until they agreed to join the program.

The pressure campaign worked. Nearly all Florida tomato growers agreed to follow the workers’ rules and submit to regular audits and inspections to guarantee compliance. The Fair Food Program (FFP) now covers more than 25,000 farmworkers in 23 states and three countries who grow more than a dozen crops. Fourteen retailers including Walmart, Trader Joe’s and Burger King have agreed to not buy produce from farms that break the rules.

Nely Rodriguez (speaking) and Lupe Gonzalo (to Nely’s right) of the CIW join plant nursery workers with WeCount! at a press conference on the Planting Justice initiative in Miami earlier this year.

Five years ago, the FFP added mandatory heat protections to its code of conduct. Participating farms have to give workers access to cold water, shaded rest areas and 10-minute breaks every two hours on hot days. Starting this month, they must also offer workers electrolyte drinks or supplements such as Gatorade year round.

“While the hope for federal heat rules now wanes, the FFP is strengthening its protections with mandatory, year-round electrolytes even as it expands to more farms across the country,” Coalition for Immokalee Workers co-founder Lucas Benitez said in an emailed statement.

Workers on South Florida tropical plant nurseries hope to follow suit. This year, they launched the Planting Justice campaign, which would build a similar program around houseplants. Organizers are calling on Costa Farms — the country’s biggest plant nursery, headquartered in Homestead, Florida — to become the first grower to join the program. As part of a national letter writing campaign, more than 2,000 people have written to Costa Farms to urge them to join…

That’s all for today, but stay tuned for more updates on the Fair Food Program!

A new report co-published by the Centre for Future Work and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives reviews six new ‘Workforce Alliances’ being established by the federal government as part of its economic strategy responding to Donald Trump’s trade war. The report concludes that the Alliances have potential to improve training, labour supply, and labour standards – but Canadian unions must be ambitious and assertive to ensure that they fulfil this potential.

The report, Hinge Moment for Canada’s Workforce and Industrial Policy, is based on research presented at the recent Canadian Industrial Relations Association conference at Université Laval in Québec.

The federal government is advancing these new Alliances to strengthen the labour side of major new investment and industrial policies. Somewhat reminiscent of the previous tripartite era of sector councils from the 1990s, unions are once again being invited to participate. 

Ottawa has announced six Workforce Alliances, which largely mirror the government’s industry, energy and transportation infrastructure initiatives. On a parallel track, a historic $6 billion funding stream to support Red Seal skilled trades training has also been launched. 

Unions have ample experience with supply-side training programs. Too many have focused solely on meeting the labour supply needs of employers, with limited benefits for workers and no opportunity to build union power. Could this iteration of workforce policy be an opportunity for the labour movement to do better? Does it create an opening to influence industrial policy, labour standards and worker rights? 

At a special panel during the 2026 conference of the Canadian Industrial Relations Association (CIRA) at Université Laval in June, union experts and labour studies academics came together to review the Workforce Alliances and their associated training initiatives, and examine the opportunities for genuine trade union engagement.

The presentations to the CIRA conference are collected in this compendium. The goal is to start a bigger discussion among trade unionists and progressive researchers about a labour strategy that links workforce policy with labour standards and conditionalities across the industries and sectors receiving federal funding, including a larger role for unions in shaping industrial policy. 

Several common themes emerge from the contributions collected here. First, workforce policy cannot be reduced to labour supply measures aimed solely at meeting employers’ skills needs. Second, sectoral institutions and public investments must be linked to stronger labour standards, worker retention and equitable employment outcomes. Finally, the Workforce Alliances raise broader questions about industrial governance and whether unions can use these new institutions to exercise meaningful influence over economic strategy and democratic decision-making. 

Fred Wilson’s introduction traces the evolution of workforce policies from the old sector councils, to industry-led labour market information programs and now back to partial joint governance in the Workforce Alliances. In each case, the primary purpose has been to provide “labour market information,” or LMI, and training programs to meet employer needs. Yet, in this latest version of workforce policy, to meet the government’s promise of “not just jobs, but careers” will require going well beyond the LMI model. Labour’s goals in the new workforce policies must address sector and industry-based standards and industrial policies that create and sustain high-quality, value-added jobs. 

Ken Delaney, the managing director of the Canadian Skilled Trades Employment Coalition (CSTEC), Canada’s longest-standing “sector council” model, speaks to the limits of the former sector councils that were confined by government agendas. CSTEC’s work highlights the promise of workforce programs to address worker transition, equity and inclusion, especially if workers are allowed to maintain EI benefits in training. The organization’s programs also demonstrate how the career-building potential of Red Seal training can be adapted to meet the needs of skilled workers in manufacturing and other sectors. Delaney encourages unions to seize the opportunity in the Workforce Alliances to integrate industrial policy with labour market policy. 

Professor Evelyn Dionne’s study of the construction sector in Quebec warns that sector programs to increase labour force supply and speed up construction can lead to “a downward spiral marked by declining skill levels, lower-quality housing, inefficient green buildings and high turnover.” Dionne calls for project labour agreements (PLAs) to be incorporated into housing and construction projects in order to establish common and high-quality terms and conditions governing all workers and contractors. “By embedding training, equity and labour standards into procurement processes,” she writes, “PLAs can help ensure that accelerated construction does not come at the expense of quality or working conditions.” 

After pressure from within the Liberal caucus, reinforced by advocacy from social policy and feminist advocates, the federal government agreed to establish a Workforce Alliance for the care economy. Laurell Ritchie, a member of the Care Economy Initiative, emphasizes that in the care economy, worker retention is as important as recruitment. Like industrial sectors, meeting workforce goals in the care economy will require sector-based programs and standards, and strong government leadership. The inclusion of the care economy among the Workforce Alliances is itself recognition that industry and workforce policy can be influenced by advocacy from unions and women’s organizations. 

Unifor Research Director Angelo DiCaro’s contribution on the interrelationship between industrial policy and workforce policy underscores the need for the state to act as a “conductor” of a complex orchestra involving multiple public and private players. A weak state role leaves the government as a passive enabler of the private sector, resulting in “industrial improvisation” rather than industrial strategy. For the Workforce Alliances to make a real difference, they must go beyond workforce development—filling vacancies, and sponsoring training—to become well-rounded tables for “peak-level social dialogue” with “a whole-of-supply-chain approach” to labour standards and industrial growth. 

As DiCaro aptly puts it, the Workforce Alliances could be “a vital cog in the wheel of industrial growth and rising workplace standards.” Alternatively, they could become an “unambitious and burdensome exercise, simply facilitating training fund transfers, and entirely delinked from future-facing industrial strategy.” 

Prime Minister Carney has described this as a “hinge moment” for Canada, as Canadians collectively face up to the unprecedented threat posed by Donald Trump and aggression from Washington. It is also a hinge moment for labour. The potential reorientation of Canada’s economy away from deep dependence on U.S. export markets, with a greater role for active industrial policy and public investment, carries both opportunities and risks for unions and the workers they represent. 

The Workforce Alliances are an opportunity for unions to shape this historic economic moment, leveraging workers’ position at the point of production to demand both material progress and democratic power as this pivot unfolds. Canada’s unions must demonstrate that they have the organizational capacity and political leverage to bring a working-class agenda to the Workforce Alliances, and help to shape this new era of industrial policy in favour of workers. 

Please see the full paper here.

The post Workforce Alliances an Opportunity for Canadian Unions to Shape Future Industrial Strategies appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

Baby gear takes over the living room, outgrown bikes pile up in the garage, and toy boxes multiply faster than anyone can keep track of. Families expanding in size rarely expand in square footage at the same rate, and the gap between the two shows up in every overstuffed closet. Renting storage spaces in Dubai gives busy households a practical way to reclaim their rooms without giving up items they still need.

Make room for daily life

Growing families often collect belongings quickly. Baby equipment, school projects, toys, bicycles, furniture, and holiday decorations can quickly fill closets and spare rooms. Storage spaces give these items a separate location, leaving bedrooms, hallways, and living areas open for everyday activities. Parents also gain clearer rooms by moving rarely used belongings away from busy areas. Kids get more floor space for play, while adults gain easier access to household essentials.

Store seasonal belongings

Seasonal items take up valuable space during months when families don’t use them. Winter coats, holiday decorations, camping equipment, fans, and outdoor furniture can sit untouched for long periods. A storage unit gives these belongings a dedicated spot until the next season arrives. Families free up closets and garages while keeping seasonal goods protected and organized.

Keep children’s items organized

Children grow quickly, and their belongings change with each stage. Clothes, toys, books, school supplies, and sports equipment may no longer suit their current age but still hold future value. Families can sort these items into labeled boxes and place them in storage. Parents can group clothing by size, separate toys by type, and keep school materials together. This simple system makes future access easier and reduces clutter inside the home.

Support home changes

Growing families may rearrange rooms as children get older. A nursery may become a study area, while a playroom may become a bedroom. Furniture and household goods can temporarily move into storage during these changes. This extra space gives families greater freedom during home updates. Parents can clear rooms before moving furniture, painting walls, or setting up new areas for children.

Build better household habits

Storage works best when families use a simple organization system. Clear labels, sturdy boxes, and grouped belongings help everyone locate items quickly. Parents can also keep an inventory of stored goods and review it from time to time. As children grow and family routines change, extra storage gives households a practical place for belongings that still serve a purpose.

Source

Aug. 20th, 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact

Nina A. S. Juntereal, PhD, RN

Pennsylvania Nurse Advocacy Coordinator

Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments

nina@enviRN.org

267-240-8913

“Statement from ANHE on Gov Shapiro PA Executive Order Data Centers”

(PA)- On Tuesday Aug. 18th, PA Governor Josh Shapiro signed an executive order to implement the Governor’s Responsible Infrastructure Development (GRID) standards for proposed data centers in Pennsylvania.

“Nurses understand accountability because our profession depends on it. Every order, every intervention, every outcome is tracked and documented. We need the same standard applied to data center growth: strict oversight of energy demand and supply, binding protections for ratepayers, and penalties when developers fail to commit to transparency, workforce, and environmental protection,” said Nina Juntereal, Pennsylvania Nurse Advocacy Coordinator, Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments. 

Katie Huffling, Executive Director at the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments said, “This is fundamentally a health issue. Three in four Americans live with at least one chronic condition. When grid strain, propelled by data centers, drives up reliance on fossil-fuel plants, Americans living with asthma, heart disease, cancer, and other chronic conditions will feel it first and worst. Clean energy isn’t a separate issue to public health; it is public health.”

We urge PA lawmakers to build on this executive order with legislation that prioritizes clean energy investment and puts real accountability structures in place, not just for utility costs, but for the health and safety of every Pennsylvanian breathing air near these facilities.

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The Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments is the only national nursing organization focused solely on the intersection of health and the environment. The mission of the Alliance is to support nurses in promoting planetary health and equity globally by educating and leading the nursing profession, advancing research, incorporating planet-safe practice, and influencing policy. http://enviRN.org

The post Statement from ANHE on Gov Shapiro PA Executive Order Data Centers appeared first on ANHE.

Workers take a rest break under shade as part of the Fair Food Program Fast Company: The Fair Food Program is “A Win-Win-Win for Farmworkers, Growers, Buyers.” FFSC Co-executive director Lilian Sepúlveda on NPR/PBS/WGCU: “Providing electrolytes year-round reflects the Fair Food Program’s commitment to continue to improve standards as new science emerges.”

We recently shared news of the Fair Food Program’s newest heat protection: a first-of-its-kind rule requiring participating growers to provide electrolytes for workers on FFP farms year-round.

The new rule responds to a crisis that only grows more urgent each summer, as record-high temperatures are set year after year and just last month set the mark for the hottest July on record. Farmworkers already face some of the highest risks from extreme heat of any workforce in the country — they are 35 times more likely to die from heat-related stress than workers in other industries. And as temperatures continue to rise, the dangers of both acute heat illness and the chronic effects of repeated heat exposure are growing with them.

The new electrolyte requirement builds on the FFP’s comprehensive heat stress protections — standards the Washington Post called “America’s strongest workplace heat rules” in a front-page feature article in 2024 — which mandate the provision of shade and drinking water, regular rest breaks, heat-stress training, and the right to stop work and seek medical attention when necessary without fear of retaliation. Developed through the Program’s collaborative process with growers, these protections show how the FFP can identify emerging threats, develop practical solutions that benefit all parties to the FFP, and then enforce them across a rapidly growing network of participating farms.

Now, two new stories take an in-depth look at the FFP’s new electrolyte rule and what it tells us about the Program’s approach to protecting workers in an increasingly sweltering world.

First up, we have award-winning journalist Eileen Kelley of NPR/PBS member station WGCU, in a video segment aired across Florida. We are excited to share that clip in full with you below.

Next, we have excerpts from a report on the rule courtesy of Fast Company, one of the country’s leading news outlets focused on innovation and the market. To read the full article from Fast Company, click here.

Farmworkers across 22 states will get free access to electrolytes to combat dangerous heat stress

The Fair Food Program, whose buyers include major retailers like Walmart, McDonald’s, and Trader Joe’s, will now mandate electrolytes for workers.

“On certain farms across 22 states, workers who harvest everything from tomatoes to tulips to blueberries will now have mandatory access to electrolytes, which can help them stay safe in dangerous extreme heat.

It’s the latest rule from the Fair Food Program, a partnership between farmworkers and food retailers (including Walmart, McDonald’s, Whole Foods Market, and Trader Joe’s) to improve working conditions on farms.

As extreme heat worsens, it’s a crucial step, the program says, to keeping workers healthy.

FARMWORKERS HAVE THE HIGHEST HEAT RISK

When a heat wave hits, farmworkers are among the most vulnerable. They’re 35 times as likely to die from heat-related stress as workers in any other industry. Farm work is physically grueling, and, particularly during harvest season, workers can be outside from sunup to sundown.

There are no federal standards to protect outdoor workers, including those on farms, from heat.

The Fair Food Program, however, has its own set of heat protections, including mandatory breaks, guaranteed access to shade and water, and training on how to spot symptoms of heat stress for both workers and supervisors.

Now it’s added a rule, which took effect August 1, requiring participating growers to provide electrolyte beverages or supplements to workers year-round.

Water can only rehydrate workers to a certain extent, particularly during extreme temperatures. Research is increasingly highlighting the importance of electrolyte replacement as a crucial way to prevent heat-related illness, and to protect organs including kidneys from heat stress.

“There have been many, many cases of farmworkers, who have worked for years in the field without adequate hydration, experiencing major organ failure, particularly kidney failure, at young ages,” says Laura Safer Espinoza, senior advisor to the Fair Food Program and founding executive director of the Fair Food Standards Council, the monitoring and auditing body that oversees the Fair Food Program’s implementation.

Electrolytes can preserve kidney function, studies have found; they also mitigate heat stress and help prevent dehydration, which can cause heat stroke…

A WIN-WIN-WIN FOR FARMWORKERS, GROWERS, BUYERS

Such protections, including the new rule about electrolytes, help workers stay safe and healthy in the heat. They also benefit both growers and buyers.

“If workers are healthier, then their employers are not having as many workers’ compensation claims, they are not losing production time by people becoming ill or sidelined and recuperating from serious symptoms,” [FFSC Co-executive director Judge] Safer Espinoza says. “It’s less disruptive, ultimately, for the food supply chain.”

Implementing the electrolyte rule took some time. Once the working group decides on a new standard, they have to publish it to the growers months in advance and set up educational efforts on the farms for both workers and supervisors. It normally takes a season or two, Safer Espinoza says, for a standard to become “fully assimilated” into a farm’s operating procedures—and for the workers to believe that it will actually be enforced.

There’s been little resistance to the addition of the electrolyte requirement, she adds: “There was very little argument about the fact that the body needs those replacements in order to function well in doing a lot of heavy, strenuous work for many hours at a time.”

Growers now see these safety standards as a good investment in their workforce… Extreme heat events are becoming both more frequent and intense; multiple back-to-back heat domes in July broke heat records across the U.S. Workers in other industries, including construction, are looking at the Fair Food Program as a model for heat-stress prevention…”

As summers grow hotter, millions of vulnerable workers across the country will continue to face life-threatening temperatures on the job. Yet the experience of the Fair Food Program demonstrates that those dangers are neither inevitable nor beyond our power to address.

When workers have a meaningful voice in designing the protections they need — and when those protections are backed by real monitoring, enforcement, and the market power of major buyers — new threats can be met with practical solutions that work for workers, growers, and buyers alike. That is the promise of the Fair Food Program and the broader Worker-driven Social Responsibility model.

Stay tuned for more coverage of the FFP’s groundbreaking new heat protections!

The post ANHE’s Fall Toxics Workshop: Toxic Chemicals 101 appeared first on ANHE.

A large multicultural group of activists and organizers at the Solidarity Economy Assembly in Durham, NC in July 2026. Photo by Nica Guerrero.

Y’all. We don’t have to tell you that the organizing happening in the south is next level. That’s why Durham, North Carolina was a perfect place to gather for the Solidarity Economy Assembly for our Futures, hosted by the New Economy Coalition, of which MG is a proud member.

Panel featuring Anna Jeffries, Judge Beverly Scarlett, and Georie Bryant, moderated by Donnay Edmund, with sound bowls in the foreground. Photo by Nica Guerrero.

We had the honor to hear from the Black & Indigenous Solidarity Economies panel including Anna Jeffries of Handèwa Farms and the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, Judge Beverly Scarlett of Indigenous Memories, and Georie Bryant of the Symbodied marketplace. They challenged us to explore our relationships to land, to honor our ancestors, and imagine what polyrhythmic solidarity (different rhythms coming together to create one song) can look like in our movements.

People moving their bodies during a theatrical exercise at the Solidarity Economy Assembly.

Some of our Creative Wildfire team facilitated “Rehearsing the Next World,” a performance jam session weaving together speculative fiction, theater of the liberated/oppressed, improvisation, political performance, and other body-based tools for collective narrative creation.

We also participated in other member-led sessions, including “From Shock to Climate Survival,” led by Climate Mobilization Project. Grounded in learnings from CMP’s own work to resource and develop climate survival hubs (such as community farms, solar projects, mesh networks, cooperative housing on BIPOC-owned land, water resilience systems, and mutual aid networks), we explored concrete economic openings for solidarity economy development and what our initiatives need in order to become scalable engines of grassroots economic change.

A Black femme walking between trees towards a white house with a brick chimney at Historic Stagville. Photo by Nica Guerrero.

We visited Historic Stagville, where Georie Bryant offered reflections on land, its histories, and how that connects to labor struggles. We also spent time with Judge Beverly Scarlett on a native plant walk. And we turned up with organizers from the Union of Southern Service Workers, who are doing exactly what their name suggests—organizing the south, primarily low-wage service workers who need an organizing home.

Alexis Pauline Gumbs on stage speaking to a crowd at the Solidarity Economy Assembly in Durham, NC.

On assembly day, Black feminist scholar, poet, author, and activist Alexis Pauline Gumbs offered a powerful grounding that reconnected us to our collective spirit and the deeper reasons we gather. We then convened  in regional groups to reflect on shared needs, possibilities, and the tools needed to strengthen our polyrythmic movements. Across the west coast and Pacific Northwest, aka Salmon Nation, we identified our needs and desires for more regular land-based gatherings across our broad bioregion, as well as coordinated resource mobilization.

We left the Solidarity Economy Assembly so nourished, inspired, and fired up! Huge thanks to our friends and partners at the New Economy Coalition, and all the member organizations and allies who made the gathering so generative, soulful, and fun!

A group of people sitting at tables in a gymnasium watching a speaker in front of a stage.

On July 15th, MG hosted the second of our newly re-started Community Dinners, this time in East Oakland.

Several dozen MG homies came out to Roots Community Health at the Parker Elementary School campus to savor some phenomenal potluck dishes — from Thai green curry and fresh-from-the-garden summer salads to mint basil lemonade and a vegan cheese charcuterie board. 

While we enjoyed the feast and the kids played nearby, MG’s Quinton Sankofa shared with us how teachers, parents, students, and community members occupied Parker Elementary when it was slated for closure by OUSD, and saved it as a community resource. Quinton also shared more about the powerful work being done in East Oakland by the Brotherhood of Elders Network and their partners on the 40×40 council to move resources to Black communities to meet their own needs in the face of increased public and private disinvestment. 

Inspired by plant starts offered by our friends at the Gil Tract Community farm at our first community dinner, we began what we hope will be a regular practice of bringing seeds to the dinner to share with each other. MG’s Gopal Dayaneni shared Yakteen (heirloom Palestinian gourd) Kousa  (Palestinian summer squash) seeds from Palestine.

We’re aiming to host the dinners at a range of accessible spots across the Bay. If you have a spot to offer, please let us know!