ICYMI: AFT and Sierra Club Push for President Biden's Build Back Better Agenda in Joint Op-Ed

Last week, two progressive leaders from labor and environmental organizations wrote a joint op-ed in New York Daily News agreeing it is time for Congress to advance President Biden's full Build Back Better Agenda.

Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and Ramon Cruz, President of the Sierra Club, encouraged Congress to advance President Biden's plans to build back better, noting they both "feel a sense of hope and possibility for a true labor-climate agenda."

They highlighted how labor unions and environmentalists both support the investments that will improve America's public school infrastructure to ensure students have safe and healthy places to learn, resilient infrastructure that can withstand extreme weather events, and building out the nation's clean energy capacity – all while creating good-paying, union jobs and advancing environmental justice in the process.

Read the full op-ed here and key excerpts below:

"As presidents of one of the nation's largest environmental organizations and one of its largest labor unions, the Sierra Club and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), we recognize that we don't always see eye-to-eye. But based on what we're witnessing in the actions of our national leadership, we both feel a sense of hope and possibility for a true labor-climate agenda."

"[…] The proposed bipartisan deal is a good step, but we need more public infrastructure investment and one of the largest consumers of energy in the public sector: our public schools. School infrastructure in America has received a D+ from the American Society of Civil Engineers, and to offer our students safe and welcoming places to learn, the needs of school buildings and all the related equity and employment issues must be addressed.

"To truly tackle the crises of our crumbling schools and the add-on crises posed by climate change and persisting inequality, Congress must continue working to pass a reconciliation package that includes transformative resources to fund a just transition that addresses public schools, climate and good jobs, as well as other critical measures to support these efforts."

[…]

"Our greenest and most economically sound outcome will be a resilient infrastructure to withstand extreme weather events and avoid a 'tipping point' in climate disaster. Together, we are pushing for equitable and sustainable responses to the growing number of catastrophes we face (such as 'snowmaggedon' in Texas and Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico when frontline communities lost power and vital resources needed to survive). We need to invest in renewable energy solutions to keep impacted communities both powered and empowered by local energy sources, high-road labor standards, efficient responses to climate change and independence from fossil fuels."

[..]

"But we need to be proactive as we anticipate changes in all sectors, including the public sector. Social safety nets like health care and unemployment insurance will have to be strengthened and workers' basic organizing rights must allow them to effectively organize for good-paying jobs in emerging industries like renewable energy. To achieve this, we will need to pass the PRO (Protecting the Right to Organize) Act — a critical first step in ensuring these transitions are just.

"These changes need to happen and they need to happen now so that no worker or community is left behind in the process. As we see on the signs of many young people taking action for climate: "There is no Planet B.' For their sake, and for all of ours, we should seize this opportunity to build back even better."