There are no jobs on a dead planet…

The World on Fire: climate campaigning in your workplace – event on Saturday 30 September

Local climate group XR Hastings & St Leonards (XRHSL) is joining forces with Hastings Trades Council to hold a local day of inspiration, ideas and practical advice about how to get organised and win climate demands at work. XRHSL’s Bill Perry explains more.

Most people associate climate activism with street protests but a range of speakers at this event will give an insight into the kind of climate campaigning that is going on within many workplaces and across a range of professions.

One of the speakers, Melanie Strickland, is a lawyer who organises with Lawyers are Responsible. According to Melanie: ‘We target law firms who are key enablers of the fossil fuel industry’, and they are also pushing back from inside the legal system about the way climate protesters are being criminalised.

Melanie, who has participated in civil disobedience and is a trade union member, will be speaking about her work within the legal profession, and will also take part in practical sessions to help people work through a plan for action in their own workplace or industry.

Other participants in the event will be Paul O’Brien, an RMT rep on the London Underground who sits on the Transport for London pension committee where they have been winning support for divestment from fossil fuels, and Jane Ripley, a science lecturer at East Sussex College Hastings, working to embed climate literacy across courses.

Jane said: “I’ve found it’s surprisingly easy to start climate and environmental initiatives in the workplace, people are really interested and often just waiting for someone to light the spark.”

Neil Clark, a campaigner for emission reductions across the digital sector, will suggest some ‘quick wins’ people can push every company to adopt, and can encourage colleagues to engage in the climate movement.

Experienced trade unionists from the Trades Council will help facilitate the day, empowering people in both unionised and non-unionised workplaces to take effective action, and fight for a transition away from our fossil fuel economy that is fair for everyone – including workers in industries that need to be changed dramatically or phased out completely to reduce carbon emissions.

When: Saturday September 30th, 10.30am to 2.30pm

Where: All Saints Hall, 142 All Saints’ St, Hastings TN34 3BG

Entry is free and you can just turn up but it would really help the organisers if you book in advance via Eventbrite.

Simon Hester, Hastings Trades Council: “It’s vital that workers take the lead in combating climate change because the corporations and employers are focused on profit-making – the underlying cause of the climate catastrophe. We want a society where the needs of the people and the planet come before the profits of big business. Workers have the collective power to influence our own workplaces and to change society. That’s why Hastings & District Trades Union Council supports this event on September 30th. See you there.”

The event will run on Saturday 30 September from 10.30am–2.30pm at All Saints Hall, 142 All Saints Street, Hastings TN34 3BG.

Also in: Campaigns