Chemical Safety
The BlueGreen Alliance has long advocated for greater regulatory oversite of chemical facilities to keep workers and communities safe.
Equity and Healthy and Safe Communities
As a nation, we are confronting the ongoing crises of economic inequality, racial injustice, climate change, and the impacts that these have on public health and the health of the environment.
Our nation has long struggled with economic inequality. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that income inequality in 2018—the gap between the wealthiest in the United States and the average worker—had reached the highest level recorded since the bureau started tracking the gap. Subsequent reports of 2019 and 2020 data show no movement toward income equality. At the same time, we are struggling against racial injustice. From its outset, our nation’s economy has been built on the exploitation of people of color. Systemic racism and oppression are knotted into all the challenges to building a clean, healthy, and prosperous economy for all.
The very communities that are impacted by racial and economic inequity are also those disproportionately feeling the effects of pollution and climate change. In fact, a 2019 study found that white people in the United States contribute more to air pollution, but the impacts of that pollution are more likely to be felt by communities of color. Additionally, low-income and systematically marginalized communities are at greater risk of being impacted by chemical disasters.
One of the best tools we have available to address all of these challenges is a unionized workforce. Research has shown that across the board, union members earn higher wages than non-union workers and this difference is most pronounced for workers of color and women. Union workplaces are also safer for workers and surrounding communities. Numerous studies have found that workers in unionized facilities have fewer injuries and illnesses.
Racial and Economic Equity and Environmental Justice
To begin the work of addressing economic inequality and dismantling systemic racism in our society, equity and justice must be at the core of our efforts to rebuild the economy.
Workers’ Rights
When unions are strong, local economies prosper, workers are safer and healthier, and our environment is safeguarded.
350 Times CEOs in 2020 were paid more than 350 times more than the typical worker. . (Source)
