The Progressive Workers Union requests our solidarity. Please help.

The following comes from the Progressive Workers Union:

I'm writing to you on behalf of my union, Progressive Workers Union, which represents nonprofit workers at some of the largest environmental organizations in the country, including Sierra Club, 350.org and Greenpeace USA. Our bargaining team is currently negotiating our collective bargaining agreement with Sierra Club management, and the stakes are extremely high.

Our current contract with the Sierra Club, ratified in 2018, set the bar for workers in the non-profit sector, and beyond, guaranteeing some of the strongest benefits and highest pay for advocacy jobs anywhere in the country. Yet now management is trying to weaken many of the key provisions in the contract, focusing on gutting progressive discipline and provisions that provide relative job security to our members, even after they laid off over 100 employees earlier this year. Meanwhile, we're pushing to hold our executive director, a self-proclaimed "pro union progressive,” Ben Jealous, accountable to his promise to come up with the "most progressive" contract in the nation, putting forward proposals to create a contract that:

creates a safe and dignified workplace;
ensures pay equity, pathways to promotion and family sustaining wages;
protects jobs;
disrupts burnout; and
takes care of our community.

So far, management has rejected all of our major proposals, and most of our minor ones as well. They have also rejected our proposals to extend the contract for three months as we continue negotiating, setting us up for contract expiration on January 1, 2024.

We're asking our partners in the environmental and intersecting movements to sign on to a positive letter to Jealous and the Board of Directors, asking them to live their values and support the union's efforts to negotiate a fair contract. We also have a letter specifically for other unions and organized labor groups along the same lines, which you can sign here.

Finally, please consider posting on social media and tagging Ben Jealous:

The @sierraclub and @benjealous have an opportunity to be progressive champions and collaborate with @Pwunion1 to write one of the strongest contracts in the nation, and set the bar for workers everywhere. Let’s get it done! #1u

We need your help to ensure Sierra Club invests in their staff, and the communities that they serve.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions, or contact union leadership at excom@progressiveworkersunion.org.


Thanks,

Dylan Plummer
he/him
PWU Trustee
Sierra Club Unit Bargaining Team