Naomi Klein: Why unions need to join the climate fight

Speech to the founding convention of the Unifor union in Canada

I’m so very happy and honoured to be able to share this historic day with you. The energy in this room – and the hope the founding of this new union has inspired across the country – is contagious. It feels like this could be the beginning of the fight back we have all been waiting for, the one that will chase Harper from power and restore the power of working people in Canada. So welcome to the world UNIFOR. A lot of your media coverage so far has focused on how big UNIFOR is – the biggest private sector union in Canada. And when you are facing as many attacks as workers are in this country, being big can be very helpful. But big is not a victory in itself. The victory comes when this giant platform you have just created becomes a place to think big, to dream big, to make big demands and take big actions. The kind of actions that will shift the public imagination and change our sense of what is possible. And it’s that kind of “big” that I want to talk to you about today.