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'Youth and Workers Uniting Behind This Crisis': German Labor Union Urges 2 Million Members to Join Global Climate Strike
11/08/19
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"Good news in the link below, but the name and nature of the union are not very clear in the article. It refers to Verdi, also referred to as "ver.di," short-form nicknames for Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft (United Services Union) which represents public and private service workers in a huge variety of jobs. More Canadian unions have to get involved in this youth-led fight!" Gene McGuckin
"This is leadership. Who will follow? The world is watching," said 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg
August 06, 2019
Germany's second-largest labor union on Monday urged its two million members to join the youth-led "Fridays for Future" climate strikes scheduled to take place next month in over 150 countries across the globe.
"We can only protect the climate together," tweeted Verdi, a service sector union.
As the Associated Press reported, "Verdi head Frank Bsirske told the WAZ newspaper on Monday he was calling on the union's two million members to take part."
"Whoever can should march and participate," said Bsirske in a tweet. "Anyway, I'll be going."
20.09 - Save the Date: Klimaschutz schaffen wir nur gemeinsam #solidarity #fridaysForFuture https://bit.ly/2YISRKW
Organizers of the strikes, which are set to kick off Sept. 20 and continue through Sept. 27, said they expect millions of people to participate around the world.
According to the Global Climate Strike website, the event is on track to be the largest ever "global mobilization against climate breakdown."
Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish environmentalist whose activism was an inspiration for the upcoming strikes, applauded Verdi for joining the global movement for climate justice.
"This is leadership," Thunberg tweeted. "Who will follow? The world is watching."
German climate activist Luisa Neubauer also celebrated Verdi's move and called on other unions to follow its lead.
"This is incredible," tweeted Neubauer. "This is youth and workers uniting behind this crisis. Which union will join next?"
As Common Dreams reported in July, the September climate strike is set to take place as world leaders gather for the United Nations Summit on Climate Change in New York.
“It is time for world leaders to wake up to the truth of the climate crisis," organizers of the strike said in a statement last month. "By demonstrating people’s power we will make this week a turning point in history. The climate crisis is an emergency. We have to act like it so we will stop our business as usual and show governments what people want: climate justice."
"This September," the activists added, "millions of us will walk out of homes and workplaces onto the streets and demand an end to the age of fossil fuels."
[Top photo: Teenage climate Swedish activist Greta Thunberg attends Fridays for Future Climate Change rally in Piazza Del Popolo on April 19, 2019 in Rome, Italy. (Photo: Franco Origlia/Getty Images)]
