Enviro and labor groups across the country are increasingly joining forces, most recently at the World Trade Organization talks in Seattle, to fight against globalization and the consolidation of economic power. In the past year, for example, Maine forest workers and enviros together protested the effects of NAFTA on the North Woods; blue-collar workers in Wyoming and enviros called attention to mining safety concerns and the low wages of workers in resort towns; and fishers in the Northwest have endorsed calls to breach dams to save salmon. Several hundred enviro and labor groups have signed the Houston Principles, which include such statements as “the drive for short-term profits without regard for long-term sustainability hurts working people, communities, and the earth.” Still, significant differences remain between the two interests, especially over issues like logging in national forests, where labor believes stronger environmental restrictions would cost jobs.
