(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – National AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler has released the following Earth Day Message:

Monday (April 22nd) is Earth Day - a critical moment to deepen our commitment to centering environmental justice and racial justice in our fight for Worker Rights.

To mark this occasion, the National AFL-CIO will host a Climate, Equity and Jobs Roundtable, bringing together for the first time in our history the Labor, Racial Justice and Environmental Justice Movements for the first in a series of convenings.

The reality is Workers of color in our country and around the world bear the brunt of the climate emergency we’re facing.

They are disproportionately affected by record-setting temperatures and other climate-related weather hazards.

Many of them are the first on the scene when climate disasters hit or they may live and work in the areas that are the most heavily impacted by pollution due to generations of racist infrastructure and city planning that saw their neighborhoods as expendable.

It seems like every season we experience another heart-breaking climate disaster and we can’t wait to take action.

The time is now for the Labor Movement to shore up its focus on a clean energy future that’s equitable.

Corporations and the Lawmakers they own are not going to bend over backward to protect Working People from environmental catastrophe.

It’s on us to build a united front of Labor, Climate Justice and Racial Justice Leaders so we can fight together for workplace protections and policy investments that will build a brighter future with clean water, pollution-free air and a healthier planet made possible by quality, family-sustaining Union jobs.

President Biden’s Administration is already hard at work building out the Federal funding for helping jump-start this massive fight.

And I’m here to tell you, the Labor Movement is standing arm in arm with our allies alongside him.

Because climate change is Union business.

Photo Courtesy Of The National AFL-CIO.