NYSUT members joined their sisters and brothers in labor - along with more than 300,000 other concerned citizens - at a massive march through Manhattan Sunday to demand a global response to climate change.
NYSUT Secretary Treasurer Martin Messner turned out for the march, along with leaders from the United Federation of Teachers and from NYSUT’s two largest higher education affiliates: United University Professions, which represents 35,000 academic and professional staff at the state-operated campuses of the State University of New York; and the Professional Congress, which represents 30,000 faculty and staff at the City University of New York.
UUP President Fred Kowal and PSC President Barbara Bowen spoke at a rally for labor before the march.
The "People's Climate March" brought together a coalition of more than 1,000 organizations representing social justice, religion, education, youth and environmentalists as part of a week of events to mark a global conference on climate change at the United Nations.
Global warning and the environment have long been concerns of labor, both as a health and safety issue for workers and because environmental disasters such as oil spills can cost working people their jobs, their homes and their livelihood.