Why Unions Need to Join the Climate Fight
September 3rd, 2013By Naomi Klein Naomi delivered the following speech on September 1, 2013 at the founding convention of UNIFOR, a new mega union created by the Canadian Autoworkers and the Canadian Energy and Paper Workers Union. Full text of the speech follows the video. 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....