The labor movement has become increasingly misunderstood over the years, mostly because of propaganda from greedy capitalists. Strikes are not about money, but a direct action to defend livelihoods, standards of living, and health and safety. Everyone is going to be affected by this, regardless of occupation. All labor has a stake in stopping this toxic pesticide program, both aerial and on the ground.

An injury to One is an injury to All!

Talk with your unions! Pass resolutions like the one below, then act on them: All out for a General Strike!

Here’s an example of a strong resolution:

Date: April 10, 2008
To: Distribution
Re: AFSCME Local 2428 Resolution Opposing the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s (CDFA) Pesticide Program to Attempt to Eradicate the Light Brown Apple Moth:

WHEREAS, this union of park workers is pledged to conserve the land, the air, the water, and the life that resides there for the present sustenance of the people and use by future generations; and

WHEREAS, the Union/Management Ecology Committee is working in a cooperative manner to implement the District’s goal of reducing the use of chemicals on District property; and

WHEREAS, each of the methods planned by the USDA and CDFA’s pesticide program to attempt to eradicate the light brown apple moth, whether by aerial spraying, ground spraying, twist ties, permethrins on trees and utility poles, chemical traps, or other related methods have known and unknown negative health and environmental impacts associated with them; and

WHEREAS, science has shown that chemicals in the environment pose significant health risks to the public and the ecosystem; and

WHEREAS, scientists have reported that the light brown apple moth has not caused any substantial crop damage and is more successfully controlled without the use of chemicals, by encouraging natural predators and healthy soils to prevent the spread of damaging infestations; and

WHEREAS, Local 2428 is concerned about the health and safety of park workers and park users, especially the most vulnerable populations of young, old, or the infirm who may be exposed while working or visiting in District parklands to unnecessary and untested levels of known carcinogenic and mutagenic chemicals.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, Local 2428 strongly opposes this eradication plan and demands that the USDA downgrade the pest classification of the light brown apple moth to reflect the lack of risk it poses; and

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, Local 2428 will work with communities across the state, the nation, and the globe to seek alternatives to chemical pest management by creating healthy habitat, including, but not limited to, the use of bio-intensive gardening to attract natural predators and soil microbes, and the addition of organic compost to add nitrogen and minerals to the soil in order to support the plants’ own immunity against “pests.”

You, too, are doing a fabulous job.
Mim

I applaud you for writing to CBS and ABC and asking them to give this the focus it needs. I am sure your letters are helping!

It is so hard, when something is so important, to realize that ‘the rest of the world’ is going on with life normally. The Marin Independent Journal was running a feature on ‘Healthy Kids Day’ and the Chronicle was doing when about San Francisco’s plastic bag ban.

If I had the time, I’d be tracking down the authors of stories like these and saying, “our healthy kids are threatened…we can get rid of plastic bags, but what will it matter if our air is plastic?”

What helps me so much is knowing that there are people like you, Mary Anne, and all of my readers here, who are making efforts every day to speak, to write, to converse, to protest. We can be so powerful because we are all working toward the same goal.

Thank you for taking the time to comment here. Come back soon and keep up the great work!
Mim

Great journalism on your part. I’m grateful and impressed with the amount of passion, information, and excellent writing you merge to inform us about LBAM spray.

Thank you!

Donna