Listen: Labor Being Used as Pawns in NY’s Radioactive Mess; Toxic Plume Threatens Air; And More…

By Bob Hennelly

On this Independence Day edition of the Stuck Nation Labor Radio Hour, we find Canada continuing to battle hundreds of forest fires in what is that nation’s worst wildfire season on record with 250 blazes still out of control consuming close to 20 million acres — the near equivalent of two thirds of New York State’s landmass. Experts link the wildfires to human-caused climate change and global warming which made Canada’s vast remote forests particularly vulnerable to lightning strikes due to the dry Spring.

In anticipation of the long holiday weekend and extended outdoor activities, New York Department of Environmental Commissioner Dr. James McDonald is advising the public to keep an eye on their local air quality index due to the hemispheric plume the fires have produced. People that are especially vulnerable to this kind of elevated levels of air pollution are the very young, those over 65, those that are pregnant and those with pre-existing conditions such as heart disease or asthma.  New York States is distributing N-95-style masks which are also being distributed by the MTA as well as the Port Authority.

We get an update from New York State Senator Pete Harcham, chair of the Senate Environment Committee, and his bill to ban the dumping of radioactive wastewater into the Hudson River by Holtec International, as part of its decommissioning work at the Indian Point nuclear power plant. 

Senator Harcham notes that dumping the radioactive wastewater jeopardizes the massive public investments made up and down the Hudson River in improving the waterway’s water quality. Harcham faults Holtec for telling the unions that represent the several hundred working at the Indian Point plant that their jobs are at risk if the dumping doesn’t go forward as planned later this summer. 

The interview also covers a wide range of environmental topis from New York City’s congestion pricing initiative to the impact on upstate communities that host New York City’s reservoirs.

We also welcome Kevin Brown, the NJ State Director for 32BJ SEIU which represents 175,000 building service workers in 12 states. He briefs us about landmark legislation that was just passed in Trenton on Friday that protects union workers from being automatically fired if their employer loses their contract with a property owner that can often change contracting companies just to shift to non-union contractors.

Brown also discusses the impact of COVID on his union which lost 156 members during the pandemic and the status of a NJ AFL-CIO proposal made last year for hazard pay for the state’s essential workers.

The 32BJ director stresses that in the era of infectious disease outbreaks and extended poor air quality, union representation is more critical than ever for the safety of workers and their families.

Listen to the entire episode below: