SEIU Environmental Justice Newsletter October 2026
Summer 2026 Recap
The EJ and Climate team kicked off a packed summer on Earth Day! Over the past few months, our team focused on driving community action, local wins, supporting member education, and leading our annual Heat Week.
Summer Webinar Series
Between Earth Day in April and July, we hosted a three-part webinar series designed to build climate resilience and prepare members and their communities for extreme weather. As part of our commitment to language justice, we held the last webinar fully in Spanish for the first time (although live translation to English was available, there is no English recording). You can find all recordings below.
- Heating Up: Explores extreme summer heat projections, workplace rights, and strategies for protecting yourself and others – Link to the Webinar Recording
- Disaster Season, Be Prepared: Be prepared before a disaster strikes - Focused on disaster readiness – offering resources, strategies, and inspiring community success stories – Link to the Webinar Recording
- Energia Solar y Resilencia (Solar Energy and Resilience): Highlighted solar energy initiatives in Puerto Rico as a tool for resilience – Link to Webinar Recording
SEIU Annual Heat Week – Temperatures Rise, So Do We!
Our team ended the summer by hosting our annual Heat Week. Although this summer was the hottest summer on record, the administration continues to push legislation that puts working people at risk. During Heat Week, we used social media to highlight member stories and the marvelous work being done at the state and local level, and we held a webinar with SEIU leadership, elected officials, and members. Throughout the week, we called on Congress to stand with working people and reject H.R. 6213, the misnamed Heat Workforce Standards Act, which would strip OSHA of its ability to address heat.
How to get involved:
- Bilingual graphic calling on folks to reject H.R. 6213
- AFL-CIO Call to Action - Tell Congress: Protect Workers from Extreme Heat
- Extreme Weather Puts Our Communities at Risk - It’s Time for Bold Climate Action
Heat Week Social Media & Poster
Click the Link to Access This Heat Week Poster
Local Wins:
32 BJ worked closely with Mayor Mamdani in NYC to push forward an executive order protecting workers from extreme Heat. Read more about it here.
Local 1 had 104 Green Janitor graduates in August.
SEIU Healthcare in Canada has signed up 255 members from across Ontario to come down to Toronto for the Grassy Narrows River Run solidarity march on September 23rd, calling on the provincial and federal governments to take remedial action against decades of mercury poisoning of the Grassy Narrows First Nation in Northern Ontario.
Resources (click on the title to take you to the article)
- NPR spent 2 years tracking deaths from heat. We found a staggering hidden toll
- Georgia workers face dangerous heat as federal protections stall
- E.P.A. Erases Limits on Climate Pollution From Power Plants
- Orcas could be casualty in Carney’s push for pipeline, environmental groups fear
- Trump’s environmental policies are reshaping everyday life. Here’s how.
- 2026 Private Equity Climate Risks Scorecard & Report
- PSR condemns E.P.A.’s repeal of climate pollution limits
For more information or any questions, please email Sharit Cardenas Lopez at [email protected].