TALB has continued to work with the Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports to help ensure that Long Beach students and teachers work in a clean and safe environment, while the truck drivers have the opportunity to make a living wage. The Coalition has been working hard to educate the community, Long Beach City Council and the students of Long Beach about the importance of cleaning up the environment and taking care of those who drive the trucks that deliver our goods.
In October, the Coalition spoke at a City Council hearing regarding the plan Long Beach has implemented in the Port. Several TALB members attended the meeting to show support of the Coalition and I spoke to Council regarding my experience at the Port Visit in which we talked to drivers. (See YouTube video below and also see Mike’s article about the Port Visit) I explained to the Council that most drivers do not have health insurance and this means neither do their kids. We all know that healthy kids attend school on a regular basis, which directly impacts their achievement. You can’t learn if you’re not in school.
The Coalition sent thousands of postcards to the Legislature because The Federal Maritime Commission, a group of Bush appointees, has blocked key elements of the landmark Clean Trucks Program which took effect October 1st. This action was done behind closed doors without public hearings or any environmental or economic analysis.
If successful, it could eliminate one the most innovative, sweeping clean-air and anti-global warming models in our nation.
Alberto Ramirez from the Coalition is working with nearly every high school in Long Beach. It is so exciting to hear about how passionate the students of Long Beach are about the environment and social justice issues. The Coalition is working with many of the environmental Small Learning Communities at our high schools. In fact, a student from Poly High School spoke at the City Council meeting in October supporting the Coalition and relating how hard it is to make a living wage for the truckers.
The New Year will bring more organizing and need for action and as these events come up we will ask for your support and keep you updated on any new decisions that come regarding the Clean Trucks Program.
Happy New Year!
Michelle Shipp
2nd Vice-President
Teachers Association of Long Beach
