asje.org/houston.html

A virtual lineup of activistcash's favorite subjects - and lookit that - asje is after Maxxam...

http://www.asje.org/houston.html

Houston Principles
of the
Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment

Preamble
On May 19, 1999, environmental and labor leaders confronted CEO Charles Hurwitz in Houston to demand that his Maxxam Corporation, which owns Kaiser Aluminum and Pacific Lumber Company, be held accountable for its impact on working people, communities and the environment.

By clear cutting ancient redwoods in Northern California, and by locking out striking steelworkers in five cities, the Maxxam corporation and its subsidiaries, Pacific Lumber Company and Kaiser Aluminum Corporation, have become icons of corporate irresponsibility.

Recognizing that we have a common interest in making corporations more accountable for their behavior world wide, environmental and labor leaders have formed the Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment and circulated the following statement, dubbed the "Houston Principles."

Whereas:
• The spectacular accumulation of wealth by corporations and America's most affluent during the past two decades has come with a huge price tag.
•
• Corporations have become more powerful than the government entities designed to regulate them.
•
• The goal of a giant, global corporation is to maximize wealth and to wield political power on its own behalf. Too often, corporate leaders regard working people, communities, and the natural world as resources to be used and thrown away.
•
• Recognizing the tremendous stakes, labor unions and environmental advocates are beginning to recognize our common ground. Together we can challenge illegitimate corporate authority over our country's and communities' governing decisions.
•
• While we may not agree on everything, we are determined to accelerate our efforts to make alliances as often as possible.
•
We believe that:
• A healthy future for the economy and the environment requires a dynamic alliance between labor, management, and environmental advocates.
•
• The same forces that threaten economic and biological sustainability undermine the democratic process.
•
• The drive for short-term profits without regard for long-term sustainability hurts working people, communities, and the earth.
•
• Labor, environmental and community groups need to take action to organize as a counter-balance to abusive corporate power.
•
The environmental and labor advocates who have signed these principles resolve to work together to:
• Remind the public that the original purpose behind the creation of corporations was to serve the public interest - namely working people, communities, and the earth.
•
• Seek stricter enforcement of labor laws and advocate for new laws to guarantee working people their right to form unions and their right to bargain collectively.
•
• Make workplaces, communities and the planet safer by reducing waste and greenhouse gas emissions.
•
• Demand that global trade agreements include enforceable labor and environmental standards.
•
• Promote forward-thinking business models that allow for sustainability over the long term while protecting working people, communities, and the environment.
•
This ground-breaking alliance of labor and environmentalists invites all people to join with us in a spirit of creative cooperation. Together, we can forge a partnership that protects people and the planet.
Signed:
ENVIRONMENT

Bruce Hamilton
Conservation Director
Sierra Club

Paul Hawken
Author

David Brower
Brower Fund

John A. Knox
Executive Director
Earth Island Institute

John Cavanagh
Director
Institute for Policy Studies

Michael Renner
Senior Researcher
Worldwatch Institute

Richard Drury
Acting Executive Director
Commentates for a Better Environment

Juliette Majot
Executive Director
International Rivers Network

Brent Blackwelder
President
Friends of the Earth

Carl Anthony
Executive Director
Urban Habitat Program

Jonathan Parfrey, MDA
Executive Director
Physicians for Social Responsibility

Suzanne Murphy
Managing Director
Redefining Progress

Paul Schwartz
National Campaign Director
Clean Water Action

Mark Ritchie
President
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

Carol L. Wright
Executive Director
Klamath Forest Alliance

Kelly Quirke
Executive Director
Rainforest Action Network

Jim Jontz
Executive Director
American Lands Alliance

John Passacantando
Executive Director
Ozone Action

Lois Gibbs
Executive Director
Center for Health and Environmental Justice

Tom Turner
Director of Publications
Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund

Peter Rosset
Executive Director
Food First/ Institute for Food and Development Policy

Paul Mason
Executive Director
Environment Protection Information Center (EPIC)

Hal Kane
Executive Director
Pacific Environment and Resource Center

Marguerite Young
California Director
Clean Water Action

Huey D. Johnson
President
Resource Renewal Institute

Diane Takvorian
Executive Director
Environmental Health Coalition

Paul Spitler
Executive Director
California Wilderness Coalition

Patricia M. Clary
Executive Director
Californians for Alternatives to Toxics

Samuel La Buddy
Executive Director
Endangered Species Project

Christine Stevens
President
Animal Welfare Institute

Paul Hughes
Executive Director
Forests Forever

Dr. Henry Clark
Executive Director
West County Toxics Coalition

Gary Cohen
Director
Environmental Health Fund

Greg Small
Executive Director
Pesticide Watch

David Korten
President
People Centered Development Forum

Ted Smith
Director
Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition

Franses F. Korten
Executive Director
The Positive Futures Network

Dave Henson
Executive Director
Occidental Arts and Ecology Center

Jay Letto
President
Central Cascades Alliance

David Cobb
Secretary
Green Party of Texas

Jill Ratner
President
Rose Foundation

Craig Thomas
Director
The Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation

Gina Giazzoni
State College Coordinator
Allegheny Defense Project

Adam Roberts
Research Associate
Society for Animal Protective Legislation

Sanford Lewis
Attorney
Strategic Counsel on Corporate Accountability

Karen Pickett
Coordinator
Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters

Luke Cole
Director
Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment

David E Ortman
President
Wise Use Movement

Thomas R. Lent
President
Association of Flight Attendants--Alaska Airlines

Wenonah Hauter
Director
Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy Project

Paula Palmer
Executive Director
Global Response

Cal Broomhead
Bureau of Energy Conservation
San Francisco, CA

Prof. Lee Altenberg
Information and Computer Sciences,
University of Hawaii at Manoa

Jim Puckett
Director
Asia Pacific Environmental Exchange (APEX)

David Wood
Senior Associate
Center on Wisconsin Strategy

Lisa Mastny
Staff Researcher
Worldwatch Institute

William A Shutkin
President
New Ecology Inc.

Chris Ford
Steering Committee Member
Southern Arizona Alliance for Economic Justice.

Charles M Miller, esq.
Attorney
Law Office of Charles M. Miller

Celia F. Alario
Communications Team
USWA and Amazon Watch

Thomas Ryan
Community Services Director
San Francisco Labor Council

Scott Tundermann
Sustainable Energy Choice Project
Institute for Science and Interdisciplinary Studies

EMT O'Nan
Director
Protect All Children's Environment

Bill Welsch
President
Safe Alternative for our Forest Environment (SAFE)

Beth Burrows
President/Director
The Edmonds Institute

Harlin Savage
Director
Colorado Forest Program

Fredy Champagne
President
Veterans for Peace, Inc.

Julia Butterfly Hill

Alan Rose
Professor Emeritus
University of Idaho

Nancy Kubasek
Author
"Environmental Law"

Hugh M. Carola
Coordinator
Hackensack Meadowlands Preservation Alliance

Mary Bull
SF Coordinator
Boycott the Gap Campaign

John Grech
Public Officer
Earth Worker Inc., Canada

Steve Brooks
Coordinator
Virginia Forest Watch

Larry Weiss
Coordinator
Labor, Globalization and Human Rights Project
Resource Center of the Americas

Stephen Bezruchka, MD, MPH
Affiliate Assistant Professor
Department of Health Services
University of Washington

David Muhly
Chair
Virginia Forest Watch

Bill Devall
Chairman
Deep Ecology Resource Center

Shirley J Shelburn
Humbolt Watershed Council
Rt 1 Trinidad ,Ca 95570

Ken Miller
Salmon Forever
Mckinleyville, Ca 95519

Marianne DE Sobrino
Redwoods Chapter Sierra Club
Eureka, Ca 95503

Kyle Haines
Forest Protection Coordinator
Klamath Forest Alliance

John Sellers
Director
Rukus Society

Karen Litfin, Associate Professor
Department of Political Science
University of Washington - Seattle

Bob Martel
Executive Director
Humboldt Watershed Council

Chad Hanson
Executive Director
John Muir Project

Christine Cooper, Ph.D
Faculty of Business
University of New Brunswick Saint John

Jacek Purat
School of Information Management and Systems
University of California at Berkeley

Steve Thompson
Natural Resource Consultant
Whitefish, MI

Cam Walker
Friends of the Earth Australia

Darryl Cherney, Executive Director
Environmentally Sound Promotions
Redway, CA

Stephen Graves
Land Use Consultant
Soquel, CA

Bryony Schwan, Exec. Director
Women's Voices for the Earth
Missoula, MT

Nancy Fesco
Boreal Forest Campaign Coordinator
Northern Alaska Environmental Center

Julian Powers
Co-Chair for Legislative Affiars
Spokane Transportation Choice Coalition

Kimberly Burkland
Director
Central Cascades Alliance

Robert Cramer
Co-founder
Taxpayers for Headwaters

Martha Bergotten
Campaign Coordinator
Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project

Lois Barber
International Coordinator
EarthAction

Tim Bristol
Organizer
Southeast Alaska Conservation Council

Larry Campbell
Executive Director
Friends of the Bitterroot

Bill Metzger
Publisher
Great Lakes Brewing News

Kurt Newick
Global Warming activist

Juliette Beck
Campaign Director, Global Exchange
LABOR

Elizabethe A. Brown
Assistant Administrative Officer
The Newspaper Guild Communications Workers of America

Emil Ramirez
Staff Representative
United Steelworkers of America

Carole Reed
Rapid Response Coordinator
USWA Local 9444

Joseph T. Lesh, Jr.
President, Local 1181
Washington Federation of State Employees AFSCME, AFL-CIO

Jeff Mansfield
President
Greater Seattle Area Local
American Postal Workers Union

Randy Berriochoa
Treasurer
Idaho Federation of Teachers, local #4582

Richard Warner
Staff Representative
USWA Local 300A

Jack Gilchrist
Executive Secretary
Seattle/King County Building and Construction Trades Council

George Holmes
President
SEIU Local 202

Sandy Sawyer
President L-3197
American Federation of Government Employees

Brian White
Chair SAOP Steward
Local 120 AFL-CIO

Jason Oringer
Communications Team
USWA

Marlene Myers
Secretary
Local 1066

Gene Achziger
President
TNG/CWA Local 37082

Paul F Glavin
Administration Officer
TNG/CWA Local 37082

Wayne B. Pretts
President
Wenatchee Aluminum Trades Council

Dan Buell
President
Cowlitz & Wahklakum Central Labor Council

Kenneth White
President
Idaho Association of Letter Carriers

Gary Sites
President
USWA Local 341

W C Beck
President, Local #338
United Steel Workers of America

Doug Godinho
President
USWA Local 703

Larry L Kenck
Business Representative
Teamsters Union Local 582

Rudy Hashberger
Secretary, Linn-Benton-Lincoln Labor Council
Oregon AFL/CIO

Douglas Baier
Secretary
Bremerton Fire Fighters, 1 AFF #437

Terry L Bonds
District Director
United Steelworkers of America District 12

Gil Hayes
Secretary-Treasurer
Mid Columbia Labor Council

James D Phillips
Chairman, L & E Committee
USWA 917

Robert N Woodson
Business Manager and Secretary-Treasurer
Laborers' International Union of North America, Local 901

William Bokovoy
Secretary-Treasurer
United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 381

Donald Goldberg
Senior Attorney
CIEL

Tony Micciche
President
USWA Local 8599

James Karr
Professor
University of Washington

John Morgan
Financial Secretary/Treasurer
UBC Local 1532

Shirley Kenck
State Committee Woman
Kootenai County Democrat Central Committee

Jean Patterson
Clerk, San Jose Friends Meeting
Friends Committee on Unity with Nature

Ronald Forest
Financial Secretary
Carpenters Local No. 131

Laura Huth
Urbana City Council Member
Ward 5

Normand Coen
Rec. Secretary
USWA Local 7263

Harold Withrow, President
AFSCME Local 120,
Tacoma, WA

Jan Conley
Lake Superior Greens
Superior, WI 54880

Shirley Haglund
USWA Local # 9444
Roseville,Mn

Michael Wodaszewski
USWA Local # 7263
Vadnais Ht, Mn 55109

Jean Frogner
USWA
Duluth, Mn 55805

Robert Hollenbach
USWA Local # 9444
Minnapolis, Mn 55411

Dennis A Gille
USWA Local # 7263
Lakeland, Mn 55043

Wilbur L Wilson
USWA Local # 310
DesMoines, Ia 50313

Charles R Cassatt
USWA Local 105a
Bettendorf, Ia 52722

Robert Marsden
USWA Local 7945
Tacoma, Wa 98421

Thomas Card
USWA Local # 460 g
Kassota, Mn 56050

Bradford Lynch
Mid Columbia Labor Council
The Dalles, Or 97058

Gilbert L Hayes
Mid Columbia Labor Council
The Dalles,Or 97058

T Jay Kelso
USWA Local 13214
Green River, Wy 82935

Albert Battisti
USWA Local 13214
Rock Springs, Wy 82901

Daniel Haanpaa
USWA Local # 13214
Green River Wy, 82935

Arthur Sumstine
USWA Local # 8907
Kansas City, Mo 64120

Robert Sprague
USWA Local 8907
Holden, Mo 69040-9460

Terry Bush
USWA Local 105
Bettendorf, Ia 52722

Carole J Reed
USWA Local # 9444
Chisago City, Mn 55013

Will Herold
USWA Local # 2175
Farmington, Mn 55024-9425

Gary Partlow
USWA Local 2175
Lakeville, Mn 55044

Keith Porter jr
USWA Local # 6803
Albert Lea, Mn 56007

Michael King
USWA Local # 216
Kansas City, Mo

Janice Vochoska
USWA Local # 9444
St Paul, Mn 55117

A. E Stattelman
USWA Local # 307
Topeka, Ks 66608

Sally Edwards
USWA Local # 286
Lincoln, Ne

Earl Ransom
USWA Local # 307L
Topeka, Ks 66608

Wil Leiker
USWA Local # 307
Topeka, Ks 66615

Randy L Hague
USWA Local # 307L
Topeka, Ks 66608

Don Grow
USWA Local # 286
Lincoln, Ne

Victor Hernandez
USWA Local # 2561
Kansas City, Ks 61106

Richard Warner
Staff Rep USWA
Vancouver, Wa 98683

Steve Powers
Staff Rep USWA
Minneapolis, Mn 55414
(612) 623-8840 Fax

Jacks Calvaresi
USWA
Bloomington, Mn 55420

Emil Ramirez
Staff Rep USWA
Independence, Mo 64555

Tereasa Gunderson
SMDC Ashland
Grandview, Wi 54839

Lynn Wedlund
SMDC Ashland
Ashland, Wi 54806

Kim Welty
SMDC Ashland
Ashland, Wi 54806

The Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment (ASJE)
1125 SE Madison, Portland, OR 97214 503 736-9777, 503-736-9776 (fax)
asje@asje.org
Please make any donation checks payable to ASJE and mail to the address above.