Public Employee Press: PEP Talk
Bicycle ride for the new Green Deal
It was a beautiful day for the DC 37 Climate Justice Committee’s Bicycle Ride for Green Jobs and Justice on Nov. 21. After several months of meetings and planning, the committee was pleased that its first green union bike tour went smoothly.
The participants mapped out a route that stopped at various DC 37 worksites undertaking climate resiliency projects and helping to grow green jobs. The ride was in support of the Climate Works for All Coalition’s Report, An Equitable Recovery for NYC that outlines creating 100,000 new green jobs in the city, particularly in underserved communities and communities of color.
Everyone pitched in to make the ride happen. Sarah Gluck of Local 1321 mapped out and led the ride, while fellow local member Kacper Jarecki worked on logistics, and Jon Forster from Local 375, and Local 1740’s VP Lorraine Barcant, the committee’s co-chairs, shepherded the event to fruition.
Local 375’s Ricardo Hinkle and Josh Barnett, joined Laura Wasserman from SSEU Local 371, in providing insight about the worksite stops for the participants.
“It was great to finally see people in ‘3-D,’ and not on a Zoom or virtual meeting,” said Lynn Cole of Local 1321. “Just getting a group of people together in one place was an accomplishment, but safety was a priority, everyone was social-distancing and wearing their masks along with their helmets.”
Queens Library Guild Local 1321 members at Queens Public Library had a strong presence with the most riders, led by President John Hyslop giving out DC 37 bandannas and buttons to all the participants.
The ride began at Bellevue Hospital and the participants visited the East Side Resiliency Project and saw the Jacob Riis Houses on the East River, before continuing to Brooklyn via the Manhattan Bridge. They visited sites highlighting DC 37’s green job’s future, including the Red Hook Water Treatment Plant and Red Hook Houses.
The tour went to 13 scenic stops, almost all staffed with DC 37 members, and concluded at the Red Hook Library, where Library Manager Joyce Kowpak welcomed the riders. Based on this successful ride, the committee plans another bike ride on a larger scale next spring. For more information about participating, please join us at www.facebook.com/DC37PeoplesClimateCommittee/
