The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) is one of my favorite unions. Very progressive in terms of work rules and development (computerization, etc.) , even when it cuts their membership rolls long term.
And here they are, working on behalf on lung tissue all over southern California.
US Dockworkers Target Pollution Cuts at Ports USA: February 1, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO - Union dockworkers Monday launched their first campaign to reduce air pollution from vessels calling at ports along the US West Coast, joining a wider global effort to curb pollution from shipping.
A recently adopted rule requires ships to burn a cleaner marine fuel in auxiliary motors within 24 miles of a California port, but there are no regulations for the main - diesel - engines, California Air Resources Board spokesman Jerry Martin said.
Without new pollution controls, regulators expect the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will contribute 20 percent of all air pollution in the Los Angeles basin by 2025, he said.
Regulators, in a study last year, said diesel fumes from the two ports - the busiest US commercial port complex - raise the risk of cancer for people living up to 15 miles (24 km) inland.
Link:
http://watershed.typepad.com/watershed/2006/02/solidarity_fore.html