Amid DNC, U.S. EPA union members in battleground Midwest to speak out about threat of potential second Trump term

Amid DNC, U.S. EPA union members in battleground Midwest to speak out about threat of potential second Trump term (Chicago, IL) –  (August 13, 2024) Members of the Midwest’s U.S. Environmental Protection Agency employees union –the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 704–which protects the Great Lakes and the people in battleground states like Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as Minnesota, Illinois and Indiana–are speaking out about the existential threat they face from a potential second Trump term, and are available for interview in Chicago during the 2024 Democratic National Convention.

“Donald Trump tried every trick he could think of to try to gut the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during his term. We know that if he’s reelected, he’ll take it even further, protecting big polluters at the expense of the safety of our air, water and soil,” said Nicole Cantello, President of AFGE Local 704. “During the Trump administration, our union fought off threatened government shutdowns that would have taken our essential environmental cops off the beat, repeated threats budgets cuts, attacks on our union contracts, and unsafe working conditions during the early pandemic. We’re not going back.”

Members of AFGE Local 704 focus on environmental justice and the climate emergency as guiding principles in their organizing. They endorsed Vice President Harris in July 2024. They also ratified a groundbreaking union contract in 2024 which guards against  the sort of “inappropriate interference in scientific work” that was a hallmark of the Trump era. AFGE Local 704 has also joined other labor movement organizations in calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Amid DNC, U.S. EPA union members in battleground Midwest to speak out about threat of potential second Trump term

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