Resolution Regarding Joining the UW Electrification Campaign

January 21, 2026

WHEREAS, Impacts of climate change are already being experienced in King County, and extreme weather events are becoming more probable. Virtually all workers have now been impacted by events like the December 2025 floods, the 2021 heat dome, and smoke events in many recent summers. More intense storms, more dangerous fire seasons, and longer heat waves are but a taste of the disruption, destruction, and cost that workers will bear if we do not address our climate pollution.  In 2008, the City of Seattle Climate Action Plan called for the City to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.  Since then, the City has only seen a 12% reduction in its CO2 emissions. It must cut emissions 10X faster in order to reach the City’s target. At the same time, even if we do not fully achieve our goal, climate scientists tell us that even making meaningful reductions in carbon pollution will make an incredibly worthwhile difference.

WHEREAS, the University of Washington operates a gas-fired power plant that generates steam to provide heating to the UW main campus.  The university has a comprehensive plan to fully electrify its campus that, over the next decade, would cost $1.8B dollars to complete and generate thousands of urgently needed jobs in the construction sector.  From a practical standpoint, the University’s gas plant is one of the largest emitters of carbon pollution in the City, emitting 88,000 metric tons of carbon annually. But it is also a symbol.  If the University of Washington, as a well-funded hub of climate research in one of the greenest cities and greenest states in America, cannot get off gas, it is unrealistic to expect other locations to exceed our progress.  At the same time, if we can organize the political, financial, and technical resources to complete this project, it will be an important case study for other university campuses around the world.

WHEREAS, in October 2025, a coalition made up of IBEW Local 46, UAW 4121, 350 Seattle, and the UW student organization Institutional Climate Action organized an assembly with Senator Jamie Pedersen.  These groups pledged to do their part to organize support for this campaign, and they got a commitment from Sen. Pedersen to help secure support funding for the project in the Washington State Senate.

WHEREAS, MLK Labor has a long-standing commitment to Green New Deal policies that raise standards for workers while also advancing climate and equity.  MLK Labor should advocate for a first-ever Project Labor Agreement at the University of Washington campus for this project. The Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE) SLAT committee shall be included as part of MLK Labor’s involvement.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, MLK Labor shall join the campaign to electrify the University of Washington’s Seattle campus.