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.

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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 Back to top  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