NGO-led efforts to combat climate change have resulted in decades of failed negotiations, increased fossil-fuel production, and degraded working conditions. The largest oil workers strike in decades — now in its third week — contains within it the seeds of an alternative: class-struggle environmentalism.

About 5,200 workers are currently on strike, though the union says that number could jump this week if the industry continues to balk at the negotiating table. Initially involving about 10 percent of the nation’s refining capacity, it has since expanded to two refineries in Ohio and Indiana and could potentially include all 30,000 workers represented by the United Steelworkers (USW).

The strike is primarily a conflict over workplace safety. And to their credit, many environmentalists have come out in support of the oil workers, quick to see the connection between safe working conditions inside refinery fences and safe communities and ecosystems around oil refineries.