The founding members of the union have worked closely with residents, local schools, working class citizens and local politicians to address the disproportionate environmental effects from the nearby air force base as well as other pollutant contributors in the area, such as the Union Pacific Railroad and Port San Antonio.
SWU formed the Committee of Environmental Justice Action in 1994 and highlighted the impact of the air force base, which led to the contamination of local water sources, and as a result impaired the health of the residents.
For over 30 years, SWU has grown with various projects to ensure a safe space for residents to live, work, and grow, like community urban gardens (Roots of Change Community Garden) and advocating for workers' fair wages through campaigns such as the Living Wage Campaign, which engages with local and national policies to ensure better conditions for low-wage workers.
[5] The Southwest Workers Union filed a civil complaint alleging racial discrimination against Kelly Air Force Base, Greater Kelly Development Corporation, the City of San Antonio, Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and the Region VI of the Environmental Protection Agency on the grounds of: 1) The exclusion of members of the Restoration Advisory Board and the general public from meetings of the Base Closure Team; 2) Plans for rapid industrial redevelopment of the base without adequately considering impacts on surrounding communities; 3) Delays in the release of the Public Health Assessment of KAFB; 4) The decision to not list KAFB as a superfund site; 5) A failure to release public information; 6) Decisions which indicate that only on-site (and no off-site) contamination will be cleaned-up; 7) The failure of the City to inform persons buying federally subsidized affordable homes of the presence of soil and groundwater contamination; and 8) The failure of TNRCC to take any enforcement action against KAFB.The base was closed in April 2001 and renamed to Kelly Field Annex.
[8] In collaboration with University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, SWU have expressed their concerns through a fact sheet report on the current climate crisis.
In 2013 SWU, Centro por la Justicia and local residents organized meetings to discuss their concerns over fracking in Eagle Ford Shale.
Additionally, SWU, Centro Por La Justicia and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill released a report in 2015 in which they describe “the consequences of the climate crisis, present current challenges in light of environmental and economic justice, describe current programs related to climate resiliency, and offers insight into future directions”.
[9] These efforts led to the publication of a study in 2016, which found that hydraulic-fracturing fluids and wastewater from the Eagle Ford Shale contained hundreds of substances with the potential to contaminate drinking water of local residents.
Members of SWU attended hall meetings and congressional hearings on railroad safety in order to ensure STOP was successful and the people around the Union Pacific rails were represented.
SWU also organized protests in coalition with the Committee for Environmental Justice Action in which they called for the creation of an emergency evacuation plan for those living near tracks, as well as full disclosure of the cargo of the trains.
This campus’ mission is to work to “decolonize the borderlands” between Texas and Mexico, in an attempt to combat racial and socioeconomic inequalities and injustice.
[18] The South by Southwest Experiment (SxSWE) was an initiative designed and executed by community organizing groups from the Southern and Southwestern United States.
These groups first came together after Hurricane Katrina in an effort to provide aid and assistance to the Indigenous and African American communities impacted by the storm.
SWU and the other groups developed the SxSWE which aimed to address issues of the: “promotion of accountable governance, organizing to ensure complete census counts, enabling communities to engage in redistricting efforts, developing a grassroots living curriculum, and strengthening youth leadership and sharing of intergenerational practice characteristic of each organization."
SWU and the SxSWE have had success in organizing their community members by emphasizing the importance of education through their “intentional process” to overcome obstacles in grassroots movements.