green ban

From green (“environmentally friendly”) + ban. First attested in Australia in 1973. [1]

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green ban (plural green bans)

1. (Australia, UK) A ban instigated by a trade union on construction or demolition work on a site deemed to be of cultural, historical or environmental significance. [From 1973.]
   • 1973, Conservation Foundation, Conservation Foundation Letter‎, page 8:

     Though the overall, long-term effects of green bans are far from clear, they have caused a dramatic eruption of environmental concern into Australian thinking.

   • 1978 June, Harvey Wasserman, Unionizing Ecotopia, Mother Jones, page 32,

     A unique and important coalition between environmentalists and labor unions has come about in Australia, in a movement known as “the Green Bans.” […] Essentially the Green Ban is a labor veto of socially and ecologically unsound plans. […] After careful consideration and a public meeting, the union posted a Green Ban, refusing to build on Kelly′s Bush.

   • 1963, Richard Lucy, The Pieces of Politics‎, page 112:

     In consequence they imposed green bans, a move which effectively prevented the execution of policy and forced a stay on proceedings.

   • 1999, Steve Pile, Gerry Mooney, Chris Brook, Unruly Cities?: Order/Disorder, page 202:

     One of the most interesting strategic alliances around environmental politics in the city was the Green Ban Movement that was active in Sydney from the early to mid 1970s.