Green Labor Journal - Working for a Substainable Future

Convention Speakers Endorse Green Jobs

Obama, Solis, Sweeney, Trumka advocate “greener labor movement."

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Addressing the 2009 AFL-CIO Convention, which convened in Pittsburg on September 11 – 17, President Barack Obama, Labor Secretary Nancy Solis, outgoing AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and President-Elect Richard Trumka unanimously endorsed the creation of good green jobs.

In doing so, they echoed the Executive Council’s Resolution on “Creating and Retaining Sustainable Good Green Jobs” which stated that, “Addressing global climate change, protecting our environment and achieving energy independence are critical to the economic, environmental and security interests of the United States.”

President Obama reaffirmed his commitment to grow America’s middle class by building a strong labor movement, saying, “That’s why I named Hilda Solis, the daughter of union members, as our new Labor Secretary.  Hilda and I know that whether we’re in good economic times or bad, labor is not the problem – labor is part of the solution.”

“We’ll grow our middle class by creating jobs for Americans who want one – not just any jobs, but jobs with good wages, jobs with good benefits…Every American deserves that much….But I don’t just want to see jobs returning to our auto industry, I want to see them being created across this country.”

“That’s why we are investing in a clean energy economy that will free America from the grip of foreign oil and create millions of green jobs that can’t be outsourced.”

Secretary of Labor Solis defined her goal of generating “good jobs for everyone” as “Jobs that support a family by increasing incomes and narrowing the wage gap; jobs that are safe and secure, and give people a voice in the workplace through the right to organize and bargain collectively; jobs that are sustainable ─ like green jobs ─ that export products, not paychecks. In this economy, that’s a tall order.  But, that’s what our President is about.  And, what I’m about.”

The growing impact of the clean energy economy was recently documented by a 2009 Pew Charitable Trusts study, which found that “the number of jobs in America’s emerging clean energy economy grew nearly two and a half times faster than overall jobs between 1998 and 2007.”

In his President’s Report, John Sweeney, lauding President Obama for his first 100 days in office which, with labor’s help, saw the passage of “a new economic recovery plan with real investments in infrastructure and green jobs.”

Echoing these sentiments, incoming President Trumka rhetorically asked, “What kind of labor movement do we need?”  His answer: “A younger labor movement. A greener labor movement.”

Call for “Sustainable Good Green Jobs”
The action agenda for Trumka’s  “greener labor movement” is elegantly articulated in the Executive Council’s Resolution on “Sustainable Good Green Jobs,” which argues that “America must lead a technological revolution in the way energy is generated and used with massive investments in new labor-enhancing technologies and energy efficiency.”

“But a new industry policy ─ an environmental economic development policy ─ is needed to guarantee that these investments are made in the United States and that they result in good sustainable union jobs here at home.”

The Resolution highlights the following points:
    •  The trade union movement wants an environmental economic development strategy that achieves a just transition to a green economy.
    •  The federation has supported a diverse, sustainable energy infrastructure that retains current generating options, including fossil fuels, nuclear, hydro and renewable energy.
    •  While supporting investments in advanced coal and automotive technology, mass transit, renewable energy, biofuels, grid modernization, energy efficiency, weatherization and retrofits, we have fought for wage and employment standards and training resources.
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The Resolution outlines the actions Congress must take to ensure that public investment results in the creation of good, green jobs here in the United States, including the following:
    •  Aggressive sustained commitment of resources to fund the energy and environmental transition of our nation.
    •  Enforcement of Buy American and other domestic investment requirements for federal procurement and grants to states and local governments.
    •  Retooling the U.S. auto industry to accelerate domestic production of advanced-technology and alternative-fuel vehicles and their key components.

Regarding the labor movement, the Resolution affirms that:
    •  The AFL-CIO will also continue to work with our affiliates to drive environmental, energy and infrastructure legislation with investments and standards that lead to good green jobs.
    •  The Green Jobs Center and the National Labor College will work with affiliates to developed related core criteria for NLC degree programs and a union training program for green workplace representatives.
    •  The AFL-CIO remains committed to work internationally with our affiliates in the International Trade Union Confederation in support of a climate agreement that provides for a just transition.

The central green message of the convention is that America now has an historic opportunity for domestic investment in new technology and energy efficiency that “will save jobs, create new jobs and industries and revitalize U.S. manufacturing and the middle class.” 

The affiliates of the AFL-CIO are committed to leading the fight to insure that these green jobs will be good jobs ─ and that these green economy investments will be made here in the United States.

[Editor’s Note – Nearly every one of the AFL-CIO’s 56 affiliated unions has a green program in place or in progress.  In forthcoming issues, the Journal will focus on these Affiliate Actions within the context of the “green labor movement” agenda described in this article.]