AFL-CIO Convention Tackles Green Jobs

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AFL-CIO Convention Tackles Green Jobs

AFL-CIO Convention Tackles Green Jobs

In addition to a fiery speech by President Obama and the election of Richard Trumka as the AFL-CIO's new president, the AFL-CIO Convention, held this week in Pittsburgh, also featured panels and resolutions on green jobs. On Tuesday afternoon, Apollo Alliance President Jerome Ringo spoke at a "Building Green Jobs from the Ground Up" break-out session that covered topics like job creation opportunities in building energy efficiency retrofits, the potential for clean energy measures to revitalize American manufacturing, and the need for labor unions to work in coalition with other interest groups, like environmentalists. The session was moderated by Jeff Rickert, the director of the newly created AFL-CIO Center for Green Jobs. Jeff previously worked at the Apollo Alliance.

The convention delegates unanimously adopted a strong resolution on "Creating and Retaining Sustainable Good Green Jobs." According to Barbara Byrd, secretary treasurer of the Oregon AFL-CIO, who also heads up the Oregon Apollo Alliance, the resolution endorses the work of the AFL-CIO's Center for Green Jobs, and urges adequate funding for energy efficiency efforts, tightening of domestic content regulations and other incentives to encourage manufacturing in our country, and long-term investment in public transit. It calls for inclusion of strong labor standards for publicly funded construction and manufacturing projects. It also urges continued involvement of the U.S. labor movement with the international labor community involved in UN climate treaty discussions.

In a post on the Apollo blog, Byrd wrote, "It's exciting to see the growing interest in organized labor in the crucial work of solving the climate crisis and creating good green jobs in coalition with our allies in the environmental, low-income and business communities!" Click here to read Byrd's full post.

IMPACT Act Business Endorsers List Tops 200

As the Senate headed back into session last week, the list of manufacturers and other businesses that have endorsed U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown's Investments for Manufacturing Progress and Clean Technology (IMPACT) Act grew to more than 200. The IMPACT Act would boost domestic clean energy manufacturing and ensure that new clean energy jobs stay in the United States.

New business endorsers include such companies as U.S. Hybrid Corporation of California, the Ohio Aerospace Institute, New World WindPower LLC of Montana, and Northeastern Plastics Inc. of Pennsylvania. Click here for a full list of IMPACT Act business endorsers.

Other organizations that have endorsed the IMPACT Act include the Alliance for American Manufacturing; Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT); Blue-Green Alliance; Campaign for America's Future; Change to Win; Environmental Defense Fund; Green For All; High Road Strategies; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; Manufacturing Skill Standards Council; MAPA Group; Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center; Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC); Policy Matters Ohio & Ohio Apollo; Precision Metalforming Association (PMA); Shepherd Advisors; Sierra Club; Solar Energy Industries Association; and United Steelworkers, among others.

If your company or organization would like to endorse the IMPACT Act, please click here.

In Other News ...

*If you're trying to figure out whether to pursue a green career, check out the new Green Careers Resource Guide that was recently updated by Jim Cassio. You can download it for free and learn about everything from what occupations can lead to green jobs to what are the best online resources for people who want a green career. You might also want to peruse the Apollo Alliance's web page on how to find a green-collar job.

*Another way to land a green career is through an apprenticeship program, which is a combination of on-the-job training and related instruction that teaches workers the practical and theoretical aspects of a highly skilled occupation. A new report released this week by the Center on Policy Initiatives analyzed construction apprenticeship programs in California and concluded that "with a proven record of success in producing a skilled workforce, apprenticeship programs provide the best means to train workers in the skills needed for the new green economy." Click here to read the full report.

You can keep track of the quickening pace of state and federal action on clean energy policy on our Apollo Blog and Daily Digest.

Green jobs are the future for Ohio and America!

Dennis Spisak

Mahoning Valley Green Party

Ohio Green Party

www.ohiogreens.org

www.votespisak.org/thinkgreen/