AFL-CIO Resolves to Support Green-collar Jobs
On Tuesday, September 15, the AFL-CIO Convention delegates adopted a strong resolution on “Creating and Retaining Sustainable Good Green Jobs.” The resolution endorses the work of the AFL-CIO’s Center for Green Jobs; urges adequate funding for energy efficiency efforts and for long-term investments in public transit; and calls for a tightening of domestic content regulations and other incentives to encourage manufacturing in our country. It calls for inclusion of strong labor standards for publicly funded construction and manufacturing projects. And, among other things, it urges continued involvement of the US labor movement with the international labor community involved in UN climate treaty discussions. Mark Ayres, President of the AFL-CIO’s Building and Construction Trades Department, opened the discussion with a dramatic statement about the reality of climate change, its human causes, and the urgent need to act. He pointed out to the delegates that in addressing this crisis, we can also create good, green jobs for our members and future members.
Several of us spoke to the Resolution. Dave Johnson, Executive Secretary of the Washington Building and Construction Trades Council, talked about the major green building projects and strong union apprenticeship programs in Washington. Lorena Gonzales, Secretary-Treasurer of the San Diego Labor Council praised her county’s union apprenticeship programs, not only for their green careers training, but also for their efforts to work with low-income communities to build pathways out of poverty. I talked about how good green jobs have become a major part of the Oregon AFL-CIO’s economic development efforts and gave examples, including Oregon Ironworks’ streetcar manufacturing work and the newly enacted Clean Energy Works Program in Portland.
The Resolution passed unanimously with strong support from Leo Gerard, President of the Steelworkers Union, and other international presidents. Now it’s up to us to implement it. Organized labor has shown an increasing willingness to step up to the challenge of “greening” the workforce, and it’s brought a much-needed voice to the discussion calling for the need for green jobs to be good jobs. Even more dramatic, the AFL-CIO has stepped up to the climate debate, arguing that labor can be part of the solution to global warming at the same time as it protects existing jobs. The Apollo Alliance has consistently supported these goals on the local as well as the national level. 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 concert with our allies in the environmental, low-income and business communities!
– Barbara Byrd
Oregon Apollo Alliance
Tags: clean energy, clean energy economy, green economy, green jobs, green-collar, green-collar economy