Oakland

In partnership with

CONTACT Top

Oakland Apollo Alliance

Ian Kim
Director, Green-Collar Jobs Campaign
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
Phone: (510) 248-3939, ext. 237
ian(at)ellabakercenter.org
344 40th St.
Oakland, CA 94609

THE OAKLAND APOLLO ALLIANCE: A COALITION FOR GOOD JOBS AND ENERGY INDEPENDENCE Top

As part of an exciting collaborative effort called the Oakland Apollo Alliance, the Ella Baker Center’s Green-Collar Jobs Campaign is engaged in groundbreaking policy work to bring “green-collar” jobs to Oakland. The Oakland Apollo Alliance is a coalition of labor unions, environmentalists, and community organizations working together to create high-quality jobs in the modern energy economy, revitalize underserved communities, and improve the environment.

WHY OAKLAND?

During the civil rights movement, small cities like Selma and Montgomery were flashpoints for national debate. Green-Collar Jobs Campaign believes Oakland can become a Montgomery for the 21st century — a national example of transformation that shifts the country’s beliefs about what is possible on these issues.

How? It starts with proving that our unique coalition — environmentalists + organized labor + social justice activists + business — can come together across lines of race and issue area to create real change. Then we leverage that success as a new national model for change.

A little known fact: Oakland was recently named one of America’s ten greenest cities by The Green Guide. Parts of Oakland have clean water, clean air, innovative energy initiatives, and good public transit. Mayor Ron Dellums has pledged to make Oakland a “global green leader” and a “model city.” The time is right, politically and economically; the stars are aligned in Oakland.

AC Transit low-emission bus

AGENDA Top

Green-Collar Jobs Campaign and IBEW Local #595 (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) co-convene the Oakland Apollo Alliance. It is inspired and supported by the national Apollo Alliance, a visionary effort to create 5 million new clean energy jobs in the next ten years.

At its heart, the Oakland Apollo Alliance is a “movement building” project — a forum for groups with widely different backgrounds to come together to explore mutual interests, work through challenges, and advance a common agenda.

Our goals are to:

Win policies at the city level that stimulate the development and growth of the green construction and retrofit industry in Oakland.
Create jobs in the green construction industry for Oakland residents — including the unemployed and underemployed, formerly incarcerated people, women, and at-risk youth — that lead to careers in the trades or other living wage vocations.
Mitigate environmental degradation and improve public health by reducing overall energy use, building waste, and toxic emissions in the city.
Build a strong alliance of labor unions, environmental groups, community organizations, businesses, workforce development service providers, and higher education institutions to make Oakland a model of green economic development and job creation.

SUCCESSES Top

Oakland Green Jobs Corps

The Oakland Green Jobs Corps proudly launched in October 2008, after more than two years of hard work by the Oakland Apollo Alliance and a rich network of supporters and partners. The program officially launched at a press conference on October 25 that featured elected officials, employers, labor union leaders, community members, and for the first time, students of the training program.

“This is a very elegant idea, elegant in its simplicity,” said Mayor Ronald Dellums of Oakland. “The idea is to fight pollution and fight poverty simultaneously.”

Providing “green pathways out of poverty,” the Oakland Green Job Corps will serve young adults who face barriers to employment - poverty, lack of work experience, limited education, cultural and language barriers, or history with the criminal justice system. The teachers at Cypress Mandela provide wraparound services and work with the students to help them achieve basic literacy and math skills, pass their GED, learn personal finance, get their drivers license or clear their driving record, and pass their weekly drug tests.

The students receive hands-on training in the construction trades, as well as specific training for green-collar jobs, such as solar panel installation, energy efficiency and green construction. The program will also include a section on eco-education and environmental literacy.

The Oakland Green Jobs Corps is a partnership between Laney Community College, Cypress Mandela Construction Training Program, and a workforce intermediary called Growth Sector. This partnership is designed to insure that students graduate with the training, education, and support they need to qualify for employment with green-collar businesses. The first cohort of 40 students will be placed in jobs by Spring 2009.

In order to guarantee that the graduates of the Oakland Green Jobs Corps are placed in jobs paying a living wage, the Ella Baker Center organized the Green Employer Council comprised of green businesses and non-profits in the East Bay that do solar installation, green construction, and energy efficiency work. Members of the Green Employer Council agree to provide paid work experience and jobs for graduates. Roughly half of the graduates will take jobs with union contractors.

WHAT’S IN THE WORKS Top

We are beginning with a push for the City to adopt two new policies. Each would be a huge step forward for Oakland.

A City Council Resolution to fund a “Green Economic Development Plan” for Oakland.
Oakland needs and deserves an equitable and environmentally sustainable blueprint for its economic growth that considers things like job creation, energy production and energy use, transportation infrastructure, food, waste management, and zoning.

This resolution puts real money and staff in place to research and craft a “green jobs” economic development plan for Oakland. The plan would then go before City Council as a binding resolution in 2007.
Establish the Oakland Green Jobs Corps
This resolution would:
- Fund and establish a collaborative effort among community-based organizations, unions, workforce development service providers, and employers to train Oakland residents in green construction and retrofitting.
- Employ Oakland residents on City-sponsored energy projects funded with energy company settlement money.

GRID

Residential solar installation

LONG-TERM POLICY GOALS Top

Our current policy platform is just the first step. With new momentum in Oakland, we believe 2008 will be a watershed year for progressive change in Oakland. Specifically, there are opportunities for initiatives in these areas:

Clean energy portfolio: Oakland can shift a substantial portion of its energy consumption from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
Renewable fuels: The city’s fleets could switch to alternative, cleaner fuels, dramatically lowering emissions and reducing our dependence on foreign oil.
Green construction: The city’s public and private buildings could be designed around high performance, energy-efficient standards.
Job training and workforce development: We must connect Oakland’s residents with the jobs of the 21st century. Green-collar jobs will flow from green-collar training.

HOW YOU CAN HELP Top

Sign the Oakland Apollo Challenge

We’re working to get thousands of signatures to show elected officials that there is support for the Green Jobs Policy Platform. Signing the challenge also gets you on our e-mail list. We’ll let you know when things are coming up for a vote. And we’ll connect you to community events like rallies, Solution Salons, and lobby days.

Volunteer

Green-Collar Jobs Campaign could use some foot soldiers to help out in the office or carry the “build Oakland green” message to the streets. Fill out our Volunteer Form for more info.

Write a letter to the editor

Write a letter to the editor telling the community that you support our policy platform because it uses the growing green economy to give people a real path out of poverty.

Oakland Tribune: submit a letter on their website.

San Francisco Chronicle: submit a letter by e-mail.

East Bay Express: submit a letter by e-mail.