Oakland
Contact | About the Oakland Apollo Alliance | Agenda | Successes | Whats In the Works | Long-Term Policy Goals | How You Can help
 |
In partnership with
|
and IBEW Local 595 |
CONTACT Top
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, community-based organizations and green businesses, working together to create quality jobs in the new energy economy. The Oakland Apollo Alliance is anchored by the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW Local 595). The Oakland Apollo Alliance believes that Oakland can become a shining national example of a blue-collar town transformed into a green-collar powerhouse. Oakland can be a model sustainable city that creates high quality jobs for its residents while cleaning up the environment, improving public health and helping America achieve energy independence.
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
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. Oakland Green Jobs Corps graduates will install solar panels on rooftops, weatherize homes and businesses, and construct the Bay Area’s new green buildings with the latest technology for water and energy efficiency.
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.
The City of Oakland — through the leadership of the City Council and Mayor Ron Dellums — provided a historic $250,000 in seed funding to launch the Oakland Green Jobs Corps and continues to provide resources and support for the program. The Oakland Green Jobs Corps is bringing renewed hope for the future of Oakland by boosting our local and regional economy, strengthening our most vulnerable communities, and creating opportunity where before there was none. The program will serve as a model for the country and illustrate the steps that communities can take to bring about real change and opportunity for all its residents.
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.
-
Oakland Energy and Climate Action Plan for All. Over the next year, the city will decide how to cut Oakland’s greenhouse gas emissions and shift toward a more energy efficient, clean energy economy. As the city charts a path toward a greener future, the Oakland Apollo Alliance is making sure that opportunities for under-served communities are a central part of the plan.
-
Green Partnership Academies at the High School Level. The Oakland Green Jobs Corps is leading the country in creating pathways out of poverty and into the green economy. The Oakland Apollo Alliance is working on expanding this essential green-collar job training to Oakland’s youth at the high school level. Too often, disadvantaged youth in Oakland are faced with dropping out, violence and incarceration. By offering green-collar job education and training in high school, students can instead, begin a lifetime of green education and career training in high school.
|
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.
