Last week, we learned that the swift action by the President and Congress to pass an economic recovery package earlier this year helped stave off a global economic recession, put our economy back on the path of growth, and helped save hundreds of thousands of jobs.

SEIU was a major proponent of the economic recovery package and we believe we need to continue to make progress on a number of other economic initiatives to build long-term sustainable economic growth--these include passing meaningful financial reform, investing in green jobs, using public pension funds to build a 21st century infrastructure, and creating a new retirement system to protect our future.

Passing Meaningful Financial Reform
Anna Burger writes on New Deal 2.0 about the need to fundamentally change the way we value wealth and work in our country and act now on meaningful reforms to protect our families from future economic crises.

To build long-term economic progress we must:

• Create a strong Consumer Financial Protection Agency to serve as a watchdog against predatory and reckless banking products;
• Crackdown on out of control executive pay that rewards short term risks over long term results;
• End too big to fail once and for all by separating commercial banking from investment banking and raising capital requirements back to levels that promote safe and sound banks;
• Empower shareholders to act on executive pay and break the excessive power of executive-controlled boards;
• Force banks to expand lending to small businesses and state and local governments to create jobs and save critical services;
• Demand banks stop foreclosures and help families keep their homes;
• Reregulate the shadow financial markets--including derivatives, hedge funds and private equity; and
• Investigate, and if necessary prosecute, the big banks and Wall Street for crashing our economy.

In case you missed it--more than 5,000 Americans from 20 states--converged on the American Bankers Association convention in Chicago to demand banks stop fighting reforms that would help protect our families from future crises. It was the beginning of a national movement to hold banks and Wall Street accountable for their reckless behavior.

Investing in Green Jobs
During the first meeting of the President's Economic Recovery Board, Anna Burger shared her perspective on how business, labor and government can work together towards creating a low-carbon, green economy and a movement into sustainable good, green jobs--citing the work SEIU and other Change to Win unions are already doing on the community and national level to lead the way on green initiatives.

The energy consumption of our nation's large buildings is inextricably linked to the talent, training, and hard work of building operators. Teaching our building operators to maintain our large structures is the highest-impact way to address the climate crisis, at the lowest cost.

The Urban Green Council (United States Green Building Council of New York) and SEIU Local 32BJ have released a report detailing the essential role that building workers play in improving energy efficiency and discuss how 32BJ's training initiative will help New York City's building superintendents go green (previously profiled on SEIU's Blog here).

"A Blueprint for Greening New York City's Buildings" addresses how buildings fit into our national effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the importance of operations and maintenance (O&M) in building energy efficiency and the role that building operators have on ensuring that building's receive energy energy efficient O&M. SEIU 32BJ is leading the initiative to train New York City's building superintendents. "By working together, 32BJ and New York's building owners have put into place a smart, practical and effective way to help make the Big Apple green. One Year, One Thousand Green Supers provides a low-cost way to make our buildings more energy and cost efficient, and our environment cleaner, all while saving our city millions of dollars," said New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

It's long been known that O&M plays an important role in building energy use. Studies have shown that simply operating and maintaining an existing building properly can reduce a building's energy use by 10 percent, without any major retrofits such as installing new windows, a new boiler, or any new insulation. Ten percent may not sound like much--so let's put that number into perspective: if all of New York City's buildings received energy efficiency O&M, the savings in energy costs to the city would be $230 million dollars. The reduction in greenhouse gas emissions would equal the equivalent of taking 150,000 cars off the road.

Equally important is the role that a building operator plays in maximizing the benefits of building retrofits. When a building owner makes the decision to retrofit their building, they are looking to save money by investing in technology that reduces energy use. However, without energy-efficient O&M, the expected savings of building retrofits often fail to materialize.

In one example of this, a 34 unit residential building in Brooklyn, NY performed a series of retrofit--including the installation of a new burner for the boiler, insulation, EnergyStar refrigerators, and several other improvements.The entire project was projected to reduce fuel use by 58 percent, but in reality, total fuel use increased by 47 percent! Upon inspection, it was discovered that improper O&M was the culprit responsible for the increase in fuel use. No one working in the building had been trained to use the new technology and consequently, CFL light bulbs had been incorrectly replaced with incandescent bulbs, EnergyStar appliances mistakenly were removed and low-flow water fixtures were missing.

See the full report "1 Year: 1,000 Green Superintendents" here.

Buildings in the United States consume more energy than any other sector of the economy, including transportation or industry. In New York City this problem is especially pronounced, where buildings are responsible for 66 percent of total energy use and 77 percent of city greenhouse gas emissions^[1]. New York City residents also spend $13.4 billion on energy for their buildings, energy that is often wasted on inefficient or improperly maintained equipment.

The benefits of green buildings cannot be overstated--and one of the most cost-effective ways to "green" a building is to ensure that it has a knowledgeable and well-trained workforce. SEIU 32BJ's Training Fund has developed the first-ever Green Buildings Initiative to train building superintendents in the latest, state-of-the-art, best practices in energy efficiency.

To help foster a greener New York City, 32BJ's initiative aims to train 1,000 Green Superintendents in the 2009-2010 school year.

There is no other individual who can contribute more to the long-term greenness of a large multi-family building than the superintendent. Green supers manage the day-to-day operations and maintenance (O&M) of their building, an absolutely critical--though often overlooked--component of an efficient building. Take replacing light bulbs, for example. Did you know swapping out a single old fashioned fluorescent lighting fixture with a similar high-efficiency fixtures can save upwards of $130 per year?^[2] Studies have shown that simply performing optimal O&M can reduce a buildings' energy usage by 10 percent.

Unfortunately, over the last couple of decades the job duties of the superintendent have not changed all that much, despite the rising cost of energy and the solidified scientific consensus surrounding climate change. The 32BJ Training Fund's 1,000 Green Supers program is looking to change that and push an entire industry into the 21st century. The 40-hour training program incorporates standards from the Building Performance Institute and the Urban Green Council (USGBC). Students will cover the full range of topics required to operate their buildings in the most efficient way possible, include air sealing, insulation, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, water conservation, lighting, appliances, and quantifying energy usage. At the end of the course, superintendents will take written and field tests that will certify them as Multifamily Building Operators by the Building Performance Institute.

The investment required to green our buildings is minuscule compared to payoff. Green buildings provide us that always-elusive win-win situation where we can address the climate crisis and our devastated economy. By greening our city's buildings, we can save money, create jobs, and help clean our environment.

To find out more about 32BJ's Green Buildings Initiative, visit www.1000supers.com or email the 32BJ Training Fund at 1000supers@32bjfunds.com.

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[1] The City of New York, "PlaNYC: Inventory of New York City Greenhouse Gas Emissions", 2008

[2] Calculation based on replacing a 192 Watt F40-T12 (4 lamps, 2 ballasts) fixture with a 112 Watt F32-T8 (4 lamps, 1 ballast) fixture that is on 24 hours per day and costs $0.19/kWh.

On Friday, Congress took an extraordinary step forward on efforts to curb global warming. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the first-ever bill designed to advance a clean energy economy that creates green jobs, boosts national security and protects our planet. Click here to see the ad that SEIU and coalition groups launched in Capitol Hill publications just last week, urging Congress to pass and strengthen the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES).

Areas of the bill that could still use some strengthening, according to our coalition partner the Blue Green Alliance: key provisions related to the Renewable Electricity Standard, investments in clean energy, energy efficiency, worker training and fair treatment of workers. BGA Executive Director David Foster praised the passing of the legislation:

"The Blue Green Alliance and its labor and environmental partners believe that comprehensive climate change legislation is essential to creating millions of jobs building the clean energy economy, particularly in manufacturing and construction, two industries hard hit by the economic downturn."

Bright Ideas
On Sunday, President Obama sat down with a group of reporters for an in-depth interview about the climate bill and energy, saying that he thinks the clean-energy market is poised for explosive growth. One small thing Americans can do to help conserve energy as our country moves towards enacting stricter energy-efficiency standards? Buy new lightbulbs.

Obama said the Department of Energy is at work on new standards for fluorescent and incandescent lighting. "Now I know light bulbs may not seem sexy, but this simple action holds enormous promise because 7 percent of all the energy consumed in America is used to light our homes and our businesses," Obama said. Read the president's full remarks here. More details on the Waxman-Markey legislation at ThinkProgress's Wonk Room.

As Congress marshals us closer to a clean energy economy that creates green jobs, boosts national security and protects our planet, SEIU and coalition groups launched a print ad campaign last week in Capitol Hill publications. The print ads--from groups including Blue Green Alliance and Sierra Club-- urge Congress to pass and strengthen the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES).

Check out the ad below, which is currently running in Congress Daily AM, Politico, The Hill, Roll Call, CQ and the National Journal.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act is expected to end up on the floor of the House this week, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announcing yesterday that she plans to bring the legislation for a House vote on Friday.

Between 1998 and 2007, the number of jobs in our country's emerging clean energy economy grew nearly two and a half times faster than overall jobs, according to a study by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Study results showed that clean energy jobs grew at a national rate of 9.1 percent, while traditional jobs grew by only 3.7 percent between 1998 and 2007.

Best of all: "The Clean Energy Economy: Repowering Jobs, Businesses and Investments Across America" report finds that the renewable energy industry is creating a diverse range of well-paying jobs in every single state, across all skill levels and educational backgrounds. Pew's study is the first-ever count across all 50 states of the actual jobs, companies and venture capital investments that supply the growing demand for environmentally friendly products and services.

Read the Pew report here and check out the state-by-state rankings here.

To mark the occasion of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Sierra Club President Allison Chin addressed a group of SEIU employees during a lunch lecture on the topics of grassroots activism, the Employee Free Choice Act and working together with labor in the Blue Green Alliance.

Allowing workers a democratic chance to forum unions is an important way to help ensure that that green jobs in the new clean energy economy will also be good family-supporting jobs. Recognizing that protecting workers' rights to organize is critical to the future of our green economy, the Sierra Club has stood with labor in our campaign for the Employee Free Choice Act. "Passing the Employee Free Choice is one of our most important legislative priorities," said Chin. "Because an economy that treats workers fairly is one that is fundamentally better for our planet." Watch Allison speak to learn more about our joint efforts and why a strong labor movement is crucial to a strong environmental movement:

Join the fight for the Employee Free Choice Act.

This week & next, Coloradans will be gathering in order to show that caring for the Earth and for good jobs goes hand in hand.

On Wednesday, folks from the Sierra Club & Colorado's Change that Works campaign gathered at the Cherry Creek Trail to talk about how Colorado is leading the green economy and we need to have qualified, trained employees to do those jobs--but we can only meet those needs by ensuring we provide good, green jobs, with fair wages.

They then presented staffers from both Senator Udall's office & Senator Bennet's office with materials showing that good jobs and green jobs are mutually compatible.

Next week, Coloradans will gather again for the same cause in Colorado Springs. Join us! You can find more information at www.changethatworks.net/CO.

The first official quarterly meeting of the President Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB) took place this morning at the White House. SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger and the fifteen other board members discussed green jobs and energy with the President, sharing their perspectives and expertise on how the U.S. can enhance the strength and competitiveness of the nation's economy through the creation of a comprehensive energy plan that will generate millions of clean energy jobs.

During the meeting, Burger shared her perspective on how business, labor and government can work together towards creating a low-carbon, green economy and a movement into sustainable good, green jobs--citing SEIU Local unions that are leading the way on green initiatives within real estate commercial properties to illustrate her point.

"Now, when workers have a voice, they can actually implement their ideas about how they can do things better. Our Locals in New York and California now bargain in energy efficiency standards. They have a whole training program where they train their janitors and their engineers in terms of how to retro-fit [buildings], how to save energy. And they set a goal in their contract about saving 20 percent of the energy in their buildings through a certain set period of time." Read the rest of Anna's comments during the meeting.

To promote green-collar jobs and clean energy manufacturing, a new film has been touring union halls as part of nationwide Earth Day celebrations taking place this week. "The Greening of Southie" tells the story of Boston's first residential green building from the perspective of the men and women who set out to build it -- blue collar union workers who are becoming our green collar workforce.

The documentary chronicles the construction of the Macallen Building, Boston's first LEED-Gold accredited mixed-use residential project. You can go to the film's website to find out more about the film: www.greeningofsouthie.com.

Watch the trailer:


One of our partner organizations in the effort to promote green collar jobs is the Apollo Alliance. Check out their online guide for how to find a green-collar job.

Are you part of a local union that is contributing to the movement to "go green"? Please share with us what your union is doing, because we'd love to highlight it on SEIU's blog.

SEIU and coalition partners MoveOn Political Action, Blue Green Alliance, AFL-CIO, Environmental Defense Fund and the League of Conservation Voters launched an ad this week called "America Wants Green Jobs," to highlight good, green jobs in the clean energy economy.

The ad calls on Congress to pass an energy bill that halts the economic crisis, creates green jobs and ends dependence on foreign oil. It will air on national cable and prime-time network television for at least the next week.

America wants green jobs, and passing comprehensive clean energy legislation in 2009 will help us to create more jobs like these. We've got to make sure we've got a united offensive to show decision makers this is the change our country wants and needs.

Tell Congress to create millions of new clean energy jobs for American workers by passing comprehensive energy and climate legislation

Until pretty recently, many people had never heard of "green-collar jobs." Yet the phrase is suddenly everywhere--especially on policymakers' tongues. "You can think about a green-collar job as a blue-collar job that's been upgraded, or unskilled, to better respect the environment," says Van Jones, the newly-appointed special adviser to the White House on green jobs, enterprise and innovation.

In the greening of the economy, workers and low-income people are not a liability or a line item--they are a part of the solution. One union leading the way on green initiatives is SEIU Local 721. Local 721 is part of the LA Apollo Alliance, which helped LA make green history on April 8 when its City Council approved a first-in-the-nation plan to create jobs, cut carbon emissions, and create a way out of poverty for disadvantaged workers. The ordinance supports a green retrofit of city buildings that will provide "green training" to low-income workers and create hundreds of good jobs.

SEIU's largest property service local 32BJ has established an energy-efficiency training program for building superintendents and many other locals (including 721) are working to develop similar green custodial programs.

We know SEIU members and their local unions across the country are working to promote energy efficiency and quality green jobs--but we want to hear more. Please share with us what your union is doing, because we'd love to highlight it on SEIU.org.

This Earth Day marks a turning point in the environmental movement, with union members speaking out more than ever before for "good jobs, green jobs" and a clean energy economy.

Blue Green Alliance partners, including SEIU, said today that working people are the new faces of Earth Day, and that Congress must pass the Employee Free Choice Act to ensure jobs in the clean energy economy are good, family-supporting green jobs. "Union members are already building the green economy, from New York to Minnesota to California," said SEIU Executive VP Gerry Hudson. "In the face of crisis, we have an opportunity to create the kinds of jobs that connect environmental protection and economic justice in communities across the country."

Watch our new ad, entitled "America Wants Green Jobs:"

This Earth Day, tell Congress to put millions of Americans back to work in a green economy.

SEIU's Anna Burger joined women from labor, business, academic and advocacy organizations to shine a light on the important role that women will play in our green economy at an Earth Day roundtable today at the Department of Labor headquarters.

Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, who testified in the Senate yesterday on green jobs training for workers, co-hosted the event with White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley. During this first-of-its-kind roundtable, experts on women and green jobs from every sector of the economy shared strategies for ensuring women have access to all the green economy has to offer.

There is a growing recognition that green jobs will play a key role in boosting renewable clean energy, fighting global warming, helping our country recover from the current financial crisis and moving workers into well-paying, middle-class jobs. Research by the Center of American Progress (CAP) has demonstrated that nearly four times more jobs are created through green strategies, including more jobs at every step in the pay scale and across every skill level.

President Obama has made green-collar jobs a large part of his approach to the economic crisis. The $787 billion economic stimulus bill enacted in February includes $500 million for green jobs training to prepare workers for the energy sector. However, right now a majority of green jobs exist in fields that are largely male-dominated, such as engineering, agriculture and manufacturing. This Earth Day roundtable will facilitate discussions on how we can work together in the future to ensure that women have access to the new green economy and develop ways to bring women more into the field.

SEIU, along with Change to Win unions, has long championed efforts to create jobs through building a clean-energy economy and expanding green jobs training. This Earth Day roundtable recognizing women's centrality on this issue and pledging to involve them in its solution is an encouraging step towards green development initiatives to create job opportunities for all Americans. "The clean economy will inevitably create huge changes in employment, and green jobs training will improve workers' employment opportunities in occupations that pay good wages," said SEIU's Anna Burger.

Learn more about SEIU's union-wide green negotiating initiative.

On Friday, four labor unions and two environmental organizations representing six million people announced their support for comprehensive cap-and-trade climate change legislation in 2009. The Blue Green Alliance and its partner organizations said this legislation is an effective way to rapidly put millions of Americans back to work building a clean energy economy and to reduce global warming emissions to avoid the worst effects of climate change.

The Alliance's goal is nothing less than to transform the U.S. economy through global warming solutions, and create millions of family-sustaining green jobs in the clean energy economy. "We have a unique opportunity to be part of the solution and to improve the lives of working people and their families for generations to come," said Gerry Hudson, International Executive Vice President of SEIU. "It is our duty to ensure that legislation develops a cap-and-trade system that connects environmental justice to economic justice in a way that supports communities across America and creates good, green jobs."

The Blue Green Alliance supports a reduction of U.S. emissions by at least 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050, and supports a renewed U.S. effort to forge a global treaty to reduce worldwide emissions by 50 percent by that same date. The Alliance also supports complementary regulation, including standards for renewable energy, energy efficiency resources and fuel and appliance efficiency. In addition, climate change legislation should include investments in a wide range of technologies -- including carbon, capture and sequestration technology -- and federal financing for the transition to a clean energy economy. Read the policy statement here.

David Foster, executive director of the Blue Green Alliance, spoke of the significance of the labor and environmental movements embracing a common vision for the future, saying, "For the first time, a substantial number of unions representing workers across a broad section of the American economy have endorsed the principle that the way out of our current economic turmoil is through major investments in solving global warming."

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), the chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has promised to introduce climate change legislation by Memorial Day. Tomorrow, he and Energy and Environment Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey (D-Mass.) will release a draft bill that is predicted to be the centerpiece of the upcoming climate policy debate. President Obama has also expressed his support for Congress to focus its attention on passing cap-and-trade legislation as part of his energy and climate change agenda to move away from polluting energy resources toward cleaner energy sources.

The Blue Green Alliance is a national partnership of labor unions and environmental organizations dedicated to expanding the number and quality of jobs in the green economy. Formed initially by the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club in 2006, the organization has recently grown to include SEIU, NRDC, CWA, and LIUNA.

More details here and at www.bluegreenalliance.org.

Jobs Growth Not a Myth in Certain Sectors

For the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs or feared for their job security in the past couple of months, one might think there are simply no jobs to be had in this current economic downspiral.

Although nobody's job is 100 percent secure, there are certain professions that have proven to be less sensitive to economic downturns. For the many Americans who spend their days scouring the classifieds or waiting in mile-long lines at career fairs, it's encouraging to know that there are job sectors that are still in need of educated employees right now. Here are a few bright spots:

Health and education are at the top of the Obama Administration--and our country's--list of priorities, so teachers and healthcare professionals are in high demand.

Of the 30 fastest growing professions reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), nearly half are related to the healthcare field, which saw a gain of 27,000 jobs in February alone. Highly in-demand occupations include nurses, medical assistants, physician assistants, home health aides, and medical records and health information technicians.

BLS has historically classified teachers as a recession-proof career field, and much like healthcare, there will always be a need for teachers. The National Center for Education Statistics predicts that in the next eight years, 2.8 million more teachers will be needed to join the 3.2 million existing teachers because of retirements, higher enrollment and teacher turnover.

More reasons to "Go Green:" We all know it's time for America to invest in renewable energy for our country's future, and there is already a huge and growing sector working to fight global warming. The Obama administration is very focused on green job creation and clean energy initiatives that will work on harnessing all forms of solar, geothermal and wind power to double our renewable energy production by 2012 and advance sustainable growth.

According to Newsweek, in one 2006 study released by the Renewable Energy Policy Project, researchers found that 2,000 businesses in Michigan could use wind turbine technology as an employment alternative for 34,000 ailing auto workers by reorienting workers from their manufacturing jobs to jobs focused on creating renewable energy for the state. As the U.S. auto industry continues to decline, think about how many other states a project such as this could benefit...

Jobs in "green" energy and the environmental sector will continue to see increased employment rates, to fill the green jobs that already exist as well as explore new technologies that will allow us to rely less on dwindling natural resources and preserve the environment.

Job security in Security: The fact that we're in a recession doesn't lessen our country's need for security and law enforcement to ensure the safety and protection its citizens. Jobs in America's Homeland Security and Defense Departments are increasing, with 80,000 more positions opening up over the next two years, as estimated by a report by the Partnership for Public Service. Other sought-after positions include security guards, police officers, international and transportation security experts.

Amongst the steady stream of discouraging economic news and dismal unemployment numbers, it's reassuring to know that there are still job fields that stand a good chance of weathering this economic storm. For a look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics' projections of the fastest-growing careers, click here.

More reading on career fields that can offer higher job stability during times of economic hardship:

USA Today: "Even in a recession, some companies are hiring"
TIME: "150 Best Recession-Proof Jobs Overall"
Kiplinger: "Recession-proof Careers"

Flickr photos used in this post courtesy of greenforall.org and MatthewBradley

Change to Win Chair and SEIU International Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger, issued a statement today about the first meeting of the Middle Class Task Force today, chaired by Vice President Joe Biden, at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

The world is facing a historic opportunity to rebuild our global economy through investments in sustainable projects that will create new jobs, reduce our dependence on oil and protect our planet after decades of mismanagement.

Today's meeting underscores this Administrations' commitment to making sure American businesses and American workers are leaders in the industry of the future as our parents and grandparents led in the industries of the past. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed earlier this month includes a significant investment for projects both big and small that will rebuild our country and create the high-paying jobs of tomorrow.

These jobs represent a clear path to a stronger middle class and a stronger American economy that will benefit everyone. Change to Win unions across the country welcome this opportunity to continue working with communities and employers to find green ways to do millions of jobs that strengthen the foundation of this country. Today is an important step forward for businesses, communities and workers to come together to create a greener and stronger America.

The emerging green economy has the potential to make the American Dream a reality for America's workers. Change to Win unions have been at the forefront in helping create a green pathway to prosperity for working families.

• SEIU has committed to "bargaining green" across health care, public sector, and property service divisions, and the union's largest property service local has established an energy efficiency training program for building superintendents. The Nation recently highlighted the work SEIU 32BJ's Hector Norat, Superintendent of New York City's 1400 on Fifth for his work on the building's residential geothermal heating and cooling system, the largest in the country.
• Change to Win unions, including the Carpenters, LIUNA, and Teamsters, are partnering with cutting edge developer Gerding Edlen to build sustainable communities and create sustainable jobs.
• The Teamsters partnered with environmentalists to enact a landmark policy developed under Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's leadership to clean up toxic diesel emissions, improve working conditions for thousands of truck drivers, and pave the way for green growth in the nation's largest port complex.
• The Laborers have launched an initiative with the City of Newark and community-based organization GANE to train local residents in energy-efficiency retrofitting, building the workforce that will be needed to implement home weatherization on a large scale as promised by President Obama and funded in the Recovery Act.
• John Sarich, Resident Manager of New York City's William Beaver House and member of SEIU 32BJ, helped the management company and residents save money through significantly reducing their energy bills.

The U.S. can create 2 million jobs and reduce the unemployment rate to 4.4 percent over 2 years by investing in the green economy, according to a report last month by the Center for American Progress.

Green job creation and training is happening right now, all over the country, fueled by the belief that it is possible to ease the intensity of our climate crisis and employ more people to work in better jobs (all at the same time!). And SEIU is committed to green building maintenance and creating quality green jobs. Nowhere is this commitment more evident within this union than in SEIU's largest property service workers union, Local 32BJ, who offers its building supers an energy-efficiency training program. (Read more about Local 32BJ's program in The Nation).

Foreword: For the second consecutive year, SEIU is participating in the Labor Delegation to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, taking place this week in Posnan, Poland. Marrianne McMullen, SEIU's representative to U.S. Labor Delegation, blogs about their work and her experiences (below).

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Thursday, December 11, 2008

By now, the labor delegates staying together at the remote hotel had settled into a routine. It was 8 a.m. so we were gathering for the odd but ample complimentary breakfast buffet. We were fewer today, moving into the last two days of the negotiations. By 8:25 we were hustling out the door to catch the 8:30 U.N. bus to the conference site - an enormous complex of buildings connected by tent-like, heated hallways.

If today is like all other days, we will be in meetings, observing negotiations, and attending panel discussions until about 8 p.m. We'll then go into the downtown for a late dinner, and get back to our hotels between 11 pm and midnight. It's a schedule that is as unsustainable as fossil fuels.

Green Recovery

The Blue Green Alliance press conference is the highest priority for a few of us this morning. This unique group formed initially by the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club has recently grown to include the National Resources Defense Council, the Communications Workers of America and SEIU.

Together, the Alliance represents more than 6 million people, and its goal is nothing less than to transform the U.S. economy through global warming solutions.
This expansion of the Blue Green Alliance was announced at the press conference, and details of this unique grouping of unlikely U.S. allies were discussed with the international press. Joining the member groups was Kit Batten of the Center for American Progress, one of the authors of "Green Recovery: A program to create good jobs and start building a low-carbon economy."

"If we invest $100 billion into six green strategies, we project it will create 2 million jobs," said Batten. The six strategies she described were retrofitting buildings, building a "smart" power grid, expanding mass transit, and investment in the renewable energy sources of wind, solar and advanced biofuels.

She and others on the panel described a growing level of political support for a "green recovery." Stimulating demand for wind turbines, other renewable energy equipment, and materials for retrofitting could be the fastest way to revitalize U.S. steel, manufacturing and construction industries. [Full PDF of report here].

A national strategy

Bob Baugh of the AFL-CIO said at several meetings that the United States has been "a country without a clue; a country without a strategy. And we are in need of one."

Similar observations echoed through other discussions. At one side event on jobs in alternative energy, Kaveh Zahedi, of the United Nations Environment Program, said some existing government strategy is bad for both the environment and jobs.
"Governments throughout the world currently give $300 billion per year in government subsidies toward carbon-based fuels," he said. (And that number doesn't include what they spend to protect and defend those fossil fuels.) "If those subsidies were switched to renewable resources, there would be an explosion of jobs," said Zahedi.

"Five hundred million people will join the workforce in the next 10 years," he added. "They shouldn't be doing work that threatens their future and the planet's future."

Future is now

For some working people, the climate-compromised future is now. Angela Lomosi of Nigeria was one of the labor delegates from Africa. She said that climate change is already affecting what land farmers can cultivate on her continent.

"We already have displacement due to climate change," she told the labor delegates at their daily meeting. "With the rains and flooding, farmers can't farm and they are moving their families. And the price of food is soaring. Corn--a staple of our diet-- is now $2 a package, and that's for people who make $1 a day."

It has become clear to those attending the conference that the urgency for effective action on climate change is not reflected in progress at these U.N. negotiations. Before these talks, Poznan was seen as a crucial stepping stone to next year's negotiations in Copenhagen, where the Kyoto protocols will be replaced. Now it's seen as having been more of a rest stop.

But at the very least, we have made progress on our goal as a labor delegation: to make sure the concerns of working people are addressed as part of the final negotiations.

Phillip Pearson of the ITUC referred to the comprehensive "Assembly Document #2008-16" and said, "when you get home, download this document and do a word search for ITUC and labor, and you'll find that we've made major progress in the state of play of this segment of civil society in these negotiations."

U.S. union commitment

And the U.S. delegation has clarified its collective commitment: From the Steelworkers' commitment to clean energy-related manufacturing; to the transportation workers' advocacy for major expansion in public transit; to the farmworkers attention to agriculture and migration impacts; to public employee unions' commitment to public monitoring and accountability for emissions; to SEIU's commitment to green building maintenance and protection of public health.

Each union's potential contribution to addressing climate change added up to a collectively powerful role that labor has to play in this movement. If we needed one more reason why working people, and the planet, need a strong labor movement, we saw it in Pozna.

Foreword: For the second consecutive year, SEIU is participating in the Labor Delegation to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, taking place this week in Posnan, Poland. Union representatives from Mexico, India, the U.K., the U.S., Korea, Sierra Leone and elsewhere are making sure that the concerns of and effects on working people the world over are an essential part of every discussion at the conference. Marrianne McMullen, SEIU's representative to U.S. Labor Delegation, blogs about their work and experiences (below).

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Sunday, December 7, 2008

It's 3:30 p.m. in Poznan and we can see the sun already setting through the sheer drapes of the hotel meeting room. More than 90 labor delegates are gathered at this hotel about 12 miles outside of the city. Many more countries are represented now: Nepal, South Africa, Pakistan, Norway, Latvia, Brazil, Holland, Ethiopia.

No formal talks are scheduled for the United Nations Climate Change Conference today, so the labor delegates of the International Trade Union Council are using the day for presentations and discussions.