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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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).

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).

Poznan, Poland
Friday, December 5, 2008

More than 20 of us were crowded into the trade union delegation office at the Poznan Convention Center. It was 9 a.m., and time for the daily organizational meeting for the labor delegation at the U.N. Climate Talks in Poland. I'm sure I wasn't the only one in the room dazed by long flights and lack of sleep, and a bit queasy from the Polish staple of boiled sausage.

We were in our small Trade Union Non-Governmental Organization (TUNGO) office because we lost our regular meeting space due to meeting shuffling, a fairly routine event in a conference as sprawling as this one.

Labor union representatives introduced themselves from Peru, Australia, Mexico, India, the U.K., Spain, Belgium, Algeria, Korea, Japan, Sierra Leone --a sort of United Nations of Labor. Together this group painted a too-rarely-seen portrait of a truly global labor movement.

Together we went through that day's 26-page daily program for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Phillip Pearson of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) reviewed the delegation's daily goal: to attend all of the meetings and "side events" possible and deliver a strong labor message. From climate change impacts, to green job opportunities, our goal was to always introduce the concerns of and effects on working people in every environmental discussion.

Another task set before the delegates: Each national delegation was to set up meetings with our government delegation leaders. The government delegates are the ones who actually do the negotiating on the climate change agreements. Labor representatives, being from non-governmental organizations, can observe and provide input in open meetings.