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Green Workers Alliance (GWA)

What Energy Companies Don't Want You To Know

GWA Statement on Senate Passage of Inflation Reduction Act

By staff - Green Workers Alliance, August 8, 2022

Green Workers Alliance Praises Clean Energy Provisions of Reconciliation Bill, Opposes Fossil Fuel Concessions

“This bill is just a first step - and we will continue by taking the fight directly to utility companies to force them to use more renewable energy and help create millions of good, green jobs.”

Washington D.C. - In response to the Senate passing the climate and tax package now known as the Inflation Reduction Act, the Green Workers Alliance, an organization made of renewable energy workers, released the following statement:

The reconciliation bill which includes $260 billion in funding for renewable energy projects is a significant victory for people and the planet as we transition to an economy based on renewable energy. The bill is also a welcome boost for more than 400,000 renewable energy workers, many of whom have been laid off due to supply chain issues. The tax credits and other financial incentives will help kick-start renewables projects across the nation and put people back to work, and the labor provisions incentivizing prevailing wages and apprenticeships will help ensure these projects create good, middle-class jobs.

But while much of the bill is a noteworthy achievement given the current political landscape, we strongly oppose the provisions greenlighting more fossil fuel projects in protected natural lands and offshore and speeding up approval of pipeline projects. Continued investment in fossil fuel projects not only contributes to climate change, but also causes serious harm to local communities, especially people of color. We will continue to stand with front-line communities and fight for a renewable energy future, one that is free from the corruption and pollution of the fossil fuel industry.

The concessions in this bill are just another example of the long-running campaign by the fossil fuel industry and investor-owned utilities to continue pumping out fossil fuels, raking in huge profits while emitting harmful and deadly pollution at the expense of the people, the planet, and workers. Utilities emit 25 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions. This bill is just a first step - and we will continue by taking the fight directly to utility companies to force them to use more renewable energy and help create millions of good, green jobs.

Together, renewable energy workers, front-line communities, and citizens everywhere can take on corporate power and win a just, green economy.

Green Workers Alliance is an organization made of renewable energy workers demanding more and better jobs in the field and a just transition off fossil fuels.

Green Workers Alliance Condemns WV v. EPA Ruling; Calls Out Big Utilities for Role in Climate Destruction

By staff - Green Workers Alliance, June 30, 2022

“We can’t rely on Washington to lead the way...Workers, consumers, and everyday citizens must lead the transition away from fossil fuels.”

Washington D.C. - In response to the Supreme Court’s decision in West Virginia v. EPA, Green Workers Alliance, a worker-power organization made of current and aspiring renewable energy workers, released the following statement:

Today’s outrageous decision in West Virginia v. EPA is the culmination of a long-running campaign by the fossil fuel industry and investor-owned utilities to take away the government’s abilities to regulate their dangerous emissions. The utility industry wants to keep us hooked on fossil fuels so they can rake in huge profits while emitting harmful and deadly pollution at the expense of the people, the planet, and workers. But we won’t let the far-right majority of the Supreme Court dictate our future. We are taking the fight directly to utility companies to force them to use more renewable energy and help create millions of good, green jobs.

“The West Virginia v. EPA decision will increase pollution and utility costs, making people sicker while lining the pockets of greedy politicians and corporations. We can’t rely on Washington to save us from climate change and we are running out of time. Now more than ever, we need to organize the people who can lead the transition away from fossil fuels: renewable energy workers,” said Matthew Mayers, Executive Director of Green Workers Alliance. “This is a tragic day for our communities and for the environment, but we have a plan to hold Big Utilities accountable.”

“Right now, people are being laid off from solar and wind jobs because projects are delayed or canceled. Many are going back to oil and gas jobs. Instead of weakening our ability to clean up our energy production, we need utilities to step in and buy more renewable energy so these projects get back on track. But with this new case and similar ones to possibly come forward, renewable energy workers may be even more displaced,” said Crystal McCoy, a heavy equipment operator on renewable energy projects and Green Workers Alliance member.

This devastating decision from a far-right Supreme Court that is out of step with the majority of the American public makes clear Washington will not lead the way on the transition to a green economy. Workers, consumers, and everyday citizens must shift our attention to Big Utility companies and demand they dramatically increase their renewable energy use and set higher labor standards for their renewable energy contractors. Labor, community, and environmental groups must coordinate pressure and hold utilities accountable in the fight for climate justice. With power from the grassroots, we will fight corporate greed and build a power sector that is good for the environment, workers, and utility customers.

Unjust Transition: I am one of tens of thousands of renewable energy workers without a voice on the job

By Crystal McCoy - Earth Island Institute, Summer 2022

Very often, the fossil fuel industry and its allies try to divide climate activists from blue-collar workers, as if our interest in a habitable planet where we can earn enough money to feed our families is not somehow shared. But from my own history, I know this is not the case.

I was born in Gillette, Wyoming, in one of the biggest coal mining regions in the world. I have spent my entire adult life working “out in the field,” so to speak. My very first industrial job was working for a company called Cotter in my hometown of Canon City, Colorado. During its heyday between 1958 until 1979, and intermittently since then, including when I worked there, it was a yellow cake uranium processing facility. It is now a Superfund site.

After that I moved to the scrap recycling industry, where I stayed for the majority of my adult life. There I worked on everything from decommissioned coal cars to your average everyday refrigerators. Over the years, I had to clean up many vehicles that came in to be shredded for scrap, which still had many contaminants inside. Working conditions were never favorable. My wages were always lower than those of most of my male counterparts. Sometimes I was not treated as an equal, despite being skilled in my field. And as a woman I also faced countless sexist remarks and gender discrimination on the job.

How You Can Join the Green Workers Alliance

By Staff - Labor Network for Sustainability, February 2022

The Green Workers Alliance is a new multiracial organization that fights for more and better green jobs. More than 400 workers have already joined GWA online. On-the-ground organizing will begin in Virginia and other southeastern states this spring.

The GWA is initially focusing on the 100,000 workers in the utility-scale renewable energy field. According to Mathew Mayers, GWA executive director,

These workers travel around the country to work on solar and wind projects. They are usually employed by subcontractors or temp agencies, who are under pressure to lower costs to win contracts from utilities or other companies financing the projects. Too often, health and safety conditions suffer, pay is low, and workers face job insecurity as they are constantly hustling for the next gig.

Mayers says, “Ultimately, it is the electricity utilities who have the power to improve these conditions, as they either finance the projects or buy the electricity which they produce.” The GWA is demanding that the utilities use 80% renewable energy by 2030.

The GWA is already helping workers fight sexual harassment and wage theft on the job. IAnd it is providing trainings on worker rights and job applications for workers who work – or want to work – in renewable energy. Next recruiting target: rooftop solar installers in the West.

All green workers – and anyone who wants to work in this sector – are welcome to join at https://www.facebook.com/groups/greenworkers

All green workers–and anyone who wants to work in this sector–

Sign the GWA petition demanding that the utilities use 80% renewable energy by 2030.

Check out the GWA website: https://www.greenworkers.org

Just Transition Alliance: COP26 Media Report

Green Workers: Organize!

By Staff - Labor Network for Sustainability, January 2021

The two fastest growing occupations in America are solar panel installers and wind turbine technicians. There are nearly 3.4 million workers in the green energy sector alone, outnumbering fossil fuel workers by a three-to-one margin.

Now workers in this burgeoning industry can join the Green Workers Alliance. A project of the Partnership for Working Families, the GWA was recently launched to organize current and potential “green workers” to win policies that can create good jobs by fighting climate change. The GWA aims to thereby take on the twin crises of environmental injustice and economic inequality. The Alliance is building on the online-to-offline organizing tactics of the United for Respect and Gig Workers Rising campaigns. All green workers–and anyone who wants to work in this sector –is welcome to join. If you are a Green Worker, or want to be one, visit https://www.greenworkers.org.

The Fine Print I:

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The Fine Print II:

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