Public Employee Press

Getting to green:
what it means for labor

By JANE LaTOUR and
GARY GOFF, 2nd V.P., Local 2627

As Kermit the Frog sang on Sesame Street: “It’s not easy being green.” He got that right! Now, as carbon emissions climb and the polar ice caps melt, the dire effects of global warming are clear to all except right-wing Republicans and Libertarians. Going green is essential for the survival of spaceship earth and its human passengers, and only a huge shift in behavior can get us there.

Getting to green offers opportunities — for individual members, their unions and the whole labor movement. You don’t have to be a scientist to understand how simple changes in your own home and lifestyle, such as using compact florescent light bulbs or mass transit, can cut damaging carbon emissions. But individual acts alone can never accomplish the giant strides we need to make.

Unions have a tremendous role to play, and public sector unions like DC 37 are positioned to provide constructive and path-breaking leadership. Some agencies, such as the Housing and Preservation Dept. and the School Construction Authority, have already adopted green building guidelines and other initiatives in line with the Mayor’s PlaNYC 2030. The plan’s huge array of initiatives will affect members in every agency and the union will have to guard against attempts to privatize the new jobs that will be created.
“By being involved and pro-active, we will protect our environment and our jobs and let our members be part of building a better world,” said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts.

A recent report issued by the Urban Agenda for the NYC Apollo Alliance, entitled “Growing Green Collar Jobs: Energy Efficiency,” demonstrates the potential for job creation in an economy dedicated to an environmentally sustainable New York. The report points out that over two-thirds of the city’s energy is used in buildings that emit greenhouse gasses. Improving the energy efficiency of existing buildings is one of the largest, fastest growing, and most promising green industries for New York City.

A new green vista
Jon Forster, 1st vice president of Civil Service Technical Guild 375 and a member of the Apollo Alliance’s steering committee, outlined some of the opportunities for green jobs. “The success of green initiatives like PlaNYC 2030 and others depends on maintaining institutional knowledge by preserving a skilled in-house workforce,” said Forster. “This will require training not only Local 375 members in design, but also other DC 37 members who are involved in different aspects of construction, and in all of the other aspects of creating the new green environment.”

The Apollo report also points the way to the growing opportunity for unions to work closely with community groups that focus on environmental justice. Sustainable South Bronx is a model for successful implementation of visionary projects with real benefits for the citizens of New York City — especially those who are most disadvantaged by environmental pollution. Consider that 17 percent of school-age children in the South Bronx — including many in DC 37 families — suffer from asthma at three times the national average.

Labor can translate its experience in fighting for occupational safety into the struggle for environmental progress. European unions are already grappling with the environmental health problems that have been driving up health care costs.

American unions are part of a global labor movement. With only 5 percent of the world’s population, the United States uses 25 percent of the world’s energy. The same inclusiveness that needs to prevail in our urban agenda has to be a priority in the global community. The labor movement can contribute long-range thinking and political power to move our nation into the worldwide fight against global warming.

In addition to the many practical reasons for labor to go green, unions would gain the opportunity to build new alliances and to involve members where they work, where they live, where they play and where they pray.