District 7 News AGITATORCovering the United Steelworkers in Indiana and Illinois - MAY 2009 - #33 OnOn thethe marchmarch inin GraniteGranite CityCity photo: Doug May Steelworkers, Hip-Hoppers and Tree-Huggers Get It On at 'Green Jobs 2009' By Carl Davidson an economic crisis. Hill to lobby their respective Senators and When you walk into a Washington, DC hotel The building trades were also represented, and Representatives. With remarkable serendip- lobby and find thousands of people-half in the green groups spanned a wide range of con- ity, the Senate was deadlocked that same day labor union jackets, the other half dressed in cerns, from toxics to alternative energy to cli- over details of the Obama stimulus package, 30-something hip-hop causal-you know some- mate change. Also notable was the participa- with the GOP trying to gut many of the Green thing is up. tion of a contingent of "high road" corpora- Jobs components as "wasteful," while seek- This was the scene this Feb 4-6 as nearly 3000 tions rooted in the growing "green economy." ing tax cuts and bailouts for the rich. The activists and organizers gathered for the Gamesa, a major Spanish firm specializing voices and pressure from the conference ac- "Good Jobs, Green Jobs" National Confer- in wind turbines, and Piper Jaffray, a large tivists come not have been timelier. ence. paper company focused on recycled paper "A trickle has become a torrent,' said Margie It's called the "blue-green alliance," and its products were there. Alt from Environment America the next morn- core is the United Steelworkers and the Si- But a critical new dimension was added by ing, comparing their present efforts with the erra Club, which jointly launched the "Green Green For All, an organization rooted among organizing and direct action campaign of the Jobs" movement in Pittsburgh a year ago. inner city youth, and led by Van Jones the au- civil rights movement. There are two paths thor of "The Green Collar Economy.” in repowering America with clean energy, she The turnout this year was triple in size and explained. "One would have us chase short- highly energized by both the victory of Presi- The conference started with 'Advocacy Day,' term profits; the other has us moves toward dent Barack Obama and the looming onset of which deployed the participants to Capitol new public transit and plug-in hybrid cars, built in the USA and powered by the sun and the wind. Only the second puts us back to work. Alt warmed up the session for Richard Trumka, the AFL-CIO's Secretary-Treasurer. Trumka was a hero to millions in the Obama campaign for the no-nonsense way he took on the question of racism in rallying trade union organizers to win over white workers to vote for a Black candidate in the Appala- chian areas. The Blue Green Alliance is a strategic partnership between four international Unions "What a year!" Trumka proclaimed, referring and two environmental organizations. It began in 2006 as a partnership between the not only to the election, but the Blue-Green United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club. Last fall CWA, SEIU, the Laborers Inter- Alliance's growth since Pittsburgh. "It's national, and the National Resource Defense Council came on board as partners. The brought forward all the issues of race and Blue Green Alliance is uniting more than six million people in pursuit of good jobs, a class, and there's no going back. Good ideas clean environment and a green economy. and loud voices are desperately needed. In the mines, we were often told, jobs or the en- Blue-Green Indiana vironment was the choice. But now we know LABOR CLIMATE PROJECT the truth. It's not one or the other; it's both or Blue-Green Indiana is a chapter of the national The Labor Climate Project arm of the Blue neither. So get over it! This blue-green alli- organization made up of the same partners Green Alliance educates local union members ance isn't going away. We're in this together plus Hoosier environmental groups such as about the dangers of global warming and the for the long haul." Save the Dunes Council, and other state la- solutions that will help both the environment Trumka had warm praise for Obama, but a bor unions. Four other states have BGA’s and create good green sustainable union jobs. sharp rebuke for the GOP Right. "All they can (Kansas, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin). Too many union members believe that the do is say, No!-No to fair trade, no to the Em- When did the Indiana BGA form? issues of the environment are at odds with ployee Free Choice Act, no to protecting the The group announced itself at a press confer- issues of labor. In fact, the opposite is true. In environment, no to domestic investment in ence on March 22, USW Lobby Day. Then this fight we have a common enemy and that new manufacturing. In the face of this, we for the first time, USW members lobbied their is large corporations whose interest is their have no guarantees; we'll get nothing here representatives to support a state Renewable bottom line — often at the expense of without a fight." Energy Standard (RES) through legislation environmental and labor standards here at Expo Booths at Green Jobs 2009 home and abroad. called “Green Jobs Act of 2009” One topic discussed was the theme of the con- Did the legislation pass? Labor unions have always fought for ference, "What is a Green Job?" and "What environmental safety for our members, in their A strong Green Jobs Bill designed to stimu- is a 'Good Job'?" The later was easily defined: worksites and communities. In this economic a good job was a union job, a living wage late the manufactur of solar and wind com- recession, now is the time to bring the message ponents, as well as thousands of other good with decent benefits. Green jobs were viewed of global warming solutions and job creation from a number of angles. Trumka defined it jobs in transportation, installation, etc.—was to union members. passed in the Indiana House, a first. Unfortu- as every job that contributes to a low-carbon nately, the bill died in conference committee The Blue Green Alliance has developed an future. Nuclear power and 'clean coal' efforts and Indiana remains the only Midwest state educational presentation for local unions. might come under that, but would be opposed without a renewable electricity standard. Contact Tom Conway at 219-738-9029. by a good number in the coalition. There was no effort, moreover, to enforce unanimity on announce to you today that we no longer do." allies. It brought Van Jones to the stage. the point; debate and discussion would con- Some of the most powerful presentations came "We started this because we were tired of go- tinue. There was wide agreement, however, on the last day. First up was Winona LaDuke, ing to funerals," Jones began. "We were tired on the Green jobs most in reach of unem- member of the Ojibwe (Chippewa) Tribe liv- of police killing kids, and kids killing kids." ployed youth: solar panel installations, 'win- ing in the White Earth Indian Reservation in These were rooted in the oppression of the in- terizing' older housing stock to Green standards, Minnesota. ner city's joblessness and hopelessness, he ex- urban agriculture plans, and expansion of mass plained and described initial work with the Ella transit. After greeting the crowd in her traditional lan- guage, LaDuke proclaimed with a smile, "I must Baker Center to fight for home repair and The conference planners stressed the issue in a admit it's a treat to come here from Minnesota cleanup jobs, and called it "Green Jobs, Not booklet distributed to all attendees, entitled to the home of the Great Black Father!" which Jails." Later the concept deepened into major "High Road or Low Road? Job Quality in the brought down the house. structural reforms described in his book, "The New Economy." Terence O'Sullivan, president Green Collar Economy." But she quickly turned serious, and the need to of the Laborer's International Union, exposed break with a petroleum-centered economy. "We "This is a profound movement that goes deeper the problem: can't build a society based on conquest. We are than installing solar panels," Jones went on. "We did a survey of every job cur- This is showing the world a new America.... But rently being called 'Green' by em- no change can come in one day. We ployers, and found the majority of have to work every day. We have to them didn't pay enough to support a change the economy, not just with family of two." There was no The clean energy movement can't green proposals, but with solidarity sustainability, he suggested, without be stopped, and labor is the pillar back in the center of it. We have to the working class itself being sus- of the whole pro-democracy move democracy from the ballot box tained. Borrowing from Henry Ford, to the workplace. We are the human he said, "Every worker building a movement we need." - Van Jones family coming back to itself. Think Green product should be able to af- long and hard on this question: in ford a plug-in hybrid car. It's very the final hour, who are we? Who are possible to build green, pay union we on this planet? Are we a swarm wages, and still make a profit.