High-Road Workforce Guide for City Climate Action
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WORKFORCE High-Road Workforce Guide for City Climate Action APRIL 2021 PREPARED FOR THE INCLUSIVE American Cities ECONOMICS Climate Challenge High-Road Workforce Guide for City Climate Action MARCH 2021 Acknowledgements Many of the foundational ideas and best This report was developed with support practices in this guide are based on the from the Bloomberg Philanthropies long-term work of organizations including American Cities Climate Challenge. the Center on Wisconsin Strategies, the The Climate Challenge is an initiative Partnership for Working Families, and the that empowers 25 of the largest U.S. UC Berkeley Labor Center. cities to implement near-term climate goals and become primary drivers of Inclusive Economics would like progress towards meeting America’s to acknowledge the research and pledge on climate. Recognizing that contributions from Maggie Jones, cities account for more than 70% of Jesse Strecker, Dr. Sarah Hinkley, global carbon emissions – and that and Hannah Schanzer and thoughtful mayors have significant authority review and comments by Denise Fairchild, over cities’ highest emitting sectors: Jodi Pincus, Jeremy Hays, Maria Stamas, transportation and buildings – the Caroline Keicher, Marguerite Young, and Climate Challenge aims to enhance Tom Kriger. All mistakes and omissions are the work already being done by mayors the responsibility of Inclusive Economics. across the U.S. and to support cities in the fight against climate change. PREPARED FOR THE INCLUSIVE American Cities ECONOMICS Climate Challenge 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS GLOSSARY ..................................................................4 II. IMPLEMENTING A HIGH-ROAD WORKFORCE PLAN....................53 INTRODUCTION ............................. 6 A. Demand-Side Solutions: Creating Good Jobs and How to Use This Guide ........................................................8 Ensuring Equitable Access...............................................54 Why High-Road Workforce Development? .........................8 1. Policies, Programs, and Investments that Drive Private-Sector Workforce Demand and Create Jobs......................................54 Workforce Development in the Context of Climate Action12 a. Benchmarking and Transparency Ordinances...................54 Workforce Issues That Can Slow Climate Progress ............13 b. Building Performance Standards........................................54 c. Changes to Building Codes................................................55 I. DEVELOPING A HIGH-ROAD WORKFORCE PLAN .................. 15 d. Renewable Portfolio Standards or Electricity Procurement........................................................................55 Step 1: Clarify the Goals and Priorities ..............................16 e. Market Transformation Programs.......................................55 Step 2: Identify the Challenges ..........................................21 f. Expansion of Walking and Bicycling Infrastructure............57 Step 3: Identify and Engage Partners ................................28 g. Public Investments, such as for Building Retrofits, EV Charging,Transit Infrastructure, or Electric Buses.............57 Step 4: Conduct a Workforce Assessment or “Gap Analysis”.............................................................................38 2. Demand Mechanisms to Improve Job Quality in the Private and Public Sectors....................................................................57 Step 5: Identify Potential Solutions ....................................45 a. Credentialing and Other Skill Standards...........................57 Step 6: Develop an Evaluation Plan ...................................50 b. Contractor Pre-Qualification or Responsible Contractor Criteria..................................................................................58 HIGH-ROAD WORKFORCE GUIDE FOR CITY CLIMATE ACTION 2 3. Public Sector Mechanisms to Improve Job Quality ......... 59 c. Articulation Agreements or Facilitated Entry.................71 a. Wage Requirements........................................................59 d. Greening Existing Education and Training Curricula....72 b. Contracting and Procurement Standards......................59 3. Additional Supports for Building an Inclusive Clean Energy Workforce .............................................................................73 c. Best Value Contracting....................................................60 a. Providing Support Services.............................................74 d. Supplier Diversity Programs............................................60 b. Program Cost Barriers......................................................75 e. Demand Mechanisms to Improve Job Access in the Private and Public Sectors...............................................61 c. High School Diploma or GED.........................................76 f. Local and Targeted Hire...................................................61 d. Professional Skills Development.....................................76 g. Setting Project Standards Through Agreements..........62 e. Driver’s License.................................................................77 B. Supply-Side Solutions: Training and Preparing a f. Child Care..........................................................................78 Qualified, Inclusive Workforce ......................................65 g. Transportation Accessibility.............................................78 1. Creating Industry-Led Skills-Based Partnerships ............. 65 h. Flexible Schedules...........................................................79 a. Industry-Recognized Credentialing Systems.................66 CONCLUSION...............................80 b. Support Current Worker Training to Meet Clean Energy Goals....................................................................66 c. Stackable Credentials Lead to Career Advancement...67 2. Building the Worker Pipeline: From Pre-Apprenticeship to Registered Apprenticeship..................................................68 a. Registered Apprenticeship Programs: The Gold Standard...........................................................................68 b. Pre-Apprenticeship Programs Create Equitable Access to High-Road Jobs..........................................................69 HIGH-ROAD WORKFORCE GUIDE FOR CITY CLIMATE ACTION 3 GLOSSARY For some of the following ideas, there are various terms in common use. High-road: For consistency and conciseness in this document, we have chosen to use In a workforce context, an approach aimed at creating high-quality the terms listed below, defined as follows: employment, “good jobs” characterized by family-sustaining, living wages, comprehensive benefits, and opportunity for career advancement. Active transit: Transportation without the use of motorized vehicles, such as bicycles, Latine: walking, and scooters. Inclusive, gender-neutral term for people of Latin American descent. BIPOC: Local hire: Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. Mechanism that requires or incentivizes contractors receiving public funds to hire local residents. Local hire requirements are also used to enhance Bridge to retirement: opportunities for disadvantaged workers.1 A mechanism to provide retiree benefits for the gap period between early retirement and the age of retirement eligibility. Low-road: In a workforce context, an approach resulting in low-quality employment, Disadvantaged workers: “dead-end jobs” characterized by low wages, poor benefits, menial Workers facing barriers to employment (i.e., from under-resourced, responsibilities, and little or no career mobility. marginalized, or disenfranchised communities, including populations historically excluded due to structural inequity, race, age, gender, etc.). “No regrets” actions: Encompassed in this term is the key notion that disadvantage is perpetuated In climate change adaptation strategies, measures that are cost effective now, by systems and does not reflect a failing on the part of individuals. can be enacted without hard tradeoffs, and provide significant benefits under a range of future climate scenarios. “First source” hiring: A policy or agreement to maximize use of local labor, specifying a process Opportunity youth: that employers must follow to give certain individuals, such as graduates or Young people between the ages of 16 and 24 who are neither in school nor participants from a particular program, the first opportunity for open positions. employed. Other terms used to describe this population are “disconnected youth” and “at-risk youth.” While many youth in this category do face FTE: composite risks such as disabilities, homelessness, or involvement with Full-time equivalent, a unit used to measure current or projected job impacts. the juvenile justice or child welfare systems, the term “opportunity youth” In climate program implementation, most work will not be performed by changes the narrative to reflect the untapped potential of these individuals. people working full time exclusively on the climate project. The “head count” or actual number of individuals engaged on the project will typically be higher than the FTE estimate. 1 PolicyLink. Local and Targeted Hiring. All-In Cities Policy Toolkit. Retrieved January 6, 2021 from https://allincities.org/toolkit/local-targeted-hiring. HIGH-ROAD WORKFORCE GUIDE FOR CITY CLIMATE ACTION 4 Prevailing wage: Support services: The hourly wage and fringe benefits paid to the majority of workers engaged In a workforce context, case-by-case