Sen. Stabenow, Rep. Inslee Urge Congress To Invest In Green American Dream

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, February 3, 2009

CONTACT: Greg Denier, 202-486-2365
Noreen Nielsen, 202-721-6047

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Senate Finance Committee member Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and House Energy and Commerce Committee member Jay Inslee, D-Wash., urged congressional leaders to make the creation of high-quality green jobs a top priority of the economic recovery and reinvestment stimulus package during a news conference this morning at the U.S. Capitol.

During the news conference, Rep. Inslee observed that building a strong green economy will require implementing policies that protect our planet and meet the needs of working families.

"Building up this economy with thousands of green jobs is an investment in inexhaustibly renewable resources -- human intellect, ingenuity and America's capacity for working hard to get the job done," said Inslee. "We must adopt an economic recovery package that recognizes the power of innovation, promotes policies that make sure workers get a fair break, and invests in innovative green technologies and programs to slow, stop and eventually reverse the progress of climate change."

Sen. Stabenow and Rep. Inslee joined labor, environmental and business leaders to release a new report challenging the commonly held assumption that all the newly created green jobs are good, middle-class jobs. The report High Road or Low Road: Job Quality in the New Green Economy, authored by Good Jobs First and commissioned by Change to Win, Sierra Club, the Laborers' International Union and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, examined existing green jobs in manufacturing, construction and waste-management. The research revealed wide variations in wages, benefits and labor conditions, with some green-collar jobs paying as little as $8.25 an hour without benefits.

"Creating more green jobs is the path to a greener, more sustainable future for American families," said Stabenow. "As a member of the Senate Finance Committee, I am pleased that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act doesn't create just any green-collar jobs. Rather the recovery package creates good-paying, green-collar jobs that will help strengthen the middle class of this country."

Laborers' International Union general president Terry O'Sullivan stressed that as taxpayers invest in the green economy, the government is obligated to ensure those investments support communities and families.

"This report shows how green jobs, if not true to their purpose, can drive down our economy, impoverish families and put the hope of a halt to global warming and prosperity out of reach," said O'Sullivan. "We will only succeed if we make sure the people who build the green economy and keep it running have jobs that allow them to fully participate in that economy."

Sierra Club national political director Cathy Duvall highlighted that sustainable environmental gains are not possible without a strong middle class.

"Environmental gains will not be economically or politically sustainable as long as workers are trapped in a race to the bottom.  If we want working people to buy hybrid cars, demand green schools for their children, and support policies that promote clean energy, we need to make sure that the green economy is supporting them," stated Duvall.

While the report found that many green employers opposed efforts by workers to organize unions, several of the companies profiled took a collaborative approach.

As Michael Peck, Director of Institutional, Media, and Labor Relations for the North American arm of wind energy leader Gamesa stated, "We are looking to create a perfect union and that comes from working with our union partners."

According to the report, wages were generally highest where local officials attached strict labor standards to economic development subsidies, or where workers were represented by labor unions.  Wages were lowest where job quality requirement were weak or poorly enforced and where workers had no union representation.

Among the report's other findings:

  • Just one of the renewable manufacturing facilities surveyed paid an hourly wage that was sufficient to support a family of four, while a quarter paid wage rates below the levels necessary to meet the basic needs of an adult with one child. 
  • Low wages were found in the construction industry where significant green job growth is anticipated.  The authors report that half of nonunion workers in basic construction trades earn less than $12.50 per hour while a third make less than the federal poverty wage for a family of four ($10.19 per hour).
  • The report authors also found examples of green-collar jobs that provided middle-class wages and benefits in each of the industries surveyed.  These include: production workers in a Salem, Oregon solar plant where the average hourly wage is $22; union plumbers who earn $36 an hour plus full benefits in Portland, Oregon; and workers organized by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters who start at $20 an hour in a cutting-edge San Francisco recycling facility.  

Hundreds of workers, environmentalists and business advocates will gather on Capitol Hill tomorrow for a Green Jobs Advocacy Day to educate lawmakers about job-creating opportunities that exist in the green economy.

** Note: Media representative interested in scheduling an interview about the report findings should contact Noreen Nielsen at noreen.nielsen@changetowin.org. A downloadable copy of the report is available in Adobe PDF format.**