New Guide Offers Advice for Women Seeking Green Jobs
 |
If you’re a woman considering a career in the growing clean energy economy, check out this new online guide from the U.S. Department of Labor. “Why Green Is Your Color: A Woman’s Guide to a Sustainable Career” is designed to help women find and keep higher-paying jobs in the clean energy economy.
The online publication (click here) will help workers learn about a range of in-demand and emerging jobs, as well as job training opportunities and career development tools, in the clean energy economy. The guide also serves as a resource for workforce development professionals, training providers, educators, career counselors and women’s advocacy organizations.
Sara Manzano-Díaz, director of the Labor Department’s Women’s Bureau, says many occupations in the clean energy economy remain virtually untapped by women.
This guide is an invaluable resource that workforce professionals can use to help women transition into higher paying jobs that serve as a pathway into the middle class. It is also a tool to help fight job segregation.
Additional resources to help women succeed in nontraditional and emerging job sectors are available by contacting the Women’s Bureau at 202-693-6710 or click here to visit its website.
IBEW Local, Contractors Unveil Solar-Powered Vehicle Charging Station
 |
San Diego drivers with electric vehicles (EVs) can charge up their rides at no cost, thanks to a new solar-powered electric vehicle power station unveiled today by Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 569 and the San Diego chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA).
Local 569 business manager Johnny Simpson told a morning press conference:
“San Diego’s electric vehicle industry is a win-win for local electricians and the community. It’s creating good, middle-class electrical jobs and helping us reduce harmful air pollution. IBEW Local 569 is thrilled to do our part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by offering free, solar-powered EV charging to the community.”
The station is located at the IBEW-NCEA Training Center at 4675 Viewridge Ave., in San Diego. The training center is powered by a rooftop solar array and the charging station ties into the building’s electrical supply so both are running on solar power. The electric vehicle unit is publicly available to the community to use at any time, free of charge.
Andy Berg, executive director of the San Diego chapter of NECA, added:
The electric vehicle industry in San Diego, particularly installing the charging infrastructure, is giving local electrical contractors a great shot in the arm. Plus, our customers know they will always get the best possible installation because of the training provided at this center.
State Sen. Christine Kehoe joined with representatives from the San Diego chapter of the Sierra Club and Operation Free, a national coalition of veterans, national security experts and retired military personnel working to secure America with clean energy, to announce the charging station.
China Drops Some Wind Power Subsidies After USW Complaint
Here’s some good news on the trade front: U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk announced today that China has ended certain wind power equipment subsidies that gave its companies an unfair advantage in the global market.
The action came after the United Steelworkers (USW) filed a Section 301 trade complaint last October charging that China’s government uses hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies, performance requirements, preferential practices and other illegal trade activities to dominate the renewable energy market.
The subsidies take the form of grants to Chinese wind turbine manufacturers that agreed to use key parts and components made in China rather than purchasing imports. The size of the individual grants range between $6.7 million and $22.5 million, according to the USTR.
Clean Energy Trade Deficit with China: 8,000 Jobs Lost this Year
 |
|
The U.S. trade deficit with China in clean energy products more than doubled in the past two years alone and will cost more than 8,000 U.S. jobs in 2010. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) analyzed trade data through August 2010 and found that the trade deficit with China soared at a time when the overall U.S. trade deficit and the U.S. clean energy deficit with other countries both fell sharply.
The findings support the charges in the United Steelworkers’ (USW) petition under Section 301 of the trade law claiming China’s government has used hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies, performance requirements, preferential practices and other trade-illegal activities to dominate the renewable energy market.
American Rights at Work Honors Partnerships That Work
 |
|
An Oregon streetcar maker, a Wisconsin paper mill and a Tennessee solar products manufacturer are three of the eight companies that made this year’s “Labor Day List: Partnerships that Work.”
This year’s annual report by American Rights at Work highlights positive labor-management relationships working in the clean energy economy. Says the group’s executive director, Kimberly Brown:
The companies and union employees featured in our report are leading the way toward a sustainable economy in which businesses thrive, the planet prospers, and workers share in the success they help create.
UAW Joins Blue Green Alliance
 |
|
Citing its commitment to energy-efficient transportation, the UAW today announced it’s joining the Blue Green Alliance. The Blue Green Alliance is a partnership among nine unions and two major environmental groups dedicated to expanding the number and quality of jobs in the green economy.
The Alliance last week launched “The Job’s Not Done Tour,” a three-week, 17-state, 30-city bus tour to remind lawmakers that Congress has stalled on legislation to create and save millions of jobs across the country through a clean energy economy. The tour began Aug. 16 in Los Angeles and will end Sept. 3 in Richmond, Va. For more information and a tour schedule on the bus tour, click here.
In addition to the UAW, members of the Alliance include AFT, Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), Communications Workers of America (CWA), Laborers (LIUNA), Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), SEIU, Sierra Club, Sheet Metal Workers (SMWIA), UAW, United Steelworkers (USW) and the Utility Workers (UWUA).
Blue Green Alliance Bus Tour to Demand Action on Clean Energy Jobs
|
|
To remind lawmakers that Congress has stalled on legislation that would create and save millions of jobs across the country by building a clean energy economy—while nations like China are forging ahead—the Blue Green Alliance today kicked off a three-week, 17-state, 30-city bus tour. The “Job’s Not Done Tour” began in Los Angeles and will end Sept. 3 in Richmond, Va.
Larry Cohen, president of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), says:
By failing to take action on these important clean energy policies, we are missing a huge opportunity to create good jobs now. Currently we are 16th in the world in the percentage of citizens with access to broadband. Expansion will not only create jobs, save Americans money and make our country more efficient, it will lead to the sustainable communities that are such an important part of our future.
USW Members Urge Action on Clean Energy Jobs Bills
As the U.S. Senate prepares to consider clean energy legislation, a dozen United Steelworkers (USW) members are visiting Capitol Hill today to deliver letters urging senators from certain key states to vote for strong legislation that includes the investments needed to create and maintain good, middle-class manufacturing jobs in this country.
At a Capitol Hill press conference this morning, USW members announced that union members sent more than 100,000 letters to the Senate calling for comprehensive manufacturing policies that promote clean energy innovation and development. Dennis Barker, a USW member from Granite City, Ill., said:
Now is the time for the Senate to get moving on clean energy jobs legislation.
Mood of Climate Change Talks Change Like The Weather
AFL-CIO Union Industries Director Bob Baugh is a member of a global union delegation, led by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), attending the next round of the United Nations climate change negotiations in Bonn, Germany. This is the fourth of a series of blogs on the talks. Be sure to check out part 1, part 2 and part 3.
As anyone who has ever negotiated a contract knows there is a rhythm and mood to the talks. Copenhagen was tough. The buildup of expectations far exceeded reality and as the days progressed frustration and anger became the prevailing mood. It took 30 heads of state to hammer out the Copenhagen Accord that all but five states agreed to.
Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Sudan opposed the accord and continued to agitate against it. The main body responsible for the climate treaty, the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA), had an acrimonious set of meetings in early April. This was followed by a Bolivian-sponsored First World Conference of the People on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in mid April. The newly elected AWG-LCA chair, Margaret Mukahanana-Sangarwe from Zimbabwe and Daniel Reifsnyder from the U.S., the vice-chair, had their work cut out for them in Bonn.
Japan Moves Closer to Clean Energy Standards
AFL-CIO Union Industries Director Bob Baugh is a member of a global union delegation, led by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), attending the next round of the United Nations climate change negotiations in Bonn, Germany. This is the third of a series of blogs on the talks. Be sure to check out part 1 and part 2.
Earlier this week, two leaders of Japan’s Trade Union Confederation (RENGO) briefed the global union delegation on climate change legislation under consideration by lawmakers in Tokyo.
Toyoji Sugiyama, director of RENGO’s social policy division, and Mitsuru Maruta said the legislation is backed by Japan’s new government, which was elected last year with RENGO’s support.
