Washington, D.C. — A new issue brief from the Center for American Progress and the Climate Jobs National Resource Center lays out a road map for state and local governments to ensure that climate-related jobs are high-quality union jobs that promote equity. State and local governments are increasingly pursuing infrastructure projects that address climate change. At the same time, state and local governments can have an enormously powerful effect on labor conditions by passing laws setting labor standards that are higher than federal standards by purchasing goods and services or promoting projects through the use of tax incentives and loan guarantees.
The brief lays out five measures that state and local governments should apply to all climate-related projects financed through contracts, grants, loans, tax incentives, or work that is subject to government permitting. State and local governments should:
- Promote good relationships between workers and firms by using labor peace agreements and project labor and community workforce agreements
- Protect existing compensation standards with prevailing wage requirements
- Use workers’ boards to promote high standards
- Expand access to apprenticeships and other training provided by joint labor-management partnerships
- Ensure compliance with workplace laws
“Creating a clean energy future will transform major sectors of the economy and create new jobs,” said David Madland, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. “While maintaining high environmental standards and promoting a thriving economy have often been portrayed as competing priorities, the truth is that the transformation to a greener future presents tremendous opportunities for policymakers to create the high-quality union jobs that are the bedrock of a thriving economy. By applying the principles outlined in our brief, state and local governments can ensure their efforts to address climate change benefit workers, high-road employers, and taxpayers.”
Read: “5 Ways State and Local Governments Can Make Climate Jobs Good Jobs” by David Madland and Terry Meginniss
For more information or to speak to an expert, contact Julia Cusick at [email protected].