Campaign Update

Northeastern University's Dr. Sum, Greater Boston Labor Council's Rich Rogers, ACE's Kalila Barnett, Apollo Alliance's Ron Ruggiero, and Massachusetts Commissioner of Labor George Noel speak at the State House on March 16.

Report Release: Massachusetts Can Create 6,000 Good Jobs in Energy Efficiency

An Industry at the Crossroads: Energy Efficiency Employment in Massachusetts was released on March 16, 2010 at the State House in Boston. The report finds that:

• The state and utility companies are investing $1.4 billion in building energy efficiency over the next three years, which will create 6,000 direct construction jobs.
• Right now, weatherization wages are poverty wages -- so low that weatherization workers qualify for low-income weatherization assistance themselves.
• Low-road jobs cost workers, taxpayers, and the state. When employers underpay workers and the state picks up the difference to support those families, it can cost as much as $28,000 a family.
• The state, cities, and utility companies can change this and make weatherization jobs "good jobs," by requiring contractors to meet Responsible Contractor standards. That means living wages and benefits, quality training and safe workplaces, and local hiring.
• Responsible contractors can help end Depression-level joblessness in the state's low-income communities and communities of color by hiring local residents and providing good jobs.

Priorities for 2010

In 2010 Community Labor United and the Green Justice Coalition will bring good “green” jobs and community energy savings to Massachusetts.

• In June we will start launching community-based weatherization pilot projects across Massachusetts.
• In the fall we will make sure the pilots’ “best practices” get incorporated into the utility companies’ statewide energy efficiency projects.
• Throughout the year we will work for equity – good job standards, up-front financing for families that can’t lay out money for weatherization, funding to fix up old houses so they can be weatherized, and much more.

Our Approach to Energy Efficiency

Implementing the Green Justice Coalition approach will accelerate Massachusetts’s greenhouse gas reductions and extend them to communities of color across the state. Our unique model combines the power of community organizations that are known and trusted in their neighborhoods, labor unions, and environmental groups. Community-based organizations will canvass their neighborhoods, signing up hundreds of residents for home energy retrofits. Up-front financing will let residents do “deep” retrofits they could not otherwise afford. With hundreds of homes “bundled” into one contract, high-road contractors will be able to hire community retrofits, provide quality training and wages with family-supporting benefits. And a new state “equity committee” will make sure that low-income communities and communities of color get retrofits and good jobs.

Check out:

• Green Justice Campaign for an in-depth description of the campaign
  
• The Green Justice Blog for frequent campaign updates.
• News and Events for national feature stories on our breakthrough model.