April 15, 2010

New York Times article:
Bronx Activists Trying to Turn Park Projects, Stimulus Cash Into Economic Engines.

We believe that New York City can grow an inclusive, multi-stakeholder green economy that...

• Employs a wide spectrum of workers with a range of skills in environmentally sustainable areas including, but not limited to energy efficiency, building retrofits, urban forestry, transportation, environmental remediation, and green product development and manufacturing
• Prioritizes environmental remediation and targeted outreach in NYC’s most vulnerable communities disproportionately impacted by environmental hazards in their homes and communities
• Develops long-term career tracks and respects the right to organize and provides relevant training opportunities for these workers
• Encourages the utilization of unionized workers in private and public sectors and provides relevant training opportunities for these workers
• Promotes business development and the growth of new industries, transitions existing industries and fosters sustainable opportunities for the business community, including small businesses, and an incumbent workforce
• Provides just, sustainable working conditions, and safe and healthy jobs that utilize the safest chemicals, materials and products throughout their life cycle based on green chemistry and engineering principles
• Empowers all New Yorkers to shape more sustainably just communities by pursuing fair and equal opportunities for populations typically facing barriers to employment including but not limited to people of color, low-income people, immigrants, incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, lgbtq people, disconnected youth, women, veterans and the differently-abled.

...and we support taking the following steps to do so:

• Integrate multi-lingual training and multi-level recruitment strategies into the City’s green initiatives, RFPs and programs to coordinate workforce development with existing sustainability efforts
• Undertake innovative initiatives, such as local sourcing policy, the development of a clean-tech sector, advancing green chemistry principles to foster growth and development for new and existing businesses with high wage jobs for a more sustainable green sector with long-term career opportunities for all
• Incorporate green collar multi-lingual and multi-level training opportunities, careers and professions into Career and Technical Education schools, NYCDOE curricula, CUNY, labor-management training and apprenticeship programs, Workforce 1 Centers and other citywide workforce development initiatives to train the current public and private workforce, as well as the workforce of tomorrow and to transition incumbent workers to new occupations
• Include job standards in the City’s green initiatives and provide or enable quality control oversight on all green initiatives to ensure compliance with labor laws and sustainability mandates
• Support and expand community-based and grassroots green job training and transitional employment efforts to overcome persistent barriers to employment
• Enforce legal standards for occupational safety and health including requirements for training and hazard assessment and/or apply recognized best safe work practices and call for new legal standards when applicable.

Download the Vision Statement as a PDF document.

The Green Collar Jobs Roundtable is a multi-stakeholder campaign to mobilize New York City to prepare New Yorkers for green collar jobs. Convened by Urban Agenda, the Roundtable brings together over 170 partners from green employers, community-based organizations, labor unions, workforce development providers, and environmental and environmental justice groups, committed to creating good, green jobs in New York City — jobs that enhance or sustain the environment while offering family-supporting wages, benefits, and opportunities for career advancement.

Since its inception in June 2008, the Roundtable has expanded rapidly in scope and scale, directing the City towards forward-thinking workforce development for green collar jobs. The Roundtable has developed a Vision Statement of guiding principles for the campaign, and a Green Jobs Roadmap — a comprehensive strategy to grow an equitable, prosperous, and just green economy. The Roadmap includes specific recommendations to make the Roundtable’s shared vision a reality. The Roadmap will be released at the end of October 2009 and the Roundtable will advocate for elected officials to enact its recommendations to make New York City a global leader in good, green collar jobs.

See all Roundtable Participants who helped develop this Vision Statement.

The Roundtable process has tapped the collective knowledge of green employers, unions, workforce development providers, and environmental and environmental justice groups to chart a Vision Statement of guiding principles for the campaign that has already received wide endorsement and will be shared — along with the Roadmap — with elected officials to solicit their support.

See list of endorsements to date.

Add your organization to the list.

Urban Agenda is a public policy, research and advocacy organization dedicated to building a socially, economically, and environmentally just New York City. We advocate policies grounded in action-oriented research and supported by strong coalitions of union, business and community partners. Urban Agenda is also convener of the NYC Apollo Alliance, a coalition of labor, business, environmental, and community leaders working to catalyze a clean energy revolution that will put millions of New Yorkers to work in a new generation of high-quality, green-collar jobs.

Contact Us if you’re interested in getting involved.