Labor leaders call on Legislature to make green energy union friendly

After Gov. Kathy Hochul raised some eyebrows by excluding labor standards as part of her green energy proposal in the executive budget, a group of unions have signed on to a letter asking the Legislature to step in and include them as part of their one-house proposals.

Specifically, the unions are calling for “gold-star labor standards” to get attached to both new and existing green energy projects that receive funding from the state. The labor standards include union prevailing wages, prevailing wages for staff in the finished projects, labor peace agreements and utilizing apprenticeship programs. “This moment is an opportunity to invest not only in working families to protect them against the climate crisis, but to invest in workers themselves,” the letter reads.

A dozen unions and labor groups signed on to the letter, including District Council 37, New York State Nurses Association, Utility Workers of Union America Locals 1 and 2, United Auto Workers Region 9 and the Alliance for a Greater New York. 

The groups are also asking legislative leaders to include $10 billion for a Climate and Community Protection Fund, which would help fund new green energy projects and fulfill the Climate Action Council’s final scoping plan to meet the goals of the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. That includes the creation of 200,000 new green jobs by 2030.