Labor Unions and Clean Energy

Many unions are engaged in climate action initiatives to help reduce the harm that carbon emissions have on our communities and our environment. Often collaborating with environmental and community organizations, unions are mobilizing to ensure that the transition to a clean energy economy keeps workers at the center – all the while benefitting the greater communities in which they live. A just transition to a clean energy economy will include well-paying jobs in renewable energy industries as well as support for fossil-fuel workers so they adapt and thrive as well. 

Let’s look at a few of the ways the labor movement is advancing clean energy initiatives:

  • From coast to coast, examples abound of unions teaming up with employers on clean energy initiatives. In Baltimore, Maryland, the United Steelworkers union has partnered with US Wind on a project to transform a section of the former Sparrows Point steel mill into a manufacturing plant to build the monopile foundations used in offshore wind energy farms. The partnership will create apprenticeship opportunities and good union jobs for local workers. Through its agreements with the Baltimore DC Metro Building Trades Council and affiliated unions, US Wind has also committed to using union labor to build the new manufacturing facility. In southern California, the renewable energy company Arevon has partnered with local trade unions to advance solar energy production for residents of San Diego County. Arevon has agreed to use union labor to build the Vikings Energy Farm that is expected to generate solar power for 70,000 homes. Operating engineers, carpenters, laborers, electrical workers, and ironworkers are among the skilled trade unions supporting this project.


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