There has been a lot of debate when it comes to the question of "green jobs"–what exactly is a "green job"? And when some people call for "high paying, good jobs" in the new "green" industries, does that also mean those jobs are UNION jobs?
A little taste of the question comes from California:
As California moves to license dozens of huge solar power plants to meet the state’s renewable energy goals, some developers contend they are being pressured to sign agreements pledging to use union labor. If they refuse, they say, they can count on the union group to demand costly environmental studies and deliver hostile testimony at public hearings.
And…
Union leaders acknowledge that they make aggressive use of the environmental laws, but say they do it out of genuine concern for the sustainability of California’s power industry, not just as a negotiating tactic. And they contend they do not abandon valid environmental objections to a project just because a company signs a labor agreement.
“We’ve been tarred and feathered more than once on this issue,” said Marc Joseph, a lawyer for California Unions for Reliable Energy. “We don’t walk away from environmental issues.”
At proposed fossil-fuel power plants, the union group has long been accused of exploiting environmental laws to force companies into signing labor agreements. The tactic is a subject of perennial discussion in the California legislature, which has considered, but never passed, bills to strip labor of its right to participate in environmental assessments.
What is new is that California Unions for Reliable Energy, a coalition of construction unions, appears to be applying this approach to new-age renewable energy projects, especially solar power plants, which are being fast-tracked to help meet the state’s green power target.
The "aggressive" (interesting word choice by the reporter) strategy is really a comment on the stubborn attitude businesses have towards unions, not a new story. And if business didn’t play this game, you’d never see this story.
What is perhaps more revealing in this story is how environmental allies react when the going gets tough:
The union group’s strategy drew plaudits from environmentalists when the group was winning agreements from developers to cut pollution from fossil fuel power plants. But as some conservation groups ally themselves with business interests to push for a rapid rollout of renewable energy, strains are showing in the so-called blue-green alliance.
Some environmental groups are worried that the labor tactics will delay green energy projects and cause a backlash, but they are reluctant to go public with criticisms of the labor movement.
Others, like the Natural Resources Defense Council, are trying to steer clear of the controversy.
The council “hasn’t taken a position on whether union labor should or shouldn’t be used in these projects,” said Sheryl Carter, the group’s co-director of energy programs.
And still others defend the labor group’s role.
Carl Zichella, the Sierra Club’s director of western renewable programs, said California Unions for Reliable Energy had been effective at extracting concessions that aid the environment.
“It’s not a warm fuzzy thing they are doing; it’s a very self-interested thing they’re doing,” he said. “But it has a large ancillary public benefit.”
Well, folks, yes, sometimes it’s hard to actually stick with principles and back up your allies when the going gets tough. But, that’s the price you pay when we a are trying to hammer together a decent society in the face of the "free market" ideology that has plundered our livelihoods.
Ironically, it’s the quote above from the Sierra Club person, who is portrayed as defending labor, that is most revealing. When he said what labor is doing is "self-interested" he is entirely missing the point–what labor does, by trying to establish basic living standards and a decent floor on wages and benefits is work done for people generally. Which is one reason I’ve always rebuked people who refer to labor as a "special interest". Yeah, it has in mind the "special interest" of everybody who works for a living.
