Blue/Green: Making It Work Takes Work 

By Ed Ott
laborpress
Sept-Oct 2010

http://www.laborpress.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=73&Itemid=85

Since the first Earth Day events of the 1970's, progressive
labor activists and many environmentalists have dreamed of a
grand coalition of blue-collar workers and so-called greens.
This coalition would, we hoped, expose the inherent
exploitation by market capitalism of the Earth and its
inhabitants. After the loss of millions of industrial jobs
from North America, several large-scale environmental
disasters (Exxon Valdez, Bhopal, Love Canal) and the real
threat of global warming the blue green army was ready to
march in-step. I wish!

On paper we have all the elements of a broad-based coalition.
But we face many obstacles to building a true blue/green
movement, including some basic conflicting needs. Sometimes
it is what the various partners do well that gets in the way
of collaboration and progress: unions must do a good job of
representing their members; green businesses, like all
businesses, must compete in a tough economy. If we are going
to build a movement together, we need to understand that how
we do things is as important as any goals we set.

Labor unions in the United States have a long history of
fighting to achieve higher standards and then protecting
those standards on behalf of their membership. In spite of
media attempts to paint it otherwise, most labor unions are
effective and well run organizations. The same skills that
enable unions to be effective also militate against them
engaging what is new. Most working people feel that change
too often comes at their expense. New technologies, for
example, are often introduced with new workers and incumbent
employees are dislocated. The loss of so many industrial jobs
and the arrival of new workers from around the globe have
contributed to a growing defensiveness on the part of workers
and their union leaders. Today, labor does see in the green
economy a chance to gain new manufacturing jobs as well as
thousands of jobs retrofitting buildings with green
technologies. However when environmental organizations come
forward talking about, 'new jobs', many workers hear, 'new
employees'. The potential for disruption in their lives is an
alarm as loud as any global warning.

The business side of the green movement also has needs and
self interest. Many of the business leaders of the green
movement are highly motivated entrepreneurs who want a better
world. That being said, if green businesses are going to be
successful they must play in the real economy and the
competition does not allow them to ignore costs and pricing.

It is interesting to me to see that many green businesses
call for new regulation and local sourcing. These are issues
that appeal to organized labor. It is also true that many in
the green economy need to protect their investment and pay
attention to the bottom line. When we talk about sustainable
economies we need to recognize the tension that exists
between sustainable wages and benefits (which unions need to
defend) and a fair return on investments.

Try as we might to think otherwise, a business is still a
business, green or not, and the union is the union. Many
union leaders feel strongly that the only, 'sustainable' wage
is the union rate. Union wage standards are usually achieved
over a long period of time to reflect the value of the work
being performed. For many green businesses (often start ups)
that have no experience working with unionized labor, this
can be a real problem. With the federal government making
large amounts of money available for weatherization projects
we can expect this discussion to become more immediate and
sharper. I recently had an executive of a non-profit
organization, 'explain', how he had family roots in the
United Auto Workers but felt that the union had no place in
his affordable housing organization. This exact argument was
used by the so-called nonprofit hospital industry against
unions in the 1960's.

Now, add to the equation the environmental justice
organizations. These job-conscious, community-based
organizations are often left out of the discussion about what
should be developed in their communities and get put in a
position of having to block projects just to get to the
table. More often than not, we are talking about communities
of color who have a long history of struggle for civil and
human rights. The EJ movement is both the most militant and
most reasonable component of the emerging blue/green
alliances. Its members are not willing to be left out and
will fight to be part of the plan. When at the table, they
are, in fact, the most constructive in offering serious
proposals to move things along. The best example of this is
the role the EJ community has played in New York City in the
Mayor Bloomberg's 2030 Plan. The EJ coalitions supported
attempts to get a 'job analysis' of the 2030 Plan. They also
were willing to go beyond wage discussions in getting at the
sustainability issues. Jobs, job training and apprentice
opportunities in the trades were all of concern to the EJ
groups.

But life is more than a job! It was also the EJ organizations
that pushed the idea that everyone in New York City should
live within ten minutes of a park or a playground. They knew
that most of the infrastructure was in place because they
lived in the communities of the City. It was a question of
priorities not resources. Neither business nor labor would
have brought that to the table.

The making of a successful green /blue alliance will require
that we look at old relationships in new ways and seek new
solutions. If we try to pretend that our desire for a new
green world will overcome all of the old contradictions all
by itself, we will relive the worst aspects of the 20th
century. This time around we need a new sustainable economy
founded on a commitment to justice, worker rights, a livable
planet and real democracy. To achieve it, we need not only to
act in new ways and form different kinds of coalitions and
working relations, but learn to listen to each other using
some old technology: our ears.

[Ed Ott has been active in labor for forty years. He is co-
founder of Urban Agenda and NYC Apollo and a Distinguished
Lecturer at the School of Professional Studies of CUNY. He
also consults for On Politics and Labor.]

This article originally appeared on the website of the Sallan
Foundation.

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