For five years, the Good Jobs, Green Jobs National Conference has attracted thousands of people from across the United States to share ideas and strategies on how to build a cleaner, greener, stronger and more prosperous economy that creates good jobs and preserves environmental security.
This year’s Conference is made up of four regional conferences being held from February to May in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Detroit.
These Conferences reflect the character and uniqueness of each regional situation and bring together thousands of labour, environmental, business, elected and community leaders working to promote, preserve, and build coalitions around the creation of green jobs. The regional conferences showcase the best and most innovative ideas and strategies in the public, private and non-profit sectors. The National Conference is an initiative presented by the BlueGreen Alliance Foundation, a non-profit organization that conducts research and educates the public and media about solutions to environmental challenges that create economic opportunities for the US people. The BlueGreen Alliance Foundation works with the BlueGreen Alliance — a national partnership of labour unions and environmental organizations dedicated to expanding the number and quality of jobs in the green economy.
The 2012 regional conferences feature two days of plenary discussions and over 40 workshops to address issues such as clean energy manufacturing, clean, more efficient transportation alternatives; youth and environmental education, and green schools; energy efficiency and managing the energy transition; making chemicals safer; emerging sectors; Zero Waste & Environmental Justice: A Just Transition to More Jobs, Less Pollution, among others.
Over the years the labour movement has forged a bond with the environmental movement through common goals and hard work. By working together, union workers and environmentalists have helped pass some of the most important environmental protection laws in the country’s history, including the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts. Some challenges however still remain in order to make these alliances stronger. Discussions at the Conferences will therefore also address how labour and environmental groups can overcome adversities to build a better future for workers, the environment, and communities.
For more information on the regional conferences visit the official page here
The decision was adopted in response to EU Commission consultation on unconventional fossil fuels in Europe
UCRUS has been working to promote recovery of wealth and quality of life through re-using materials, along with the beneficial burying of organic waste and the containment of potentially hazardous elements
The Tunisian union UGTT is coordinating a national campaign against fracking, as the government is about to sign a deal with Shell and there is a deep concern for the state of serious water stress affecting the country
Europe’s crisis is manifold: while newspapers focus on public deficits and debt, Austerity policies and wage cuts are boosting poverty and inequality in many parts of Europe
