For the transition to a resilient, clean energy economy to be successful, we must build it on a foundation that provides workers with a guarantee that they will earn family-sustaining wages in safe working conditions. One of the best ways to ensure that a resilient, clean energy economy is a fair economy is to strengthen workers’ right to organize a union and negotiate higher wages and better benefits. At the same time, Congress needs to respect the contributions of coal miners and other fossil fuel workers and provide a comprehensive set of systemic supports for these workers and their communities.
Empower workers to secure good-paying, fair, and safe jobs by strengthening workers’ rights to organize a union.
Ensure federal infrastructure investments create high-quality, good-paying jobs by committing federal funding only to projects that meet high-road labor standards.
Support workers and communities most affected by the transition away from fossil fuels by establishing a National Economic Transition Office to coordinate, scale up, and target federal economic and workforce development assistance.
Address the health care needs of coal industry veterans by shoring up the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund and improving the federal benefits and services for sick miners and their families.
Build a skilled and inclusive clean energy workforce by expanding Registered Apprenticeships and developing clean energy training programs with diversity and inclusion in mind.
Protect farmworkers and construction workers from the health effects of heatwaves by directing the Secretary of Labor to establish and enforce a standard on prevention of occupational exposure to excessive heat.
Create jobs through conservation and reclamation by reestablishing the Civilian Conservation Corps, creating a Climate Resilience Service Corps, and restoring abandoned coal mines and oil and gas wells.