There is a significant ray of hope amid the current economic gloom: it goes by the name of green jobs. After several years of calls by advocacy groups for major public investments in a clean-energy revolution, the federal government now appears ready to include large sums for projects involving renewable energy, mass transit, energy efficiency and modernization of the nation’s electrical grid in the massive economic recovery and reinvestment plan being devised by Congress.

Green jobs are not just a short-term fix for the recession. Increasingly, these jobs are understood as central to the
future of our nation and our planet.The shift to a green economy creates an unparalleled opportunity to address not only unemployment and the climate crisis but also deeply rooted social problems such as poverty and inequality.

Decisions made today about green jobs will have profound consequences for our economy, environment, and social fabric for decades to come. Given how much is at stake, the transition must be approached with care. One of the greatest risks is that, in our haste to create a large quantity of new green jobs, we pay too little attention to their quality.

Until now, discussions of green jobs have largely assumed that these will be good, middle-class jobs. In this report we test that assumption and \nd that it is not always valid.While advocates may aspire to make every green job a good one, our examination of some existing workplaces in several environment-friendly sectors of the economy— including manufacturing of components for wind and solar energy, green construction and recycling—shows a wide variation in labor conditions. Our research reveals signi\cant challenges to achieving the dream of good green jobs, but also many opportunities.

Download High Road or Low Road? Job Quality in the New Green Economy

PDF format, 1MB, 46Pages.

Created by Good Jobs First
1616 P Street NW, Suite 210
Washington, DC 20036
202-232-1616
www.goodjobsfirst.org

Executive Director: Greg LeRoy
Lead author: PhilipMattera
Contributors: Alec Dubro,Yomas Gradel and RachelYompson; Kate Gordon and Elena Foshay of the Apollo Alliance
February 03, 2009

Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Introduction
Labor and environmentalists Rnd common ground
Manufacturing
Green job growth
Getting by with a little help from the taxpayer
Green manufacturing wages: From solidly middle-class to just scraping by
Strong standards and strict enforcement deliver high wages
Ye role of unions in raising labor standards
ClipperWindpower and DMI Industries: Green union-busters?
Gamesa: A green labor partner
OPshoring green manufacturing jobs
Construction
Green construction job opportunities and challenges
LEED: Setting the platinum standard (except for workers)
Comfort Systems: Putting a leash on worker organizing?
Gerding Edlen: Leading by example
Weatherization: Creating jobs while cutting energy bills
Waste Management
Community Recycling and Resource Recovery Inc.: Taking the recycling low road
Norcal:Where hard, dirty work pays
Green jobs behind bars
Freight Transportation
Conclusion and Policy Options
Appendix: Clean energy and green jobs in the stimulus bill
Endnotes

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