It is hard to imagine that there will be any substantial Green Job creation in Buffalo without union involvement, if for no other reason than a substantial number of jobs means a considerable voting block which someone would like to control. There are, no doubt, some people who oppose either unions or the political impact of organized labor or both who are disturbed by this statement. However, the survival of unions in the green economy will depend on their ability to adapt as much as management has to.
It is important to understand that the labor union movement in Buffalo was motivated by the same heinous abuses of workers that spurred its growth elsewhere. Those companies and industries where the workers were subjected to unsafe conditions spawned organizations to protect them when the owners would not. The saloon bosses who brokered the labor didn’t care about the safety of their men any more than the owners did, so it was up to the men to organize and protect themselves. One of the first groups to do this was the Marine Engineer's Beneficial Association was born in 1854 in Buffalo, as a response to an increasing number of shipboard fires, and explosions due to increasing boiler pressures.
Over time, the role of the unions increased from just protecting the individual to protecting the families of the members as well. This effectively drove the expansion of the benefits packages available to non-union workers to include health benefits for the family and pension benefits for widows. The political power of organized labor also drove the creation of laws which mandated worker safety in places where unions weren’t in place to protect workers.
Interestingly, it was an environmental-labor coalition that successfully lobbied for both the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Clean Air Act of 1970. In subsequent years, there was a falling out over the misconception that environmental protection means fewer American jobs. But the idea of Green Jobs to rebuild the economy and reduce the greenhouse gases is something that both organized labor and environmentalists can both support.
In 2006 the Sierra Club and the United Steelworkers began the Blue-Green Alliance with the slogan “Good Jobs, A Clean Environment and a Safer World.” This coalition is, in part, why all the major political candidates are advocating green jobs regardless of political affiliation. It is also why the major labor unions, who have stayed away from the Global Warming issue, met in Pittsburg at the Good Jobs, Green Jobs: A national Green Jobs Conference earlier this month.
In the first article in this series, I made some suggestions on how local government could shape the market to make Green Jobs more profitable now, rather than waiting for other market forces to do it. The effect of this is to give businesses in the city a jump on establishing markets and investing in infrastructure. The political power of organized labor, particularly in a city like Buffalo, could make changing laws to support Green Jobs politically viable.
This is a bit of a change in the role of organized labor. They must become an advocate for Green Business which encompasses the economic, social and environmental well being of the city. This makes workers in the Green Economy more than just organized labor; they are de facto environmental and community advocates. They have to be all three because it is the combination that drives the Green Economy and supports their jobs. This is also the next step up from advocating for families, advocating for the community as a whole.
This puts labor-management issues in a different light and is what I mentioned in the previous article. Corporations are legal individuals who are not personally affected by decisions to move the jobs to another country or pollute the environment. In those places which have venture capital for Sustainable/Green Jobs, one of the criteria is a role for labor in management of the company. This formal role cements the company into the community because the workers who would be affected by moving the jobs or polluting the environment where they live become part of the decision making process. They are more likely to resist these kinds of business decisions that hurt their community. Since the entrepreneurs who found Sustainable/Green Companies should be in it because they feel this same responsibility for environment and community as much as they are in it for the money, there should be a much more collaborative work atmosphere between labor and management.
One reader of the first of this series asked who to contact to make the kinds of changes that government could make to make Green Business more profitable, thus creating more Green Jobs. The sad reality is that one person or even a dozen contacting the Mayor and their Common Council representatives won’t make much impact, even with specific suggestions for change. However, if just one of the major unions in the city made contact with them, there would be some serious discussion. So, in answer to that question, I suggest contacting your local union rep if you want to see Green Jobs developed in Buffalo.