The Climate, Jobs & Justice Package:
The Pro-Worker Climate Plan
Just climate action requires us all to work together—workers and their communities on the front lines of the climate crisis—hand in hand. The labor movement and the climate justice movement worked together to pass the groundbreaking Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA, 2019), creating the most aggressive climate mandates in the country. The Climate, Jobs & Justice Package (CJJP) is the next step needed to reach those climate goals.
The CJJP is a pro-worker climate plan that creates green union jobs in renewable energy, green manufacturing, clean transportation, building decarbonization, and beyond; preserves fossil fuel workers in the transition to a green economy; and tackles the climate crisis.
The Climate, Jobs & Justice Package puts workers first by:
Combatting the Race to the Bottom & the Climate Crisis with Good, Green Union Jobs
Green jobs are the future. The Climate, Jobs & Justice Package will create green, family-sustaining union jobs in manufacturing, supply chain, maintenance, operations, and construction. All programs and projects funded by public dollars through the CJJP will guarantee gold star labor standards including:
- Union prevailing wages
- Project labor agreements
- Labor peace agreements
- Buy American
- Best value responsible contracting
- Use of apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs
- Priority hire for disadvantaged communities and displaced workers
These gold star labor standards will combat the race to the bottom, delivering a just, green economy and a sustainable New York.
Investing in Career Jobs while Investing in Clean Air and Healthy Communities
The CJJP will help deliver on the CLCPA’s promise to create over 200,000 new jobs by 2030 by investing billions of dollars in renewable solar, wind, and geothermal energy; green and healthy schools, hospitals, and homes; clean transportation and expanded public transit; and more. Shifting to renewable energy will help us reach our climate goals while slashing the noxious co-pollutants that threaten the health of our communities.
Greening our buildings will double the clean energy workforce while promising cleaner air where our workers and our children learn, live, work, and play.
Investing in zero-emission transportation and expanded public transit will tackle the number two source of climate-causing emissions while better connecting New Yorkers everywhere to their friends, families, schools, libraries, grocery stores, and workplaces.
By investing in clean energy jobs, we can help our workers breathe easier – literally – knowing that they are the first line of defense in the fight for a healthier New York.
Leaving No Fossil Fuel Workers Behind
There is no climate justice when workers are left behind. The CJJP promises to invest not only in climate jobs and infrastructure, but also to put money directly in the hands of transition fossil fuel workers. This includes funding for wage replacement, pension and retirement support, job (re)training. For communities who rely on fossil fuel infrastructure for their economic development, the CJJP promises to fund lost tax revenue replacement for municipalities and school districts, expand economic development programs, and more.
Holding the Fossil Fuel Industry Accountable for the Climate Crisis
Working people are already facing the worst of the economic and climate crisis, and they should not bear the brunt of the transition to a clean energy economy. The CJJP will raise revenue by ensuring that the corporations that got us into this mess and the richest New Yorkers pay their fair share. The CJJP will also assist low- and moderate-income families to reduce the burden of energy costs while reducing emissions.