Unions can use the promise of a Green New Deal to turn climate negotiations into a rallying point. Some U.S. unions could start by breaking ties with polluting employers.
“There are no jobs on a dead planet,” said one union leader to those arguing unions should care only about jobs, not the Earth. But is it fair to put the cost of halting ecological devastation on the fossil-fuel economy's workers?
Just because a job’s green doesn’t mean it’s good. With everything going green—if it really is—what does that mean for our workplaces? A union-backed report by Good Jobs First cautioned that job creation in the new “green economy” often means more low-wage, low-benefit work with companies hostile to unions.