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Update — February 2009
The New Apollo Program, the Economic Stimulus and NYCPublic Forum Discusses How Federal Level Action Could Affect New Yorkers and the CityPresident Obama's economic stimulus plan promises billions of dollars to slow the economic downturn and create jobs. New York City, which has been hit especially hard by the financial crisis is in urgent need of stimulus dollars to tackle a $4 billion deficit and looming budget cuts that will severely affect healthcare, education, human services and the workforce. A public forum, convened on February 2nd by the New York City Apollo Alliance, examined areas that would most benefit from stimulus funding to ensure that the City becomes more economically, and environmentally, sustainable. NYC Apollo is urging that Congress pay particular attention to the types of jobs that will be generated as we move towards a 'cleaner, greener' economy. "It's not enough to just create 'green' jobs. We need 'green-collar' jobs that pay family sustaining wages, provide benefits and offer opportunities for career advancement. Without this, we will see the emergence of an underclass of workers employed in green jobs, but unable to make their way into the middle class," said Mijin Cha, director of campaign research at Urban Agenda, convener of NYC Apollo. The point was underscored by Jerome Ringo, president of the national Apollo Alliance, who introduced the New Apollo Program, a bold economic investment plan that seeks to build on America's strengths – 'our infrastructure, workforce, entrepreneurship, and can-do spirit'. The plan has been gaining momentum in Washington since it was made public in September 2008 – "in fact, much of the federal stimulus package echoes what we're saying," said Ringo. Read the full press release. Green Collar Jobs Roundtable Campaign - Quick UpdateAt the first meeting in June 2008, the Roundtable identified several critical issues that must be addressed to develop a workforce development Roadmap for green collar jobs. Based on this input, the Roundtable broke into six Working Groups, five of which are drafting a section of the Roadmap, while the sixth focuses on developing a political strategy to target city-based elected officials. All groups are cross-thematically addressing five emerging green collar sectors in the city: transportation, energy, urban forestry, green product development, and environmental monitoring and remediation. The Roundtable is making excellent progress. As of January 2009, it has involved 170 partners – of these, 21% are labor unions, 20% are workforce development or education providers, 16% are businesses, and 14% are community-based, environmental justice, or faith-based organizations. Also represented are advocacy and environmental organizations, several foundations, and 12 city or state government agencies. The Current Landscape, and Training Working Groups have completed detailed draft outlines of the first two sections of the Roadmap with critical information on our present workforce development system, analysis of high-growth green job titles and recommendations for expanding and enhancing green collar training and certification. The Outreach and Political Strategy Working Group has begun communicating with City Council staff to identify key City Council members to move the Roadmap in the Spring. The Employer Working Group is rolling out an online survey for green companies that will gather more workforce data and identify employers' workforce development needs. Lastly, the Target Populations Working Group is in the process of compiling best practice and case studies on linking community-based job-readiness, pre-employment and wraparound programs with the green training system. For more information on the Green Collar Jobs Roundtable Campaign, check out the Green Collar Jobs Roundtable Blog. SPOTLIGHT
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