Urban Agenda - Updates

Update — May 2010

Dear colleagues,

In honor of May Day, we celebrate the tremendous contribution working people bring to our economy and recognize the daunting task ahead of us to ensure that everyone has access to good jobs that are safe, pay family sustaining wages, provides benefits and real career pathways. One of the main reasons Urban Agenda entered into a strategic partnership with NY Jobs with Justice was we recognized that pooling resources and aligning efforts would make us more effective in the fight for good jobs and sustainable communities.

Please join us on June 10th as we celebrate the partnership of our two organizations. We are happy to announce that Comptroller John Liu will be giving the keynote address. The event will be held at the Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies, CUNY, 25 West 43rd Street, 18th Floor from 8:30am-11am. A scrumptious breakfast will be served. Register online, or for ticket and sponsorship information, please contact me at 212.701.9488 or at joanne[at]urbanagenda.org.

Happy Spring!

In Solidarity,

Joanne Derwin
Director

Urban Agenda and New York Jobs with Justice Urge New York City Charter Commission to "Go Slow, Get it Right"

Urban Agenda and NY Jobs with Justice, alongside other community, labor and public policy advocates, testified before the New York City Charter Commission's final first round public hearing on Tuesday, April 20th, urging the Commission not to rush through with revisions to the Charter. The two groups argued the necessity of having an unhurried and comprehensive review of the Charter given the significant impact any revision will have on the economic, environmental and social well-being of the city.

The reach of New York City's Charter goes far beyond simply setting out the governing rules for the city. The Charter touches on everything from how much power is vested in local governing bodies, such as the borough presidents and community boards, to city land use planning.

The last substantive charter revision was in 1989 and took three years to complete. Yet, the current Charter Revision Commission was only appointed not quite three months ago and already hopes to complete its mandate by September. This timeframe is too short for meaningful exploration of possible charter revisions. In fact, the first series of public hearings were organized in less than a month and with minimal public notice.

For more information on the charter revision process and how to tell the commission to "Go Slow, Get it Right," please visit: www.urbanagenda.org/citycharter.htm.

Good Jobs/Green Jobs Conference

This year's Good Jobs Green Jobs conference was held in Washington, D.C. from May 4-6. The conference, organized by the Blue Green Alliance, offered a unique opportunity to learn from hundreds of speakers and to connect with thousands of participants on how to move forward into a new economy based on good, green jobs. The panels covered a wide array of topics, from building a green workforce, to financing a green economy, to using the green economy to provide jobs in traditionally disenfranchised communities. Speakers and participants came from all over the country representing labor unions, environmental groups, social justice and environmental justice groups, political groups, and more.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator John Kerry both spoke to the rising tide of the green economy. Many labor and environmental leaders spoke to the strengthened relationship between these groups that has grown out of the good green jobs movement. More information on the conference can be found at: www.greenjobsconference.org.

The People's World Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth

The People's World Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, took place April 19-22nd in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The conference was a response from the developing nations of the world to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, commonly known as COP15. The People's World Conference called for more direct and urgent action by international leaders to address the adverse affects of climate change. Over 30,000 people attended the conference and 150 countries were represented.

Eighteen Working Groups were formed in order to address a plethora of concerns that impact a variety of communities across the globe. Working group categories included: Structural Causes, Harmony with Nature, Mother Earth Rights, Referendum, Climate Justice Tribunal, Climate Migrants, Indigenous Peoples, Climate Debt, Shared Vision, Kyoto Protocol, Adaptation, Financing, Technology Transfer, Forest, Dangers of Carbon Market, Action Strategies and Agriculture and Food Sovereignty.

The final version of the People's Accord produced is available in English and Spanish, and was submitted to The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on April 26, 2010 by the Bolivian government. NY Jobs with Justice Organizer Jameelah Muhammad was a participant in the Action Strategies Working Group. Other members of the New York state delegation included: Sustainable Flatbush, Citizen's Committee for NYC, CUNY Graduate Center, Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association, LIUNA Laborers Local 10, WeAct for Environmental Justice, Mothers on the Move, The Pratt Center for Community Development, SEIU 1199, American Indian Community House, Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation, New York State Apollo Alliance, Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, Northwest Bronx Community Clergy Coalition, Green Retrofit Co-op, and People United for Sustainable Housing.

To read more about the conference and review the official submission and final documents to the UNFCC visit pwccc.wordpress.com. A complete conference report back will take place May 24th at 7pm @ Bluestockings: Bookstore, Fair Trade Cafe, and Activist Center, www.bluestockings.com.

Bronx Green Jobs Roundtable

On April 7, over 100 participants attended the Bronx Green Jobs Roundtable. The Bronx Roundtable is a localized example of implementing Urban Agenda's New York City Roundtable. The Bronx Roundtable is a result of a grassroots initiative within the borough to ensure "green" development is good development that benefits Bronx workers and addressing the longstanding environmental injustices in the Borough. The Roundtable had breakout sessions that addressed: Small Business & Industry development; Local Food Justice; Air & Water; Remediation; Housing; Energy and Job Training.

The roundtable include organizers included: The Point, Sustainable South Bronx, Bronx Community College Center for Sustainability, the Osborne Association, Goodwill Industries, Mothers on the Move, the Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition, Green Workers Cooperative, Local 10, the Mary Mitchell Center, Youth Ministries for Peace & Justice, Urban Agenda, the Consortium for Workers' Education and Congressman Serrano's office.

The Roundtable breakout sessions will continue to meet and develop recommendations for a larger convening later this year, aiming at bringing 2,000 people together to discuss green jobs in the Bronx.

For more information, please visit: www.bronxgreenjobs.org.

EPA Considering Relaxing Safety Standards for Toxins in Public Schools

On Tuesday, May 4th, parents, scientists and officials confronted the federal Environmental Protection Agency at a hearing on whether to relax safety standards for toxins in public schools. A recent New York Daily News investigation found that PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) in the caulking of several public schools were at levels thousands of times higher that what is considered safe.

The EPA is considering scheduling more hearings in the evenings so that parents and other stakeholders can have more meaningful participation in the process. They will be announcing whether or not they add more dates and times for hearings in the coming weeks. In the meantime, written comments can be provided until July 6th to:

Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: Document Control Office (7407M), Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NNW., Washington, DC 20460-0001.

Please submit your comments, identified by docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2009-0757.

For more information, please see this NY Daily News article.

And contact Gigi Gazon, Community Organizer, EJ Program, the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, ggazon[at]nylpi.org.

Resources

ubmission to the UN Universal Periodic Review April 2010 on Right To Work
www.hrpujc.org/documents/HumanRighttoWorkClusterReportFinal.pdf.
New York City's Green Dividend (CEOs for Cities, April 2010).
www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/nyc_greendividend_april2010.pdf.
Energy Democracy: Community-Scale Green Energy Solutions (Center for Social Inclusion, April 2010).
www.centerforsocialinclusion.org/files/2010/04/Energy-Democracy-Report-WEB.pdf.
Making Green Work: Best Practices in Green-Collar Job Training (Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Oakland Apollo Alliance, April 2010).
www.ellabakercenter.org/downloads/gcjc/making-green-work.pdf.