Michigan labor leaders today launched Michigan Climate Jobs (MICJ), a coalition of labor unions centered on building careers and projects in clean energy. Michigan is the third state to announce a coalition of this kind that is guided by the principles published in a report by the Climate Jobs Institute at Cornell University.
Labor leaders gathered to announce the launch of Michigan Climate Jobs, a coalition hoping to create clean energy jobs in the state. Michigan Climate Jobs
“Today, we launched Michigan Climate Jobs to ensure a worker-led clean energy future that puts labor in the driver’s seat to lead on combating the climate crisis, making energy affordable and reliable, and protecting workers today and for generations to come,” said Ryan Bennett, chair of MICJ and President of the Michigan Pipe Trades Association. “The jobs needed to create the clean energy economy absolutely must be union jobs because it’s union jobs that will deliver family-sustaining wages, good benefits, and safety for workers.”
MICJ’s union partners represent groups in building and construction, electrical work, piping, carpentry, engineering and education, among others. The coalition’s mission is following plans and policies laid out in the Climate Jobs Institute’s “Michigan Climate Jobs Blueprint for an Equitable Clean Energy Future.” Those tenets include decarbonizing public infrastructure, upgrading the state’s energy grid and building more union careers and apprenticeships.
“Clean energy jobs are our future, and just as important, the careers they create are our future too. These projects don’t just produce energy—they produce long-term, skilled careers that allow people like me to support our families, stay in our communities and build a life with dignity and security. When these projects are built by union skilled trades, they’re done safely, professionally and in a way that creates real opportunities for the next generation,” said Natalya Craig, Operating Engineers 324 journeyperson and graduate apprentice.
Michigan is preceded new clean energy jobs coalitions formed in New Jersey and Oregon.
