The Green Workers Alliance is an organization of more than 1,500 renewable energy workers across the country. The Alliance mobilizes current and future workers in the clean energy field to build support for green jobs policies that grow the sector and improve job quality. They are currently focusing our organizing the100,000 workers on utility-scale solar and wind projects.
The GWA strategy includes mobilizing solar and wind industry workers to campaign for renewable energy projects. For example, Ohio GWA members recently attended a hearing for the Frasier Solar Farm in Mt. Vernon, Ohio. According to Matthew Mayers Executive Director of the Green Workers Alliance, the workers showed support for the project and talked to community residents about why the project will benefit Ohio workers. After a Memorial Day weekend GWA cookout in Portsmouth, members attended a May 29 public information session for the Eastern Cottontail Solar Project in Fairfield County. GWA members spoke with project developers and union members and made plans to work together as the project approval process begins.
GWA members Levi Covington, Oscar Pineda, and Annie Covington shared their first-hand experiences on a panel about working conditions in New York’s solar industry. Cornell ILR’s Climate Jobs Institute organized the panel to introduce a new report on the challenges facing workers in the state’s solar field. The report is based on over 250 survey responses from workers (many GWA members). Levi, Oscar, and Annie brought their first-hand experiences from the field to the audience and came away with meaningful connections to further our work.
For webinar with Cornell experts and GWA solar workers: https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/climate-jobs-institute/research-and-policy/climate-jobs-institute-unveils-exploratory-study-new-york-solar-industry-0
For the report: “Exploring the Conditions of the New York Solar Workforce” https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/sites/default/files-d8/2024-04/CJI-NYS%20Solar%20Workforce%20Report_April%202024_Final.pdf
For news release on the report: https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/climate-jobs-institute/research-and-policy/climate-jobs-institute-unveils-exploratory-study-new-york-solar-industry-0