More news from the front lines of climate change, this time in the Bronx, where Local 3, IBEW took part in a press conference supporting the “Green Transit, Green Jobs” bill currently in committee in the New York State Senate and Assembly. The press conference, which took place on March 7th at West Farms Bus Depot right off the Cross Bronx Expressway, featured the labor, transportation, and environmental advocacy groups that make up the ElectrifyNY statewide coalition as well as Assembly members Jeffrey Dinowitz and Karina Reyes and State Senator Luis Sepúlveda. Bronx Business Representative Benjamin Arana spoke on behalf of Local 3.
The “Green Transit, Green Jobs” bill would require public transit authorities, such as the MTA, to purchase only zero-emission (i.e., non-fossil fuel combustion) buses by 2029, while at the same time using a “best value” contracting framework to ensure that these procurements create good-paying union jobs in the manufacturing and transportation sectors. Currently, less than one percent of New York’s 6,000 buses are electric, and the transition to a 100-percent electric bus fleet could create over 6,100 direct and 21,500 indirect jobs in the bus manufacturing industry. The IBEW was one of seven labor unions representing thousands of workers across the state to sign a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul urging her to include the “Green Transit, Green Jobs” bill in the 2024-2025 Executive Budget, which the State Senate and Assembly must approve by April 1st, hence the urgency. Click here now to send a letter to Governor Hochul in support of the "Green Transit, Green Jobs" bill.
A week prior, Local 3 joined our labor and environmental allies in the Carbon-Free and Healthy Schools Campaign at a rally outside City Hall on March 1st. Public and private-sector unions in the Climate Jobs New York coalition demonstrated support for a new bill (Int. No. 353) proposed by City Council member Sandy Nurse and 11 co-sponsors that would mandate the installation of 100 megawatts (MW) of solar (photovoltaic) energy systems on schools and city-owned buildings by 2025 and 150 MW by 2030. On the same day, the Climate Jobs NY coalition added testimony in support of the bill during a hearing of the City Council’s Committee on Environmental Protection, Resiliency, and Waterfronts.
