Generated by All in One SEO Pro v5.0.1, this is an llms-full.txt file, used by LLMs to index the site. # Jobs to Move America Jobs to Move America ## Posts ### [Study: Prison labor could be suppressing Montgomery-area automotive wages](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/2025/11/study-prison-labor-could-be-suppressing-montgomery-area-automotive-wages/) **Published:** November 24, 2025 **Author:** Hailey Allen **Content:** Mark Miller worked a dangerous job for more than four decades, but he said he’d never gotten hurt at work until his employment with an automotive supplier in Montgomery. In two years with the company, he broke his hand and four ribs in two separate accidents. Miller said he received no safety training before being charged with running production lines for vehicle consoles and dash components, and employees were constantly dodging forklifts whizzing by at full speed, carrying parts from trucks to assembly lines. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [America’s Fight to Create Good Jobs with Federal Money](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/2024/04/americas-fight-to-create-good-jobs-with-federal-money/) **Published:** April 2, 2024 **Author:** Web **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/CA-workforce-mtg-group-pic-1-1024x768.jpg "CA-workforce-mtg-group-pic-1 - Jobs to Move America")**By Emily Gartenberg** In the 1980s, the Reagan Administration created a set of guidelines, called the [Uniform Guidance](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200?toc=1), which dictate how local and state governments can use federal grant funding. Under this guidance, cities and states are deterred from putting policies in place that create family-sustaining jobs for working people like targeted hiring, setting incentives or requirements for good wages and benefits, or workforce development programs. These guidelines are major roadblocks in local and state governments’ ability to implement policies that support their communities. **But in California and nationally, the tides are turning.** In February, the California Legislature took a stand–led by Sen. Maria Elena Durazo–in urging the federal government to update these restrictive guidelines by passing [Senate Joint Resolution 5](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SJR5). By passing this resolution, California’s state leaders are calling for much-needed flexibility in how the state can spend federal funds to best support local residents. This resolution comes at a critical time in a long-standing national campaign to modernize the Uniform Guidance. After years of advocacy from members of the [Local Opportunities Coalition](https://localopportunities.org/), including Jobs to Move America, and state leaders like the California Legislature, the federal office that oversees the Uniform Guidance has proposed major improvements to the guidelines. **It will be unveiling the updated guidance at** [**an event this Thursday**](https://gsa.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_3TawJmRNST-0hPNLB4JM3g#/registration)**, and we anticipate many of the changes we have advocated for will be included. ​​​​​These changes encourage cities and states to take job quality, racial equity, and community benefits into account when using federal funds. The updates include provisions that allow recipients to incentivize the creation of quality jobs in their contracts, promote greater racial and gender equity in spending, and remove the ban on geographic preferences (which had prevented states and cities from requiring local hire and sourcing). **But the work doesn’t stop here. Once the proposed changes are finalized, it’s up to California’s leaders to embed these tools across the state’s work for all federal and state-funded projects.** Last week, we asked state leaders to do just that. Along with a coalition of community, environmental and labor groups, we took over the public comment portion of the California Workforce Development Board’s meeting to demand the state attach strong labor standards to the billions the state stands to receive from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), and CHIPS and Science Act. This is a pivotal time for action: without strong conditions on federal funding, this huge raft of money will go to creating low-quality jobs for workers. We’re basically letting money slip through our fingers. **We must seize this opportunity to ensure this historic federal investment uplifts workers and their communities.** **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [The South keeps Winning](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/2023/04/the-south-keeps-winning/) **Published:** April 23, 2023 **Author:** Web **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Volkswagen_union_election-1.jpeg "Volkswagen_union_election-1 - Jobs to Move America")**By Troy Washington** Last week, workers at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, TN made history by overwhelmingly voting to join the United Automobile Workers—making the shop the [only unionized foreign-owned auto plant in the South](https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/uaw-clinches-watershed-union-victory-volkswagen-tennessee-factory-2024-04-20/). This victory comes on the heels of the exciting progress at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Alabama, where a majority of workers [signed cards in support of UAW](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/March-2024-Newsletter-1.pdf), putting them on the path of unionization. **We’ll say it again:** [**Don’t count out the South.**](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0uAIcBs0qL/) Jobs to Move America has been working in the South for years to reverse the trend of companies viewing the region as a source of cheap, non-union labor, which upholds the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow. Poverty in the state is high, as well as other markers of poor quality of life, even as companies there are flush with [billions in state tax subsidies](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/the-hidden-costs-of-alabamas-tax-incentives/). But unionization—as well as [community benefits agreements](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/community-benefits-agreements/), like the one we signed with [New Flyer](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/major-electric-vehicle-manufacturer-signs-first-multi-state-agreement-with-community-and-civil-rights-group-for-equitable-hiring-and-good-jobs/)—gives workers a voice and leverage on the job and tips the scales in favor of regular people. And it’s contagious: if workers in Chattanooga get a great contract, a big raise, better health benefits, and then the same thing at Mercedes, there will be a lot more good opportunities to win good contracts in short order. **And, this continuing momentum—led by Black workers—could travel beyond the auto industry.** As Jennifer Epps pointed out in [Nonprofit Quarterly,](https://nonprofitquarterly.org/why-philanthropy-must-support-labor-justice/?utm_content=290001976&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&hss_channel=tw-61206610) workers of color made up 100 percent of union growth in 2022, with Black workers with the highest rates of unionization nationwide. We’re seeing unprecedented investments in manufacturing across the country, leading to an electric vehicle boom. But too often, workers aren’t seeing their share of this wealth. It’s time to reverse that by ensuring this burgeoning industry creates good jobs that uplift families and communities. Next, the work begins to win a good contract, which is the hard part. But workers in the South have done harder things. We know they won’t stop and we won’t either. **JMA spoke to the New York Times about this important victory. Read more** [**here**](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/20/business/economy/uaw-union-future.html)**.** **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [A Call to Action we can't Ignore](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/2023/06/a-call-to-action-we-cant-ignore/) **Published:** June 18, 2023 **Author:** Web **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Image_20240618_155817_992-1-1-1024x1024.jpeg "Image_20240618_155817_992-1-1 - Jobs to Move America")**By Troy Washington** Juneteenth has been special to many Black communities before becoming a federal holiday in 2021. It marks the day June 19, 1865, when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas learned they were free and had been for a while. Since I was born in Galveston, Texas—just blocks from where Union General Gordon Granger arrived to share the news of “freedom”—I heard the story from my grandfather often. Even though the message took two years to reach the shores of Galveston, after the Civil War and the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, the people there dropped everything to rejoice. From then on “Juneteenth” became a tradition rooted in parades, festivals, and pageants. As a former Juneteenth queen and festival board member in my hometown of El Campo, Texas, I can acknowledge that growing up I didn’t understand the value of reuniting with relatives each June, but now I understand the true essence of the words “from whence we come.” The recently ratified union contract at New Flyer in Anniston, Alabama, combined with the community benefits agreement with the company negotiated by JMA and the Greater Birmingham Ministries, is a step towards healing one of the communities that has deep scars from racism. Anniston is the site of the Ku Klux Klan attack on a Freedom Riders bus in 1961, as well as Monsanto’s poisoning of the city’s mostly Black residents for over four decades. The new union contract and the community benefits agreement creates opportunities for Black residents to get good union jobs making electric buses in their communities—and shows us that healing and progress are possible if we act strongly and together. As we prepare to observe the holiday with a day off from work, we must give some real thought to continuing the healing process. From Texas to Alabama and Mississippi, and every state in between, there’s still work to be done. Juneteenth marks the final news of the abolishment of slavery but it doesn’t erase the oppression still being experienced today. In 2024, we are still working to dismantle the legacy of slavery. We see this now in the form of incarcerated workers working long hours for little pay and in other forms of systemic racism. In my eyes, Juneteenth is more than a holiday but rather a moment in history and a reminder of the ongoing struggle for justice and equality. My connection to Galveston, Texas, where Juneteenth originated, adds a deep resonance to my reflection of the day. Juneteenth is a day of commemoration—but let’s remember the call to action we can’t ignore. It is my sincerest hope that as we rejoice and relax tomorrow, let’s take time to reflect on shaping freedom for all. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Ahead of Grand Opening, Coalition Calls for Community Benefits Agreement With Lion Electric ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/2023/07/ahead-of-grand-opening-coalition-calls-for-community-benefits-agreement-with-lion-electric/) **Published:** July 28, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** **Contact: JMA: Lauren LaBorde **Ahead of Grand Opening, Coalition Calls for Community Benefits Agreement With Lion Electric** *The Good Jobs Joliet (GJJ) coalition calls on Lion to commit to creating quality jobs at its new facility.* **JOLIET, IL –** As Lion Electric officially opens its new manufacturing facility in Joliet, Illinois, a growing coalition of community members is calling on the electric vehicle company to negotiate a community benefits agreement (CBA) and commit to creating good jobs and investing in the community. The Canadian manufacturer of electric school buses and other heavy-duty vehicles already stands to benefit from over $85 million in public funding—$31.4 million in approved purchase orders under the U.S. EPA Clean School Bus Program; $46.1 million in California HVIP voucher requests; and more than $8 million in approved tax breaks from Illinois and municipalities\*, with even more on the way. Since starting production in Joliet, Lion has been hiring workers through a temporary staff agency, not providing tool training for new hires, and offering starting hourly wages of $18-$21, comparable to wages at Amazon’s Joliet warehouses\*\*. “We’ve seen other big companies like Amazon come into our community, get millions in our tax money, and in return clog our roads, pollute our air, and give us temp jobs and low wages,” said Betsy Satcher, President of the Eastside Neighborhood Council. “We hope Lion can be different by making real commitments to good jobs, training and a healthier community, especially for Joliet’s Black and brown residents.” “United Auto Workers (UAW) is committed to making all auto manufacturing jobs good jobs. As the EV transition ramps up, it’s unacceptable to see these new companies like Lion Electric come in, receive millions in tax breaks, and fail to do the right thing for communities and workers,” said Brandon W. Campbell, director of UAW Region 4. “UAW is proud to stand with our partners calling for a community benefits agreement that makes sure these are good jobs, accessible to everyone, where workers’ right to organize is respected.” The Good Jobs Joliet Coalition calls on Lion to negotiate a CBA that ensures: - A community hiring program targets groups that face barriers to good manufacturing jobs including people of color, women and formerly incarcerated people - High-quality training that allows workers to do their jobs safely and earn an industry-recognized credential - A fair process for workers to choose a union to solidify quality pay, benefits and workplace safety Jobs Move America, part of the coalition, has negotiated agreements at electric vehicle manufacturers including [BYD](https://www.avpress.com/news/jobs-firm-byd-extend-benefits-agreement/article_f2649000-f4a5-11ea-b779-236d0e32b7a2.html) and most recently, [New Flyer](https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/05/26/new-flyer-benefits-bus-equity/). The CBA at BYD created a first-of-its-kind [training program](https://www.thefourth-revolution.com/news/20-graduate-from-byd-and-smarts-manufacturing-apprenticeship-program/) to prepare workers for the electric vehicle industry. **About Good Jobs Joliet (**[facebook.com/GoodJobsJoliet](https://www.facebook.com/GoodJobsJoliet/)**)** Good Jobs Joliet is a growing coalition of community members and groups working to win good jobs in Will County, Illinois. **About Jobs to Move America (**[jobstomoveamerica.org](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/)) Jobs to Move America is a strategic policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior using a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justice and community organizing. We seek to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. \### \* *$31.4 million in approved purchase orders under the EPA Clean School Bus Program (6/14/23); $8 million in approved tax breaks from Illinois and municipalities (IL Edge Tax Credit Agreement, 4/29/21; June-July 2021 Property Tax Abatement Agreements with Will County, City of Joliet, Troy and Minooka school districts); $46.1 million in CA HVIP voucher funding requests, including redeemed and unredeemed vouchers, as of 6/30/23.* \*\* *Information about temporary agency hiring, lack of tools training, and wage rates stated to GJJ representatives during visit to Lion facility on 7/11/23; from Proman Staffing Automotive Assembler Job Ad, 7/20/2023; and from Amazon Joliet, IL Fulfillment Center Warehouse Associate Job Ad, 7/20/2023.* **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Larry Hodge](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/2021/05/larry-hodge/) **Published:** May 27, 2021 **Author:** Web **Content:** Larry is a lifelong resident of Alabama where he has worked in both the manufacturing and construction industries. He has personally experienced the challenges and barriers that people of color and other marginalized workers face in the south. He has worked both union and non-union jobs in manufacturing and the construction industries. After becoming active in the Carpenters’ Union, he served as Conductor, Recording Secretary, and was Job Steward for over 14 years. He was elected delegate to the Alabama Carpenters Regional Council and later hired as an organizer where he served for three years. Larry is passionate about fighting for worker rights and is excited about being a part of the work that JMA is doing. He is committed to empowering workers with the confidence and courage to stand up and win the fight for equity and inclusion. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ## Pages ### [Home](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/) **Published:** July 11, 2023 **Author:** Web **Content:** Public Goods for the Most Public Good --- ### [Donate](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/donate/) **Published:** December 12, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** ## Help Move America Did you know that our federal, state and city governments spend a combined $2 trillion per year purchasing goods and services to keep our country running? Jobs to Move America believes in the power of these public dollars to foster a cleaner environment and fair jobs in the communities that need them most. Your support will help us empower workers and communities by funding research, communications, policy work, and community organizing to transform public purchasing for the most public good. Join us in building an equitable society where our air is clean, our infrastructure is sound, and every job is a good one. $ Donation Amount: - $25 - $50 - 100 - $250 - $500 - Custom Amount Make this donation monthly Select Payment Method - Stripe – Credit Card Personal Info First Name \* Last Name Is this donation on behalf of a company?- No - Yes Company Name Email Address \* Make this an anonymous donation. Comment Credit Card Info This is a secure SSL encrypted payment. Card Number \* CVC \* Cardholder Name \* Expiration \* Billing Details Country \* United StatesCanadaUnited KingdomAfghanistanAlbaniaAlgeriaAmerican SamoaAndorraAngolaAnguillaAntarcticaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBermudaBhutanBoliviaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBouvet IslandBrazilBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBrunei DarrussalamBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCape VerdeCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaChristmas IslandCocos IslandsColombiaComorosCongo, Democratic People's RepublicCongo, Republic ofCook IslandsCosta RicaCote d'IvoireCroatia/HrvatskaCubaCuraçaoCyprus IslandCzech RepublicDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEast TimorEcuadorEgyptEquatorial GuineaEl SalvadorEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFalkland IslandsFaroe IslandsFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabonGambiaGeorgiaGermanyGreeceGhanaGibraltarGreenlandGrenadaGuadeloupeGuamGuatemalaGuernseyGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHeard and McDonald IslandsHoly See (City Vatican State)HondurasHong KongHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIranIraqIrelandIsle of ManIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanJerseyJordanKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKuwaitKyrgyzstanLao People's Democratic RepublicLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyan Arab JamahiriyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacauMacedoniaMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMarshall IslandsMartiniqueMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMexicoMicronesiaMoldova, Republic ofMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMontserratMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNiueNorfolk IslandNorth KoreaNorthern Mariana IslandsNorwayOmanPakistanPalauPalestinian TerritoriesPanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPitcairn IslandPolandPortugalPuerto RicoQatarReunion IslandRomaniaRussian FederationRwandaSaint HelenaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint Pierre and MiquelonSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSlovak RepublicSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth GeorgiaSouth KoreaSpainSri LankaSudanSurinameSvalbard and Jan Mayen IslandsEswatiniSwedenSwitzerlandSyrian Arab RepublicTaiwanTajikistanTanzaniaTogoTokelauTongaThailandTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUruguayUS Minor Outlying IslandsUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuelaVietnamVirgin Islands (British)Virgin Islands (USA)Wallis and Futuna IslandsWestern SaharaWestern SamoaYemenYugoslaviaZambiaZimbabwe Address 1 \* Address 2 City \* State \* AlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingAmerican SamoaCanal ZoneCommonwealth of the Northern Mariana IslandsFederated States of MicronesiaGuamMarshall IslandsNorthern Mariana IslandsPalauPhilippine IslandsPuerto RicoTrust Territory of the Pacific IslandsVirgin IslandsArmed Forces – AmericasArmed Forces – Europe, Canada, Middle East, AfricaArmed Forces – Pacific Zip / Postal Code \* Subscribe to our newsletter Donation Total: $100.00 One Time To donate by check, please make payment out to Jobs to Move America and mail to: Jobs to Move America Attn: Sarina Mohan 525 S Hewitt St. Los Angeles, CA 90013 For any questions, email . Jobs to Move America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (Tax ID# 815339041). All donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. A copy of our latest financial reports can be found [here](https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/). --- ### [Slider-Header-Test](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/slider-header-test/) **Published:** August 20, 2026 **Author:** Web **Content:** # 2026 AL Learning Trip We invite you to join Jobs to Move America for our fourth Alabama Learning Trip, October 5th-9th, an immersive opportunity to see our work in the South up close. [SIGN UP](/2026-alabama-learning-trip/) # Who We Are Jobs to Move America is a strategic policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior using a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justice and community organizing. We seek to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. [EXPLORE JMA](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/mission-vision-values/) # Resources Explore JMA’s research, reports, and tools advancing good jobs, equitable development, and stronger communities. [OUR REPORTS](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/) # JMA # Public goods for the most public good ##### prev ##### next ##### / # /0{{total\_slide\_count}} # 0{{current\_slide\_index}} ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() --- ### [Our Staff](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/our-staff/) **Published:** March 13, 2026 **Author:** Web **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/staff-top.jpg "staff-top - Jobs to Move America")Jobs to Move America is a national organization with 60 staff members supporting programs in Alabama, California, Georgia, Illinois, Nebraska, New York and Washington, DC. Our work is led by teams who live and organize in the places they serve. Kassie Beyer **Midwest Director** Ian Elder **National Director** Theo Figurasin **Assistant Director** **Western States** Teto (Héctor) Huezo **Director Western States** Madeline Janis, Esq. **Executive Director** Alaa Milbes **Communications Director** Troy Newsome **Assistant Director, Communications** Miranda Nelson **Deputy Executive Director** Julia Portillo **Finance and Operations Director** Melanie Jamilah Prasad, Esq. **General Counsel and Policy Director** Malou Robas **Human Resources Director** Eric Romann **Northeast Director** Meredith Stewart, Esq. **Litigation Director** Maria Svart **Deputy Executive Director** Will Tucker **Southern Program Director** Sarina Mohan **Director of Philanthropy & Partnerships** Haeden Wright **Assistant Director, Southern Campaigns** --- ### [2026 Alabama Learning Trip](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/2026-alabama-learning-trip/) **Published:** February 28, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/IMG_0516-1024x768.jpg "IMG_0516 - Jobs to Move America")We invite you to join Jobs to Move America for our **fourth Alabama Learning Trip**, October 5th-9th, an immersive opportunity to see our work in the South up close. As the political and economic climate continues to shift, workers and communities across the region are organizing to protect their rights and livelihoods in the face of rapidly expanding corporate power. During the trip, you’ll meet the people leading these efforts and see firsthand how JMA partners with workers and community leaders to secure community benefits agreements that create good jobs, strengthen communities, and protect the environment. Join us for a powerful opportunity to learn directly from the communities shaping a more just and sustainable economy in the Deep South. Interested? You can join our info session to learn more, or fill out the form and check out our flyer below to get more information. #### **Alabama Trip Interest Form** [2026 AL Learning Trip\_JMA\_Oct5-9\_one pager (2)](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/2026-AL-Learning-Trip_JMA_Oct5-9_one-pager-2.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/2026-AL-Learning-Trip_JMA_Oct5-9_one-pager-2.pdf) --- ### [RevSlider Page 1](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/revslider-page-1/) **Published:** July 8, 2026 **Author:** Web **Content:** --- ### [JMA Email Signature Generator](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/jma-email-signature-generator/) **Published:** April 7, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** First name + last name + pronouns (optional: add name pronunciation) Job Title Phone Number (use periods e.g. 123.456.7890 — you may also use the JMA main line 424.704.5947) City, State Optional note (e.g., time zone, working hours) Copy SignatureAfter copying, paste into Gmail → Settings → Signature **Preview** --- ### [Newsletters](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/newsletters/) **Published:** November 14, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** ### **2026 Newsletters** [Our Lawsuit Seeking Accountability From Micron](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/?p=38654) [The Community Benefits Solution: We Must Act Now](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/The-Community-Benefits-Solution_-Why-We-Must-Act-Now.pdf) ### 2025 Newsletters [The Promised Land lies in continuing the work](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/The-Promised-Land-lies-in-continuing-the-work.pdf) [Rising from the ashes](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Rising-from-the-ashes.pdf) [Celebrating Women in Manufacturing: Honoring the Past, Empowering the Future](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Celebrating-Women-in-Manufacturing_-Honoring-the-Past-Empowering-the-Future.pdf) [Black History Month 2025: Honoring Black Labor and Uplifting Black Voices](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Black-History-Month-2025-Honoring-Black-Labor-and-Uplifting-Black-Voices.pdf) [Maria Svart: Our New Deputy Executive Director on the Choice Before Us](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Our-New-Deputy-Executive-Director-on-the-Choice-Before-Us.pdf) [Environmental Justice and Good Jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Environmental-justice-and-good-jobs-email-April-10.pdf) [Bring Kilmar Home](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Bring-Kilmar-Home.pdf) [Companies Should Think Twice about Rolling Back Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Face of Presidential Attacks](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Jobs-to-Move-America-Mail-Companies-should-think-twice-about-rolling-back-DEI.pdf) [Solidarity with David Huerta and All Immigrant Workers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Jobs-to-Move-America-Mail-Solidarity-with-David-Huerta-and-All-Immigrant-Workers.pdf) [Juneteenth is a promise—we’re here to deliver! Freedom is the floor, not the ceiling.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Jobs-to-Move-America-Mail-Juneteenth-is-a-promise—were-here-to-deliver-Freedom-is-the-floor-not-the-ceiling_.pdf) [Reclaiming Pride as Resistance](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Jobs-to-Move-America-Mail-Reclaiming-Pride-as-Resistance.pdf) [As Pride Comes to a Close, Let’s Not Forget Why We Stepped Out](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/As-Pride-Comes-To-A-Close-Lets-Not-Forget-Why-We-Stepped-Out.pdf) [Trump’s big, ugly bill is an attack on working people](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Trumps-big-ugly-bill-is-an-attack-on-working-people.pdf) [Knowledge that Powers Change: A Message from JMA’s Director of Research](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jobs-to-Move-America-Mail-Knowledge-that-Powers-Change_-A-Message-from-JMAs-Director-of-Research.pdf) [The Micron Development and What’s at Stake for New York](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Jobs-to-Move-America-Mail-The-Micron-Development-and-Whats-at-Stake-for-New-York.pdf "The Micron Development and What's at Stake for New York") [Take Nothing for Granted This Labor Day](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Jobs-to-Move-America-Mail-Take-Nothing-for-Granted-This-Labor-Day.pdf "Take Nothing for Granted This Labor Day") [JMA condemns ICE Raid at Hyundai and LG Energy Solution plant](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Jobs-to-Move-America-Mail-JMA-condemns-ICE-Raid-at-Hyundai-and-LG-Energy-Solution-plant.pdf "JMA condemns ICE Raid at Hyundai and LG Energy Solution plant") [Why We’re Taking on Neptune: Introducing Good Neighbors Alabama Campaign for Community Benefi](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Jobs-to-Move-America-Mail-Why-Were-Taking-on-Neptune_-Introducing-Good-Neighbors-Alabama-Campaign-for-Community-Benefits.pdf) [What 180 Kawasaki workers told us about their jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Jobs-to-Move-America-Mail-What-180-Kawasaki-workers-told-us-about-their-jobs.pdf) [Every worker deserves dignity — see how we’re making it real in the South](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Jobs-to-Move-America-Mail-Every-worker-deserves-dignity_-see-how-were-making-it-real-in-the-South.pdf) [We Are Stronger Together: Our Campaign for Accountability at Hyundai and Kia](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Jobs-to-Move-America-Mail-We-Are-Stronger-Together_-Our-Campaign-for-Accountability-at-Hyundai_Kia.pdf) [Our Lawsuit Against Hyundai-Kia: What You Need to Know](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Jobs-to-Move-America-Mail-Our-lawsuit-against-Hyundai-Kia_-What-you-need-to-know.pdf "Our Lawsuit Against Hyundai-Kia: What You Need to Know") ### 2024 Newsletters [No matter what, our vision stands strong](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/No-matter-what-our-vision-stands-strong.pdf) [Remembering our colleague](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Remembering-our-colleague.pdf) [Reflecting on the Alabama Learning Trip](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Reflecting-on-the-Alabama-Learning-Trip.pdf) [New York Times article highlights use of prison labor in auto manufacturing](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/New-York-Times-article-highlights-use-of-prison-labor-in-auto-manufacturing.pdf) [Introducing Jobs to Move America’s Community Benefits Resource Center (CBARC)](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Introducing-Jobs-to-Move-Americas-Community-Benefits-Resource-Center-CBARC.pdf) [Historic updates to federal guidelines go into effect today](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Newsletter-Historic-updates-to-federal-guidelines-go-into-effect-today.pdf) [Breaking: Jobs to Move America files lawsuit against LA Metro alleging violations of state and federal contracting law](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Newsletter-Jobs-to-Move-America-files-lawsuit-against-LA-Metro-alleging-violations-of-state-and-federal-contracting-law.pdf) [A new dawn of JMA organizing](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Newsletter-A-New-Dawn-of-JMA-Organizing.pdf) [Juneteenth: A call to action we can’t ignore](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/June-2024-newsletter-2.pdf) [An approach that works](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/June-2024-newsletter.pdf) [The South keeps winning](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/April-2024-newsletter-2.pdf) [America’s fight to create good jobs with federal money](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/April-2024-newsletter.pdf) [Solidarity in the South: Transformative wins for auto workers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/March-2024-Newsletter-1.pdf) [Public money anywhere ➡️ good jobs and CBAs everywhere](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/JMA-newsletter-January-2024.pdf) [The intertwined struggles of civil rights and labor](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/February-2024-newsletter.pdf) ### 2023 Newsletters [Looking back on the Alabama Learning Trip](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/jobs-to-move-america-mail-looking-back-on-the-alabama-learning-trip/) [Thank you for a great year ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Jobs-to-Move-America-Mail-Thank-you-for-a-great-year.pdf) [From Detroit to Birmingham: Workers Win in UAW Strike](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/JMA-October-2023-Newsletter.pdf) [Supporting UAW’s Historic Fight for Good Green Jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/JMA-September-23-Newsletter.pdf) [Reflecting on Hurricane Katrina: Lessons for a resilient future](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/JMA-Newsletter-August-23.pdf) [Setting the standards for the electric school bus industry](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/July-23-JMA-Newsletter-.pdf) [On Juneteenth, are Black workers truly free?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/On-Juneteenth-are-Black-workers-truly-free_.pdf) [Our CBA with New Flyer: One year later](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/JMA-May-23-Newsletter.pdf) [A new kind of Earth Day](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/JMA-April-2023-Newsletter.pdf) [Equity for women in the workplace](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/JMA-March-2023-Newsletter.pdf) [How do we advance racial equity?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/JMA-February-23-Newsletter.pdf) [Why good jobs policies?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/JMA-January-23-Newsletter.pdf) --- ### [Contact Us](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/contact-us/) **Published:** December 6, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** **For Press/Media Inquiries** Troy Newsome **For Funder/Donation Inquiries** Trisha Hanudel-Lopez **For Finance Inquiries** Julia Portillo **For General Inquiries** info@jobstomoveamerica.org **Phone Number** (424) 704-5947 **Get In Touch With Our Staff** Fill out the contact form below and select the staff member you are trying to reach. We will be in contact with you as soon as possible. Name \*First Last Comment Message Email Email \* Who Are You Trying To Reach? \*— Select Choice —Ahmad, KhadeejahAllen, HaileyArellano, JorgeArveson, SarahBarrera, MartinBeyer, KassieBhalla, SoniBrindle-Khym, HeeWonBurleson, HaedenBusbee, ErinButler, SanchioniCasteel, CarolineCrosby, HastinDawson, AngelaElder, IanEnglish, ShannonFaulkner, SherahFeldman, MarcosFigurasin, TheodricFloyd, RossFullone, MatthewHanudel-Lopez, TrishaHodge, LarryHuezo, HectorJanis, MadelineJohnson, Shuh-MarrakaKamath, AmbikaKeith, JasmineLaBorde, LaurenLast, AthenaLindsey, LeShaneLizárraga, ValerieMahmoud, AeshaMolina, BrianMurrieta, FátimaMurshed, AntaraNelson, MirandaPalacio, KimPark, DongWooPortillo, JuliaPrasad, MelaniePrintup, ElizabethRobas, MalouRobledo, LuisRodriguez, JacobRomann, EricSantangelo, MariaSchandevel, LaurenSmith, AnnaSteele, AndreStewart, MeredithSvart, MariaTham, MoYainTodd, PatriciaTucker, WilliamValdez, SelinaWalsh, ShellyNewsome, TroyWhite, KristopherWinter, MatthewYang, ChueqaOther (Please indicate in your message) Comment or Message Submit![Loading](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/plugins/wpforms-lite/assets/images/submit-spin.svg) --- ### [Mission, Vision, & Values](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/mission-vision-values/) **Published:** November 14, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** ### **MISSION** Jobs to Move America is a strategic policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior using a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justice and community organizing. We seek to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. ### **VISION** Jobs to Move America envisions a nation where all levels of government use the power of public funds to create public good — fostering the conditions for an inclusive democracy, equitable economy, and healthy environment that works for all communities. We seek a just, clean, and worker-centered economy in which corporations are responsible for the impact of their actions. We believe that workers should hold power and space within the economy to shape its growth and direction amidst rapidly evolving conditions. ### **VALUES** **Justice** We must build power to reshape our government and economy to grow strong communities. This requires us to address historic and structural injustices that have left millions of people behind and hindered communities of color, low-income people, and other marginalized groups from sharing in the benefits of a prosperous economy. The need for racial, economic, environmental, and gender justice is a core value in our commitment to strengthening workers’ voices and building thriving communities and an equitable economy. **Equity and inclusion** We are committed to uplifting marginalized voices by fostering racial equity and inclusive leadership, and collaboration in our work. **Democracy and good governance** We believe that government can and should improve people’s lives. Community and worker voices are key to ensuring that government counters climate change, holds corporations accountable, addresses income inequality and expands access to good, clean jobs for all people through its infrastructure investments and economic development spending. A strong and healthy democracy must prioritize the public as the key stakeholder in its work. **Worker empowerment** Jobs to Move America supports effective, democratic workplaces where worker voices are heard and respected. We seek to build worker power and strong bargaining rights to steer reforms in public purchasing and corporate behavior. We believe empowering more workers to negotiate for good wages and benefits is central to raising wages and building a more inclusive economy. We also support expanding investment in workforce training to equip workers with skills that prepare them to obtain quality jobs in an evolving economy and manufacturing sector. **Coalition building** We believe cross-sector collaboration is crucial for collective prosperity. Jobs to Move America strives to build healthy, productive coalitions that include organizations and leaders in labor, civil rights, environmental justice, and the community at-large, to take bold action for community-led transformation. Working collaboratively, we can think and act strategically towards a shared vision for an equitable and expanding economy, stronger worker voice, participatory democracy, and a clean environment. **Transparency and accountability** Transparency and accountability are the essence of democracy. Government and corporate transparency and accountability are central to our vision of an equitable economy. We believe that government should spend taxpayer dollars responsibly, that public and private employment policies should be ethical and just, and that private actors should commit to or be compelled to and deliver on community benefits agreements. **Leadership development** We believe in developing individuals as leaders to grow their personal capacity to carry out transformative work and to build our collective capacity to solve problems, shape change and produce strong outcomes. We believe in developing front-line leaders within their own communities and workplaces to build power and transform industries. We aim to connect leaders across sectors to foster commitment and action toward our collective goals. --- ### [Get to Know JMA!](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/get-to-know-jma/) **Published:** June 12, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** We’re hosting events in cities around the country for supporters new and old to learn more about our work. Hear from JMA leaders about our recent wins and updates on programatic work. ## Upcoming Events ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Get-to-Know-JMA-16-1024x512.jpg "Get to Know JMA 16 - Jobs to Move America")### **Powering Justice: JMA’s 2026 Insider Briefing** You’re invited to join the JMA team for Powering Justice, an exclusive evening of cocktails, light bites, and in-person updates on two major fronts shaping the future of worker justice and equitable green development. We’ll share the latest from Imperial Valley, where a 3,400-kiloton lithium reserve has triggered a wave of industrial development, from direct lithium extraction to battery production, and where JMA and [Valle Unido](https://valleunido.org/) are organizing to ensure that longtime residents, tribal communities, and fenceline neighborhoods have real power in decisions that will shape the region’s economic and environmental future. We’ll also bring you inside our newly launched [Recall Injustice at Hyundai-Kia campaign.](https://recallinjustice.org/) On November 20th, [a new coalition delivered a letter signed by 41 organizations to the company CEO’s at the 2025 Los Angeles Auto Show](https://recallinjustice.org/about-us/), demanding the negotiation of a Community Benefits Agreement to solve documented abuses in the Hyundai-Kia supply chain involving the use of child labor, coercive prison labor, extensive safety, labor, and environmental violations across the companies’ U.S. supply chain. Join us to connect with our team, hear the newest developments directly from the field, and explore how your partnership can help advance corporate accountability, strengthen worker protections, and build a just, community-centered green economy. **When: January 27 from 4:30-6:30pm Where: Doubletree Hotel in Little Tokyo in the California Ballroom on the Banquet Level** We look forward to sharing our latest victories and vision for the year ahead with you in person! --- ### [Our Campaign to Win Good Jobs at Kawasaki](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/our-campaign-to-win-good-jobs-at-kawasaki/) **Published:** September 26, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kawasaki-featured-image-1024x375.jpg "Kawasaki featured image - Jobs to Move America")Kawasaki Heavy Industries — a Japanese manufacturer with railcar production facilities in Yonkers, New York and Lincoln, Nebraska — has received billions of dollars in public contracts from transit agencies across the country. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in New York is the company’s [number one customer](https://journalstar.com/business/local/big-kawasaki-customer-says-current-and-future-contracts-are-in-jeopardy/article_605bf3c6-3c7c-5a02-b919-3c5444ce8b5e.html). In 2018, the MTA tapped Kawasaki to manufacture [new state-of-the-art R211](https://global.kawasaki.com/en/corp/newsroom/news/detail/?f=20180125_9620) railcars for its New York City Transit and Staten Island Railway subway lines. At $4.5 billion, this railcar contract is now the company’s [largest ever](https://global.kawasaki.com/en/corp/newsroom/news/detail/?f=20250206_6454). In their [U.S. Employment Plan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/u-s-employment-plan-2/) submission, Kawasaki and its suppliers [committed](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/MTA-Kawasaki-Contract-R34211.pdf) to retaining over 450 U.S. jobs with a total wage and benefits value of more than $270 million over the life of the contract. However, despite multiple public records requests, the company has not made public its full USEP worksheet – including specific details about the wages and benefits it is paying – or any documents to indicate compliance with the policy and its contract. In a February 2024 [affidavit](https://assets.bwbx.io/documents/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/r_dDVpx9sOgw/v0) submitted to the New York Supreme Court, Kawasaki’s Manager of Contracts/Marketing stated that releasing this information could “unnecessarily agitate” its non-union workforce. To hold the company accountable to its commitments and ensure public money creates the most public good, Jobs to Move America is partnering with community, labor, and faith leaders in New York and Nebraska to call on Kawasaki to negotiate a [Community Benefits Agreement](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/community-benefits-agreements/) (CBA). Through a CBA, we hope to secure good jobs, better conditions, and a greater return on investment for the workers and communities that make the company profitable. ### Our Partners ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ESB-page-icon.png "ESB page icon - Jobs to Move America")JMA is working in a coalition of NY and Nebraska groups to call on Kawasaki to begin negotiating a legally binding Community Benefits Agreement: - ALIGN: The Alliance for a Greater New York - Consortium For Worker Education (CWE) - International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART) - Lincoln Central Labor Union - Lincoln Democratic Socialists of America - Messiah Baptist Church of Yonkers - Nebraska AFL-CIO - SMART Local 3 - The Arc of Justice - Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) Local 100 ### Relevant Links ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ESB-page-icon-1.png "ESB page icon 1 - Jobs to Move America")- [Off the Rails: Inequality, Insecurity, and Unsafe Conditions at Kawasaki’s U.S. Manufacturing Facilities](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/kawasaki-report/ "Report - Off the Rails: Inequality, Insecurity, and Unsafe Conditions at Kawasaki’s U.S. Manufacturing Facilities"): The report from JMA and Cornell University’s Climate Jobs Institute reveals troubling findings about working conditions at MTA contractor Kawasaki’s railcar manufacturing facilities in New York and Nebraska. - [Press release: Community and Labor Groups Release Report on Working Conditions, Call for Community Benefits Agreement with Major MTA Contractor](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/community-and-labor-groups-release-report-on-working-conditions-call-for-community-benefits-agreement-with-major-mta-contractor/ "Press release: Community and Labor Groups Release Report on Working Conditions, Call for Community Benefits Agreement with Major MTA Contractor") --- ### [Pressroom](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/pressroom/) **Published:** December 9, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** Welcome to our Pressroom! Jobs to Move America is flipping the script on the power of our public dollars to do public good. Below you’ll find a selection of our latest hits — from press releases to media highlights. Explore the Pressroom to find all our [**press releases**](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/) and [**news appearances**](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/). Head over to our [**updates**](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/) section for the inside scoop on our campaigns, as well as thoughts and opinions from our team of experts. **If you’re a reporter looking to speak with an expert from Jobs to Move America, [contact us here](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/media-inquiries/).** To receive updates, sign up for our email list here: --- ### [Our Campaign to Win Good Jobs and Equitable Access at Micron Technology](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/micron/) **Published:** May 2, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Untitled-1024-x-375-px-1.jpg "Untitled (1024 x 375 px) (1) - Jobs to Move America") Micron Technology, Inc.— a semiconductor company headquartered in Boise, Idaho — is constructing a new facility in Central New York, outside Syracuse, and is slated to receive upwards of $20 billion in public subsidies and tax credits from federal, state, and local governments. The Central New York community has been promised that this historic investment will generate thousands of jobs. But as plans for the project become clearer, two things come into sharper focus. First, the negative environmental impacts of the project – from intensive use of toxic chemicals and the potential contamination of air, water and soil to astronomical energy consumption and its impact on the climate and utility rates – are [significant](https://ongoved.com/microndeis2025/). Second, neither Micron nor the public agencies funding the project have established concrete, enforceable commitments to ensuring these jobs are family-sustaining, safe, and accessible to those who need them most. And without intervention from regulators or other stakeholders, the company has not publicly stated how they will enforce these commitments. In this context, Jobs to Move America is partnering with local community, environmental and labor leaders to ensure Micron is in fact a win-win for communities in the region. We are working to avoid replicating two longstanding trends – economic development projects receiving public subsidies promising big and failing to deliver, and industrial facilities leaving behind a toxic environmental and health legacy. In the summer of 2025, with the project undergoing a rushed environmental review by state and federal agencies, JMA and our partners have launched this Community Vision for Strong Environmental, Resident and Worker Protections. Our vision outlines concrete steps Micron can take to maximize the benefits while minimizing the costs. [Sign on to our Community Vision Here](https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/community-vision-for-strong-environmental-resident-worker-protections-micron-environmental-review?source=direct_link&) ### Our Vision ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/micron-webpage-image-2.jpg "micron webpage image 2 - Jobs to Move America")Our top three concerns are: - Health, Safety, and Environmental Protection - Family-Sustaining Jobs, Equitable Workplaces and Access, Workforce Development - Workplace Housing and Transportation Justice and Equity ### Our Partners ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/micron-webpage-image-3.jpg "micron webpage image 3 - Jobs to Move America")We’re working alongside labor, environmental, and community organizations in Central New York. Local organizational partners include: - Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter - Syracuse Labor Council - Alliance for a Green Economy - Urban Jobs Task Force of Syracuse - SUSTAIN – CNY Coalition - Communication Workers of America - CNY Solidarity Coalition - Citizen Action of New York ### Relevant Links and Upcoming Events: - [Micron Draft Environmental Impact State](https://ongoved.com/microndeis2025/) - [Submit your own comment on the Micron Environmental Review using our template ](https://actionnetwork.org/letters/take-action-submit-comments-to-chips-program-office-to-share-your-thoughts-on-the-environmental-impacts-of-microns-central-new-york-project) ### In the News - [Labor, Environmental and Social Groups Call on Micron to Protect Workers and Communities](https://aila.ngo/labor-environmental-and-social-justice-groups-call-on-micron-to-protect-workers-and-communities/) - [We need more time to comment on Micron report ](https://www.syracuse.com/opinion/2025/06/sustaincny-to-mcmahon-we-need-more-time-to-comment-on-micron-report-guest-opinion.html) - [Micron’s $6B CHIPS funding should have more strings attached, critics say](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/12/microns-6b-chips-funding-should-have-more-strings-attached-critics-say/) - [Town hall outlines requests of Micron, ensuring jobs](https://dailyorange.com/2024/10/town-hall-requests-micron-jobs/) - [Labor leaders: Demand a better Micron deal](https://www.syracuse.com/opinion/2024/03/labor-leaders-demand-a-better-micron-deal-guest-opinion-by-ann-marie-taliercio-mark-spadafore.html) --- ### [Media Inquiries](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/media-inquiries/) **Published:** November 14, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** Please address media/press inquiries to: Troy Newsome Assistant Director for Media --- ### [2025 Jobs to Move America Imperial Valley Learning Trip](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/2025-jobs-to-move-america-imperial-valley-learning-trip/) **Published:** February 26, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1-DSC00203-1-1024x577.jpg "1 DSC00203 - Jobs to Move America")We are excited to invite you to join Jobs to Move America on our inaugural California Imperial County Learning Trip on November 11-13! In the midst of a rapidly evolving political climate, workers and communities are organizing more than ever to protect the rights and livelihoods of working-class people against rapidly expanding corporate interests. JMA is excited to show you how we’re organizing workers and communities to seek community benefits agreements with major corporations to ensure good jobs and minimize environmental harm in the clean energy economy. JMA, together with Valle Unido por Beneficios Comunitarios (Valle Unido), a new coalition of community, labor, and environmental groups, believes that Imperial County communities deserve better. Imperial County residents should play a central part in shaping and growing with Imperial County instead of being bystanders to it. We call on companies in the multi-billion dollar lithium industry, which is subsidized with our tax dollars, to make binding commitments for an Imperial County that guarantees good local jobs, protection against environmental harms, respect for Indigenous rights, and a seat at the decision-making table. It’s crucial to see and learn in person to truly grasp the significance of organizing in Imperial County and the potential of what we can achieve when we come together in the movement. This year, we’ll be exploring: - **Ocotillo**– The unincorporated town at the gateway of Imperial Valley, named for the tall and ubiquitous plant that inhabits the vast Yuha Desert landscape. We’ll visit a local desert museum to learn about the history of the area and hear from Jacob Rodriguez, JMA Organizer and Imperial Valley native, on his personal story and what connects him to JMA’s fight. - **Calipatria**– One of the closest (and certainly the largest) fenceline communities to “Lithium Valley,” and that has the most to lose or gain from this development. We’ll hear directly from community members and learn about JMA’s plan for a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA). - **Sonny Bono Recreation Site**—Situated at the southern end of the Salton Sea, the refuge protects one of the most important nesting sites and stopovers along the Pacific Flyway. It contains marine, freshwater, wetland, and agricultural habitats, which provide sanctuary for hundreds of birds and wetland species, including several that have been listed as endangered or sensitive. Participants will have the chance to stop and learn about the local wildlife, environment, and ecology that are at risk. - **Salton Sea & Bombay Beach** — An area with a receding shoreline that has experienced some of the worst health effects due to agricultural pesticide and fertilizer runoff from over a century of farming. Interested in joining the trip or have questions? Fill out the form below! If you’re ready to register, email , and we’ll send you the trip agreement via Adobe Sign. --- ### [Update your mailing address](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update-your-mailing-address/) **Published:** November 4, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** There are a lot of exciting things happening at JMA, and we want to make sure you don’t miss a thing.To ensure you continue receiving updates, exclusive news, and our latest materials, we kindly ask you to confirm or update your mailing address using the link below. --- ### [JMA Workforce Development Program](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/jma-workforce-development-program/) **Published:** September 6, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Workforce-Dev-featured-image-1-1024x375.jpg "Workforce-Dev-featured-image-1 - Jobs to Move America")Do you want to learn a new skill? Are you seeking a career change? Are you a veteran seeking employment? Are you at least 17 years of age? If so, Jobs to Move America’s Workforce Development Program may be right for you. ### What JMA Provides ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/WD-page-2.jpg "WD-page-2 - Jobs to Move America")Serving Alabama and Mississippi, we provide no-cost trainings with stipends and flexible schedules that result in industry-recognized certifications. **Career Exploration and Training Opportunities:** - Career assessments - Essential skills training - Educational and technical training - Financial literacy training **Pre-Apprenticeships and Paid Work Experience:** - Electrical pre-apprenticeship program - On-the-job training - “Earn while you learn” **Job Readiness and Job Placement Services:** - Resume preparation - Mock interviews - Mentoring/counseling - Job referrals **Networking Opportunities:** - Career and resource fairs - Industry-specific events - Higher education lectures ### **Our Program in Action** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/WD-page-1-1.jpg "WD-page-1-1 - Jobs to Move America")As part of our [community benefits agreement (CBA) with New Flyer](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/our-cba-with-electric-bus-builder-new-flyer/), we are creating a customized pre-apprenticeship program at the company’s Alabama facility that ensures the success of all workers, particularly those from historically disadvantaged groups. Led by JMA’s Workforce Equity Coordinator, Tiqua Gator, in collaboration with Gadsden State Community College, the pre-apprenticeship program aims to foster a diverse workforce in the electric vehicle manufacturing sector. The pre-apprenticeship program is designed to provide basic training for individuals with no experience or limited experience in the electrical field. While enrolled in the program, pre-apprentices will have the opportunity to earn several nationally recognized certifications. Training also includes life skills, language literacy, math literacy and teamwork techniques. Our first cohort, consisting of seven participants, has successfully completed the program, earning certifications through Gadsden State Community College and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 10. Notably, one participant was an employee of New Flyer seeking enrollment in NF’s Electrical Apprenticeship program; five participants started paid on-the-job training at New Flyer; and one participant enrolled at Gadsden State pursuing degree in auto repair. We are immensely proud of the strides we’ve made, and this is just the beginning. Together, we are shaping pathways to success, fostering inclusivity, and creating opportunities for a brighter tomorrow. ### Contact Us To learn more about JMA’s Workforce Development Program and upcoming training opportunities, contact us at 424-704-5974 or email: Tiqua Gator, Workforce Equity Coordinator Shannon English, Workforce Equity Case Manager --- ### [Community Benefits Agreement Resource Center](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/community-benefits-agreement-resource-center/) **Published:** June 6, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/CBARC-featured-image-1-1024x375.jpg "CBARC-featured-image-1 - Jobs to Move America")We are at a critical moment for emerging industries—such as electric vehicles, batteries, and offshore wind manufacturing—and the U.S. is investing trillions of public dollars to build up high-road domestic manufacturing. Community benefits agreements (CBAs) provide a way for workers, families, and their communities to participate in and shape the energy transition; and industry leaders can demonstrate their commitment to responsible community, environmental, and labor practices by signing a strong CBA. ### About CBARC ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/cbarc-page-1.jpg "cbarc-page-1 - Jobs to Move America")At Jobs to Move America, we work to advance equitable family-sustaining jobs, expand access to training for historically underrepresented groups, and ensure long-term and sustainable benefits for workers and communities when public dollars are spent. CBAs are a tool to ensure concrete benefits for workers and communities. JMA has successfully negotiated CBAs that create high-quality, inclusive jobs in the manufacturing sector. The Community Benefits Agreement Resource Center (CBARC) is a unique program of JMA that seeks to meet this critical moment and advance the negotiation of effective and equitable CBAs. *JMA’s CBARC program serves these primary purposes:* - Assist communities in negotiating enforceable CBAs that address community and labor priorities - Organize community coalitions to collectively negotiate high-road agreements with companies - Conduct and share research with stakeholders on CBAs, including benefits, best practices, and case studies - Engage with high-road manufacturing companies to negotiate CBAs with communities ### **What is a CBA?** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Copy-of-Copy-of-cbarc-page-1-1.jpg "Copy-of-Copy-of-cbarc-page-1-1 - Jobs to Move America")Community benefits agreements (CBAs) are legally enforceable agreements between private companies and coalitions of community and labor groups. CBAs are used to ensure a wide range of high-road job standards, community benefits, environmental mitigations, and equity measures. *Benefits of CBAs*: - CBAs foster collaboration between project developers, operators, workers, and the community. - CBAs promote sustainability and help maximize the benefits that surrounding communities, workers, and their families receive. - CBAs are the preferred method of the Department of Energy to demonstrate project benefits and community and labor support. - CBAs involve stakeholders in helping companies recruit, train, and retain workers and create pathways for a highly skilled and diverse workforce that is representative of the community. ### **CBAs in Action** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Copy-of-cbarc-page-1.jpg "Copy-of-cbarc-page-1 - Jobs to Move America")[**Our CBA with electric bus builder New Flyer**](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/our-cba-with-electric-bus-builder-new-flyer/): In 2022, Jobs to Move America and the Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits signed a community benefits agreement with New Flyer, the largest electric bus manufacturer in North America, for its facilities in Anniston, Alabama, and Ontario, California. [**Our CBA with electric bus builder BYD**](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/community-benefits-agreement-with-byd/): In 2017, BYD Motors became the first electric bus manufacturer to enter a CBA when it signed an agreement with JMA’s coalition and SMART Local 105. The CBA resulted in the country’s first electric bus manufacturing apprenticeship program. ### **CBARC Staff** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/cbarc-page-2.jpg "cbarc-page-2 - Jobs to Move America")[Jay Mehta](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/jay-mehta/), CBARC Manager [Caroline Casteel](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/caroline-casteel/), CBARC National Lead Organizer [Athena Last](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/athena-last/), CBARC Senior Research Fellow [Valerie Lizárraga](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/valerie-lizarraga/), Assistant National Program Director ### Resources - [Community Benefits Agreements (CBA) 101 hosted by the Department of Energy (DOE) ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/webinar-community-benefits-agreements-cba-101/) - [JMA Factsheet- What is a CBA?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/what-is-a-cba-factsheet/) ### Get in Touch Have questions or want to work with our team? Email as at . --- ### [Sitemap](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/sitemap/) **Published:** December 6, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** \[simple-sitemap types=”page, post, update, region, resource, press-release, people, itn, position”\] --- ### [Making Federal Dollars Work for Local Communities: 2023 Northeast Regional Briefing for Elected Leaders](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/2023-northeast-regional-briefing-local-opportunities/) **Published:** March 9, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Join Jobs to Move America and Local Progress in a special briefing on the Local Opportunities Campaign. Learn how updating current federal grant rules can empower leaders to bring good quality jobs & equity to our communities, and how your leadership can make this a reality! **Date**: Wednesday, September 13 **Time**: 6:00 p.m.-7:15 p.m. EST **Location**: Virtual Zoom Webinar – register below to receive the Zoom link --- ## RSVP: Making Federal Dollars Work for Local Communities: 9/13/23 Northeast Regional Briefing for Elected Leaders Elected Name(Required) First Last Attendee Name (if different) First Last Email(Required) Office(Required) Title City/Municipality CAPTCHA RSVP Δ --- ### [Alabama Advocacy Trainings](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/aladvocacy/) **Published:** December 19, 2022 **Author:** Web **Content:** Join this free online training led by former Alabama State Representative Patricia Todd. You will learn how the Alabama State Legislature functions and best methods to communicate with your representatives. **Our next training is on Tuesday, February 28 at 6:00pm CST**. Please RSVP by filling out the form below: Name(Required) First Last Email(Required) Cell Phone Organization Job Title CAPTCHA RSVP Δ --- ### [Southern Manufacturing’s Impact on Jobs and Community](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/smwppanel/) **Published:** February 7, 2023 **Author:** Web **Content:** ## A Panel Discussion about Worker Perspectives & Community Voices on the Need to Improve Job Quality **Date and time**: Friday, 2/24/2023 from 11:00am – 1:00pm (Central Time), with networking lunch following **Location**: Jackson State University – College of Science, Engineering, and Technology (CSET) Auditorium (1807 John R. Lynch St, Jackson, MS 39203). Parking is available around the building. You can park in any non-reserved spots **Description:** Manufacturing is big business in Mississippi and Alabama. Global firms and local suppliers employ thousands of workers who assemble and manufacture goods for industries ranging from aerospace to office furniture. Many large manufacturing firms are recruited to the region by economic development officials and local politicians in search of economic growth. However, despite decades of firm recruitment and continued growth of their manufacturing sectors, communities in Mississippi and Alabama continue to struggle along key indicators such as poverty and childhood well-being. This event features a new report from Drs. Emily Erickson and Berneece S. Herbert that presents survey data from 1,300 manufacturing workers to assess the quality of jobs available in the region. The event will feature an overview presentation of the report and a discussion with experts from across academia and local community organizations on the results from this survey and what it means for workers, communities and economies. **Hosted by**: Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Jackson State University **Supported by:** W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Jobs to Move America **Panelists**: - Report Authors: - [Emily Erickson, Ph.D](https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/ier/people/eerickson/), University of Warwick - [Berneece S. Herbert, Ph.D](https://www.jsums.edu/planning/files/2020/11/Brief-Bio-for-Dr.-Herbert.pdf), Jackson State University - Academic Reviewers: - [Valerie Rawlston Wilson, Ph.D](https://www.epi.org/people/valerie-wilson/), Economic Policy Institute - [Robert Korstad, Ph.D](https://sanford.duke.edu/profile/robert-korstad/), Duke University - [David Anderson, Ph.D](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MtNXDU5bN8oU9g5tHYApO_h7bhhB7NYOTNh4SL6rntw/edit?usp=sharing), Louisiana Tech University - Community Advocates: - [Erica Iheme](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/erica-iheme/), Jobs to Move America - [Sanchioni Butler](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BsiweczEoeEgXkicvbqonV5kiHJ7L8v3/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=101445810642465890553&rtpof=true&sd=true), Mississippi Association of Educators - [Scott Douglas](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sB7CNosZ9PnBwjGEIV_ZPAp8pTDzt_5k/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=101445810642465890553&rtpof=true&sd=true), Greater Birmingham Ministries For questions or more information, please contact [Iain Gold](mailto:idgoldhome@gmail.com). RSVP to attend this free event by filling out the form below: Name(Required) First Last Email(Required) Phone Organization Attending in person or virtually?(Required) In person Virtually (on Zoom) Lunch will be provided to those who are attending in person. Do you have dietary restrictions? CAPTCHA RSVP Δ --- ### [Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/alabama-coalition-for-community-benefits/) **Published:** February 23, 2021 **Author:** Web **Content:** #### **About our coalition** The Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits is a coalition of labor, community, civil rights, faith, and environmental justice groups working to hold corporations that do business in the South accountable to workers and communities. #### **What we’re fighting for** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Screen-Shot-2021-02-18-at-5.52.33-PM-1024x580.jpg "Screen Shot 2021-02-18 at 5.52.33 PM - Jobs to Move America")Erica Iheme southern director at Jobs to Move America speaks at a community rally in Bessemer in support of Amazon workersThe Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits has supported the unionization drive of workers at the Amazon plant in Bessemer. Watch our video in solidarity with Amazon workers [here](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/alabama-coalition-for-community-benefits-releases-solidarity-video-in-support-of-amazon-workers-in-bessemer/). #### **What is a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA)?** Our coalition in Alabama and New Flyer, the largest electric bus manufacturer in North America, signed our Community Benefits Agreement([CBA](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/our-cba-with-electric-bus-builder-new-flyer/)) on May 24, 2022. This is our first multi-state agreement, impacting New Flyer facilities in Anniston, AL and Ontario, CA. It supports the creation of robust manufacturing jobs through investments in workforce development and training programs, especially for historically disadvantaged people. Learn more about CBAs [here](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/community-benefits-agreements/). #### **Why we do it** Manufacturing is making a comeback in Alabama and the deep South. But while the burgeoning sector has promised economic growth and the creation of jobs, there is also a catch: global companies are flocking to the South lured by huge government tax breaks, laxer labor laws, and pro-business, anti-worker policies. Alabama alone has granted approximately $8 billion in corporate subsidies over the past two decades. The result? Global corporations set up shop in Southern communities, making huge profits while giving workers the short end of the stick. The Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits is organizing to ensure that workers and communities see real benefits from our government’s investment of public tax dollars in private corporations — and that companies that move in next door are good neighbors and good employers **Who we are** Current coalition partners include: A Better Balance Alabama NAACP Adelante Alabama Worker Center Alabama Arise Alabama Forward Alabama Rivers Alliance Energy Alabama AFL-CIO Communications Workers of America (CWA) Jobs to Move America Greater-Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution Greater Birmingham Ministries The People’s Justice Council Southern Policy Law Center (SPLU) Hometown Action International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) United Auto Workers (UAW) United Steelworkers (USW) Faith in Action Alabama Interfaith Power & Light Appleseed #### **More about us** Check out [this coverage](https://www.wbrc.com/2021/02/07/amazon-workers-hold-rally-effort-unionize/) of our community rally in solidarity with the Amazon drive. --- ### **Ready to join our fight?** If you want to support the Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits and stand up for Southern workers and communities, add your name to our list. You’ll receive important action alerts and news about our campaign. ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/159725606953912745.jpg "159725606953912745 - Jobs to Move America") ## Add your name \* indicates required First Name Last Name Email Address \* **Interest** - Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits --- ### [Making Federal Dollars Work for Local Communities: 2022 Regional Briefing for Elected Leaders Representing Los Angeles County](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/2022la/) **Published:** November 7, 2022 **Author:** Web **Content:** **Making Federal Dollars Work for Local Communities: 2022 Regional Briefing for Elected Leaders Representing Los Angeles County** [![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2022.11.04-Local-Opportunities-LA-Briefing-1-791x1024.jpg "2022.11.04-Local-Opportunities-LA-Briefing-1 - Jobs to Move America")](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2022.11.04-Local-Opportunities-LA-Briefing-1.jpg)Join Mayor Garcetti, LA Metro, and Jobs to Move America in a special briefing regarding the Local Opportunities Campaign that aims to empower state & local recipients of federal funds to bring good quality jobs & equity to our communities! **Date**: Tuesday, November 29, 2022 **Time**: 10:00am – 10:45am **Location**: Virtual Zoom Webinar – register below to receive the Zoom link *This event has passed. Thank you for your interest.* --- ### [Electric School Buses](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/electric-school-buses/) **Published:** September 29, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/ESB-featured-image-1024x375.jpg "ESB-featured-image - Jobs to Move America")Millions of U.S. students rely on the nation’s nearly 500,000-strong school bus fleet to travel to and from school every day. For decades, most of these buses have been powered by diesel engines. Despite the harmful pollution these buses emit, there haven’t been viable alternatives that are significantly better for the environment. But with the arrival of electric school bus technology and ever-improving batteries, the nation’s student transportation fleet is on the cusp of a radical and badly needed transition to zero-emissions vehicles. Workers often shoulder the burden of technological change, and that is no different in the case of electric school buses. The transition to ESBs can either cause harm and disruption to families’ livelihoods–or it can provide major benefits and opportunities for workers. Through research, advocacy, and organizing, Jobs to Move America is working alongside allies and community leaders to ensure that the electrification of our nation’s school bus fleet quickly delivers on its full potential: cleaner, healthier air for kids and neighborhoods, and good, inclusive, family-sustaining jobs. ### Research ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/ESB-page-1-7.jpg "ESB-page-1-7 - Jobs to Move America")JMA conducts research on new industries and technologies, such as electric school buses, to better understand their benefits as well as their impacts on workers and communities. JMA published [*Clean Buses for New York Kids*](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/clean-buses-for-new-york-kids/) in March 2021 to share findings on the potential to electrify New York’s school buses and policies to ensure a successful and equitable transition. In May 2022, JMA released [*Driving the Future: How to Electrify our School Buses and Center Kids, Communities, and Workers in the Transition*](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/driving-the-future-how-to-electrify-our-school-buses-and-center-kids-communities-and-workers-in-the-transition/), a comprehensive national study of ESB technology, including vehicle performance, costs, infrastructure needs, worker impacts, and policy. ### Worker Stories ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/ESB-page-Ami-1.jpg "ESB-page-Ami-1 - Jobs to Move America")JMA believes that workers and communities should be at the center of conversations about the future of our economy. We are talking with the workers who build, drive, and maintain buses, as well as the electricians who install charging equipment, to share their experiences with the public. You can find some of these stories [here.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/catalog/worker-stories/) ### Advocacy ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/ESB-page-Ami-1-1.jpg "ESB-page-Ami-1-1 - Jobs to Move America")JMA works in coalition with environmental advocates, community leaders, and labor unions to promote a transition to ESBs that creates clean air for kids and family-sustaining jobs for those who need them most. The [Alliance for Electric School Buses, ](https://electricschoolbuses4kids.org/)convened by [Chispa LCV](https://chispalcv.org/), is a national coalition of non-profit organizations working towards an equitable transition to ESBs. JMA serves on the Alliance’s steering committee. JMA is a founding member of the [NYC Clean School Bus Coalition](https://www.nycschoolbus.org/), which in 2021 successfully advocated for the [nation’s first city-wide plan to transition to ESBs](https://stnonline.com/news/new-york-city-council-passes-bill-for-all-electric-school-buses-by-2035/). JMA is also on the steering committee of the [Los Angeles Electric Bus and Truck Coalition](https://laelectrictruckandbus.org/), which is leading advocacy for zero-emission school buses in LA. ### Policy Tools ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/ESB-page-Ami-1-2.jpg "ESB-page-Ami-1-2 - Jobs to Move America")JMA’s signature policy tool, the [U.S. Jobs Plan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/u-s-employment-plan-2/), has [proven highly successful](https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/05/26/new-flyer-benefits-bus-equity/) at creating opportunities for inclusive, high-paying jobs in the transit bus and train manufacturing industries. In order to achieve the same success in school bus manufacturing, this tool should also be applied to school bus purchases and funding programs whenever possible, as described in [*Taking the High Road to Cleaner Air for Kids and Communities*](https://localprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/LP-JMA-Policy-Memo-EV-Procurement-Aug-2022.pdf), a memo co-authored by JMA and [Local Progress](https://localprogress.org/) in August 2022. ### In the News - [Time: U.S. School Buses May Never Be The Same Thanks to Biden’s Infrastructure Plan](https://time.com/6117544/electric-school-buses/) - Op-ed in *Governing*: [Why We Need to Electrify America’s School Bus Fleet](https://www.governing.com/now/why-we-need-to-electrify-americas-school-bus-fleet.html) - [NY Daily News: NYC’s purchase of school buses should supercharge transition to electric fleet: advocates](https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/ny-electric-school-bus-expansion-20210322-fyuw72vfibb7ngybjfzjbnlaz4-story.html) --- ### [Building Power and Democracy in the South](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/southern-donor-circle-brunch/) **Published:** August 3, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** On Saturday, Sept. 10, Jobs to Move America hosted a brunch to share our vision for building power and democracy in the South. Scott Douglas, Executive Director of Greater Birmingham Ministries, spoke about the history of Black worker organizing in Alabama and its ties to the present-day fight for economic justice and racial equality. JMA Deputy Director Erica Iheme discussed the new worker and civil rights movement that we’re growing in the Deep South—including our recent negotiation of [the first Community Benefits Agreement in the history of Alabama](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/major-electric-vehicle-manufacturer-signs-first-multi-state-agreement-with-community-and-civil-rights-group-for-equitable-hiring-and-good-jobs/)—and the promise and possibilities we can realize through collective power. See the recording of the program below. --- ### [Stay up to date with Jobs to Move America](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/get-updates/) **Published:** December 20, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** By signing up for our mailing list, you’ll receive action alerts and updates about our fight for a fair economy. What are we organizing for? - An economy that puts workers, racial justice, and climate action over corporate greed — every time. - An economy where our public dollars are always invested in a way that does the most public good. - An economy where workers have a voice on the job and a seat at the table. --- ### [Unleash the power of public dollars: Overturn the local hire ban](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/local-hire/) **Published:** March 2, 2021 **Author:** Web **Content:** #### Quick links: Read our press release about the campaign launch. [Press release](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/coalition-of-160-local-officials-organizations-and-academics-call-on-biden-administration-to-overturn-ban-on-local-hire-create-local-jobs-and-fix-economy/) Read our report about the local hire pilot program. [Report](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/analysis-of-usdot-local-labor-hiring-pilot-local-hire-increases-opportunities-for-disadvantaged-workers-strengthens-local-economies/) Watch our March 2 press conference and campaign launch. [Press conference](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/why-were-organizing-to-overturn-the-ban-on-local-hire/) --- Across the country, cities and states are working hard to rebuild communities and recover from the devastating impacts of the pandemic on working families. But something is blocking our road to a just recovery: the local hire ban, an outdated rule that prevents cities and states from creating local jobs with public infrastructure dollars. **What is the local hire ban?** The story starts in the 1980s, during the [anti-apartheid movement in the US. To put pressure on apartheid South Africa,](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/reagan-vs-cities-the-20th-century-battle-over-south-african-apartheid-and-lessons-for-the-trump-era/) certain local governments in the US decided to withhold public contracts from businesses that were profiting from apartheid. These cities and states were met with fierce opposition from the Reagan administration, which responded by imposing strict rules on public contracting. One of these rules was an all-out ban on local hire, which prohibits cities and states from using federally-funded public contracts to create jobs in local communities. For example, if a city wanted to guarantee that a certain percentage of jobs created through a federally-funded contract were set aside for their residents, they would be prevented from doing so or risk losing their funding. Today, the ban on local hire is still active. **It doesn’t have to be this way.** Too many people are suffering – unable to pay their bills, losing their homes, and struggling to survive. To recover from the pandemic and build equitable local economies, we need to create millions of good local jobs and invest in infrastructure for the future – from high speed trains to a stronger electric grid. The bipartisan [Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/how-jma-is-ensuring-the-infrastructure-bill-works-for-all-of-us/)took the first step to overturning the ban by allowing local hire initiatives on federally-funded highway construction projects, paving the way for a full repeal of this ban. This means that cities and states can now hire within their communities for federally-funded road work, like repairing and building highways and bridges. But, the ban on local hire is still in place for all other types of federally-funded projects, like upgrading our broadband infrastructure and investing in small businesses. **Our opportunity.** One step the Biden administration can take right now to help cities and states invest in their communities is update the Uniform Guidance to empower state and local governments. The Uniform Guidance is a set of federal regulations that determines how states and localities can spend federal money. Since the 1980s, these regulations have prevented states and cities from attaching labor and equity standards, like targeted hire, to federally-funded procurements, like targeted hire and taking job quality into account. We want to change that. Jobs to Move America recommendations were included in a report written by the [White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/jma-recommendations-in-white-house-task-force-report/). This report details executive actions President Biden can take to strengthen unions and lift up workers in the United States, such as: - Updating the Uniform Guidance to empower workers. - Allowing consideration of job, wage, and worker empowerment impacts as part of the application evaluation process for contractors applying for federally-funded contracts. - Ensuring that cities and states have the freedom to apply worker-empowering conditions, including local-hire and project-labor agreement (PLA) obligations, on their subgrantees. The task force also recommended ensuring that federal financial assistance programs cannot be used to deny workers the right to organize. Taken together, these provisions can substantially help state and local agencies to use their purchasing power to create fulfilling, safe, high-road jobs for workers in their communities – especially for people of color, women, returning citizens, veterans, and other workers facing barriers to employment. **Learn more** Read [a public letter](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Local-hire-sign-on-letter_3-2-20211.pdf) signed by over 160 public officials, community groups, unions, advocates, and academics calling on Biden to overturn the local hire ban. Read [our latest report](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/analysis-of-usdot-local-labor-hiring-pilot-local-hire-increases-opportunities-for-disadvantaged-workers-strengthens-local-economies/) that analyzes data from the DOT’s local hire pilot program and found that local hire policies create good local jobs in communities that need them most, advance racial justice, and create strong, worker-centered local economies. Check out our press release about the campaign launch and letter here, and watch our press event from March 2 [here](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/why-were-organizing-to-overturn-the-ban-on-local-hire/). Read [our latest blog ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/jma-recommendations-in-white-house-task-force-report/?mc_cid=726e5567e3&mc_eid=a04259852e)post highlighting the JMA recommendations included in the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment. --- #### Are you with us? Add your name to the growing list of #LocalHireNow supporters. You’ll receive important updates and action alerts about our campaign. ## Add your name to support local hire \* indicates required First Name Last Name Email Address \* **Interest** - Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits - Local Hire --- ### [Who We Work With](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/our-approach/who-we-work-with/) **Published:** November 14, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** We strive to build healthy, powerful coalitions that include organizations and leaders in labor, civil rights, environmental justice, and the community at-large. We believe that by working collaboratively, we can build a fair economy, participatory democracy, and a clean environment. ### [Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/alabama-coalition-for-community-benefits/) A Better Balance The Alabama State Conference of the NAACP Adelante Alabama Worker Center Alabama Arise Alabama Forward Alabama Rivers Alliance AFL-CIO Communications Workers of America (CWA) Greater-Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution (GASP) Greater Birmingham Ministries Hometown Action International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) United Auto Workers (UAW) United Steelworkers (USW) ### **California** Coalition Alliance for Community Transit – Los Angeles Los Angeles Conservation Corps Los Angeles Black Worker Center Los Angeles Federation of Labor (LA Fed) LA Voice Project Caring Family Services (PCS) United Steelworkers, Local 675 Sheet Metal Air Rail Transit (SMART) Union Local 105 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 11 Antelope Valley Youth Build Communications Workers of America, District 9 Anti-Recidivism Coalition Goodwill of Southern California Center for Employment Opportunities LA Playa Vista Job Opportunities and Business Services Democratic Socialists of America, Pomona Valley International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers ### LA County Electric Bus and Truck Coalition Earth Justice Sierra Club Food and Water Watch CA International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 11 South Bay 350 Climate Action Group Environment California ### **Illinois** Coalition Alliance of the Southeast Active Transportation Alliance Chicago Southland Economic Development Corporation Crossroads Collaborative Chicago Federation of Labor Chicago Federation of Labor Workforce & Community Initiative Chicago Jobs with Justice Olive Harvey College Opportunity, Advancement, Innovation, Inc (OAI) Sheet Metal Air Rail Transit (SMART) Union, Local 73 Sierra Club The Rock Enterprises And Development Corporation (T.R.E.A.D.) Washington Heights Workforce Center Warrior Summit Coalition Westside Health Authority Women Employed ### **ElectrifyNY Coalition** New York City Environmental Justice Alliance Tri-State Transportation Campaign Environmental Advocates of New York Sierra Club Long Island Progressive Coalition Sustainable Westchester New Yorkers for Clean Power Natural Resource Defense Council Align NY Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100 ### New York City Clean Bus Coalition New York League of Conservation Voters WE ACT for Environmental Justice North Brooklyn Neighbors Parents to Improve School Transportation New York Lawyers for the Public Interest 350 Brooklyn 350 NYC National Wildlife Federation Peoples Climate Movement NY EarthJustice ACE NY --- ### [Donor Dashboard](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/donor-dashboard-8/) **Published:** May 28, 2021 **Author:** Web **Content:** --- ### [What We Do](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/our-approach/what-we-do/) **Published:** November 14, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** Our mission is bold: we seek an economy where public goods do the most public good. Our public dollars are our most powerful tool to shape a better future for workers. Jobs to Move America combines strategic research, policy advocacy, and coalition organizing to harness the power of our public dollars to create good jobs and healthy communities across the country. #### WE RESEARCH. Our research team is shaping the ideas and practices we need to build a just economy, and to guide our policy advocacy and strategic organizing. JMA’s research that defines policy and decision-making around emerging industries like clean school buses. We also work with academic institutions to conduct surveys of workers and communities that help illuminate the conditions in and around factories owned by global corporations that receive extensive public subsidies and contracts. *Check out our latest research [here](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/?_sft_resource_type=reports).* #### WE PASS PROGRESSIVE POLICY. Across the country, we advocate for policies that make sure that every public dollar invested in the economy creates good jobs and healthy communities while advancing racial equity. ##### [Good Jobs Policies](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/good-jobs/) We advocate for policies that create good jobs and lift labor standards for workers across the country. Our signature good jobs and equity policy tool, the [U.S. Employment Plan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/u-s-employment-plan/), has been used by cities and states across the country. ##### [Climate Justice Policies](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/climate-justice-policies/) We work to weave good jobs language into climate policy, and have successfully advocated for an electric vehicles policy in California, shaped the [Chicago Ready for 100](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/chicago-ready-for-100/) campaign, and are supporting the development of various other policies in New York and Chicago. ##### [Transparency and Sunshine Policies](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/transparency-and-sunshine-policies/) We advocate for transparency policies that give the public greater oversight over our public dollars. We are working to reshape sunshine policies in multiple states and developing innovative policy to require tech companies receiving public subsidies to commit to “purchasing for the common good” requirements and [Technology Impact Assessments](https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2019/05/01/how-to-keep-the-robots-from-taking-jobs-000895). #### WE ORGANIZE. We put power back in the hands of workers and communities by organizing coalitions to win [Community Benefits Agreements](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/community-benefits-agreements/). CBAs are legally binding commitments between coalitions and employers that guarantee living wages, apprenticeship programs, protections for workers’ right to organize, and race- and gender-based equity measures, including commitments to hire, train, and create access to jobs for people who face barriers to employment. *Learn more about the power of CBAs [here](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/community-benefits-agreements/).* #### WE FOLLOW THROUGH. Organizing to win a CBA is just the first step. JMA also works with our coalitions to create workforce equity training programs that create access to good manufacturing jobs for people historically left out of the sector — women, people of color, and veterans, among others. *Explore our workforce equity programs [here](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/workforce-equity-programs/).* ### Learn more: - [ Research ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/?_sft_resource_type=reports) - [ Policy Tools ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource_type/policy-area/) - [ Community Benefits Agreements ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/community-benefits-agreements/) - [ Workforce Equity Programs ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/workforce-equity-programs/) --- ### [Why Public Purchasing?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/our-approach/why-public-purchasing/) **Published:** November 14, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** The United States is teetering on a cliff edge. Systemic racism has gone unchecked for centuries. The wealth gap is widening and communities of color are as chronically under-resourced as ever. Climate breakdown is hitting many of these same communities first and worst. Crises like the Great Recession and coronavirus pandemic have exposed how our economy simply isn’t set up to work for working people—even as corporations and CEOs get richer. To fix these interlocking problems, we need to first understand how we got here. And the erosion of the industrial worker movement is one critical, yet often overlooked, part of the story. #### How did we get here? Over the past half century, factories, which had been the foundation of the new middle class in the postwar period, began shutting down and moving to low wage communities, leaving unemployment and[ poverty in their wake](https://books.google.com/books?id=F5QTAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=misery+from+plant+closings&source=bl&ots=oXEQqkMIph&sig=ACfU3U25lza9Ypae9VFZUOonSC7Z2lAKmA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiL1siUwJvqAhVnFTQIHfNMBjoQ6AEwAXoECAwQAQ#v=onepage&q=misery%20from%20plant%20closings&f=false). By the 1990s, manufacturing supply chains in the U.S. became so globalized that pundits across the world proclaimed U.S. industrial worker power as “dying” or “[dead](https://www.jstor.org/stable/27673145?seq=1).” As manufacturing jobs became more precarious and underpaid, [immigrant](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07393149808429841?journalCode=cnps20) and [Black](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/10/black-lives-matter-labor-unions-factory-workers-unite) workers from Mississippi to California began organizing for a voice on the job—only to face repression and threats that factories would shutter and move elsewhere. As a result, wages and working conditions in the U.S. manufacturing sector slid dramatically. Once a source of stable, family-sustaining careers with low educational barriers to entry, the U.S. manufacturing sector has become the largest user of temporary labor in the country, with [36% of all temporary workers](https://americanstaffing.net/staffing-research-data/fact-sheets-analysis-staffing-industry-trends/staffing-industry-statistics/) employed in production and industrial jobs with no workplace protection. What does rebuilding industrial worker power have to do with building a fair economy and healthier communities? A lot. Right now, [approximately 20% of all manufactured goods](https://billmoyers.com/story/manufacturing-jobs/) in the U.S. are purchased by our governments and public agencies. Every year, federal, state, and local governments spend nearly [$2 trillion of our public dollars](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/doing-the-peoples-business/) to purchase manufactured equipment—everything from school buses to trains and garbage trucks. This is public purchasing, and it fuels a vast portion of our economy. Despite the fact that our public dollars fuel much of the manufacturing sector through public purchasing and subsidies, there usually isn’t anything in public contracts to hold companies—many of them global manufacturers—accountable to creating good jobs or making long-term investments in our communities. Over the years, strict new laws have made it nearly impossible for local governments to harness their purchasing power to lift labor standards or create high-road jobs. #### It doesn’t have to be this way. For too long, people have suffered low wages and unfair treatment working for manufacturers and corporations that make big profits spending the public’s money. It’s time to rethink the status quo on public purchasing. Imagine if every one of the public dollars that went toward funding these subsidies and contracts with manufacturers contributed to creating good jobs and rebuilding industrial worker power. Imagine if our public dollars also tackled racial and socio-economic injustices, countered climate change, and strengthened communities. That vision is what keeps us moving at Jobs to Move America. It’s what it would look like if our public goods did *the most public good.* Our “public goods for the most public good” policy framework empowers cities, states, and public agencies to use our public dollars to create good jobs and advance racial, gender, and climate equity across the country. On the ground, our community and worker coalitions organize for greater voice on the shop floor. ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/DF5481011-1024x659.jpg "DF5481011 - Jobs to Move America")> Research shows that the $2 trillion we spend on public purchasing each year could create up to 20 million good jobs if cities and states embraced our model of “public goods for the most public good.” We’ve created [policy tools](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/our-approach/what-we-do/) that make sure communities and workers reap real benefits from the billions of public dollars we invest in infrastructure. We’ve played a pivotal role in getting rail and bus companies to build factories and create thousands of good, family-sustaining jobs in California, Illinois, and Massachusetts. We’re working with climate justice groups to make sure our transition to clean energy creates good jobs for workers and marginalized communities. We’re advancing a new paradigm on federal infrastructure policy. To tackle the biggest issues of our time, we need to create a fair economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. Getting there means rebuilding worker and community power. [Read more about the work we do to make this happen.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/our-approach/what-we-do/) --- ### [Our Work](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/our-work/) **Published:** November 14, 2019 **Author:** Web --- ### [Donation Confirmation](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/donation-confirmation/) **Published:** December 12, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** Thank you for your gift! Your support will advance JMA’s work to build an inclusive democracy, equitable economy, and healthy environment that works for all communities. You will receive a receipt via email to email address provided. Please keep it for your records. Stay Connected with JMA: [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/JobstoMoveAmerica/) [Twitter](https://twitter.com/JobsMoveAmerica) --- ### [Donation History](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/donation-history/) **Published:** December 12, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** Please verify your email to access your donation history. Donation Email: --- ### [Donation Failed](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/donation-failed/) **Published:** December 12, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** We're sorry, your donation failed to process. Please try again or contact site support. --- ### [Site Credits](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/site-credits/) **Published:** December 6, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/dac_logo-300x173.jpg "dac_logo-300x173 - Jobs to Move America") Website design and development by the [Design Action Collective.](http://www.designaction.org/) Design Action provides graphic design and visual communications for progressive, non-profit and social change organizations. By providing these high-quality professional services, we seek to contribute to building a broad and effective progressive movement and participate in the struggle for social justice. [Learn More](http://www.designaction.org/) » --- ### [Our Approach](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/our-approach/) **Published:** November 14, 2019 **Author:** Web --- ## Regions ### [Western States](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/region/western-states/) **Published:** November 13, 2019 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** California is the country's most populous state and the birthplace of Jobs to Move America. Our campaigns are harnessing the power of California's public dollars to advance racial, gender, and economic justice. **Content:** Home to 39 million residents, California is the most populous state in the U.S. and represents the world’s sixth largest economy. Billions of public dollars are spent every year to build roads, buses, bridges, and the public infrastructure that keep the state running. But many workers and communities are not benefiting from these investments. Jobs to Move America is transforming the way our public dollars are used to generate greater racial, gender, and economic justice. We empower coalitions to win [Community Benefits Agreements](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/community-benefits-agreements/), create job pipelines, and support local and statewide policy that holds companies with public contracts accountable to the public good. Together, we will build a society and an economy that works for all: one where our air is clean, our infrastructure is sound, and every job is a good one. **Quick links to our current campaigns in California:** - [ Good jobs through LA Metro ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/good-jobs-at-la-metro/) - [ Our CBA with Proterra ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/our-cba-with-electric-bus-builder-proterra/) - [ Workforce equity at BYD ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/byd-apprenticeship-readiness-training/) - [ SB 674: California’s High-Road Jobs Program ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/california-sb-674/) --- ### [Midwest](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/region/midwest/) **Published:** November 13, 2019 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** We're organizing the country's heartland to lead the way on ambitious climate policy and infrastructure investments that lift up workers and communities. **Content:** In Illinois, city and state governments spend billions of public dollars every year to build roads, buses, bridges, and the public infrastructure that keeps the state and country running. Jobs to Move America is waging campaigns in Illinois to ensure that the benefits accrued by the companies receiving public funding result in good jobs and community benefits and a cleaner environment. Our coalition organizes to win [Community Benefits Agreements](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/community-benefits-agreements/), build job pipelines, and support local and statewide policy holding companies that receive public support accountable. Our goal is to make sure our public dollars expand access to good jobs with family-sustaining wages in historically under-resourced neighborhoods. ****Quick links to our current campaig**ns in Illinois:** - [ Good jobs through CTA ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/contracting-careers-opportunity-policy-ordinance-at-cta/) - [ Clean energy jobs for Illinois ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/clean-energy-jobs-act-ceja/) - [ Chicago good jobs pipeline ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/chicago-good-jobs-pipeline/) - [ Our CBA with CRRC ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/our-cba-with-railcar-manufacturer-crrc/) --- ### [Northeast](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/region/northeast/) **Published:** November 13, 2019 **Author:** Troyla Washington **Excerpt:** New York and New Jersey pour billions into public infrastructure -- like transit -- each year. We're fighting to ensure these public dollars build up our communities, too. **Content:** New York State boasts the largest transit network in North America. With the third largest bus, rail, and light rail system in the United States, New Jersey isn’t far behind. Transit agencies and municipalities in this region spend billions every year purchasing transit equipment, developing infrastructure, and operating trains and buses that move people to and from their homes, jobs, and loved ones. Unfortunately, when companies contract with our transit agencies, they are rarely required to provide living wage jobs or build green infrastructure. JMA fights to ensure that the public money our governments and agencies use to build manufactured equipment also builds up communities. If public officials spend public money wisely, we can create good jobs for people who need them while protecting the environment. That’s why we work to hold public transit agencies accountable for investing in clean transportation infrastructure like electric buses. And we are putting power back in the hands of workers and communities by demanding that transit agency contracts are only granted to companies that hire from communities most often denied good jobs, a living wage, and safe working conditions. **Quick links to our current campaigns in New York and New Jersey:** - [ Good jobs through MTA ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/manufacturing-careers-policy-at-the-mta/) - [ Green Transit, Green Jobs bills ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/green-transit-green-jobs/) - [ Electrify New York ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/new-york-mta-electric-bus-transition/) - [ Clean School Buses for NY Kids ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/clean-buses-for-new-york-kids/) - [ NY Union Letter to MTA and USEP ](< https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/NY-Union-Letter-to-MTA-USEP_7-30-25.pdf>) --- ### [The South](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/region/southern/) **Published:** November 13, 2019 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Excerpt:** The manufacturing industry is making a comeback in the Deep South. We're organizing to bring good jobs and real community benefits to Southern communities. **Content:** The manufacturing industry is making a comeback in the Deep South, driven by tax incentives provided by the state and local governments. Alabama and Mississippi rank in the top ten states for transit manufacturing in the nation, and have each granted approximately $3.5 billion in tax incentives and subsidies in the past two decades, with most of those dollars awarded in the past five or six years in exchange for vague, unenforceable commitments to “create jobs.” The reality is that these companies are exacerbating poverty by paying low wages, hiring for temporary jobs, disregarding health and safety concerns, contributing to environmental problems, and engaging in racial and gender discrimination. But it doesn’t have to be this way. When companies doing work in the South receive public incentives or support, they should be held accountable to lifting up workers and communities. Our coalition in the South is working to hold these manufacturers’ feet to the fire by organizing to win community benefits agreements that strengthen workers’ rights and communities. We envision a South where manufacturing jobs are good jobs that offer a living wage and benefits, and that companies commit to hiring goals for marginalized communities, including women, people of color, and people who face barriers to re-entering the workforce. --- ### [National](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/region/national/) **Published:** November 13, 2019 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Excerpt:** Our governments spend $2 trillion each year purchasing goods and services. We work nationally to ensure these public dollars do the most public good. **Content:** Our governments — federal, state, and city — spend a combined $2 trillion per year purchasing the goods and services that keep our cities running and neighborhoods connected. At the national level, Jobs to Move America engages in research and policy advocacy to ensure these public dollars do the most public good. We do this by helping agencies and policymakers combine public investments in our infrastructure with the creation of worker-friendly, family-supporting jobs. To achieve this vision, we partner with JMA’s regional teams and at the national level with transportation, labor, civil rights, environmental, and policy allies. - [ Local Opportunities ](https://localopportunities.org/) - [ Electric School Buses ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/electric-school-buses/) - [ Community Benefits Agreement Resource Center ](https://cbarc.org/) --- ## Updates ### [Our Commitment to Holding Corporations Accountable Continues](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/our-commitment-to-holding-corporations-accountable-continues/) **Published:** July 13, 2026 **Author:** Alaa Milbes **Content:** “Last week, the Los Angeles court hearing our case against Hyundai and Kia granted the companies’ motion to dismiss. While the decision is disappointing, our commitment to holding multi‑billion‑dollar corporations accountable to workers and communities has not changed. Hyundai and Kia cannot be allowed to profit in California from exploitation in their U.S. supply chain while our communities bear the cost. I am a lifelong Californian leading an organization with a national office in the state. Our team is determined to stand up for California values and commitments to work with high-road employers. We believe the court got it wrong, and we will be appealing this decision. Our fight for worker dignity, the public good, and truth continues.” **– Statement from Madeline Janis** ![Diverse group of protesters outside a building, holding signs and banners urging accountability and whistleblower protection, with a speaker at a wooden podium addressing the crowd.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/NRivas_LASEC_Action_2-1024x683.jpg "NRivas_LASEC_Action_2 - Jobs to Move America")Photo Credit Neil RivasLast week, the Los Angeles court hearing [our case](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Complaint-for-Declaratory-and-Injunctive-Relief.11-13-25.pdf) against Hyundai and Kia granted the companies’ motion to dismiss our complaint. We think the court got it wrong, and we intend to appeal. We filed this lawsuit because we believe that every worker deserves safety and dignity and that no corporation should profit from the exploitation of their supply chain’s workforce. California is a leader in this space. The State requires its contractors to certify that their products are not made with “sweatshop labor,” including child, forced, or prison labor, and that workplaces are safe and lawful. Our case alleges that this is not the case with Hyundai-Kia. Last year, Columbia Labor Lab released a [report](https://laborlabcu.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Labor-Lab-Incarcerated-Labor-2.pdf) on prison labor in Hyundai-Kia’s supply chain that is now [informing](https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/forced-labour-imports-canada-tariffs-9.7238657) international advocacy around the company and supply chain accountability. Researchers at JMA released another [report](https://recallinjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/JMA_RIHK_REPORT_V4_111425.pdf) that documents incidents of child labor in the company’s supply chain. Our lawsuit alleges that Hyundai and Kia, and its affiliates, are certifying that their cars are built in compliance with labor laws to win public contracts in California while companies in their U.S. supply chain engage in unlawful labor practices. The court ruled that California law could not address the practices occurring in Alabama and Georgia. The court also determined that federal and state regulatory agencies are better suited to remedy the violations in the supply chain. The court’s decision was based on its interpretation of California law, not on the facts. We are committed to ensuring that every company – no matter its size – is held accountable to the law and to the public money it receives. We will continue to hold Hyundai/Kia accountable for the conditions in their U.S. supply chain. Last week, JMA co-sponsored an action in L.A. to demand that FIFA end its corporate partnership with Hyundai and Kia for the World Cup until the companies address the issues in their supply chain. And our Southern team organizers continue to build worker committees at the suppliers to demand accountability inside the plants. The Court’s ruling is not the end of our fight for justice at Hyundai and Kia. JMA will always stand up for workers and the public good. No company is above the law, especially those that receive public dollars. --- ### [Juneteenth Is Our Story: Why the Fight for Justice Continues](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/juneteenth-is-our-story-why-the-fight-for-justice-continues/) **Published:** June 18, 2026 **Author:** Alaa Milbes **Content:** My grandparents left the South for Chicago during the Great Migration in the 1930s. They were part of a generation seeking opportunity, dignity, and freedom from the racial oppression of the South. Their journey shaped the economic opportunities my family would later have. As we celebrate Juneteenth this week, I recognize that my story is the story of thousands of families who continued searching for freedom long after slavery officially ended. ![Photo of Andre from](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Andre-edited-297x300.jpg "Andre - Jobs to Move America")Photo of Chef Andre from 2004As a child in Chicago in the 70s, I would attend community meetings with my mom, a political organizer who knocked on her neighbors’ doors to ensure they were part of the political process. At the time, I didn’t realize the lessons I was learning. Looking back, those experiences planted seeds that would later shape my own path. Growing up, the last thing on my mind was becoming an organizer. I started working as a cook at what was then called the Staples Center, now called Crypto.com Arena, in Los Angeles, California. There, I immediately noticed the pay disparity. Cooks in my kitchen were making $2–$3 less per hour than workers doing similar jobs for another employer in the same facility. I kept asking, “Why are we getting paid less?” That question led me to become active in UNITE HERE Local 11. I became a committee person and began learning how unions fight for workers. Over time, I grew frustrated watching management fight workers over every raise, sometimes arguing with us over pennies. I became a shop steward and started advocating for my coworkers. The fight wasn’t just about wages; it was about dignity and fairness. I became one of the organizers for the first Community Benefits Agreement in the country. One that ensured workers had a legally binding agreement that made them part and parcel of the economic development in our community. Later, I organized workers in Houston, Dallas, and Austin, Texas, before moving back to California. Fast forward to 2026, I am a community organizer with JMA in my beautiful hometown of Chicago, where my grandparents settled all those years ago. ![Exterior of Staples Center with glass curved facade, red Staples Center sign, palm trees, and street traffic nearby, including taxis and cars.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Staples_Center_2010-300x225.jpg "Staples Center - Jobs to Move America")Credit [Raging Panda](https://www.flickr.com/people/51082088@N05)I am here today building relationships with various organizations to help bridge the gap between workers, unions, and companies. The work I do today is not something new. It is an extension of a much longer struggle that stretches back through my family, my community, and generations of Black Americans. My grandparents pursued freedom through migration. My mother organized her neighborhood. I organize workers and communities. Juneteenth reminds us that freedom has always required struggle. It reminds us that progress comes because ordinary people organize and demand change. That’s what Juneteenth means to me: the opportunity to tell our story, honor those who came before us, and continue the fight for those who come next. By Andre Steele Midwest Organizing Manager **Categories:** Economy, Labor, Worker Stories --- ### [Hyndai-Kia's U.S. supply chain named in "Dirty Dozen" report for dangerous and abusive working conditions](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/hyndai-kias-u-s-supply-chain-named-in-dirty-dozen-report-for-dangerous-and-abusive-working-conditions/) **Published:** May 5, 2026 **Author:** Alaa Milbes **Content:** We’re excited to share two major developments that show how research, organizing, and public leadership are driving real accountability for workers. Last week, the Los Angeles City Council introduced a new package of policies led by Councilmember Hugo Soto‑Martínez, after companies in Hyundai-Kia’s US supply chain were cited for multiple health and safety violations, including workplace fatalities and serious injuries, as well as child labor violations. Check out our [press release](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/jma-applauds-the-city-of-los-angeles-introduction-of-recent-policies/) for the full story, and coverage in [AL Reporter](https://www.alreporter.com/2026/04/24/hyundai-kia-supply-chain-included-in-dirty-dozen-list-of-dangerous-employers/), [Korea Daily](https://www.koreadailyus.com/hyundai-kia-us-supply-chain-dirty-dozen/), and [CarBuzz](https://carbuzz.com/hyundai-kia-supply-dirty-dozen/). These measures build on Los Angeles’ longstanding Sweat‑Free Procurement Ordinance and reinforce the city’s leadership in ethical purchasing and worker protections. As Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez said: “We’re introducing this legislation to send a clear message: our public dollars should never support child labor, forced labor, or unsafe working conditions. As a city, we need to do everything we can to create good, safe jobs, and I want to thank Jobs to Move America for helping to expose serious abuses in the auto industry that warrant our attention.” We are honored that JMA’s research helped inform these policy actions. **Hyundai-Kia’s U.S. Supply Chain Named to the Dirty Dozen Report 2026** For the first time, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) has listed Hyundai-Kia’s U.S. supply chain in its annual 2026 Dirty Dozen Report. The annual report spotlights 12 employers that have put workers at risk by failing to prevent on-the-job injuries, illnesses, and deaths. The designation comes amid growing documentation of unsafe working conditions, labor violations, and exploitative practices within Hyundai-Kia’s U.S. supply chain, including allegations of child labor and coercive prison labor. The inclusion of Hyundai-Kia’s U.S. supply chain comes after a groundbreaking report, [*Hidden in Plain Sight*: *Safety, Labor & Environmental Violations Driving Hyundai-Kia’s Supply Chain*](https://recallinjustice.org/read-the-report/)*,* was released by Jobs to Move America in coalition with community organizations. Some of the findings of the report included: - Between 2015 and 2025, 12 workers died in incidents at companies in Hyundai-Kia’s U.S. supply chain. - From 2015 through September 2025, OSHA cited companies in the same supply chain for 854 violations, resulting in $6.2 million in penalties. 70% of these violations were categorized as willful, repeat, or serious. - Between 2020 and 2022, at least nine facilities in Alabama that supplied parts to Hyundai-Kia were found to have illegally employed children. - In March 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor filed a civil suit naming Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama as a joint employer of a 13-year-old who allegedly worked up to 60 hours per week at a company under its control. **What Comes Next** JMA and its partners will continue to push Hyundai-Kia to address the serious concerns found within companies in their US supply chain by calling on them to negotiate a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA). In the coming months, we will work with partners across the country to ORGANIZE and WIN policies that protect workers in our community and create a more just economy. --- ### [What You Need to Know About Our Lawsuit Against Hyundai-Kia](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/what-you-need-to-know-about-our-lawsuit-against-hyundai-kia/) **Published:** December 17, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** **by Meredith Stewart, JMA Litigation Director** Hyundai and Kia–two of the world’s largest auto manufacturers–brand themselves as socially and ethically responsible corporations, but as our [recent lawsuit](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/jma-lawsuit-against-hyundai-kia/) alleges, this is far from the truth. Companies in their U.S. supply chain have relied on exploited workers, including children and prisoners, in unsafe working conditions to build parts for their cars. Our lawsuit, which demands accountability from Hyundai and Kia under the California Unfair Competition Law, alleges that the auto giants misrepresented their compliance with labor laws to win public contracts in California while their U.S. supply chain continued to exploit workers. JMA, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, has spent years documenting labor abuses in the companies’ supply chain in the U.S. South. Here’s what you need to know. **The Unlawful Practices in Hyundai and Kia’s U.S. Supply Chain** Hyundai and Kia rely on a closely controlled network of auto part companies in Alabama and Georgia to build parts for their vehicles. The lawsuit alleges that those parts suppliers—including some directly owned by Hyundai and Kia—have engaged in severe labor exploitation, targeting vulnerable populations for employment and then exposing them to unsafe working conditions that have led to severe injuries, amputations, and fatalities. - Hyundai and Kia’s suppliers have relied on **coercive prison labor** from prison systems in Alabama and Georgia that the U.S. government has found likely have unconstitutional conditions. - Since 2020, federal and state regulators have identified cases of **unlawful child labor** at six suppliers in Alabama. Three other suppliers were reported to be using child labor by media outlets that investigated the issue. - Multiple suppliers have recruited and employed hundreds of migrant workers from Mexico who have sued the companies for fraud, exploitative working conditions, wage theft, and/or **labor trafficking**. - Hyundai and Kia suppliers have engaged in widespread noncompliance with health and safety standards that have created **deadly working conditions**. This year alone, there have been two fatalities at a Hyundai/Kia facility in Georgia. Though the abuses involve Hyundai and Kia’s suppliers, all roads lead back to the auto manufacturers themselves. The lawsuit details the extent of control and oversight that Hyundai and Kia have over their U.S. suppliers, a corporate model they imported from South Korea. This top-down approach means Hyundai and Kia have the authority to ensure their suppliers engage in responsible practices, but, in the case of the lawsuit allegations, simply refuse to do so. **Hyundai and Kia’s Sale of Vehicles to California Public Agencies** Together, Hyundai and Kia are the third largest sellers of Electric Vehicles (EV) in the U.S. and are actively marketing their vehicles to California public agencies. These agencies are eager to invest in high-road, “green” companies that can help them meet the state’s EV mandates. Many public agencies have already purchased Hyundai and Kia vehicles for their fleets. The lawsuit alleges that Hyundai and Kia, through their authorized dealerships, have falsely certified that their vehicles comply with California standards and laws. California and its local governments require that the vehicles they purchase meet strong employment standards and comply with federal and state laws. For example, under California’s Public Contracting Code, contractors must certify that vehicles are not produced with “sweatshop labor,” including child, forced, or prison labor, and that workplaces are safe and lawful. These are precisely the practices that have been documented in Hyundai and Kia’s U.S. supply chain. Yet, Hyundai and Kia have certified that their suppliers are free from “sweatshop” labor practices to win public contracts. The lawsuit calls for an end to Hyundai and Kia’s alleged deception. **An Unfair Edge in the California Market** The lawsuit also alleges that Hyundai and Kia’s deceptive practices harm both California consumers and fair-playing competitors. By systematically violating federal workplace safety laws, the companies gain an unfair edge in the automotive market, boosting profits and enabling them to sell vehicles at below market prices and win public contracts. These practices not only exploit workers but also distort California’s marketplace, undermining the standards designed to protect both consumers and competitors. **Demanding Accountability** Our lawsuit is about holding Hyundai and Kia accountable to workers and the public. We’re asking the court to rule that Hyundai and Kia’s practices violate the law and to order the companies to stop selling their vehicles in California until they submit to a third-party, independent audit to verify that the alleged abusive practices are no longer occurring. No company is above the law, especially those that receive public dollars. **Categories:** Health & Safety, Labor, Manufacturing, Transparency --- ### [The Supreme Court’s Decision Escalates the Attack on Immigrant Workers. We Must Respond.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/the-supreme-courts-decision-escalates-the-attack-on-immigrant-workers-we-must-respond/) **Published:** September 12, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** **by Melanie J. Prasad** Last week, we spoke out against the brutal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid [at the Hyundai and LG battery plant in Georgia](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/jma-condemns-ice-raid-at-georgia-hyundai-facility/ "at the Hyundai and LG battery plant in Georgia")—a devastating act that ripped nearly 500 workers from their jobs, families, and communities. These workers were building the “clean energy future,” only to be discarded through militarized enforcement tactics rooted in fear, racial profiling, and exploitation. That same day, the Supreme Court issued a devastating decision that threatens the rights, safety, and dignity of immigrant communities by allowing ICE agents in Los Angeles to resume detentive stops based on racial stereotypes. This ruling endorses racial profiling and sanctions the harassment of our community members based on nothing more than the color of their skin, the language they speak, or the jobs they do. This is not just a legal setback. It is a profound betrayal of constitutional rights and human dignity. As Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her dissent: “*The Government, and now the concurrence, has all but declared that all Latinos, U.S. citizens or not, who work low wage jobs are fair game to be seized at any time, taken away from work, and held until they provide proof of their legal status to the agents’ satisfaction*.” Let us be clear: this is a coordinated attack on immigrant and working-class communities. It deepens systemic harm, spreads fear in our neighborhoods, and sends a chilling message to workers who dare to demand dignity. It is an assault on all communities fighting for a future rooted in equity. This is not a matter of legal theory. It is about the lives of working people in communities where the consequences of this decision will be felt immediately and brutally. Justice Sotomayor made this plain: “*It is the people of Los Angeles and the Central District who will suffer from this Court’s grant of relief to the Government. Immigration agents are not conducting ‘brief stops for questioning’… They are seizing people using firearms, physical violence, and warehouse detentions*.” This is state violence, plain and simple. At Jobs to Move America, we reject this ruling and the broader agenda that treats immigrant workers as disposable. We know that safety is not created by militarized raids or fear-driven policies. Safety comes from investing in people, respecting workers, and protecting the dignity of every community member. Public funds must serve the public good, not fuel systems of fear, violence, and exclusion. JMA’s work is grounded in the belief that a just economy is a safe economy. No worker should live in fear of arrest on the job. No community should be punished for demanding rights and respect. We fight for an economy and a democracy where immigrant lives are not criminalized, but celebrated, protected, and empowered. This moment demands more than outrage. It demands organized, unapologetic resistance. We refuse to normalize a world where armed agents terrorize our workplaces and communities. This is not law and order. It is violence disguised as policy. The promise of justice is not handed down by courts. It is built by movements. And in the face of fear, we organize. We resist. We reimagine. And we remain steadfast in our vision of a world where public dollars build community, not cages. Justice Sotomayor said it best: “*We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job. Rather than stand idly by while our constitutional freedoms are lost, I dissent*.” And we do too. --- ### [JMA condemns ICE raid at Georgia Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution Facility](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/jma-condemns-ice-raid-at-georgia-hyundai-facility/) **Published:** September 5, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Jobs to Move America condemns the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid conducted this week at the Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution battery plant in Ellabell, Georgia. Yesterday, a reported 475 workers, hardworking parents, loving neighbors and community leaders, were snatched from their workplace by the Trump administration’s federal agents, in what the government is describing as the largest single-site worksite enforcement operation in the history of homeland security investigations. Workplace raids target vulnerable workers, suppress worker voices, and destroy communities. They do not keep us safer—to the contrary, they further entrench worker exploitation that thrives on a broken immigration system and workers who are too fearful to speak out about abusive conditions. We call on local officials, faith, labor and other community groups to demand an end to the workplace and community raids that are tearing our communities apart and driving down standards for all workers. We know from generations of labor and community struggle, and from the outpouring of community response to ICE kidnappings across the country, that working families and communities are safest and strongest when we stand together in solidarity and organization to support each other in difficult times. We urge our partners and supporters, locally and nationally to stand behind Migrant Equity Southeast (MESE) who is coordinating resources to impacted families and for people to donate what they can to this effort via their website: [Migrant Equity Southeast – Campaign](https://migrant-equity-southeast.snwbll.com/migrant-equity-southeast) **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Knowledge that Powers Change: A Message from JMA's New Director of Research](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/knowledge-that-powers-change-a-message-from-jmas-new-director-of-research/) **Published:** August 22, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HBrindle-Khym-e1750264337103-883x1024.jpg "HBrindle-Khym - Jobs to Move America")**by HeeWon Brindle-Khym** At Jobs to Move America, research has always been integral to how we advance our mission. It grounds our campaigns, informs our partnerships, and strengthens our ability to hold corporations and policymakers accountable. When combined with organizing and coalition-building, research provides the evidence and direction that makes our strategies effective, rigorous and rooted in justice and equity. As we look toward the future at JMA, we are deepening the way we use research to drive change. Our research is grounded in rigor and accountability, and we uplift and center worker voices, lived experiences, and community insights to guide justice and equity framing to our research inquiry and questions. [In my two decades of working at the intersection of labor rights, corporate accountability, and global supply chains,](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/people-heewon-brindle-khym-/2qgjmr/1683446533/h/dX-F3EnqPkzd3lPyyRJYEUlPWEm9XjCsnjeNChyQjKo) I have seen how research can transform what feels impossible into what becomes inevitable. When combined with organizing, advocacy, and worker voice, research not only equips us to challenge exploitation and inequity, it also helps bridge divides, deepen alliance, and expand our vision of what justice can look like. At JMA, we are laying the framework where research is used, not simply to study problems, but to shape solutions, shift power, and build an economy that works for all of us. I look forward to sharing more of this work with you in the months ahead. For now, I hope you’ll continue to stay engaged and up to date with JMA’s efforts by [reading our newsletters](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/get-updates/) and sharing them with others in your network who are invested in building a more just and equitable economy. --- ### [As Pride Comes to a Close, Let’s Not Forget Why We Stepped Out](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/as-pride-comes-to-a-close-lets-not-forget-why-we-stepped-out/) **Published:** July 12, 2025 **Author:** Troyla Washington **Content:** By: Patricia Todd, Southern Policy Manager When I first stepped into public office as Alabama’s first openly gay elected official, I carried with me the spirit of resistance that defined the Stonewall Uprising. Coming out in the state legislature wasn’t easy. I received hate mail, threats, and plenty of sideways glances from colleagues who had never knowingly worked with a queer person. But I chose to live openly because I believed then, as I do now, that truth is powerful, and that living it publicly can change hearts and minds. My journey into activism began with a spark in the mid-1970s. My high school sweetheart—who would later become my husband—handed me a copy of *Ms. Magazine*, and I read about the systemic inequalities women face in this country. I was angry, I was awake, and I was ready to act. That issue led me to the National Organization for Women (NOW), where I helped found a local chapter and later served as the first president of Kentucky NOW. This work eventually took me to Washington, D.C., and then back South, where I’ve continued to work for justice—sometimes paid, often not, but always with a purpose. That purpose has never felt more urgent than it does right now. We all want to love in peace and provide for our families, and that has been what drives my work for JMA. Good jobs and fair working conditions provide that foundation, not just for LGBTQ+ people, but for everyone. But across the South and around the country, LGBTQ+ people are under renewed attack. Recent legal battles over access to gender-affirming care are reshaping how states interpret civil rights protections and could set precedents that impact access to other forms of healthcare, including Medicare and Medicaid. Meanwhile, the same lawmakers behind these efforts often support cuts to public programs and oppose worker protections and disproportionately harm the very families they claim to represent. Working families have fought hard to win protections like anti-discrimination laws and workplace fairness policies backed up by union contracts—but progress is not permanent, and visibility alone is not protection. Keep talking to your neighbors and co-workers. Pride is not just a celebration of how far we’ve come, it’s a commitment to keep fighting for a world where no one has to hide in order to survive. We owe it to those who came before us, and we owe it to the young people who are watching now. --- ### [Trump's big, ugly bill is an attack on working people](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/trumps-big-ugly-bill-is-an-attack-on-working-people/) **Published:** July 12, 2025 **Author:** Troyla Washington **Content:** By: Ian Elder, National Director Last Friday, President Trump signed into law the grotesque, 1,000-page legislation known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill” (OBBB). We believe the government should serve the people. It should create public goods for the benefit of all, to create a fairer and better society. But instead of celebrating democracy and equality on Independence Day, the MAGA regime chose to ram through policies that attack the working class, hurt millions of people, and consolidate even more power into the hands of the executive. The new law sets in stone massive tax breaks [for a small group of the ultra rich](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/-get-from-the-senate-tax-bill-/2qcxtw/1661018582/h/dXCrnjgcTi2KOu1OGRClkQ8mKb7jqF-J8OOd1DHOGpw) and dramatically increases funding for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), while gutting healthcare, cutting badly needed food assistance for [millions of children](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/ion-bill-takes-food-assistance/2qcxtz/1661018582/h/dXCrnjgcTi2KOu1OGRClkQ8mKb7jqF-J8OOd1DHOGpw), and taking on massive new debt. The law triples the budget for ICE to an average of [$37.5 billion a year](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/gration-ice-bill-trump-2093456/2qcxv3/1661018582/h/dXCrnjgcTi2KOu1OGRClkQ8mKb7jqF-J8OOd1DHOGpw), making them, all by themselves, larger than the entire militaries of Italy, Israel, or Brazil. ICE is functioning as a secret police force, sending in [masked, unidentified units](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/08-ice-masks-trump-immigrants-/2qcxv6/1661018582/h/dXCrnjgcTi2KOu1OGRClkQ8mKb7jqF-J8OOd1DHOGpw) to [attack immigrant communities,](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/ark-national-guard-bass-trump-/2qcxv9/1661018582/h/dXCrnjgcTi2KOu1OGRClkQ8mKb7jqF-J8OOd1DHOGpw) [arrest U.S. citizens ](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/izens-detained-ice-immigration/2qcxvd/1661018582/h/dXCrnjgcTi2KOu1OGRClkQ8mKb7jqF-J8OOd1DHOGpw)and [public officials](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/ad-lander-immigration-ice-html/2qcxvh/1661018582/h/dXCrnjgcTi2KOu1OGRClkQ8mKb7jqF-J8OOd1DHOGpw), [abduct students to punish them for their free speech](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/t-campus-palestinian-activism-/2qcxvl/1661018582/h/dXCrnjgcTi2KOu1OGRClkQ8mKb7jqF-J8OOd1DHOGpw), and [disappear people to a notorious gulag in El Salvador.](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/-garcia-elsalvador-prison-html/2qcxvp/1661018582/h/dXCrnjgcTi2KOu1OGRClkQ8mKb7jqF-J8OOd1DHOGpw) The MAGA regime will rip healthcare away from tens of millions of people by [cutting Medicaid and Medicare](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/cuts-to-medicaid-and-medicare-/2qcxvs/1661018582/h/dXCrnjgcTi2KOu1OGRClkQ8mKb7jqF-J8OOd1DHOGpw) [in the biggest rollback of federal healthcare support ever.](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/ce-trump-tax-bill-84431378007-/2qcxvw/1661018582/h/dXCrnjgcTi2KOu1OGRClkQ8mKb7jqF-J8OOd1DHOGpw) Many people won’t be able to get the care they need and [will suffer and die early](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/caid-budget-bill-deaths-trump-/2qcxvz/1661018582/h/dXCrnjgcTi2KOu1OGRClkQ8mKb7jqF-J8OOd1DHOGpw), and many with private health insurance will face large rate hikes. JMA works with rural communities, and with a trillion dollars of healthcare cuts, many may lose their local hospitals. Finally, the law betrays our children by turning [its back on federal investments into building clean energy and strengthening U.S. advanced manufacturing](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/eautiful-bill-industry-impacts/2qcxw3/1661018582/h/dXCrnjgcTi2KOu1OGRClkQ8mKb7jqF-J8OOd1DHOGpw). This puts the future of good manufacturing jobs at risk, will [increase energy bills everywhere](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/big-beautiful-bill-state-costs/2qcxw6/1661018582/h/dXCrnjgcTi2KOu1OGRClkQ8mKb7jqF-J8OOd1DHOGpw), and worsens our climate future, increasing the likelihood of extreme climate events like the [current deadly floods](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/ate-scientist-in-texas-floods-/2qcxw9/1661018582/h/dXCrnjgcTi2KOu1OGRClkQ8mKb7jqF-J8OOd1DHOGpw). In circumstances like this, it’s hard to maintain hope. We believe that the government can and should be a force for good; yet now we’re seeing the entire federal apparatus harnessed, more than ever, to benefit the wealthy and punish workers and the poor. But we’ve also seen that organized people have real power. At JMA, we are partnering with communities and workers to create community benefits agreements with employers — agreements that benefit everyone by creating fair career pathways, trained workforces, and manufacturing facilities that are good neighbors. We stand with our allies across the labor movement, the environmental movement, and civil society in organizing to hold our government accountable, too. Together, we are fighting for a society where we all can thrive. --- ### [Reclaiming Pride as Resistance](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/reclaiming-pride-as-resistance/) **Published:** June 25, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** **by Melanie Jamileh Prasad, General Counsel and Director of Policy** Last weekend, Los Angeles celebrated its annual Pride Parade, complete with corporate floats and rainbow-wrapped brands. But set against the terror that has been unfolding in our city, the pageantry and celebration felt disconnected and surreal. On Friday night, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) set up a full-scale operation two blocks from my home in Los Angeles. Helicopters circled overhead as dozens of unmarked vans, military vehicles, and countless agents stood at the ready. I stood helplessly on the sidelines as a mobile command post was established in the heart of my neighborhood. And as the LAPD cracked down on protesters to protect ICE, deploying flashbangs and tear gas, I looked down the street and saw City Hall glowing in rainbow lights for Pride Month. A symbol of inclusion, cast in sharp contrast to the fear and violence unfolding just blocks away, where the government came not with aid, but with handcuffs. Not with support, but with force. It is against this backdrop that I’m reminded of Pride’s roots. Pride began as a riot. Not a rainbow celebration or a corporate-sponsored parade, but a spontaneous, collective uprising. In June 1969, patrons of the Stonewall Inn—led by trans women of color like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, sex workers, street youth, and working-class queer people—rose up against the routine police raids that brutalized and dehumanized them. They weren’t seeking a place in a system built to erase them. They were fighting to survive, to be free. Pride was never just a parade; it was an act of collective defiance, a demand for liberation. In the decades that followed, grassroots movements won hard-fought gains—expanding legal protections, increased visibility, and broader public support for LGBTQ+ rights. But then came the backlash, and today this struggle continues. Already this year, [over 850 anti-LGBTQ+ bills](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/usage20have20begun20to20mount-/2qb2fp/1641764186/h/fKbH36OfHFHJzQgVFSypbgeiln8t5mFMdwWLck43xf0) have been introduced across the U.S. These include efforts to ban gender-affirming care, restrict trans people’s access to public spaces, erase LGBTQ+ content from classrooms, and gut nondiscrimination protections in healthcare and employment. At the same time, a coordinated national campaign is [dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/-face-of-presidential-attacks-/2qb2fs/1641764186/h/fKbH36OfHFHJzQgVFSypbgeiln8t5mFMdwWLck43xf0). These attacks are not isolated; they are deeply intertwined with broader efforts to [dismantle worker protections](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/s-100-ways-trump-hurt-workers-/2qb2fw/1641764186/h/fKbH36OfHFHJzQgVFSypbgeiln8t5mFMdwWLck43xf0), [suppress voting rights](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/ess-could-hit-new-low-save-act/2qb2fz/1641764186/h/fKbH36OfHFHJzQgVFSypbgeiln8t5mFMdwWLck43xf0), [terrorize immigrant communities](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/rts-arrests-immigrants-deport-/2qb2g3/1641764186/h/fKbH36OfHFHJzQgVFSypbgeiln8t5mFMdwWLck43xf0), and [criminalize free speech and protest](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/fic-threats-possible-responses/2qb2g6/1641764186/h/fKbH36OfHFHJzQgVFSypbgeiln8t5mFMdwWLck43xf0). They are part of larger Trump administration [authoritarian actions](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/os-angeles-protests-fort-bragg/2qb2g9/1641764186/h/fKbH36OfHFHJzQgVFSypbgeiln8t5mFMdwWLck43xf0) that concentrate power by targeting the most vulnerable, pitting communities against one another, and silencing collective resistance. To fight back, we must understand these struggles as interconnected and commit to building movements of solidarity across lines of race, class, gender, sexuality, and immigration status. But if our struggles are interconnected, so is our power. At Jobs to Move America, we organize to empower communities. Through enforceable community benefits agreements (CBAs), we fight to shift public dollars towards public good—creating good jobs with real worker protections, opening career pathways for people historically excluded from employment, and embedding accountability directly into contracts with employers. Our CBA with New Flyer, the largest bus manufacturer in North America, includes protections against retaliation, independent discrimination complaint mechanisms, and targeted hiring for formerly incarcerated people, women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ workers. These kinds of agreements don’t just live on paper—they build real power in our communities, creating pathways for collective action, accountability, and change. We know that safety doesn’t come from rainbow logos or military parades. It comes from organizing. From building worker power. From centering the leadership of queer and trans people of color, immigrants, people impacted by mass incarceration, and others who’ve always been on the front lines. So this Pride, let’s honor its radical roots not with empty slogans and rainbow logos that disappear on July 1st, but with deep, sustained commitment. Let’s organize across race, class, gender, sexuality, and immigration status. Let’s reject symbolic gestures and demand structural change. Let’s recommit to organizing for dignity, for safety, and for a future where we all thrive. Because when we organize together, we don’t just resist. We transform. --- ### [Solidarity with David Huerta and All Immigrant Workers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/solidarity-with-david-huerta-and-all-immigrant-workers/) **Published:** June 13, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** **by Valerie Lizárraga** I’m writing to you from heartbreak and rage–but also with a firm belief that we can and must stand up to protect our families, friends, and neighbors who are under attack by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). I grew up on the eastside of Los Angeles (Tovaangar) and I still live here. I love my neighborhood. For all LA’s imperfections, for all the disasters imposed on us, it is a beautiful city. You will not find a more vibrant and rich community with people from all around the world. We are here between the mountains and the sea. People work hard here. People like the [two dozen workers at Ambiance Apparel](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/a-fashion-district-immigration/2qb513/1642462100/h/42_i06j1F-iKXJAI9haO2vk11iKqfluZd1onHIjpUCg) who were taken by ICE. Fathers, brothers and sons; mothers, sisters and daughters who have done nothing wrong, disappeared from their workplace. Many of them, like my family, with deep Indigenous roots on this continent. We’ve been here for millennia, since long before the establishment of this country. This attack is meant not just to decimate us, but even more so to terrify us and divide working people. The U.S. thrives on the labor of immigrants, doing work that is often dangerous and underpaid. We work hard every day and contribute to our neighborhoods, cities, and country. We have often united with other workers to demand fair wages, safe working conditions, and basic human rights, from restaurants to factories. Now, some may hesitate. [ICE sent a clear message by injuring ](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/-arrested-during-l-a-ice-raids/2qb516/1642462100/h/42_i06j1F-iKXJAI9haO2vk11iKqfluZd1onHIjpUCg)and arresting the longtime labor leader and president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California, David Huerta, who has led his union brothers and sisters in the fight for fair and safe working conditions for over fifteen years. Now, the government has slapped him with dubious charges and the threat of a lengthy prison sentence for serving as a community observer during ICE’s brutal raid at Ambiance Apparel. We stand in solidarity with our brother David and call on the federal government to drop its unjust charges. We know that community action works. For example, our union brother Kilmar Abrego Garcia was recently brought back to the U.S. from the notorious CECOT prison in El Salvador, thanks to all of us who demanded he have an opportunity to defend himself in a court of law. We stand together unwavering with our friends and neighbors to call for an end to families being torn apart, to end the cruel disruption and attack on our peaceful and working communities. We refuse to become accustomed to government violence. Everyone should be treated with dignity, respect, and fairness. Jobs to Move America believes that a diverse, healthy and organized people is the lifeblood of a just and thriving society. I urge you to [join a rally](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/-map/2qb519/1642462100/h/42_i06j1F-iKXJAI9haO2vk11iKqfluZd1onHIjpUCg) this weekend or [sign this petition](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/-escalation-against-protestors/2qb51d/1642462100/h/42_i06j1F-iKXJAI9haO2vk11iKqfluZd1onHIjpUCg) today. --- ### [Juneteenth is a promise—we’re here to deliver! Freedom is the floor, not the ceiling](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/juneteenth-is-a-promise-were-here-to-deliver-freedom-is-the-floor-not-the-ceiling/) **Published:** June 13, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** **By Troy Newsome, Assistant Director of Media** Juneteenth is more than a moment in history. It’s a living promise—a declaration that freedom must be felt not just in body, but in opportunity. On June 19,1865, freedom from slavery *finally* reached Galveston, Texas. As someone born just blocks from where the news was delivered, I carry that legacy personally. But the story doesn’t end there. I grew up on stories my grandfather told—of uncles who worked the land as sharecroppers under southern skies heavy with heat and history. He spoke of hands calloused from cotton, of backs that never bowed, of laughter that survived even when freedom felt far off. There were threats. There was violence. The Klan tried to break what they couldn’t understand. But my family endured. Not just endured—rose. That legacy runs through me like a river, steady and unshakable. It’s why I believe freedom isn’t just the absence of chains—it’s the presence of dignity. The kind you can feel in your bones when you’ve worked hard, stood tall, and claimed what was always yours. At Jobs to Move America, we believe public dollars should fund public goods. That means ensuring government contracts—like those for building [electric buses](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/new-flyer-benefits-bus-equity-/2qbjb5/1646391772/h/TSFe9nrAyzMR-MN5qroJT8X6yk522_sB9XHwuycCKis) or modernizing infrastructure—create good jobs for all, including Black and brown communities that have long been denied real access to opportunity.We saw this come to life in Anniston, Alabama—a city with its own painful legacy of [racial violence](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/racial-injustice-may-14/2qbjb8/1646391772/h/TSFe9nrAyzMR-MN5qroJT8X6yk522_sB9XHwuycCKis) and industrial injustice. We partnered with a community coalition and major employer to secure a [community benefits agreement](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/with-new-flyer-one-year-later-/2qbjbc/1646391772/h/TSFe9nrAyzMR-MN5qroJT8X6yk522_sB9XHwuycCKis) which is opening doors for quality, stable jobs, and keeping money circulating in the local community. That’s what economic liberation looks like—when the systems that once locked us out begin to open up and we have a seat at the table.Juneteenth reminds us that delayed justice is still injustice. That’s why we fight to use public investment as a tool to build something better, not to erase the past, but to confront it with action and intention.This Juneteenth, we don’t just remember the call to freedom—we respond to it. With policy. With organizing. With action! **Categories:** Racial Justice --- ### [Companies Should Think Twice about Rolling Back Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Face of Presidential Attacks](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/companies-should-think-twice-about-rolling-back-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-the-face-of-presidential-attacks/) **Published:** June 10, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** **By Madeline Janis Executive Director** Ever since Trump’s flurry of day-one executive orders that included [ending diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies in federal contracting](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/rtunity-by-ending-illegal-dei-/2q8vn3/1632342512/h/wAal5-LNlt5OcPYxanQY2DrRqoXQb5BzC7AJe9cIfMQ), [many companies](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/ies-rolling-back-dei-programs-/2q8vn6/1632342512/h/wAal5-LNlt5OcPYxanQY2DrRqoXQb5BzC7AJe9cIfMQ) have rolled back longstanding efforts to attract new suppliers, employees, and customers through diversified outreach and inclusion programs. Target, for example, announced days after Trump’s inauguration that it was rolling back a multi-billion-dollar outreach and recruitment program, resulting in [calls for a nationwide boycott](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/imination20and20preferences-22/2q8vn9/1632342512/h/wAal5-LNlt5OcPYxanQY2DrRqoXQb5BzC7AJe9cIfMQ). These hasty corporate decisions make no sense in light of the documented business benefits of greater diversity, equity, and inclusion. More inclusive hiring programs assist with employee and supplier recruitment and retention and help grow the customer base. As a recent [Costco Board of Directors memo to shareholders](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/30f448741b35f2f788a36948ff3f95/2q8vnd/1632342512/h/wAal5-LNlt5OcPYxanQY2DrRqoXQb5BzC7AJe9cIfMQ) described, having diverse employees and suppliers has, in their view, fostered “creativity and innovation in the merchandise and services that we offer” and led to greater customer satisfaction among [Costco members](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/2e255b4cfe3483605587af93b64c81/2q8vnh/1632342512/h/wAal5-LNlt5OcPYxanQY2DrRqoXQb5BzC7AJe9cIfMQ). At a time of growing market turmoil due to Trump’s shifting policies, businesses must act responsibly to enhance market stability. And there is ample evidence that inclusion practices are good for business, especially in a rapidly shifting and competitive landscape. A 2023 [McKinsey & Company report](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/the-case-for-holistic-impact--/2q8vnl/1632342512/h/wAal5-LNlt5OcPYxanQY2DrRqoXQb5BzC7AJe9cIfMQ) found that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 39% more likely to outperform those in the bottom quartile. For ethnic diversity, the increased likelihood of outperformance for top quartile companies is also 39%. The report also found that companies that prioritize diversity and inclusion practices tend to attract and retain top talent, reducing turnover costs and enhancing productivity. As a four-decade non-profit leader working with the private sector, I have witnessed companies implementing diversity, equity and inclusion policies become more efficient, cost-effective, and successful as a result of those programs. In some workplaces, hiring occurs through word of mouth, which often results in applicants coming from the same backgrounds as those already in the workforce. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research’s 2022 [report on women in manufacturing](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/acturing-report-2023-FINAL-pdf/2q8vnp/1632342512/h/wAal5-LNlt5OcPYxanQY2DrRqoXQb5BzC7AJe9cIfMQ), respondents mainly learned about opportunities in this sector through people they knew. White men often have more access to these informal networks, which can often contribute to the limited demographics of the industry. As a result, women only make up about [29% of manufacturing jobs](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/cps-cpsaat18-htm/2q8vns/1632342512/h/wAal5-LNlt5OcPYxanQY2DrRqoXQb5BzC7AJe9cIfMQ), including administrative and marketing positions. And when people don’t see women in these jobs, it contributes to the idea that they aren’t capable of this kind of work, when they very much can—and do—[work manufacturing jobs](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/e-sreussjobstomoveamerica-org-/2q8vnw/1632342512/h/wAal5-LNlt5OcPYxanQY2DrRqoXQb5BzC7AJe9cIfMQ). Besides women, veterans, who include people of all races and identities and are often included in diversity, equity and inclusion efforts—[often struggle to find work](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/ding-post-military-employment-/2q8vnz/1632342512/h/wAal5-LNlt5OcPYxanQY2DrRqoXQb5BzC7AJe9cIfMQ) after service because of mental health issues and struggles to transition to civilian life. It’s worse for veterans with disabilities. These perceptions and barriers mean companies miss out on the perspectives and talents of entire segments of society. When a company has a hard time recruiting new talent—which many employers say is increasingly hard to do—it may be forced to use temporary staffing agencies or hire less qualified people simply because it is missing out on qualified applicants. Why overlook entire groups of workers when there is [a shortage of skilled manufacturing workers](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/025-tariffs-jobs-ai-skill-html/2q8vp3/1632342512/h/wAal5-LNlt5OcPYxanQY2DrRqoXQb5BzC7AJe9cIfMQ)? Jobs to Move America has pioneered the use of community benefits agreements (CBAs) with manufacturers that ensure all of those groups and other underrepresented communities have the opportunity to contribute to a company’s success. CBAs that include hiring outreach goals have resulted in quality training programs, like the first-of-its-kind [electric vehicle apprenticeship program](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/er20with20BYD20and20S-M-A-R-T-/2q8vp6/1632342512/h/wAal5-LNlt5OcPYxanQY2DrRqoXQb5BzC7AJe9cIfMQ) at a Los Angeles-based manufacturer, which has created a pipeline of skilled workers more likely to stay at the company, reducing turnover and training costs. Since community groups are involved in negotiating CBAs, they also create community trust and built-in buy-in for future projects and can improve the company’s reputation. Reputation is huge. Target CEO Brian Cornell [announced in an earnings call last week](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/dei-headwinds-c-suite-shakeup-/2q8vp9/1632342512/h/wAal5-LNlt5OcPYxanQY2DrRqoXQb5BzC7AJe9cIfMQ) that the store has seen sales drop since the online boycotts of the brand since rolling back diversity, equity, and inclusion, while Costco has seen [sales](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/a-slowdown-from-march-118d4069/2q8vpd/1632342512/h/wAal5-LNlt5OcPYxanQY2DrRqoXQb5BzC7AJe9cIfMQ) and foot traffic [grow](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/fic-losses-since-caving-on-dei/2q8vph/1632342512/h/wAal5-LNlt5OcPYxanQY2DrRqoXQb5BzC7AJe9cIfMQ). The bottom line? Diverse companies are more competitive and innovative. Rolling back diversity, equity and inclusion policies is not helping business or the quality of our workforce. Companies like Costco, which value their inclusion and outreach practices, know this. --- ### [Born for the Movement: from Haymarket to Haeden, the spirit lives on](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/born-for-the-movement-from-haymarket-to-haeden-the-spirit-lives-on/) **Published:** May 1, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/unnamed.png "unnamed - Jobs to Move America")**By Hailey Allen, Sr. Communications Specialist | Birmingham, Alabama** Every year on May 1, people around the world honor International Workers’ Day—a day shaped by walkouts, bold demands, and the enduring call for respect on the job. But behind the protest signs and rallying cries is a more personal truth for those of us in the United States: May Day is as American as apple pie. Born in the U.S. and forged in the fire of Chicago’s Haymarket Affair, May Day began in the spring of 1886, when hundreds of thousands of workers across the country joined a national strike to demand an eight-hour workday. In Chicago’s Haymarket Square, a peaceful rally turned violent after someone threw a bomb into a crowd of police officers, triggering a deadly crackdown. In the aftermath, four labor organizers were executed, and May 1 became an international symbol of worker resistance. Despite its origins here, the U.S. has long tried to gloss over or erase this history—replacing May Day with Labor Day in September and rebranding it at times as Loyalty Day or Law Day. Even now, May Day remains a site of tension—between corporate control and collective action, between historical amnesia and living memory. It is a day that refuses to disappear, precisely because the struggle it represents is still unfolding. The spirit of May Day lives on in every strike line, every organizing campaign, every demand for good jobs and a seat at the table. At Jobs to Move America, it also lives in the work of Haeden Wright, our Assistant Director of Campaigns for the Southern Program. ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/haeden-warrior-met-strike-768x1024.jpeg "haeden warrior met strike - Jobs to Move America")Haeden’s journey to JMA began not in a policy room, but on the frontlines of a coal miner strike that lasted over 700 days. When more than 1,100 miners from Warrior Met Coal in Alabama walked out in 2021 to protest pay cuts and other working conditions, Haeden stood with them. As Auxiliary President of UMWA Locals 2245 and 2368, she helped organize mutual aid, solidarity caravans, and community support networks to sustain striking families. She held the line—alongside her husband, her neighbors, and hundreds of coal miners—for nearly two years. Her story is not unique. It’s part of a broader Southern labor tradition that is easier recognized in our civil rights history and often overlooked in national conversations. Like the workers in Haymarket Square, Haeden and the UMWA miners risked everything not just for wages, but for human dignity, democracy, and fairness—the very values May Day was founded on. Today, Haeden is building the next chapter of that legacy through her work at JMA. From Alabama to California, our campaigns are rooted in the belief that workers and communities must lead the way forward. Whether we’re fighting for community benefits agreements, supporting workers organizing for safer conditions, or working with communities to forge win-win-win legal agreements with employers, our mission is the same: to make sure public dollars are used to create good, clean, manufacturing jobs that uplift rather than exploit. When we recognize May Day today, we don’t just commemorate the past—we honor those carrying the struggle forward in our own communities. Because the history of labor justice isn’t a relic. It’s the foundation of the future we’re building—together. --- ### [Black History Month 2025: Honoring Black Labor and Uplifting Black Voices](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/black-history-month-2025-honoring-black-labor-and-uplifting-black-voices/) **Published:** February 27, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/unnamed-7-1024x533.jpg "unnamed (7) - Jobs to Move America")**by Larry Hodge Senior Alabama Organizer** As we celebrate Black History Month, we recognize that African Americans have always been on the [front lines of labor struggles](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/ack-labor-movement-in-america-/2q1ppl/1571242202/h/psNVWmYCRCIDhxXlDbDNwxrKxk2avtsYsW9JnyIkL70) —whether in the factories, on the docks, in government jobs, or in domestic work. From the fight for fair wages during the civil rights movement to today’s battle for workplace safety and job security, Black workers have continually led the charge for dignity and justice in the workplace. At Jobs to Move America (JMA), we take inspiration from this legacy to push for equitable, good-paying jobs that benefit workers and communities alike. Great strides have been made, but we know there’s more to be done. That’s why this month, and every month, we fight to ensure Black workers and all workers have the respect, wages, and protections they deserve. **Raising the Bar with Community Benefits Agreements** One of our proudest achievements at JMA is the launch of the Jay Mehta **Community Benefits Agreement Resource Center (CBARC)**—a resource we created to empower workers and allies to ensure companies don’t use public funds to exploit labor. Our CBAs, like the one we secured with electric bus manufacturer [**New Flyer of America**](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/with-new-flyer-one-year-later-/2q1ppp/1571242202/h/psNVWmYCRCIDhxXlDbDNwxrKxk2avtsYsW9JnyIkL70), serve as a guiding light for how public investments can create **real opportunities** for historically marginalized workers. This agreement required New Flyer to remain neutral toward the possibility of a worker’s union, allowing workers to organize free from intimidation. It also set hiring and promotion goals for underrepresented workers, ensuring that diversity, equity, and inclusion are tangible realities and not just ideas. I have spent over 45 years working in the state of Alabama—as a Black man, every single day. And trust me, my employers never let me forget it. Even as Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity initiatives are under attack across the nation, at JMA we stand firm in our mission because we know these agreements don’t just improve individual workplaces, they create a real voice for workers and communities**–voices that have been missing from the conversation for quite some time.** The success of the **New Flyer CBA** proves what we’ve always known: **money talks, and when public funding is tied to worker protections, companies listen.** That’s why we continue to create strong CBAs year-round, not just in February, ensuring Black workers and all workers get what they’ve earned. **Worker Safety: A Right, Not a Privilege** For too long, Black workers have been disproportionately exposed to unsafe working conditions. It’s no accident that some of the most dangerous jobs in this country—whether in construction, or manufacturing are held by Black workers. **That’s why we prioritize** [**workplace safety**](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/strengthen-worker-protections-/2q1pps/1571242202/h/psNVWmYCRCIDhxXlDbDNwxrKxk2avtsYsW9JnyIkL70)**.** Through **Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA 10 and 30 Hour) training**, led by organizers like myself, we empower workers with the knowledge and tools to **protect themselves on the job**. **A safe job is a right, and CBAs help enforce safety standards that hold companies accountable.** **Continuing the Legacy of Black Labor Activism** From A. Philip Randolph organizing the Pullman Porters in the early 20th century to today’s labor movements in the South, Black workers have long been at the forefront of labor activism. But the fight is far from over. I recently completed the 40-hour Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) training, hosted by the A. Philip Randolph Institute in Pittsburgh. This training was a powerful reminder of how workplace safety is not just a benefit—it’s a right. As corporations continue to fight unionization using fear and divide-and-conquer tactics, and politicians attempt to roll back workers’ rights while using deceptive language and empty promises, we remain steadfast. **Regardless of the political climate, JMA will always champion diversity, equity, and inclusion because Black workers in America deserve better.** Let’s honor the past by fighting for the future this Black History Month and demand workplaces where ALL **workers’ voices are heard, their safety is prioritized, and their labor is valued — no exceptions.** **Categories:** Health & Safety, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Birmingham Leverages Public Funding for the Most Public Good with Historic Local Hire Ordinance](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/birmingham-leverages-public-funding-for-the-most-public-good-with-historical-local-hire-ordinance/) **Published:** February 19, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Excerpt:** Public goods for the most public good is more than a slogan—it’s a mission and framework for how JMA builds a better world. A Local Hire Ordinance passed unanimously by the Birmingham, Alabama City Council in January is a perfect example.  **Content:** **By Hailey Allen Senior Communications Specialist** Public goods for the most public good is more than a slogan—it’s a mission and framework for how JMA builds a better world. A Local Hire Ordinance passed unanimously by the Birmingham, Alabama City Council in January is a perfect example. Taxpayer dollars are funding the return of manufacturing to the United States through the $4 trillion coming down from Biden-era industrial policy, presenting the opportunity to leverage this public funding to ensure good for the most people. By ensuring funds are invested in high-road jobs, Birmingham policy makers and employers will promote economic stability, rather than a low-road alternative of high poverty despite low unemployment. As part of the Local Hire Ordinance, contractors working on projects exceeding $3 million must hire 30% local labor, keeping dollars within the local economy. The ordinance incentivizes employing apprentices enrolled in state- and federally-approved training programs, and contractors are encouraged to collaborate with local workforce programs that target historically disadvantaged groups, ensuring that opportunities reach underrepresented communities. Over time, these provisions will build a higher-skilled, more self-sufficient workforce and address the labor market conditions leaving some communities behind. Jobs to Move America (JMA) and the Local Opportunities Coalition were instrumental in developing the policy tools communities may use to create local economic empowerment through public funds. And in contrast to too many toothless provisions, the Birmingham ordinance includes accountability measures for outcomes transparency and disqualification for future city contracts for failure to comply. Compliance language means that once a contractor has made promises, they will make good faith efforts to actually keep those promises. In the face of an unstable national economy and rising cost of living, the city of Birmingham is making strides toward taking control of its own economic future. Contractors will now engage community stakeholders in creating Local Hiring Plans that proactively address past disparities in access to economic opportunity. We encourage cities nationwide to emulate this model. Jobs to Move America, through our Local Opportunities Coalition, stands ready to assist. Our coalition offers policy expertise, strategic guidance, and community partnerships to support the development of equitable hiring plans that drive sustainable economic growth. Learn more at [localopportunities.org](http://localopportunities.org). **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Transparency --- ### [Erica Iheme on Investing in the Future of Organizing](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/erica-iheme-on-investing-in-the-future-of-organizing/) **Published:** January 9, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA’s Organizing Director Erica Iheme is leading the charge to develop a cutting-edge training program for organizers. In a new video, she shares her vision for JMA’s future. This program will equip our team with the skills and tools they need to build powerful movements for change. There are three key components: - **A “school of thought” for JMA organizers:** Erica will create and launch a comprehensive training program that will equip organizers with the skills and knowledge needed to build powerful movements for change. - **A community of practice:** We will foster a collaborative environment where organizers can learn from each other, share best practices, and develop innovative strategies. - **Support for the next generation of leaders:** JMA will invest in new fellowships and internships to cultivate the next generation of organizers. **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [JMA Co-Hosts Community Benefits Agreements Webinar With The Aspen Institute](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/jma-co-hosts-community-benefits-agreements-webinar-with-the-aspen-institute/) **Published:** October 24, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** On October 23, 2024, Jobs to Move America (JMA) co-hosted a “*Community Benefits Agreements: A Tool for Creating Good Jobs*” webinar with the[ Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program](https://www.aspeninstitute.org/programs/economic-opportunities-program/) (EOP) as a part of the EOP’s[ Job Quality in Practice](https://www.aspeninstitute.org/series/job-quality-in-practice-webinar-series/) webinar series, which examines the strategies and approaches practitioners are using to improve job quality and expand economic opportunity. The webinar explored how community benefits agreements (CBAs) are a powerful tool to ensure that communities and workers where developments or infrastructure projects are happening, also have an opportunity to benefit and shape the outcomes of these investments alongside high-road employers. The Aspen Institute’s EOP Managing Director Matt Helmer served as moderator, JMA’s CBARC manager Jay Mehta gave opening remarks and JMA’s Co- Executive Director Erica Iheme was one of the panelists alongside Amanda Woodrum from [ReImagine Appalachia](https://reimagineappalachia.org) and Grace Adcox from [Data for Progress](https://www.dataforprogress.org). Watch the webinar here: **Categories:** Climate Change, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [A New Dawn of JMA Organizing](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/a-new-dawn-of-jma-organizing/) **Published:** September 19, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** **by Erica Iheme** It has often been said that the things that get you elevated are the things that you tend to do less of when you elevate. After heavy consideration, I have decided to step away from the position of Co-Executive Director of JMA for personal reasons that I hope you can understand. I will not be leaving the organization; I am just returning to my roots of organizing and continuing to build the work of JMA and our overall worker movement from a different seat. **On November 1, 2024, I will be stepping into the position of Organizing Director, which is a new position that will work to develop JMA’s overall organizing program and model.** As close friends of JMA and partners in our work and mission, we wanted to reach out and share this news with you immediately. Many of you have had a front-row seat to witness how my career at JMA has evolved from the Southern Director to Co-Executive Director. Without your support, we could not have experienced success and growth over the last few years. Thank you! This is an exciting time, and I look forward to your continued support of me—and JMA—in my new role. This shift will give me space to create a better balance for my personal and work life. For my personal life, that now includes continuing to get healthy, being a football mom of three kids, and learning how to parent a preteen. Work-life includes going back to doing what I am truly called to do: growing the next generation of organizers. I shared this information a while ago with my Partner in Cahoots and Co-Executive, Madeline, who has been fully supportive of my decision. We have been working with a coach over the last year and a half, which was key to helping me get clarity and the confidence to make such a bold move that I am excited about. At JMA, we have built a leaderful organization full of talented folks who are more than capable of maintaining the momentum that we have built over the years during this transition. This also creates the opportunity to bring on a new talent with fresh perspective to our executive leadership team. This can be a game changer for us! As I move into my new role, Madeline will continue as Executive Director, and the organization will look for new talent to complement her skills. JMA remains firmly committed to the co-leadership model, which we have found creates greater sustainability overall. As many wise leaders have commented, being a sole Executive Director of a growing organization is simply not conducive to living a balanced and healthy life. As Organizing Director, I will serve as chief organizer, developing our campaign and strategic organizers across all of our regions, and supporting them in building winnable campaigns—the backbone of our mission and vision. This will include developing an overall organizing culture across JMA rooted in our evolving theory to win, build out a community of practice that helps measure success, and deeply solidifying this organizing culture both internally and externally. Also in my new role, I hope to begin to think about how to not only recruit more people of color into organizing, but how to sustain them in this space as well. JMA is in a new chapter with a lot of exciting work happening. I love being a part of this community, and very much look forward to sharing what we have cooking up in 2025 with you. As my sister of the movement, Jennifer Epps once said, “Erica, you are an organizers’ organizer.” Then, I said, “Yes, and is!” I’m stepping into this role with so many new and exciting ideas that I have for our organizing work and I would love to share these ideas with you. Our Development Team will be hosting a few informational meetings called “Golden Hours” where I am happy to share my hopes, goals and dreams for JMA organizing in 2025. If you are interested in attending one of these meetings, please email our development director, Kris White at [kwhite](mailto:kwhite@jobstomoveamerica.org)[@jobstomoveamerica.org](mailto:Development@jobstomoveamerica.org). **Categories:** Labor --- ### [Jobs to Move America files lawsuit against LA Metro alleging violations of state and federal contracting law](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/jobs-to-move-america-files-lawsuit-against-la-metro-alleging-violations-of-state-and-federal-contracting-law/) **Published:** September 16, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** by Aesha Mahmoud This morning, Jobs to Move America [filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) ](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/will-it-hurt-olympic-planning-/2pmsr5/1459286527/h/qqjNSVTSm4F7Hms2m5ytcz9PmKQzIhNfsueKuxb3PZk)for violating state and federal open bidding laws in a $730 million contract awarded to Hyundai Rotem. Hyundai is currently being [sued by the Department of Labor](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/undai-child-labor-lawsuit-html/2pmsr8/1459286527/h/qqjNSVTSm4F7Hms2m5ytcz9PmKQzIhNfsueKuxb3PZk) for alleged employment of children throughout their vehicle supply chain in Alabama. LA Metro did not properly follow their groundbreaking good jobs policy, the [Manufacturing Careers Policy (MCP)](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/n-transit-manufacturingefbfbc-/2pmsrc/1459286527/h/qqjNSVTSm4F7Hms2m5ytcz9PmKQzIhNfsueKuxb3PZk), which sets standards for contractors regarding wages, benefits, training, and hiring of disadvantaged workers. When Jobs to Move America apprised LA Metro of these failures to hold Hyundai Rotem accountable to workforce commitments required by the MCP, LA Metro allowed Hyundai to revise their proposal, an opportunity not extended to the other bidders, in violation of competitive bidding laws. “The Manufacturing Careers Policy was designed to ensure that public contracts create jobs that uplift communities, not runaway corporate profits without benefits to the communities paying for them,” said Madeline Janis, Co-Executive Director of Jobs to Move America. **Jobs to Move America calls on LA Metro to rebid the contract in compliance with contracting law and the MCP to provide a fair chance for bidders to compete over the public benefits they can provide.** See the JMA press release [here](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/e-and-federal-contracting-law-/2pmsr2/1459286527/h/qqjNSVTSm4F7Hms2m5ytcz9PmKQzIhNfsueKuxb3PZk), and read more about the lawsuit in the [Los Angeles Times](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/will-it-hurt-olympic-planning-/2pmsr5/1459286527/h/qqjNSVTSm4F7Hms2m5ytcz9PmKQzIhNfsueKuxb3PZk). **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Transparency --- ### [OMB’s Uniform Grants Guidance Updates Take Effect Today, Empowering Communities and Workers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/ombs-uniform-grants-guidance-updates-take-effect-today-empowering-communities-and-workers/) **Published:** October 1, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** **by Valerie Lizárraga** Today, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)’s [updates to the Uniform Grants Guidance released on April 4, 2024](https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/briefing-room/2024/04/04/the-biden-harris-administration-finalizes-guidance-to-make-grants-more-accessible-and-transparent-for-families-communities-and-small-businesses/) officially go into effect. These are some of the most substantial changes to the Uniform Grants Guidance—which determines how states, localities, tribal governments, and other federal grantees can spend federal money—in decades. A coalition of national and regional advocacy groups, labor unions, and community organizations, known as the [Local Opportunities Coalition](https://localopportunities.org/), for years led the efforts to advocate for updates to these federal grant guidelines and on April 4, 2024 the White House’s OMB announced the revisions to the Uniform Grants Guidance. These revisions include many of the coalition’s recommendations, which marks a historic step in transforming how communities can use the trillions in federal funds flowing to states and cities. With local and state governments now able to attach strong worker and community benefits to their federally-funded projects, the revised guidance is [poised to uplift workers and local communities by providing access to quality jobs](https://blog.dol.gov/2024/06/28/updated-federal-grant-guidance-will-help-create-good-jobs) that aid the transition to a green economy and address urgent climate issues. The updates allow grantees to attach job quality, racial and gender equity incentives, and encourage private contractors to uplift local economies in public contracts. Some of the significant revisions in the updated Uniform Grants Guidance include: - Removing the ban on geographic preference so states and cities can prioritize workers and small businesses in their communities - Allowing recipients of federal funds to advance family-sustaining jobs by rewarding bidders for job quality metrics such as wages and benefits, which can include implementing scoring mechanisms like Jobs to Move America’s [U.S. Employment Plan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/u-s-employment-plan-2/) - Allowing for hiring efforts targeted to disadvantaged communities, including workers of color and women, to advance equity and access to quality jobs - Requiring federal grantees to conduct cost-benefit analyses before contracting out public services to private firms - Encouraging federal grantees to purchase goods and services from private contractors that emphasize environmentally sustainable practices and products Now, local and state governments will have the ability to advance good jobs, equity, and community benefits in the public procurement process for federally-funded projects. We look forward to seeing how these changes will further maximize outcomes and benefits for communities, workers, and small businesses. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Public Money Anywhere = Good Jobs and CBAs Everywhere](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/public-money-anywhere-good-jobs-and-cbas-everywhere/) **Published:** January 31, 2024 **Author:** Web **Content:** **By Teto Héctor Huezo** UAW’s successful Stand Up Strikes lit a fire under the labor movement, moving the needle on what’s possible for workers as automakers transition to making electric vehicles. Fueled by that victory, JMA is standing alongside our UAW partners to demand a national community benefits agreement with nonunion automaker Hyundai. Last week, we testified at LA Metro as it was poised to approve a $730 million railcar contract with a Hyundai subsidiary. The demand comes after news investigations found that four major suppliers of Hyundai and sister Kia Corporations employed child labor at its Alabama factories. Child labor is the tragic result of a decades-long race to the bottom in U.S. manufacturing, where the bottom line is more important than worker health and safety. With our Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits, we’ve previously demanded that Hyundai stop all uses of child labor and come to the table to negotiate a community benefits agreement (CBA) for their factories there. What is a CBA? It’s a legally binding agreement between a company and community groups that’s used to secure a wide range of job and equity standards. CBAs won by JMA, our union partners and other organizations have improved working conditions; increased direct-hire, which helps prevent child labor; and created good job opportunities for marginalized groups at global manufacturers. At New Flyer’s Alabama plant, for instance, the CBA is already changing workers’ lives. Given Hyundai’s history of child labor, we’re demanding a national community benefits agreement that would ensure improved working conditions, guard against child labor, and create inclusive training and hiring programs for women, workers of color and formerly incarcerated individuals at all Hyundai-Kia facilities and their suppliers. From L.A. to AL, vehicle purchases with public money anywhere must result in good jobs and community benefits everywhere. As with the LA Metro contract, you can see how millions of our public dollars are used for government purchases. It is unacceptable for our taxpayer money to be used for child labor and other poor labor practices. Instead, let’s use that big pot of money as an opportunity to change the way we do business in America. --- ### [The Intertwined Struggles of Civil Rights and Labor](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/the-intertwined-struggles-of-civil-rights-and-labor/) **Published:** February 29, 2024 **Author:** Web **Content:** **By Erica Iheme** Earlier this month, I was interviewed by WBHM, Birmingham’s public radio station, for a piece about the city’s role in the [intertwined struggles for civil and labor rights](https://wbhm.org/2024/how-birmingham-reflects-an-entwined-struggle-for-civil-and-labor-rights/). As the article points out, the economic justice aspects of the Civil Rights Movement are often underplayed. But as we finish Black History Month, it’s important to emphasize that the struggle for racial and economic justice always go hand in hand. I’ve talked before about how we have a lot to do to achieve [true freedom](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/we-still-have-work-to-do-to-win-true-freedom-for-workers/) for our country’s Black workers. Right now, workers here and around the country are having to work two or three jobs just to make ends meet. Jennifer Bates, who led the fight to try to unionize an Amazon facility in nearby Bessemer, says it best in the WBHM story: **“A lot of things humans put up with on the job because they have to put food on the table, make sure they have a roof over their family’s heads, make sure they have medical insurance.”** That is not freedom. I see that most today in our work here in the South, where many companies are building plants to take advantage of the area’s reputation for cheap, non-union workforce. As my colleague in Mississippi [Angela Dawson said in an op-ed](https://jacksonadvocateonline.com/opinion-racism-is-in-the-water-in-jackson-but-we-cant-give-up-on-the-south/), these companies are perpetuating plantation dynamics almost 100 years after slavery. We are at the beginning of a brand-new economy, a brand-new type of work, a brand-new type of demand on manufacturing as more and more companies develop the tools we need to fight climate change. What sense does it make to put brand new fancy jobs and brand new fancy buildings on top of old Jim Crow culture? Especially when these companies are getting our tax dollars to do so. During Black History Month and every month, let’s not forget that access to good jobs that allow workers to lead full lives outside of work is key to achieving racial justice. --- ### [Title: Solidarity in the South: Transformative Wins for Auto Workers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/title-solidarity-in-the-south-transformative-wins-for-auto-workers/) **Published:** March 13, 2024 **Author:** Web **Content:** **By Will Tucker** It took just six weeks for the United Auto Workers (UAW) to [win transformative contracts](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/JMA-October-2023-Newsletter.pdf) with the Big Three automakers: Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis. The impact on workers of all kinds, all around the country–but especially in the South–was clear and immediate. For proof, look no further than Vance, Ala., the home of a large Mercedes-Benz manufacturing facility. The United Auto Workers there announced late last month that [a majority of workers at the plant](https://apnews.com/article/mercedes-alabama-plant-union-majority-workers-sign-cards-06c790da9a34dde6cdb6eb08dfa58ecc) have signed cards in support of the union. **Workers at other plants are standing up, too, in a genuine movement across the auto manufacturing industry–and JMA stands with them.** In a [video announcement](https://uaw.org/we-are-the-majority-workers-at-mercedes-benzs-largest-us-plant-announce-majority-support-for-movement-to-join-uaw/?link_id=0&can_id=ffb5cc9af8d9c802f4e5b83e7725576a&source=email-hyundai-stand-up-2&email_referrer=email_2222600&email_subject=mercedes-workers-just-made-history) on the UAW website, Mercedes worker Jeremy Kimbrell, surrounded by his Mercedes coworkers, announces that “a majority of our coworkers at Mercedes here in Alabama have signed our union cards and are ready to win our union and a better life with the UAW.” That’s right: the workers organizing today see through the union-busting talking points. Instead, they view the union as the pathway to a “better life.” At JMA, we know this is true. As unprecedented investments create a nationwide electric vehicle manufacturing boom, it’s more important now than ever to seize the moment and ensure that these investments lead to good jobs. The work is cut out for us. As of January 2024, the [unemployment rate in Alabama](https://www2.labor.alabama.gov/) was 2.9 percent, but the [poverty rate](https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/poverty-rate-by-state) was 16.1 percent—a stark disparity and an injustice that is even worse in Mississippi. These statistics reveal that in the South, many jobs simply aren’t good jobs. Far too few companies provide their workers with a living wage that can support a family, adequate benefits, a chance at a dignified retirement, or fair training and advancement opportunities. **What’s more, Southern states’ social, political, and economic policies remain rooted in a centuries-long legacy of slavery, segregation, and racial discrimination, making the task of addressing these injustices that much harder.** Fortunately, we can help even the most marginalized workers in the South chart a different future. Of course, to bring the poverty rate down while creating good jobs and to make sure all Southern workers have the dignity they deserve, we must support the workers organizing into unions. Following their lead, we will help hold companies accountable and make it harder to silence workers’ voices. JMA is already seeking new [Community Benefits Agreements](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/community-benefits-agreements/), calling out the state for continuing to flood these companies with subsidies and investigating the use of prison labor in the big auto-makers supply chains. The workers at Mercedes aren’t alone. They have thousands of their fellow autoworkers and our Southern communities on their backs—including JMA. **And we hear their message loud and clear: demand better and don’t stop until we succeed across the South.** --- ### [America’s Fight to Create Good Jobs with Federal Money](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/americas-fight-to-create-good-jobs-with-federal-money/) **Published:** April 2, 2024 **Author:** Web **Content:** **By Emily Gartenberg** In the 1980s, the Reagan Administration created a set of guidelines, called the [Uniform Guidance](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200?toc=1), which dictate how local and state governments can use federal grant funding. Under this guidance, cities and states are deterred from putting policies in place that create family-sustaining jobs for working people like targeted hiring, setting incentives or requirements for good wages and benefits, or workforce development programs. These guidelines are major roadblocks in local and state governments’ ability to implement policies that support their communities. **But in California and nationally, the tides are turning.** In February, the California Legislature took a stand–led by Sen. Maria Elena Durazo–in urging the federal government to update these restrictive guidelines by passing [Senate Joint Resolution 5](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SJR5). By passing this resolution, California’s state leaders are calling for much-needed flexibility in how the state can spend federal funds to best support local residents. This resolution comes at a critical time in a long-standing national campaign to modernize the Uniform Guidance. After years of advocacy from members of the [Local Opportunities Coalition](https://localopportunities.org/), including Jobs to Move America, and state leaders like the California Legislature, the federal office that oversees the Uniform Guidance has proposed major improvements to the guidelines. **It will be unveiling the updated guidance at** [**an event this Thursday**](https://gsa.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_3TawJmRNST-0hPNLB4JM3g#/registration)**, and we anticipate many of the changes we have advocated for will be included. ​​​​​These changes encourage cities and states to take job quality, racial equity, and community benefits into account when using federal funds. The updates include provisions that allow recipients to incentivize the creation of quality jobs in their contracts, promote greater racial and gender equity in spending, and remove the ban on geographic preferences (which had prevented states and cities from requiring local hire and sourcing). **But the work doesn’t stop here. Once the proposed changes are finalized, it’s up to California’s leaders to embed these tools across the state’s work for all federal and state-funded projects.** Last week, we asked state leaders to do just that. Along with a coalition of community, environmental and labor groups, we took over the public comment portion of the California Workforce Development Board’s meeting to demand the state attach strong labor standards to the billions the state stands to receive from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), and CHIPS and Science Act. This is a pivotal time for action: without strong conditions on federal funding, this huge raft of money will go to creating low-quality jobs for workers. We’re basically letting money slip through our fingers. **We must seize this opportunity to ensure this historic federal investment uplifts workers and their communities.** --- ### [The South Keeps Winning](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/the-south-keeps-winning/) **Published:** April 23, 2024 **Author:** Web **Content:** **By Troy Washington** Last week, workers at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, TN made history by overwhelmingly voting to join the United Automobile Workers—making the shop the [only unionized foreign-owned auto plant in the South](https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/uaw-clinches-watershed-union-victory-volkswagen-tennessee-factory-2024-04-20/). This victory comes on the heels of the exciting progress at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Alabama, where a majority of workers [signed cards in support of UAW](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/March-2024-Newsletter-1.pdf), putting them on the path of unionization. **We’ll say it again:** [**Don’t count out the South.**](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0uAIcBs0qL/) Jobs to Move America has been working in the South for years to reverse the trend of companies viewing the region as a source of cheap, non-union labor, which upholds the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow. Poverty in the state is high, as well as other markers of poor quality of life, even as companies there are flush with [billions in state tax subsidies](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/the-hidden-costs-of-alabamas-tax-incentives/). But unionization—as well as [community benefits agreements](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/community-benefits-agreements/), like the one we signed with [New Flyer](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/major-electric-vehicle-manufacturer-signs-first-multi-state-agreement-with-community-and-civil-rights-group-for-equitable-hiring-and-good-jobs/)—gives workers a voice and leverage on the job and tips the scales in favor of regular people. And it’s contagious: if workers in Chattanooga get a great contract, a big raise, better health benefits, and then the same thing at Mercedes, there will be a lot more good opportunities to win good contracts in short order. **And, this continuing momentum—led by Black workers—could travel beyond the auto industry.** As Jennifer Epps pointed out in [Nonprofit Quarterly,](https://nonprofitquarterly.org/why-philanthropy-must-support-labor-justice/?utm_content=290001976&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&hss_channel=tw-61206610) workers of color made up 100 percent of union growth in 2022, with Black workers with the highest rates of unionization nationwide. We’re seeing unprecedented investments in manufacturing across the country, leading to an electric vehicle boom. But too often, workers aren’t seeing their share of this wealth. It’s time to reverse that by ensuring this burgeoning industry creates good jobs that uplift families and communities. Next, the work begins to win a good contract, which is the hard part. But workers in the South have done harder things. We know they won’t stop and we won’t either. **JMA spoke to the New York Times about this important victory. Read more** [**here**](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/20/business/economy/uaw-union-future.html)**.** --- ### [A Call to Action we Can't Ignore](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/a-call-to-action-we-cant-ignore/) **Published:** June 18, 2024 **Author:** Web **Content:** **By Troy Washington** Juneteenth has been special to many Black communities before becoming a federal holiday in 2021. It marks the day June 19, 1865, when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas learned they were free and had been for a while. Since I was born in Galveston, Texas—just blocks from where Union General Gordon Granger arrived to share the news of “freedom”—I heard the story from my grandfather often. Even though the message took two years to reach the shores of Galveston, after the Civil War and the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, the people there dropped everything to rejoice. From then on “Juneteenth” became a tradition rooted in parades, festivals, and pageants. As a former Juneteenth queen and festival board member in my hometown of El Campo, Texas, I can acknowledge that growing up I didn’t understand the value of reuniting with relatives each June, but now I understand the true essence of the words “from whence we come.” The recently ratified union contract at New Flyer in Anniston, Alabama, combined with the community benefits agreement with the company negotiated by JMA and the Greater Birmingham Ministries, is a step towards healing one of the communities that has deep scars from racism. Anniston is the site of the Ku Klux Klan attack on a Freedom Riders bus in 1961, as well as Monsanto’s poisoning of the city’s mostly Black residents for over four decades. The new union contract and the community benefits agreement creates opportunities for Black residents to get good union jobs making electric buses in their communities—and shows us that healing and progress are possible if we act strongly and together. As we prepare to observe the holiday with a day off from work, we must give some real thought to continuing the healing process. From Texas to Alabama and Mississippi, and every state in between, there’s still work to be done. Juneteenth marks the final news of the abolishment of slavery but it doesn’t erase the oppression still being experienced today. In 2024, we are still working to dismantle the legacy of slavery. We see this now in the form of incarcerated workers working long hours for little pay and in other forms of systemic racism. In my eyes, Juneteenth is more than a holiday but rather a moment in history and a reminder of the ongoing struggle for justice and equality. My connection to Galveston, Texas, where Juneteenth originated, adds a deep resonance to my reflection of the day. Juneteenth is a day of commemoration—but let’s remember the call to action we can’t ignore. It is my sincerest hope that as we rejoice and relax tomorrow, let’s take time to reflect on shaping freedom for all. --- ### [Southern Program 2024 Alabama Learning Trip](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/2024-alabama-learning-trip/) **Published:** July 11, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/AL-learning-trip-bus-1024x664.jpeg "AL-learning-trip-bus - Jobs to Move America")Join Jobs to Move America from October 7-10th for a transformative trip through Alabama, the center of the civil rights movement and the growing Black-led worker justice movement. This is an opportunity to significantly contribute to the worker organizing and corporate accountability fight in the Deep South, and take a deeper dive into the history, culture and community building of the Southern labor movement. You’ll also get an opportunity to see a fully implemented community benefits agreement in action at New Flyer’s facility in Anniston. Alabama has a rich and complex civil rights and labor history. It’s important to see it and learn in person in order to truly understand the significance of organizing in the South, and the promise of what is possible when we all join the movement. This year we’ll be diving into: - Birmingham, JMA’s Southern base, is steeped in civil rights and worker organizing history. See the vision for a worker organizing center and meet coalition and community partners who are leading the new Southern worker movement from within. - Montgomery, where we’ll be visiting the Civil Rights Memorial Center, and talking about our CBA with New Flyer, as well as discussing our new Hyundai CBA campaign points. Meet with workers from Hyundai, as well as our coalition members and UAW organizers. - Red Mountain Park, where we’ll walk through and learn about Birmingham’s mining and labor history. - Along the way, learn the history of Black worker organizing that has led to the movement of today, spoken through community, civil rights and labor leaders on the ground fighting for a better Alabama. Full itinerary (subject to change): - **Night 1, Monday, Oct 7th** - Hotel Check-In at the Redmont Hotel in Birmingham - 6:00pm: Evening Welcome Reception and Cocktail Hour with JMA staff and coalition partners - **Day 1, Tuesday, Oct 8th: Anniston** - 7:00am: Hotel Breakfast - 9:30am: Participants will embark on a bus to Anniston - 11:30am: Arrive in Anniston, followed by lunch - 1:00pm: Tour the New Flyer factory, with a presentation from JMA on Community Benefits Agreements - 4:00pm: Visit to the Freedom Riders National Monument - 5:00pm: Dinner with New Flyer Workers - 7:00pm: Travel back to Birmingham - **Day 2, Wednesday, Oct 9th: Montgomery** - 7:00am: Hotel Breakfast - 8:30am: Participants will travel to Montgomery, AL - 10:00am: Walking tour down Dexter Ave with a local guide specializing in hidden history, finishing at Dexter Ave Baptist Church - 11:00am: Presentation on JMA’s major survey project on impacts of prison labor, followed by field training on survey collection. - 1-2:00pm: Break for questions, reflections, coffee - 2:00pm: The group will disperse to three different locations to engage in survey collections in the field - 3:30pm: Return to Montgomery - 5:00pm: Dinner with Hyundai workers - 8:00pm: Arrive back in Birmingham - **Day 3, Thursday, Oct 10th: Birmingham** - 7:00am: Hotel Breakfast - 9:00am: Tour of Sloss Furnaces, a National Historical Monument, and a crucial site in Birmingham’s labor history - Driving tour of North Birmingham hosted by JMA Co-Executive Director Erica Iheme, and JMA staff Larry Hodge - Closing Lunch - 2:00pm: Trip Ends [**View the participant agreement form here.**](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Participant-Agreement_Oct_2024_JMA-AL-Learning-Trip-1.pdf) Please print, sign and scan back your completed form to Kris White at or please email Kris and he can request your signature via Adobe. **For questions, email Kris White at kwhite@jobstomoveamerica.org.** ## Alabama Learning Trip Interest Form Name(Required) First Last Email(Required) Enter Email Confirm Email Affiliated organization Short message Submit Δ **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [The South got something to say](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/the-south-got-something-to-say/) **Published:** July 8, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** **By Erica Iheme** Recently, we had the pleasure of hosting Acting Deputy Secretary of Labor Julie Su in Alabama as part of her Good Jobs Summer Tour. The visit came after workers at New Flyer’s Anniston, AL plant [unionized with IUE-CWA and ratified its first contract](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/another-ev-factory-has-unionized-boosting-labors-push-in-us-south/). Julie Su has long been a champion of our [community benefits agreements](https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpde1NIMMg1/), like our CBA with New Flyer signed in 2022 that paved the way for the workers’ successful unionization. From an [Alabama Political Reporter article](https://www.alreporter.com/2024/06/13/acting-secretary-of-labor-julie-su-visits-new-flyer-plant-in-anniston/) about Su’s visit: “One of the pillars of the Department of Labor’s Good Jobs Initiative, which the Good Jobs Summer Tour is meant to promote, is community benefits agreements like the one that helped New Flyer workers unionize. **In fact, New Flyer is specifically used as an example of a successful community benefits agreement on the Department of Labor’s website.”** In [another article](https://www.alreporter.com/2024/06/14/birmingham-mayor-woodfin-agrees-to-federal-good-jobs-principles/), Su said, “I am here because Alabama matters. I am here because Birmingham matters. **We know that these kinds of jobs can be the jobs and must be the jobs of the future if we do our work together, and if we do it right.”** Clearly, word is spreading about what we’re doing. As United Steelworkers organizer Alex Perkins [once said](https://prospect.org/labor/2024-05-29-has-organized-labor-finally-cracked-south/): **“The South got something to say.”** Another recent article in [The Nation](https://www.thenation.com/article/economy/new-flyer-union-alabama/?utm_source=pocket_shared) that talks about our [long-game approach](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/June-2024-newsletter.pdf) to organizing shows that centering worker engagement and education is clearly shifting the anti-union tide in the South: *\[New Flyer worker Ryan\] Masters didn’t want to sign a union card, at first. Growing up in Alabama, he had always heard that unions were “greedy.” But after a couple of weeks of talking to organizers and his pro-union co-workers,* ***“I figured out that a union is not an outside organization,” he said. “It’s just a coalition of the workers sticking together.”*** *Once he decided to support the campaign, Masters became an active organizer himself, answering his co-workers’ questions about the union. “That’s how I was able to get educated,” he told me. “By talking to organizers and finding out.” He told them what he heard that made him change his mind.* ***“The union is a sense of community in my mind. It’s a lot of brothers and sisters together, helping one another.”*** It’s hard not to get depressed about the state of our country at times, and we still have so much work to do to undo the harms of worker repression and institutional racism. But slowly, the word is catching on that workers in this country deserve better—**and if things are changing in the region known for the “Southern discount” on labor costs, you better believe they’re going to change for workers in the rest of the country.** --- ### [What the pundits are missing this Super Tuesday](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/what-the-pundits-are-missing-this-super-tuesday/) **Published:** March 3, 2020 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Excerpt:** The sad truth is that the punditry has all but ignored climate change and the related impacts on our economy during the primary, shirking grassroots calls for a climate debate to instead pose just a handful of insufficient, muddled climate questions. **Content:** The impacts of climate change — on our jobs, health, and homes — are a major concern for voters in the primaries and caucuses thus far. Yet, in South Carolina — where residents have experienced record flooding, devastatingly powerful tropical storms, and extreme heat — not a single question about how the Democratic primary candidates would address these issues came up at the debate before Saturday’s election. Nevermind questions about just what, exactly, the candidates’ plans might mean for the future of workers. The sad truth is that the punditry has all but ignored climate change and the related impacts on our economy during the primary, shirking grassroots calls for a climate debate to instead pose just a handful of insufficient, muddled climate questions. Ironically, the primaries have proved that climate justice and good jobs will remain a key political issue for voters in state after state. In Nevada, a majority of Latinx caucus-goers cited the climate crisis as their most pressing concern. Climate was a top priority in the New Hampshire primary and Iowa caucuses, too. As we hurtle toward Super Tuesday results today and the primary field winnows, we cannot let up on calls for a more meaningful, in-depth discussion about how to weave climate policy with the creation of good jobs and a stronger economy. How we choose to collectively confront the climate crisis has existential consequences for working families and communities — it’s a conversation we all need to have, together. At Jobs to Move America, we believe that our public dollars have the power to combat climate change in a way that ensures workers and their families a better, healthier future. We need to build a political system that supports strong public investments to make the transition to a clean economy that runs on renewable energy with good union jobs at its core. Our public investments in new green technologies — from public buses to solar panels — can create millions of good jobs for workers, especially those who have historically been denied good jobs in the manufacturing sector. But only if we make that commitment. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy --- ### [Watch Our Alabama Learning Trip Recap Video](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/watch-our-alabama-learning-trip-recap-video/) **Published:** November 14, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/AL-learning-trip-bus-1024x664.jpeg "AL-learning-trip-bus - Jobs to Move America")Jobs to Move America hosted a Learning Trip to Alabama for our supports to gain an understanding of the labor and civil rights movement in Birmingham and Anniston, and what is being done to create good jobs in the area. Here’s a visual recap from that trip. ### About the Trip Join Jobs to Move America from September 10-14 for a transformative trip through Alabama, the center of the civil rights movement and the growing Black-led worker justice movement. This is an opportunity to significantly contribute to the worker organizing and corporate accountability fight in the Deep South, and take a deeper dive into the history, culture and community building of the Southern labor movement. Alabama has a rich and complex civil rights and labor history. It’s important to see it and learn in person in order to truly understand the significance of organizing in the South, and the promise of what is possible when we all join the movement. ### Trip Itinerary - Birmingham, JMA’s Southern base, is steeped in civil rights and worker organizing history. See the vision for a worker organizing center and meet coalition and community partners who are leading the new Southern worker movement from within. - Anniston, where the Ku Klux Klan bombed and beat a bus full of Freedom Riders in 1961; industrial giant Monsanto knowingly poisoned residents from toxic chemical production; and site of the New Flyer electric vehicle factory where JMA negotiated a historic Community Benefits Agreement for thousands of workers and the community. - Bessemer, to meet former Amazon workers who fought to organize the warehouse in the effort to improve exploitative working conditions. - Along the way, learn the history of Black worker organizing that has led to the movement of today, spoken through community, civil rights and labor leaders on the ground fighting for a better Alabama. Read an interview with three JMA funders who attended the trip here. **Categories:** Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [New video showcases JMA's work and vision for the green economy](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/new-video-showcases-jmas-work-and-vision-for-the-green-economy/) **Published:** December 13, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** To get a glimpse of this movement, we produced a video that shows the work we’re doing from Los Angeles to Birmingham. In a little over two minutes, the video shares our vision to transform public spending in the new green economy, and the organizing we’re doing to get there. You’ll also see some workers who have benefited from the community benefits agreements we’ve won with cleantech manufacturers. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Warehouse Workers for Justice Report Uplifts Need for Good Jobs and Clean Air in Joliet](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/warehouse-workers-for-justice-report-uplifts-need-for-good-jobs-and-clean-air-in-joliet/) **Published:** April 6, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** **by Lauren LaBorde, JMA Communications Specialist** This week, Warehouse Workers for Justice released its new report “For Good Jobs & Clean Air: How a Just Transition to Zero Emission Vehicles Can Transform Warehousing,” which details the impact of the booming warehouse and logistics industry on Will County, Illinois (read the report [here](https://www.ww4j.org/uploads/7/0/0/6/70064813/wwj_report_good_jobs_clean_air.pdf)). Formerly a hub for manufacturing and the good union jobs that came with it, in recent years the county has seen major corporations like Amazon, Mars Candy and Walmart open warehouses in the area and its roads crowded by polluting trucks. These companies have made record profits in the pandemic on the backs of workers who are fulfilling the 24/7 demands of an increasingly online culture, but the surrounding community is not seeing those profits. Using air-quality and truck data collected by WWJ volunteers and interviews with workers in the area, the report paints a picture of a community plagued by truck pollution (the report points out that Will County is in the 98th percentile of diesel-related negative health impacts) and the kind of low-quality, revolving-door jobs that corporations like Amazon are [known for](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/06/15/us/amazon-workers.html). The report names the “double jeopardy” Black and brown workers experience in enduring both toxic work environments and toxic air pollution in their communities (the report found that air quality is worse in majority Black and/or brown census-defined communities). Things don’t have to be this way, especially as the urgent transition to electric vehicles creates an opportunity to normalize better labor standards. Jobs to Move America is pleased to see some of our shared priorities lifted up in the report: 1\. **Companies that receive public money must do public good.** We are seeing a flurry of tax incentives go to electric vehicle manufactures to create good jobs and improve the communities they’re in. But we know from experience that this doesn’t always happen. In Alabama, billions of dollars in tax giveaways are given to corporations with [little to no transparency and accountability in creating the jobs they’re supposed to](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/the-hidden-costs-of-alabamas-tax-incentives/). As WWJ’s report mentions, Amazon received massive tax breaks to build facilities in Joliet and ended up offering only “a revolving door of underpaying, unsustainable, and unsafe jobs.” Taxpayer-funded investments for private companies must be made conditional upon uplifting labor standards to create safe, family-sustaining, and stable union jobs for workers across the supply chain, including warehouse workers, port workers, truck drivers, and EV manufacturers. These companies should also offer pre-apprenticeships and registered apprenticeships that target BIPOC, women, the formerly incarcerated and other groups that face barriers to employment. 2\. **The procurement process should incentivize companies that commit to family-sustaining jobs and equitable hiring practices.** Instead of going for the cheapest bidder, public agencies awarding contracts—such as transit agencies—should prioritize companies that make specific and binding commitments around job creation, job quality, equitable recruiting, and training workers who face systematic barriers to manufacturing employment. Community Benefits Agreements, legally binding agreements between private companies and communities that put these commitments in writing, and the US Employment Plan (USEP), JMA’s policy tool that bakes good job standards and equity into the procurement process, are two ways we can do this. JMA has negotiated five CBAs nationally to make sure manufacturers live up to their commitments to communities and workers. The report mentions that the electric vehicle manufacturer Lion announced that it’s building its first U.S. facility in Joliet in Will County. The announcement garnered a lot of positive press, as it’s one of the first major manufacturers coming to Joliet in a long time, but the company has not yet publicly committed to creating quality jobs or putting in place fair hiring practices for the community—despite being approved for millions in state and local tax abatements. This is an excellent opportunity for a corporation to make good in a community that is rightfully skeptical after being treated as disposable by other global companies. We believe all companies receiving public money need to make real, binding commitments to the communities where they set up shop. As the WWJ report says, “Residents carry immense expertise within their lived experiences, which translates to capacity for building out robust solutions that are the most effective plans for their communities.” These major companies should listen to community members and lead the way in modeling what a just transition to a green economy looks like. **Categories:** Climate Change, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice, Workforce Development --- ### [On National Coming Out Day, we still have work to do to ensure LGBTQI+ people are safe at work](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/on-national-coming-out-day-we-still-have-work-to-do-to-ensure-lgbtqi-people-are-safe-at-work/) **Published:** October 11, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Excerpt:** On this National Coming Out Day, as someone who is queer, Brown, and genderqueer, I’m reflecting on the immense privilege I have to work for an organization that supports me in being my authentic self. **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/20230611_115215-1024x945.jpg "20230611_115215 - Jobs to Move America")**By Melanie Jamileh Prasad, JMA Legal Director** On this National Coming Out Day, as someone who is queer, Brown, and genderqueer, I’m reflecting on the immense privilege I have to work for an organization that supports me in being my authentic self. I was reminded of this when I sent out an email earlier this year letting my JMA colleagues know that I was going to be trying out new pronouns as part of my gender identity journey. I received warm and supportive messages from my supervisor and a few of my colleagues expressing appreciation for my openness and contributions to setting this as a workplace norm, but otherwise the change in my pronouns was accepted and respected with little fanfare or fuss. Unfortunately, my experience is far from the norm for my LGBTQI+ siblings across the country. In comparison, 78 percent of LGBTQI+ adults reported taking at least one action to avoid experiencing discrimination based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, or intersex status, with half of them experiencing some form of workplace discrimination or harassment [in the past year](https://www.americanprogress.org/article/discrimination-and-barriers-to-well-being-the-state-of-the-lgbtqi-community-in-2022/). The figures are even bleaker when narrowed to transgender and non-binary folx, with 90 percent having taken some action to avoid discrimination and 70 percent of them having experienced some form of workplace discrimination or harassment in the past year. To be clear, sexual orientation and gender identity based employment discrimination has been illegal in all 50 states since 2020, when the Supreme Court issued its ruling in *Bostock v. Clayton County*.1 On top of that, 23 states, as well as the District of Columbia, have passed their own laws prohibiting discrimination based on [sexual orientation and gender identity](https://www.hrc.org/resources/state-maps). But the truth is, laws preventing discrimination only go so far. While anti-discrimination laws are useful as a way to deter companies from engaging in bad behavior, they are limited in the relief they can provide.2 Almost all of the remedies for these anti-discrimination laws involve monetary restitution; but to even get to that point, a worker must first file and litigate a complaint all the way through, all while having to recount and answer questions on the deeply hurtful experiences they suffered. Without additional behavior-shaping interventions, in the end, the most likely scenario is that the employee receives some monetary amount and then returns to the same discriminatory work environment they worked at, which is now even more hostile towards them after having been sued by them. With transgender individuals already experiencing twice the unemployment rate as cisgender [individuals](https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/sustainable-inclusive-growth/chart-of-the-day/transgender-people-twice-as-likely-to-be-unemployed) and over one-fourth of employed transgender individuals reportedly having a household income of less than $25,000, many individuals opt to just continue with their jobs, rather than file a complaint and risk jeopardizing their jobs.3 The harsh reality is that anti-discrimination laws *alone* are insufficient to actually improve working conditions for LGBTQI+ workers. Real meaningful change is won by people coming together to remake our communities, jobs and institutions more equitable through collective action. We need more community benefits agreements that not only include strong worker equity provisions but also give community-based organizations the ability to help shape and improve workplace conditions. For example, [our recent national CBA with New Flyer](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/major-electric-vehicle-manufacturer-signs-first-multi-state-agreement-with-community-and-civil-rights-group-for-equitable-hiring-and-good-jobs/), not only includes targeted hiring, training, and promotion requirements for historically disadvantaged communities, but also includes requirements for independent organizations to support workers in filing workplace discrimination and harassment complaints, while also acting as a safeguard against retaliation. We need policy levers that shape corporate behavior, like the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority’s [Manufacturing Careers Policy](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/la-metro-adopts-the-most-comprehensive-good-jobs-policy-in-green-transit-manufacturing%ef%bf%bc/), that prioritizes the award of lucrative contracts to companies that, among other things, create targeted pathways to high quality careers for disadvantaged communities. And most of all, we need to organize, as the best way to improve working conditions for LGBTQI+ individuals will always be through the rights and protections offered by a [collective bargaining agreement and unionization.](https://aflcio.org/2016/6/6/pride-month-why-working-people-unions-are-fighting-lgbtq-discrimination-workplace) Anti-discrimination laws have undoubtedly made a huge difference in the lives of LGBTQI+ folx across the country. However, there’s still work to be done to ensure everyone has a safe place to work like I do. It’s up to us to demand more from companies and our elected officials. Only by coming together as full and whole people, standing together, can we fight to make our communities and jobs better for everyone. --- 1 *Bostock v. Clayton County* is the 2020 Supreme Court case that declared employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. 2 See, for example, New York State Human Rights Law, which was amended in 2019 to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on gender identity or expression. The law included robust protections for trans and non-binary individuals, specifically enumerating things such as “refusing to use an individual’s requested name or pronouns” and “questions about gender identity or expression” as unlawful discrimination. While the remedies available under the law do include an order to rehire the employee, this is rarely awarded, and the remedies most often involve ordering the behavior to stop, some amount of damages, and some sort of requirement to undergo training or institute a policy change. 3 While retaliating against someone who has filed a discrimination complaint is also prohibited under anti-discrimination laws, as long as at-will employment exists, employers are often easily able to find a different justification for firing an employee. Additionally, if an employee has been unlawfully terminated, courts rarely, if ever, award reinstatement. **Categories:** Labor --- ### [JMA's Community Benefits Agreement With New Flyer: One Year Later](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/jmas-community-benefits-agreement-with-new-flyer-one-year-later/) **Published:** June 16, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** **by Will Tucker, JMA Southern Director** Earlier this month, the Jobs to Move America team in Alabama had lunch with nine New Flyer of America workers in Anniston, Ala. The workers were new to their jobs building, painting and testing electric transit buses. Most had started work within the past three months. All came from historically disadvantaged communities. Over a lunch of chicken wings and sweet tea, we all talked about the barriers they had faced as they had sought good, family-sustaining jobs. In fact, most previously couldn’t find work at all because they had become ensnared in Alabama’s sprawling criminal punishment system in recent years. Most of the workers were Black, a couple were white, and two were women. One woman was a mother who brought her young son along; he dashed between chair legs and under tables as the adults talked. Eventually, JMA’s community engagement coordinator, Larry Hodge–who had met all of these workers during his field work providing workplace safety training or observing court hearings–stood and got everyone’s attention. He asked everyone to raise their hand if they had applied for a job at New Flyer before their most recent successful attempt. Everyone raised their hands. “How many applied more than once?” Larry asked. Nearly everyone raised their hands again; these workers had often tried three or more times to get a job at New Flyer before last year. What changed? The answer is clear. In 2022, [New Flyer signed a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) with JMA](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/quitable-hiring-and-good-jobs-/2mq45x/1082917950?h=DTlhxpIqHgP85LMkj-UeRQO71iccBvY2gtTUYCwqxyg) in which the company committed to ambitious, measurable hiring and promotion goals aimed at removing barriers to the plant for historically disadvantaged groups. (The CBA also included New Flyer’s plant in Ontario, California.) One year later, the CBA is having a noticeable impact, and not just on the faces of the workforce at New Flyer. JMA and the company have put in place an innovative system for addressing claims of discrimination and harassment, which gives workers who file such complaints an independent advocate. (The advocate is the Alabama State Chapter of the NAACP.) Workers with complaints can now stay in their jobs while they seek resolution, rather than simply quit, and are protected from retaliation while doing so. In July, workers will be able to attend an on-site safety training provided by Larry. Half of the training will be held on company time, thanks to New Flyer’s offer to work out such an arrangement. Participants who complete the training will obtain OSHA 10 authorization cards, marking them as worker-safety experts in their workplace. And there’s more: New Flyer now brings on more new workers through direct hire than through staffing agencies. The company gives many new applicants—like those we met for lunch–-a fair chance at employment by delaying a background check until after they make an offer. It’s likely that fewer potential applicants affected by criminal punishment systems will feel the need to self-select out of the opportunity to work at New Flyer. JMA will also soon enroll a pilot class of eight to ten workers in a pre-apprenticeship program linked by the CBA to New Flyer’s upcoming apprenticeship program. Participants who complete this training path will accumulate short-term credentials, certificates and ultimately, access to a long-term, family sustaining career that has long been denied to folks like them. It was clear, sitting around the table in Anniston, that the CBA is more than an agreement on paper. For these New Flyer workers, it’s a real transformation in their community and their lives. **Categories:** Health & Safety, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Workers and kids are winning big with electric school buses–but there’s a long way to go](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/workers-and-kids-are-winning-big-with-electric-school-buses-but-theres-a-long-way-to-go/) **Published:** June 23, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** **by Ian Elder, National Research and Policy Manager** Electric school buses (ESB) have come a long way since a year ago, when we published [our comprehensive report, *Driving the Future*](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/driving-the-future-how-to-electrify-our-school-buses-and-center-kids-communities-and-workers-in-the-transition/). In just a year, the technology has taken off: since last spring, the number of ESBs funded, ordered or deployed in the U.S. has [doubled](https://www.wri.org/insights/where-electric-school-buses-us), an expansion largely underwritten by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) initial $1 billion investment from the [Clean School Bus Program](https://time.com/6117544/electric-school-buses/). Such rapid progress on putting clean buses on the road owes in no small part to the unflagging advocacy of the [Alliance for Electric School Buses](https://electricschoolbuses4kids.org/)—of which Jobs to Move America is proud to be a member. The EPA’s investment presented a rare opportunity to rebuild a skilled manufacturing workforce decimated by decades of unfair trade agreements and union busting. Growing a high-road manufacturing sector has been an explicit goal of the [Biden administration’s industrial policy](https://prospect.org/economy/2023-01-24-biden-american-industrial-policy/). Yet the initial school bus rebate program included few provisions to strengthen the school bus workforce. In response, JMA and our allies in the labor and environmental movements worked to make the case for more worker-friendly language in subsequent funding rounds. ![A row of electric school buses in a parking lot](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Blue_Bird_Boston_Public_Schools_EV_Buses_04-2023_FINAL-1024x768.jpeg "Blue_Bird_Boston_Public_Schools_EV_Buses_04-2023_FINAL - Jobs to Move America")*Boston Public Schools fleet of Blue Bird electric school buses Via [Blue Bird](https://www.blue-bird.com/about-us/press-releases/254-boston-public-schools-puts-first-20-blue-bird-electric-buses-in-operation)* At the end of April, the EPA announced the opening of its [2023 grants program](https://www.epa.gov/cleanschoolbus/clean-school-bus-program-grants), which included some of the major labor policies we were advocating for, such as workforce impact assessments to ensure school bus mechanics receive the training they need to maintain and repair electric buses, and a requirement for electricians to be certified under the [Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program](https://evitp.org/). Both of these provisions benefit workers, and at the same time will ease the adoption of electric buses by making sure workers have the skills they need to deploy the buses and keep them running. The agency also released an [inquiry to school bus manufacturers](https://www.epa.gov/cleanschoolbus/bus-manufacturer-job-quality-and-workforce-development-practices), asking them to report on the quality of jobs at their factories, which should help create transparency and accountability around job quality at school bus factories. While all of these measures represent progress, we are urging EPA to adopt stronger measures for future rounds of funding. Meanwhile, school bus manufacturing workers are no longer accepting disrespect, unsafe conditions, and low pay in the face of massive corporate profits. Workers at the Blue Bird production facility in Macon, Georgia, have been organizing for years, and in May, filed for an NLRB election to join the United Steelworkers. Blue Bird is one of the three large, established school bus manufacturers, and like United Auto Workers-represented IC Bus and Thomas Built Buses, has begun to make the switch to electric school buses. (Last year, we took the train to High Point, North Carolina, to talk with four Thomas Built workers, including [Willie Walker](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/electric-school-bus-worker-story-willie-walker/) and [Tanya Brown](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/union-provides-education-and-equality-for-school-bus-manufacturing-worker/), who shared their experience building electric buses in a union factory.) In spite of alleged illegal and immoral intimidation tactics by Blue Bird, including threats to close the facility, [the workers were victorious in winning union recognition](https://labornotes.org/2023/05/union-win-bus-factory-electrifies-georgia) on May 12. This achievement is stunning given the context: a big Southern automotive factory with 1,400 production workers unionizing is a testament to skilled organizing and rising solidarity nationwide. Blue Bird workers are now negotiating their first contract. Now that school bus production workers in Georgia have won their union, the only major non-union manufacturer of standard-size (Type C) school buses is Lion Electric. Last summer, JMA and a coalition of 20 other environmental, labor, and civic groups [released a letter to the company urging them to negotiate a community benefits agreement](https://chispalcv.org/%EF%BF%BC%EF%BF%BCenvironmental-economic-justice-groups-urge-lion-electric-to-negotiate-community-benefits-agreement-ahead-of-new-facility-opening-electric-school-bus-funding-led-by-the-members-of-a/) (CBA). So far, Lion has refused to discuss a CBA. On July 21, Lion Electric will be hosting an [official ribbon-cutting for its Joliet, IL factory](https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/environment/ct-lion-electric-school-buses-illinois-20230611-nsq3nvrdybelzjgsg3se37zjca-htmlstory.html)—and the community, environmental movement and workers are still waiting. As the U.S. begins to rapidly switch over its 500,000-strong school bus fleet to all-electric, we’re excited to keep [organizing for a transition with workers and communities in the driver’s seat](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/electric-school-buses/). **Categories:** Manufacturing --- ### [Education Workers Deserve To Be Properly Compensated For Their Labor of Love](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/education-workers-deserve-to-be-properly-compensated-for-their-labor-of-love/) **Published:** March 23, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** **by Martin Barrera, California Senior Workforce Equity Coordinator** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/UTLARally-031523-stage-768x1024.jpg "UTLARally-031523-stage - Jobs to Move America")The United For LA Schools Rally on March 15As a former high school teacher in Los Angeles, I have been reflecting on the ongoing strike by United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 99. I feel for the educators and support staff of Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and the continued struggles they have year after year in creating nurturing communities for the youth of L.A. to learn, grow and connect with one another. Although my personal journey in K-12 education predominantly was spent at a charter school (often seen as opposition to existing district public schools), our common struggles with funding, understaffing and lack of resources connects us and gives me insight into their current situation. During my nine years teaching in Northeast LA, I saw how hard every member of our school community worked to create safe, accessible and beautiful schools where our students felt respected, loved and appreciated. Janitors doing their best to clean more rooms than they can handle. Teacher’s aides and special education assistants struggling with a lack of hours or low pay, forced to work several jobs to make do. Cafeteria workers spread thin and expected to go beyond their job description to assist with school duties. And of course, teachers doing their best to provide students with optimal learning opportunities while underpaid, understaffed, overworked and underfunded. As someone who considers themselves a lifelong educator, the reason I walked away from the traditional classroom setting is because of the extreme burnout that follows when you are doing your absolute best for your students, but it is never enough. What these education workers do is no short of miraculous and may feel magical, but behind the experience are real human beings struggling everyday to make ends meet, which is not sustainable. I can attest to the exhaustion one feels when you do so much, only to receive crumbs and have our big hearts used against us when we ask for what we need. Because of the growing obliviousness to the sustainability of our current situation, workers turn to their biggest weapon against an employer that refuses to listen to their workers: the union. As a former union member of the California Teachers Association (CTA), I am proud that the CTA has supported UTLA and SEIU Local 99 in their efforts to exercise their worker power to pressure LAUSD, the second-largest school district in the US, to listen to their reasonable requests. Ensuring people are paid what they deserve and have the resources needed to do their job is not unreasonable, but can be understood across every sector of every industry. This is what the teachers and school support staff are fighting for. And to those who think it is selfish to strike at the cost of students going to school, I urge you to see this as a last resort effort. Many teachers and school workers have kids themselves, so not going to work means their already-struggling financial situation is tested even further. But they understand the importance in the long run to ensure education workers have the resources they need to keep going—otherwise LAUSD is setting up their system to crumble. I stand in solidarity with these educators and school support staff. Our students, teachers, and school workers deserve better from LAUSD and hopefully this strike will create a path for better conditions in our LA schools. **Categories:** Labor --- ### [Creating Good Jobs Through the CHIPS and Science Act](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/chips-and-science-act-notice-of-funding-opportunity/) **Published:** March 16, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Excerpt:** Rewarding companies who make strong commitments around job quality; requiring them to provide detailed, publicly available data around wages and benefits; and then holding them accountable to those commitments through the contract—these are the key elements of our U.S. Employment Plan. **Content:** ***by Michael Lawliss, Senior Policy Coordinator*** At the end of February, the Biden administration took the first step in implementing the CHIPS and Science Act (CHIPS Act) by announcing the [application process](https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/2023/02/28/CHIPS_NOFO-1_Building_Skilled_Diverse_Workforce_Fact_Sheet_0.pdf) that commercial fabrication facilities will have to undergo to get federal money. Signed into law this summer, the CHIPS Act represents a [historic investment](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/inflation-reduction-act-chips-science-act/) in American manufacturing. The act will invest nearly $40 billion to grow the domestic supply chain of semiconductors—which are essential components of electronic devices, including those that power clean energy and transportation. Implementation of the CHIPS Act will help revitalize domestic manufacturing and fund important research and development. It will also serve as a test case for our nation’s industrial policy focused on green manufacturing, and how labor will be included in that conversation. At Jobs to Move America, we believe that strong labor standards should be an essential component of the Biden administration’s industrial policy. We are committed to ensuring the CHIPS Act creates good jobs, and that racial and gender equity are centered in the recruitment and hiring process for the projects funded through this legislation. Here’s what we’re excited about in the application process: 1. **Applicants will be graded on plans for their manufacturing workforce.** Previous Biden administration initiatives have focused on the construction workforce, so we love the focus on the manufacturing workforce here. Applicants will have to share their strategies for recruitment and training of workers, including those who face barriers to employment. They will also have to discuss how they plan to provide quality jobs, as defined by the [Good Jobs Principles](https://www.dol.gov/general/good-jobs/principles#:~:text=Department%20of%20Commerce%20and%20Department%20of%20Labor%20Good%20Jobs%20Principles&text=Good%20jobs%20are%20the%20foundation,and%20the%20entire%20U.S.%20economy.) published by the Departments of Commerce and Labor. 2. **Applicants will have to provide detailed job quality data and make it available to the public.** Applicants will also have to provide details on how they will measure, track, and publicly report their workforce commitments, recruitment and training plans, and other job quality metrics, including wages and benefits. Making job quality data and other commitments public is an important step to ensuring manufacturers are sticking to what they said they would do in their application. 3. **Applicants’ proposed workforce plans will become commitments in the contract.** The final step to ensuring the CHIPS Act creates good jobs is making sure workforce commitments make it into the final contract between applicants and the government. Adding these commitments into the contract means that not living up to these commitments is a contract violation, which helps hold applicants accountable to their communities. The administration has promised to take measures to enforce the job quality commitments in the contract. Rewarding companies who make strong commitments around job quality; requiring them to provide detailed, publicly available data around wages and benefits; and then holding them accountable to those commitments through the contract—these are the key elements of our policy tool, the[ U.S. Employment Plan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/u-s-employment-plan-2/). We’re thrilled that the administration has embraced these concepts and also believe that getting the details right is key for carrying it out. And that’s not all—this [notice of funding opportunity (NOFO)](https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/2023/02/28/CHIPS-Commercial_Fabrication_Facilities_NOFO_0.pdf) also includes some other big wins for workers, including a requirement that applicants submit a workforce plan for any construction work done in connection to the project. Applicants are also strongly encouraged to enter into project-labor agreements, which are pre-hire agreements signed between contracting agencies, labor unions, and private companies establishing the terms and conditions of a project ahead of time, such as wages and benefits paid to workers. Additionally, applicants requesting more than $150 million in funding are required to provide childcare services for their construction and operations workforce, an important wraparound service that will support families around the country. These policies represent a huge win for workers. However, we will need to continue working with stakeholders at all levels of government to ensure the 100,000 construction jobs and 90,000 operations jobs connected to this NOFO are good jobs, that the workforce development plans include achievable and enforceable commitments, and that future funding opportunities raise job quality standards across the country. **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Union Provides Education and Equality for School Bus Manufacturing Worker](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/union-provides-education-and-equality-for-school-bus-manufacturing-worker/) **Published:** March 7, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** ### For Tanya Brown, a painter at electric school bus maker Thomas Built Buses in North Carolina, being in a union has helped her finish her degree and is creating equal opportunities for women in the workplace. ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/UAW-worker-Tanya-1-1024x683.jpg "UAW worker Tanya 1 - Jobs to Move America")College business courses are not typically known for teaching pro-union values. But for Tanya Brown, an assembly technician at the Thomas Built Buses factory in High Point, NC, what she’s learned in class has strengthened her belief in the need for workers to get together and fight for better working conditions. In the course of her studies, Tanya learned about employment law–all the rights and benefits U.S. companies legally owe their workers. It’s not very much, it turns out: in many states, companies don’t have to provide paid sick or family leave, vacation time, or health care benefits. As a union leader, she often explains to her coworkers at Thomas, “A lot of the benefits you have, you have because of the union; you don’t get them because the company is mandated to give them to you.” Tanya was able to complete her degree while working at Thomas thanks in large part to a scholarship fund created under her union contract. The scholarship fund is one of several ways UAW Local 5287’s contract provides for employees to gain new skills and advance in their careers. For example, Thomas workers can qualify to receive training in one of the trades, leading to even higher-skilled, higher-paying work. Trades at Thomas include robotic technicians, electricians, and tool and die makers. Tanya works in the paint department of the C2 plant at Thomas, which builds school buses and is transitioning to build electric school buses. She prepares the buses for painting, sanding and wiping down the bus before it gets its prime coat. Her enthusiasm for her work is contagious. “It’s a really neat process to watch because you just start with this steel … they start building with the floor of the bus. And just to watch the whole process down the line–it’s a really cool process.” At first, Tanya was reluctant to go into manufacturing. But she had a lot of friends who were working at the Freightliner plant in nearby Cleveland, NC, another UAW shop. They insisted it was a great job, and eventually Tanya decided to give it a try because of the pay and benefits. Benefits–such as family medical and dental coverage, paid sick leave, and a strong pension–were especially crucial, since she was a single mom with two kids: one in high school and another in college. In the end, she found that she really liked the work, too. Manufacturing jobs have not always been welcoming to women. Even today, women make up only a quarter of workers in the vehicle manufacturing sector. The causes of this disparity are many: socialized gender roles, [discrimination and harassment](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/11/19/tesla-sexual-harassment/), and a lack of flexibility and room for professional growth. As for Tanya, she describes consistently great experiences at Thomas. “To me, pretty much, we’re treated equally … The opportunity is there. But then you have to look at it; if the UAW wasn’t here to instill a process where everybody gets a fair opportunity at a job, then the company could always say, ‘No, we’re not putting a woman in that position. She can’t do that job.’” She has confidence knowing that if she felt she was being treated unfairly, she could get the union involved to address it. Every day, the yellow school buses Tanya and her colleagues build help provide an opportunity for millions of schoolchildren to have a ride to school and receive an education. Meanwhile, she’s taking full advantage of her own opportunities and is now working on her master’s degree, hoping to apply her skills towards building the union. “I love the union … it’s that brotherhood, sisterhood, and there’s nothing like knowing someone has your back.” *You can read about the experiences of other workers, like Tanya’s colleague* [*Willie Walker*](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/electric-school-bus-worker-story-willie-walker/)*, at our* [*page on worker stories*](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/catalog/worker-stories/)*.* **Categories:** Feminism, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Worker Stories --- ### [This Labor Day, thank workers by supporting the PRO Act](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/this-labor-day-thank-workers-by-supporting-the-pro-act/) **Published:** September 3, 2021 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Excerpt:** Labor Day is a day that celebrates workers in the U.S., and that’s more important this year than ever. Due to the ongoing pandemic, hundreds of thousands of workers have lost their jobs. **Content:** Labor Day is a day that celebrates workers in the U.S., and that’s more important this year than ever. Due to the ongoing pandemic, hundreds of thousands of workers have lost their jobs. Black and Latinx workers have been hit especially hard. Meanwhile, many frontline workers continue to work, risking their health to ensure the rest of us can survive. Women—especially those with children—have had the impossible task of juggling work with the new role of homeschool teacher. As a result, women have [left the workforce in droves](https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/seven-charts-that-show-covid-19s-impact-on-womens-employment). We can’t forget that we have Labor Day because of labor unions, and today, despite the fact that almost half of workers want to be in a union, only around [12% actually are](https://www.epi.org/publication/working-people-want-a-voice/). Women and people of color [particularly benefit from union membership](https://www.epi.org/blog/unions-help-narrow-the-gender-wage-gap/), since collective bargaining agreements often outline policies that reduce gender- and race-based pay disparities and discrimination. Unionized workers also typically have better access to [paid sick leave and other benefits](https://cepr.net/documents/women-union-2014-06.pdf), which are crucial in a pandemic. So why aren’t more workers in unions? That’s because it’s very difficult to organize in workplaces where workers are forced to attend anti-union meetings, workers are [punished or even fired](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/28/business/coronavirus-unions-layoffs.html) for attempting to unionize, and right-to-work laws—which are [rooted in racism](https://www.facingsouth.org/2021/03/pro-act-would-undo-decades-southern-anti-union-laws-rooted-racism)—financially hobble unions. This is why we’re urging Congress to pass the Protect the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. The law would overturn those right-to-work laws and prohibit “captive audience” meetings and other union-busting tactics. The law passed the House of Representatives, and is now awaiting further action in the Senate. There’s been a lot of momentum in the labor movement recently, with workers at companies around the U.S. forming unions and waging strikes that capture national attention—like the current strike organized by workers of Mondelez International, the parent company of Nabisco. But as we saw with the effort to unionize an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, workers are up against corporations with seemingly unlimited resources. At Jobs to Move America, we believe workers have the power to shape the trajectory of the economy amidst rapidly evolving conditions—including climate change, automation, and crises like the pandemic. Through our work to overturn the [ban on local hire](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/lift-the-ban-on-local-hire-campaign-factsheet/), which would ensure thousands of people can get back to work on key projects happening where they live, we aim to center workers in the economy. With our work to win good [Community Benefits Agreements](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/what-is-a-cba-factsheet/), we ensure that public dollars do the most public good by providing jobs with family-sustaining wages. But one of the best tools workers have to leverage that power is through unions. This Labor Day, to say thanks to workers we need Congress to pass the PRO Act. Unions were essential to voicing the concerns of workers during the worst of the pandemic, and they’ll continue to be central to protecting workers coming out of it. *Write or call your Members of Congress and urge them to include the PRO Act in the reconciliation process!* **Categories:** Feminism, Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [Let's Honor Rosa Parks by Creating Equity in Transit—For Riders and Workers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/lets-honor-rosa-parks-by-working-toward-transit-equity/) **Published:** February 3, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** This Saturday is [Transit Equity Day](https://www.labor4sustainability.org/transit-equity-2023/), which takes place on Rosa Parks’ birthday to honor her historic action to demand equality for public transit riders. Parks’ refusal to move to the back of a Montgomery, AL bus in 1955 and the bus boycotts that ensued lead to the landmark Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. Although public buses are officially integrated, transit inequality persists in other ways. For one, Black and brown people in many cities are less likely to have access to [safe and affordable transit](https://www.urban.org/features/unequal-commute). Making things worse, the pandemic plummeted transit ridership in many cities, causing transit agencies to lose funding and decrease service. Transit providers are [still operating at those reduced levels](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-17/where-pandemic-cuts-to-subways-and-buses-persist) in many cities, which disproportionately affects the many Black and brown workers who never stopped working in-person. There’s another dimension to today’s transit inequity: many workers who are building our country’s public transit vehicles experience modern-day segregation at work. Lured by [generous tax incentives](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/the-hidden-costs-of-alabamas-tax-incentives/), many multinational companies are building plants in the South to manufacture these vehicles. But by and large they are [not improving quality of life](https://www.forbes.com/sites/madelinejanis/2021/12/07/this-country-is-investing-in-electric-vehicle-manufacturers-its-time-for-manufacturers-to-invest-in-this-country-and-in-our-workers/?sh=3e07bfd52218) for the working class Black and brown people who live there. But there is a better way to do things. Last year, JMA signed a Community Benefits Agreement with New Flyer, the largest manufacturer of electric transit buses in North America, for its plants in Ontario, California and Anniston, Alabama. This is especially poignant in Anniston, the site of the 1961 attack on the Freedom Riders and just two hours from Rosa Parks’ historic civil disobedience. The CBAs in good manufacturing jobs with better training and more advancement opportunities for workers, particularly those from marginalized groups. As domestic manufacturing of electric school buses ramps up, JMA is looking to transform that world, too. While school buses aren’t always considered public transit, they are responsible for getting millions of kids to their public schools every day—and currently, those kids are [breathing in dirty air](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/electric-school-buses/). The unionized company [Thomas Built](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/electric-school-bus-worker-story-willie-walker/) is setting an example for what equitable ESB manufacturing looks like, but other ESB makers—and electric vehicle manufacturers in general—have not committed to creating good jobs. In Illinois, we’re building a coalition to win a community benefits agreement with Lion Electric, a company that built its first U.S. factory in the port town of Joliet. As an organization that works to do the most good with public good, we believe in equitable access to public transit. We also believe that companies receiving public money—whether that’s through tax incentives or government contracts—to build transit vehicles must create good jobs that improve communities, not harm them. On her birthday, let’s honor Rosa Parks’ legacy by creating equity in public transit—both for riders and workers. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Racial Justice --- ### [On Anniversary of Roe, Freedom for Workers Means Reproductive Rights](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/on-anniversary-of-roe-freedom-for-workers-means-reproductive-rights/) **Published:** January 20, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** January 22 marks what would have been the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade—if not for the Supreme Court overturning the ruling in June, striking down the constitutional right to abortion care. As an economic justice organization, Jobs to Move America echoes the [statements](https://nwlc.org/resource/abortion-rights-are-inextricably-tied-to-social-and-economic-justice-movements/) from labor unions and other organizations that frame reproductive healthcare as a workers’ rights issue. JMA fights for good jobs that create freedom for workers by giving them a choice to form a union, offering family-sustaining wages and benefits, and providing safe workplaces. Good jobs offer not just autonomy in the workplace, but the freedom to live a full life outside of work. We see restricting access to abortion as an affront to the freedom to decide what’s best for our bodies, our families and our future. The kind of abortion bans enacted in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision disproportionately affect low-wage workers who already face barriers to healthcare access. As Angela Dawson, JMA’s Community Engagement Coordinator in Mississippi pointed out [when Roe was first overturned](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/jma-staff-reflects-on-the-overturning-of-roe-v-wade/), some women in the rural south live almost an hour away from the nearest hospital—an issue felt in [rural areas](https://www.americanprogress.org/article/how-states-can-expand-health-care-access-in-rural-communities/) across the country. Also, the U.S. [has the highest maternal mortality rate out of all developed countries](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/jma-staff-reflects-on-the-overturning-of-roe-v-wade/). Good maternal care is difficult to access in the U.S. even for those who are pregnant by choice. Instead of laws restricting reproductive care, this country needs to do more to support working families. Besides safeguarding the country from a national abortion ban, Congress must make it easier for workers to join and form unions, which give workers family-sustaining wages, good benefits, and the bargaining power to demand continued access to abortion care. [Congress must continue to fully fund the National Labor Relations Board](https://whistleblower.org/letter/letter-to-congress-on-the-national-labor-relations-board-funding-crisis/), which protects the rights of workers to organize. JMA is continuing to fight for economic justice for families and all workers by winning [community benefits agreements](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/community-benefits-agreements/) with manufacturers and policies that support the creation of good jobs. We stand with those in healthcare-sector unions and reproductive rights organizations who are on the front lines in the fight for abortion access. **Categories:** Feminism, Labor --- ### [Jobs to Move America announces new leadership structure and appointment](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/jobs-to-move-america-announces-new-leadership-structure-and-appointment/) **Published:** December 8, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** ***by Ed Wytkind, Board Chair, Jobs to Move America*** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Erica-headshot-2-2-866x1024.jpeg "Erica headshot 2 - Jobs to Move America")*Erica Iheme*On behalf of the board of directors at Jobs to Move America (JMA), I am pleased to announce the appointment of Erica Iheme, the organization’s deputy director, to the newly-created position of Co-Executive Director to join Madeline Janis, co-founder and executive director. Effective January 1, 2023, Ms. Iheme and Ms. Janis will assume the titles of Co-Executive Director and share leadership responsibilities for the organization. Both will oversee regional and national campaign strategies, as well as the organization’s management team across the following regions: California, Illinois, the Northeast (NY/NJ), and the South. Ms. Janis will be on sabbatical from January 4, 2023 through March 13, 2023, so Ms. Iheme will be taking on all executive director responsibilities during this time. Ms. Iheme joined JMA in June 2020, as the director of the Southern region responsible for building JMA’s organizing, research, and policy work in the area. Under her leadership, the Southern program tripled in size and funding, winning community benefits agreements in the deep South, including with NFI Group covering eight factories across the country. In February 2022, Ms. Iheme was promoted to deputy director, where she helped grow JMA’s organizational budget and played critical roles in policy victories nationwide. Prior to joining the organization, Ms. Iheme worked for 17 years in the labor movement, including 14 years at SEIU and 3 years at AFSCME, where she worked as a worker organizer, trainer, and educator. Ms. Iheme was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, and attended Alabama A&M University in Huntsville for her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in urban planning. We are confident Ms. Iheme will continue her exemplary work of strengthening JMA in her new role, and will join Ms. Janis in leading the organization to greater heights in fighting for good jobs in the cleantech sector. In their own words: **Madeline Janis** – “I am thrilled at the board’s appointment of Erica Iheme to the role of Co-Executive Director, where she will join me in leading and scaling the organization to create more high-road jobs. Erica has truly been invaluable since joining JMA, and I couldn’t ask for a better partner as we look to transform the cleantech industry and set benchmarks for job creation and equitable opportunities within our communities.” **Erica Iheme** – “I am humbled by this new appointment and excited to co-lead this incredible organization with Madeline. Born and raised in Birmingham, AL, I am all too familiar with the lack of good jobs and a huge poverty gap across racial and gender lines. I desire a future where good jobs, particularly in green manufacturing, are accessible and attainable for anyone who wants to work, no matter who they are or where they are from. These jobs should be well compensated with good benefits, safe working conditions, and free of discrimination and harrassment. In order for us to have a fully functioning labor force, production line, service and overall economy, we have to create conditions where the workers benefit as much as the companies and institutions that they serve. To get there, I believe that every home should have the benefits from two CBAs: a Community Benefits Agreement and a Collective Bargaining Agreement. We need labor and community working in true partnership advocating for policies that put more conditions on federal funding awards to local governments, while leveraging resources to put pressure on companies to work with local communities in which they exist and function. I believe this is where JMA’s work can create the most impact.” --- ### [LA Metro Adopts the Most Comprehensive Good Jobs Policy in Green Transit Manufacturing](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/la-metro-adopts-the-most-comprehensive-good-jobs-policy-in-green-transit-manufacturing/) **Published:** December 1, 2022 **Author:** Web **Content:** LA Metro’s Board of Directors voted to adopt the [Manufacturing Careers Policy (MCP)](http://metro.legistar1.com/metro/attachments/7697fef4-6f8d-4ec7-9fdb-de2ca99a6dc9.pdf), co-written by Jobs to Move America. This policy is the most comprehensive jobs creation policy to date, and ensures [accountability measures in the procurement process](https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-12-01/metro-infrastructure-dollars-deliver-good-jobs) for green transit manufacturers who submit winning bids to supply LA Metro’s new fleet of EV buses and railcars. The MCP builds on an earlier iteration of the [US Employment Plan (USEP)](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/u-s-employment-plan-2/) from 2018, and incorporates new resources for tracking and accountability that set clear expectations for how companies are held accountable to their job commitments set in the original bid, namely with minimum wage and benefits, workforce training and apprenticeship programs, and diversity requirements. In addition to providing transparency and accountability, the MCP also creates a pathway to employment for people facing barriers to employment, who fall under one or more of these categories at their date of hire: 1) homeless; 2) single parents; 3) receives public assistance; 4) lacks a GED or high school diploma; 5) has a criminal record; 6) long-term unemployed; 7) termed-out of foster care; or 8) veterans. Highlights in the new MCP include:: - Threshold requirement for procurement size lowered to $50 million from $100 million: This ensures that the MCP can be applied to almost all manufacturing contracts and bids for LA Metro - Remedies for non-compliance: Carves out monetary penalties to encourage and incentivize companies to follow through on their jobs commitments - Proposals for LA Metro contracts will undergo an evaluation mechanism that scores companies higher – up to 5% – for their commitment to the good jobs policy - Utilizes new federal initiatives to leverage [local and targeted hire programs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/local-hire-guide/) With the adoption of the MCP, LA Metro is the first major transit agency in the nation to incorporate a good jobs policy for manufacturing in their procurement process. This also establishes a framework and model for other public agencies to develop a jobs creation policy for their respective communities, while moving towards a cleaner and healthier economy. --- ### [Union Gives Confidence to School Bus Manufacturing Worker About EV Transition](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/electric-school-bus-worker-story-willie-walker/) **Published:** October 5, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Excerpt:** Union Gives Confidence to School Bus Manufacturing Worker About EV Transition **Content:** ### Willie Walker, Quality Team Leader at Thomas Built Buses in North Carolina, shares his experience as a long-time union worker in both Detroit and High Point, and his thoughts on the transition to electric school buses Growing up in Detroit, Willie Walker’s life revolved around auto manufacturing. His father and uncle worked at a factory that supplied Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors and were members of the United Auto Workers (UAW). He too got a job at the factory and became a union member at age 19, building a great life for himself and his family in Detroit. Life took a turn when his wife was offered a job as a school principal in High Point, North Carolina. ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/thomas-built-worker-1024x683.jpg "thomas-built-worker - Jobs to Move America")Willie Walker“I have no family in North Carolina. My whole family is in Detroit,” Willie adds, “But you have to grow up sometimes.” When Willie arrived in High Point in 2009, he got a temp job at a manufacturing plant. For the first time, he witnessed and experienced the uncertainty and peril that comes with non-union work. “They called everyone to this big meeting and started passing out layoff slips. I had only been there for three weeks. There was a guy there who’d been with the company for ten years. Coming from a union background, I thought I’d be the one getting kicked out the house. But no, they gave him the pink slip! They let him go and kept me. That really shook me up,” he recalls. Willie became a UAW member once again when he got a job at the Thomas Built factory in High Point in 2013. “I didn’t know much about Thomas until one of my church members told me about it. I put in an application there,” he shares. There, he and hundreds of union workers assemble school buses that are distributed to school districts nationwide. “This was a natural fit, coming from auto manufacturing in Detroit,” says Willie. He is currently a quality team leader, inspecting school buses to make sure there are no defects in the paint, structure, electrical, welds, and more. Willie’s coworkers often don’t understand what being in a union means, especially when they first start. As a leader both in the workplace and in the union, Willie shows new employees the ropes. “I tell them that we’re one of the few companies that still has a pension and a 401(k). I never have to guess or hope that I’ll get a raise. I know I’ll get a raise. I have job security–I’m entitled to work 40 hours a week. I have a voice if there’s a safety concern. There’s no favoritism. You are respected from the time you come in. That’s the one thing in the community that we’re known for,” he shares with pride. But he also makes it clear that this isn’t just handed to them, “This company will not give you this stuff without having a great union bargaining team.” While the company currently mostly builds diesel school buses, they are making the switch to electric. Thomas Built is one of three major school bus manufacturers, along with IC Bus in Oklahoma, where workers are also represented by the UAW, and Blue Bird in Georgia, which is non-union. All three companies are now making electric buses. JMA’s [recent report on electric school buses](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/driving-the-future-how-to-electrify-our-school-buses-and-center-kids-communities-and-workers-in-the-transition/) argues that unions like the UAW have a critical role to play in ensuring a fair and successful transition to ESBs and other EVs. Electrification is creating more jobs at Thomas Built. “Our orders have picked up because of the switch to EV \[electric vehicles\],” Willie explains. “We have a new group of employees who just work on electric units. That created a new classification that we bargained for. It’s starting small, but as time goes on, it will grow.” He is excited about the transition, “I’d love to see all our school bus models go electric.” Willie contrasts the continuing success of Thomas Built with the fate of the formerly dominant furniture business in High Point, once known as the “Furniture Capital of the World”: “The furniture market was big here in High Point. A lot of them were non-union.” At the industry’s peak after World War II, [sixty percent of all furniture](https://www.highpointnc.gov/841/Furniture-History) made in the U.S. was produced within a 150-mile radius of High Point. Then the government [decimated employment in the furniture business](https://greensboro.com/gardner-told-prison-work-hurts-industry/article_b99ad4d1-e72b-5b6c-b9a8-ac8284a516df.html) through a strategy of large-scale prison labor. Incarcerated people are paid as little as [pennies a day](https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/2022-06-15-captivelaborresearchreport.pdf) to build furniture. Today, if you arrive by train and step out of the Amtrak station in High Point, you find yourself on a street boxed in by the darkened windows of closed furniture shops–now just distribution points that create few jobs. Yet Thomas Built, which has been in High Point since 1916, is still going strong. Willie argues that if the furniture companies had been unionized, workers would have had the power to keep their jobs from being outsourced. “At Thomas Built, we have a union contract that states you can’t just up and leave and forget the workers. That’s one of the things that’s great about being in a union,” Willie proudly explains. Though he misses Detroit and beams about its nightlife, (“It’s second to none,” he proclaims), he has built a good life for himself, his wife, and their four children in High Point. “I love it here. It’s a lot slower. Very laid back. It fits our life perfectly.” **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing, Worker Stories, Workforce Development --- ### [Using Local and Economically-Targeted Hire to Promote Good Jobs Through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/using-local-and-economically-targeted-hire-to-promote-good-jobs-through-the-infrastructure-investment-and-jobs-act/) **Published:** October 14, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** **by Michael Lawliss, JMA Senior Policy Coordinator** We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build resilient infrastructure for the 21st century and benefit the communities that live near these projects. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), also known as the[ Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/how-jma-is-ensuring-the-infrastructure-bill-works-for-all-of-us/), was signed into law on November 15, 2021. This federal legislation will bring $1.2 trillion to states and cities over the next five years to repair and build roads and bridges, public transportation, the broadband network, and water infrastructure, among many other critical infrastructure projects. Each state will receive billions of dollars in funding over the next five years through mandatory and competitive grants, loans, and bonds. A range of community and labor advocates, including Jobs to Move America, worked together with federal policymakers to include a [provision in the BIL that allows policymakers to enact preferences for local and economically-targeted hiring](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/BIF-local-hire-language.pdf) on highway and transit construction projects receiving financial support from the US Department of Transportation (USDOT). This is the first time local and economically-targeted hire on federally-funded projects is allowed after [years of community advocacy](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/analysis-of-usdot-local-labor-hiring-pilot-local-hire-increases-opportunities-for-disadvantaged-workers-strengthens-local-economies/). This historic legislation can address community priorities for developing, strengthening, and building resilient infrastructure. Infrastructure dollars allocated to states and local communities can be used to promote economic opportunity by creating good jobs. A number of obstacles—some rooted in history and others just the result of everyday struggles for workers—have stood between local communities and the benefits of public infrastructure investment. But we have the chance to design and utilize policies, like local and targeted hire, that will help connect workers to good-paying, family-sustaining, career jobs. Jobs to Move America partnered with a coalition of labor unions, advocacy groups, and research organizations to put together a [guide ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/local-hire-guide/)on how states and cities can use local and targeted hiring policies to create good jobs for their community members. This guide: - provides an overview of local and targeted hiring policies - answers key questions for states and cities looking to implement these policies, and - offers success stories from around the country We hope that this guide can be a resource for a wide range of audiences, including community groups, labor unions, policymakers at contracting agencies, and elected officials at every level of government. As the USDOT continues to issue competitive grants and other forms of funding connected to the BIL, communities must work together to develop and advocate for local and targeted hire, as well as other complementary workforce development policies, on these federally-funded projects. **Learn More**: [JMA OMB campaign page](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/local-hire/) [Webinar: Using Federal Funds to Create Local Infrastructure Jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/webinar-using-federal-funds-to-create-local-infrastructure-jobs/) [Webinar: Leveraging Federal Infrastructure Dollars for Good Jobs in Communities that Need them Most](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/webinar-leveraging-federal-infrastructure-dollars-for-good-jobs-in-communities-that-need-them-most/) **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Jobs to Move America Stands with Black Workers Following Racist Remarks from Los Angeles City Council President](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/jobs-to-move-america-stands-with-black-workers-following-racist-remarks-from-los-angeles-city-council-president/) **Published:** October 10, 2022 **Author:** Web **Content:** ***By [Héctor Huezo](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/hector-huezo/), JMA California Director*** On Sunday, the [Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-10-09/city-council-leaked-audio-nury-martinez-kevin-de-leon-gil-cedillo) and [Knock LA](https://knock-la.com/nury-martinez-city-council-president-leaked-racist-audio/) reported on leaked recordings revealing racist, anti-Black, and reprehensible remarks made by City Council President Nury Martinez in conversation with Councilmembers Gil Cedillo and Kevin de Leon, and County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera. These comments were directed at other elected officials and their families under the context of a discussion on redistricting. Jobs to Move America condemns these statements and strongly urges the Mayor, City Council and the City’s top officials to stand with LA’s Black leaders and community in taking steps towards materially eliminating anti-Blackness in all its forms at City Hall and in Los Angeles. These comments come at a time when decades of systemic oppression, criminalization, gentrification and racial capitalism have all raised tensions for Black working families seeking to get ahead. Following the pandemic, evidence has shown that [Black women in particular suffered the most](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/29/parenting/coronavirus-black-children-inequality.html) adverse impacts from job loss over any other group, and this is following data that showed that [Black households have the lowest rates of recovery](https://equitablegrowth.org/new-wealth-data-show-that-the-economic-expansion-after-the-great-recession-was-a-wealthless-recovery-for-many-u-s-households/#:~:text=Even%20high%2Dincome%20Black%20households,(See%20Figure%203.)) following the 2008 financial crisis. Los Angeles’s once vibrant Black communities and corridors have seen extremely high rates of displacement and relocation to places like the Antelope Valley, or into San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. We have a [Black jobs crisis in Los Angeles](https://www.labor.ucla.edu/publication/ready-to-work-uprooting-inequity-black-workers-in-los-angeles-county/) that is making it increasingly difficult for Black families to remain here. And yet, amidst all of this disproportionate harm faced by LA’s Black families, hearing elected leaders seeking to seize the opportunity to further disenfranchise Black voting power, and tear down their colleagues, is beyond reproach. Jobs to Move America is committed to building Black power and fostering Black, Brown and Indigenous solidarity for a more fair and just economic future. We’ve done this through deep organizing that has linked [Black workers and workers of color across state lines](https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/05/26/new-flyer-benefits-bus-equity/) to raise standards for how our transit infrastructure is built. We’ve fought to ensure that [publicly supported companies](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/gov-gavin-newsom-signs-sb-674-californias-high-road-jobs-program-into-law/) in fact offer family-sustaining jobs. We’ve created [formalized agreements with companies directly](https://capitalandmain.com/electric-bus-makers-pave-the-way-to-union-jobs-for-disadvantaged-workers) to ensure that we’re prioritizing the people most impacted by systemic racism and disenfranchisement in how companies recruit, train and hire workers. And we’ll continue to work internally to ensure that our organization reflects the outcomes we seek to win through research, policy, and organizing. Whether it’s universal fareless transit, decriminalizing poverty, housing people, transparency in public spending or putting people to work in high quality union jobs, we stand in solidarity with Los Angeles’s Black community. It is only through solidarity that we will be able to tackle the climate crisis and remake our economy into the democratized, fossil-free future that all working people deserve. And it is only through solidarity that we’ll be able to push our colleagues in labor, in the environmental movement, in government and in positions of power to recognize that anti-Blackness has no place in the future we’re building today. **Categories:** Labor, Racial Justice, Transparency --- ### [Indigenous peoples must have a seat at the table in electric vehicle mining negotiations](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/indigenous-peoples-must-have-a-seat-at-the-table-in-electric-vehicle-mining-negotiations/) **Published:** October 10, 2022 **Author:** Web **Content:** ***By [Paola Rodelas](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/paola-rodelas/), JMA Communications Director*** [![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/2017-11-24-06.25.38-1024x768.jpg "2017-11-24 06.25.38 - Jobs to Move America")](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/2017-11-24-06.25.38-scaled.jpg)Mankayan Philippines Indigenous resistance against harmful development has benefited the local community but continues to be a constant threat Credit Paola RodelasI come from a family of miners–indigenous peoples who have lived near a gold mine in the Philippines for hundreds, possibly thousands of years. The first mining corporation was established by U.S. investors–a few years after the U.S. colonization of the Philippines–and many more international mining companies have come for our gold, copper, and other precious resources. My grandpa and grandma worked at one of the mines and met there, later eloping in the mine’s church. Perhaps mining is what brought me to this world. But it’s also what helped politicize me. I learned about the decades of [indigenous resistance against mining companies](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629620300402) due to pollution. These protests continue today, despite the Philippines being the [most murderous country of environmental defenders in 2019](https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/decade-defiance/). Mining is the sector linked to the most killings of environmentalists, many of whom are indigenous peoples like me. Their continued, and often successful, resistance inspired me to become a community organizer 14 years ago and fuels my work to this day. ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Chemetall_Foote_Lithium_Operation-1024x702.jpg "Chemetall_Foote_Lithium_Operation - Jobs to Move America")The [Chemetall Foote Lithium Operation](http://www.chemetalllithium.com/en/news/company-news/chemetall-begins-expansion-of-chemetall-foote-lithium-operation-in-nevada.html) near Silver Peak Nevada Credit [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chemetall_Foote_Lithium_Operation.jpg)So the news around [mining the materials needed for electric vehicles](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/08/11/electric-vehicle-nickel-mine/) has piqued my interest, not just because of my work at Jobs to Move America but as an indigenous person. Native American reservations are located [within 35 miles](https://www.msci.com/www/blog-posts/mining-energy-transition-metals/02531033947) of 97% of nickel reserves, 89% of copper reserves, 79% of lithium reserves, and 68% of cobalt reserves in the U.S.–four minerals used in the lithium-ion batteries of electric vehicles. Native Americans are already protesting mining [in Nevada](https://www.npr.org/2021/09/02/1031726626/these-tribal-activists-want-biden-to-stop-a-planned-lithium-mine-on-their-sacred) and elsewhere. Indigenous peoples must have a seat at the table in these negotiations around mining. We believe companies and jurisdictions should respect the [Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC)](https://www.fao.org/indigenous-peoples/our-pillars/fpic/en/) of indigenous communities. Indigenous leaders are already calling for [recycling](https://www.desertsun.com/story/opinion/contributors/valley-voice/2022/05/28/salton-sea-lithium-mining-could-hurt-native-lands-column/9914509002/) as one crucial step needed to avoid repeating the injustices of the fossil fuel industry. The electric vehicle transition can be an opportunity for indigenous communities and other communities where mining reserves are located to make sure they truly benefit. [Community benefits agreements](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/community-benefits-agreements/) (CBAs) are legally-binding agreements that these communities can negotiate with private companies. Organized communities in cities across the nation have led the way in winning [CBAs with real-estate developers](https://www.citybureau.org/newswire/2022/2/22/what-is-a-community-benefits-agreement) that create affordable housing, community services, and good jobs. At JMA, we’ve negotiated [CBAs that create family-sustaining, local careers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/major-electric-vehicle-manufacturer-signs-first-multi-state-agreement-with-community-and-civil-rights-group-for-equitable-hiring-and-good-jobs/) and equitable hiring at bus factories and suppliers. Mining companies often come into indigenous communities with the promise of jobs, but with no accountability, such promises are meaningless. Through better mining and land use policies, solidarity, and strong organizing, Indigenous communities can win CBAs with mining companies that address their concerns around jobs, land use, the environment, and more. My ancestral history and my work at JMA have shown me that grassroots organizing is the key to holding corporations accountable so that they respect communities and workers. Communities must have a say over–and truly benefit from–projects that are taking place on their land, and CBAs can be a critical tool to realize this goal. A just transition demands nothing less. **Categories:** Climate Change, Infrastructure/Transportation, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Racism is in the Water in Jackson, But We Can't Give Up on the South](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/racism-is-in-the-water-in-jackson-but-we-cant-give-up-on-the-south/) **Published:** October 4, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** ***By Angela Dawson, JMA Mississippi Community Engagement Coordinator*** What do Flint and Benton Harbor, MI and Jackson have in common? All three have a water crisis, all three are majority Black, all three have high poverty rates, and all three have been crippled by white flight. After Brown v. Board of Education integrated America’s schools, whites began leaving cities by the thousands to live in segregated suburbs taking the tax revenue they created with them. White flight made its way to Mississippi as well. Former Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett once said, “There is no case in history where the Caucasian race has survived social integration. We will not drink from the cup of genocide.” As a result of this mass exodus out of Jackson, if any of the Black residents who were left behind went to the sink to get a glass of water, they would be literally be drinking a cup of genocide. ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Ross_Barnett_Reservoir_sunset_picture-1024x768.jpeg "Ross_Barnett_Reservoir_sunset_picture - Jobs to Move America")Ross Barnett Reservoir Eskimothe [CC BY 30](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0) via Wikimedia CommonsOur capital city’s infrastructure hasn’t had any major investment for quite some time, but the recent water issues are the most humiliating. Jackson is bordered by a 30,000 acre reservoir—ironically named after the white supremacist I quoted earlier—but didn’t have a drop to drink. Jackson’s water crisis is the latest example of the kind of plantation dynamics that still plague Mississippi 150 years after slavery. Racism not only pollutes the water in Mississippi, it pollutes the workplace as well. The dynamics of worker exploitation we see today all have their roots in slavery. White southern planters, who made their fortunes off the backs of enslaved Africans, had no tolerance for northerners or abolitionists talking about freedom and equality. During the height of the cotton boom, Mississippi had more millionaires per capita than anywhere else in the country. Planters would rather go to war than even entertain the notion of freeing their slaves and paying a wage like the owners of factories in the North. We see a similar dynamic today in how our public money is handed to corporations (or in some cases, [Brett Favre](https://www.mississippifreepress.org/27465/in-depth-how-brett-favre-secured-6-million-in-welfare-funds-for-a-volleyball-stadium)) instead of investing it into our infrastructure and our people. In the last few decades, major manufacturers like Nissan and Toyota have opened plants in Mississippi because of the billions of dollars the state doles out to these businesses to set up shop here. Mississippi is actually the [birthplace of the tax incentive](https://goodjobsfirst.org/states/mississippi/)—in 1930, the state used subsidies to lure a company out of Chicago, and since then tax giveaways like Mississippi’s have fueled a manufacturing boom across the South. Workers in these plants are mistreated, overworked and uninformed about their rights, and employers engage in union-busting tactics to ensure that workers can’t organize for better conditions. The minimum wage here is only $7.25, and employers that pay more than that—even if it’s not much more—feel like they can do whatever they want to their workers. Nissan, for example, attracts workers because it pays $15 an hour. I was recently on a [workers rights panel](https://www.wlbt.com/2022/07/01/us-secretary-labor-makes-visit-capital-city-discuss-ways-improve-work-conditions-magnolia-state/) with other Mississippi organizers and U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, and one Nissan worker talked about the “plantation culture” at the plant, and how workers there feel like property. Since it’s our tax dollars that are given away to these companies that perpetuate those plantation dynamics, we essentially end up funding our own exploitation. Mississippi’s anti-union environment is another way racism pollutes the workplace. Mississippi is an “at- will” or “right to work’” state—a major selling point for big corporations. Only 5% of Mississippi’s workers are union members, and the workers that are in unions are mostly white males—that means 95% of workers who have no representation are subjected to low pay, unsafe working conditions, and humiliation in exchange for a paycheck. [18.7% of residents](https://themississippilink.com/2022/08/17/commentary-poverty-is-not-a-crime-but-this-is-mississippi/) live at or below the national poverty level, and 91% of those poor are people of color. Since unions have been proven to [close wealth gaps for Black workers](https://www.americanprogress.org/article/unions-help-increase-wealth-close-racial-wealth-gaps/), allowing workers to organize has the potential to address these longstanding inequities. But politicians from Southern states have been able to successfully convince voters that unions will stifle the businesses that are moving here. This also has its roots in slavery: The powers that be in the South are desperate to maintain access to cheap labor. When federal troops pulled out of the South after the Civil War, they left Black people in a dangerous position. With no protection from Union soldiers, whites in the South—still seething with anger over the loss of the war—were able to easily take back every gain made. This is the system that created Jim Crow, segregation, disenfranchisement, lynchings and the resurgance of the KKK. Rich whites were able to essentially get their free workforce back by passing racist vagrancy laws. This unjustly put African Americans back on plantations by using convict leasing programs, which started America’s current prison-industrial complex. The South is without a doubt the most anti-union, anti-worker region in the U.S., and the poverty here makes all modes of worker abuse possible. But I also see it as the new frontier for labor rights. It will be hard to undo over 150 years of exploitation and achieve [true freedom for Black workers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/we-still-have-work-to-do-to-win-true-freedom-for-workers/), but we are making progress. There are battles being fought and won all over the South. Recently Jobs to Move America and our coalition in Alabama signed a [community benefits agreement](https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/05/26/new-flyer-benefits-bus-equity/) with New Flyer, the largest manufacturer of electric buses in North America. The agreement—which includes its facility in Anniston, Alabama—commits to hiring and promoting people of color and women, hosting debt clinics for workers, and starting apprenticeship programs. Like Mississippi, Alabama doles out [billions in tax dollars to corporations](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/the-hidden-costs-of-alabamas-tax-incentives/), and workers there face exploitation. This agreement will help level the playing field for marginalized workers, and Jobs to Move America wants to do the same in Mississippi. Being Mississippi born and bred has allowed me to see that anything worth having is worth fighting for. We don’t give up when the odds are against us. We don’t give up fighting for what is right. We don’t give up. **Categories:** Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [As Extreme Weather Increases, We Must Learn Lessons From Hurricane Katrina](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/as-extreme-weather-increases-we-must-learn-lessons-from-hurricane-katrina/) **Published:** September 26, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** ***By Lauren LaBorde, JMA Communications Specialist*** All the recent extreme weather events communities have been experiencing both in the U.S. and internationally has me thinking about Hurricane Katrina, the 17th anniversary of which was on Aug. 23. The date is particularly important to me since I grew up in the New Orleans area, and on the day I was supposed to start my freshman year of college my family and I evacuated and didn’t return for three months. Thankfully we were spared the death and destruction that touched the millions who were left homeless and lost loved ones, but the storm revealed things to me that are very much relevant as the climate crisis worsens. There were many lessons to learn from an event that’s in our recent history, but I’m not sure if we have. While Hurricane Katrina is often classified as a “natural” disaster, it was really anything but. At the weekly newspaper where I worked after college, when we wrote articles mentioning the storm we always referred to it as “Hurricane Katrina and the federal levee failures.” The storm would not have been as devastating if it weren’t for the failure of the levee system built to protect New Orleans from a storm experts had long been saying was coming. Then there was the subsequent failure of the Bush administration and FEMA, who sent [formaldehyde-filled trailers](https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna23168160) to the mostly Black residents whose homes were destroyed. ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Katrina-new-orleans-flooding3-2005-1024x768.jpeg "Katrina-new-orleans-flooding3-2005 - Jobs to Move America")The poisoned FEMA trailers are just one of the many ways that Katrina exposed New Orleans’ deep inequities. The residents who disproportionately experienced the storm’s death and displacement and, in general, a complete failure of the systems built to protect people, were New Orleans’ Black residents. Many of them lacked the means to evacuate because of existing disinvestment and ended up dying or being stranded on their rooftops as the levees burst and water climbed to their ceilings. The inequities laid bare only increased after the storm, when the city used the “recovery” period as an opportunity to privatize essential goods. The public school system, already suffering from disinvestment before the storm, was scrapped in favor of a charter school system that lacks transparency and saw the purging of many [veteran Black teachers](https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/what-happened-to-new-orleans-veteran-black-teachers/2015/08). Now, New Orleans is the [first American city without traditional public schools](https://thelensnola.org/2019/07/01/new-orleans-becomes-first-major-american-city-without-traditional-schools/). The city also tore down its public housing projects—many sturdy, brick homes that had been undamaged in the storm—in favor of [mixed-income communities](https://www.npr.org/2015/08/17/431267040/after-katrina-new-orleans-public-housing-is-a-mix-of-pastel-and-promises) that significantly decreased the city’s public housing stock. But after all of these changes that displaced thousands of Black residents made in the name of “recovery,” is the city better prepared for another big storm? I would say no. Last August, New Orleans area residents were without power for weeks when the aging power grid of the city’s private energy utility, Entergy, failed during Hurricane Ida. And more recently, Entergy said that residents should prepare to be without power for [21 days](https://www.wdsu.com/article/entergy-hurricane-power-outage-timeline/40993346#) in the event of a category 4 storm. And this is in a city that already experiences oppressive heat and humidity during the summer. The main thing I learned from Katrina is that when systems fail, it’s BIPOC, poor people and other marginalized groups who bear the brunt of this failure. Increasingly, cities outsource essential services to private companies for efficiency, but without these public goods, people suffer. I’m constantly frustrated by the deprivation of our public goods, but the work we do at Jobs to Move America gives me hope. The Biden administration has made some [historic investments](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/inflation-reduction-act-chips-science-act/) in our infrastructure—which is crucial in preventing the kind of failure New Orleans experienced. But while this work to update our infrastructure is important, we need to make sure that investments result in good jobs that can actually sustain families and lift people out of poverty, and that’s what JMA aims to do. Beyond making sure these investments create good jobs by working to lift the ban on [Local Hire and update the OMB’s Uniform Guidance](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/local-hire/), JMA also works to win [Community Benefits Agreements](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/community-benefits-agreements/) with manufacturers that receive tax incentives from local governments. It’s important that communities have a say in the kind of jobs these companies provide when it’s our tax dollars that go toward creating them. In Louisiana, many of the oil and gas companies that pay the best salaries for people without college degrees are ironically the ones destroying the state’s coastline and contributing to global warming. These huge, multinational corporations that provide well-paying jobs to people who need them must not leave communities worse than they found them, and CBAs can make sure of that. Recovery and resilience efforts should present an opportunity to not only mitigate the worst effects of climate change, but also heal the longstanding inequities that have plagued us for too long. Unfortunately, there will be many more Katrinas to come as the climate crisis continues to get worse. Making sure public goods do the most good and that jobs in the green energy sector are high-quality will help us avoid the mistakes that we saw during and after one of the worst disasters in the U.S. **Categories:** Climate Change, Racial Justice --- ### [5 Reasons to Support SB 674, California’s High Road Jobs Program](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/5-reasons-to-support-sb-674-californias-high-road-jobs-program/) **Published:** August 23, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Right now, California is investing billions of dollars to purchase zero-emission transit vehicles. These new vehicles will have an enormous impact on the state’s carbon footprint, creating healthier communities and cleaner air. And with the right policies, we have the opportunity to leverage this historic investment in transportation and infrastructure to support good, community sustaining jobs.​ However, often public investments like this create jobs that are low-paying, temporary, and with few benefits, and sometimes employees are intentionally misclassified so they aren’t able to receive benefits. All told, job standards in the clean energy sector still lag behind those the fossil fuel industry. That’s why a coalition of community, labor, and environmental organizations have come together to advocate for [Senate Bill 674, California’s High Road Jobs Program](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/california-sb-674/). SB 674 would require public contracts to have a set of minimum high-road job standards, including requiring certification that employees aren’t misclassified. It also allows public agencies to incorporate additional high-road factors, such as wage or benefits commitments, into their scoring criteria for bids. Here’s how the High Road Jobs Program will benefit Californians: 1. **It’s a win-win.** Public agencies across the state are investing in zero-emission transportation to lower our carbon footprint and improve air quality. With SB 674, we can amplify the community co-benefits of these investments by incorporating high road job standards into covered transportation contracts. 2. **Investment in green infrastructure promotes long-term job growth.** Every $1 million invested in renewable energy creates 7.5 full-time jobs. The High Road Jobs Program will allow us to maximize the return on investment from our public spending. 3. **A race to the top.** Our current process for awarding public contracts typically ignores important factors like job creation, training opportunities, and quality benefits. SB 674 provides a framework that public agencies can use to reward bidders that commit to doing more for workers and their communities. 4. **Accountability to the public.** Under SB 674, contractors are required to show that they’ve made good on their promises to the public agency. If they don’t comply, the bill contains clear enforcement measures to keep companies accountable to their commitments. 5. **Strong support across the state.** The High Road Jobs Program is supported by labor, community, and environmental organizations across California. Californians agree: we need quality zero-emission transit vehicles, and we need those vehicles to be built by workers who earn good wages and benefits. SB 674 is sponsored by Senator Maria Elena Durazo, a longtime community, labor, and immigrant rights activist. Thank you for sponsoring this bill, Senator! The bill passed the Assembly, and now it’s on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk to sign. **[Will you send him an email letting him asking him to #PassSB674?](https://actionnetwork.org/letters/demand-governor-gavin-newsom-pass-sb-674/)** **Let’s get the most out of every public dollar we spend. Let’s make the High Road Jobs Program law!** **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Health & Safety, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [How to Ensure Recent Federal Investments Benefit Workers and Communities](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/inflation-reduction-act-chips-science-act/) **Published:** August 29, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** ***by Michael Lawliss, JMA Senior Policy Coordinator*** As states and cities begin to receive funding from the [Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/how-jma-is-ensuring-the-infrastructure-bill-works-for-all-of-us/), President Biden signed off on two new laws that will continue the flow of federal funds to our communities. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act are landmark pieces of legislation that are likely to create [hundreds of thousands](https://www.bluegreenalliance.org/site/9-million-good-jobs-from-climate-action-the-inflation-reduction-act/#:~:text=The%20Inflation%20Reduction%20Act%20delivers,for%20our%20clean%20energy%20needs.) of new, clean manufacturing jobs, helping us build critical domestic industries. But we must ensure that we develop the economy of the future in an equitable way, providing opportunities for all. It will take additional federal and local action to make certain that the jobs created through these investments are good jobs that lift up workers and communities and address historic inequities. The IRA makes significant investments to fight climate change. Here are some of the highlights: - **It makes historic climate investments** through tax credits that incentivize renewable energy technology and clean transportation, including a $7,500 credit for consumers to purchase electric vehicles with batteries manufactured in North America. These investments are estimated to help our country reduce carbon emissions by roughly 40% by 2030. - **It also includes $1 billion in grants** for local governments to buy certain types of heavy-duty electric vehicles, including municipal vehicles and school buses. Jobs to Move America has been advocating for the [electrification of school buses](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/driving-the-future-how-to-electrify-our-school-buses-and-center-kids-communities-and-workers-in-the-transition/) as an opportunity to give children clean air to breathe, lower carbon emissions, and create good union jobs in this emerging sector. - **It creates new** [**manufacturing jobs**](https://peri.umass.edu/publication/item/1633-job-creation-estimates-through-proposed-inflation-reduction-act)**,** by investing more than $60 billion in clean energy industries like battery production, solar panels, offshore wind turbines, heat pumps and recycling. Additional tax credits will help jump start these industries in the United States. - **It addresses historic inequities** by investing $60 billion in programs related to environmental justice, including projects to address [legacy pollution](https://www.doi.gov/priorities/investing-americas-infrastructure/legacy-pollution#:~:text=These%20legacy%20pollution%20sites%20are,sinkhole%20risks%2C%20and%20harming%20wildlife.) and bring clean energy technology to low-income and disadvantaged communities. Meanwhile, CHIPS and the Science Act includes nearly $40 billion to grow the domestic supply chain of semiconductors—which are essential components of electronic devices, including those powering clean energy and transportation—and $11 billion to encourage research, development, and other workforce training initiatives within the industry. It’s encouraging to see so much federal investment, but we can’t stop there. There’s much more to be done to address climate change and stand with workers and communities that will most profoundly feel the impact of transitioning to clean energy. As we develop our domestic supply chain for electric vehicles, solar technologies, offshore wind components, and semiconductors, we will need to work together to make sure these are good jobs, and that mining to extract minerals needed for EV batteries is respectful of the environment, workers, and the communities where they operate. It is imperative that the Biden administration work with community groups, environmental organizations, and labor partners to create strong job quality standards attached to this funding. One change the Biden administration can make right now to center job quality in these investments is to update the [Office of Management and Budget’s Uniform Guidance.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/local-hire/) Allowing states and cities to consider job quality metrics, like the number of U.S. jobs created, wages and benefits, training opportunities for workers, and targeted hiring policies, will help foster a “race to the top” when states and cities spend public funds. We look forward to working with the Biden administration on making sure these public investments benefit workers and communities and create good jobs with safe working conditions for those who need them the most. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Manufacturing Jobs for Women event](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/goodjobsevent/) **Published:** July 11, 2022 **Author:** Web **Content:** Para español: On July 27th, Jobs to Move America (JMA) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) will host an event with the DOL Women’s Bureau National Director Wendy Chun-Hoon in Birmingham to discuss the benefits for women of new and upcoming training programs at manufacturing plants in Alabama. JMA and New Flyer, an electric bus manufacturer with a factory in Anniston, are partnering on a [Community Benefits Agreement](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/major-electric-vehicle-manufacturer-signs-first-multi-state-agreement-with-community-and-civil-rights-group-for-equitable-hiring-and-good-jobs/) that will bring better jobs and benefits to the community by increasing hiring, training, and access to good jobs in American manufacturing for historically disadvantaged people.This includes women, people of color, veterans, and people who’ve been impacted by the justice system. This groundbreaking agreement with New Flyer is the first Community Benefits Agreement in the South. We invite you to this event to learn how we can create agreements with other companies and transform the Alabama job market to one that works for families and individuals. We encourage you to also invite the members of your community who may be interested in entering a pre-apprenticeship or apprenticeship program. The event will be held on July 27, 2022 from 3:00pm – 4:00pm at ​​210 Summit Pkwy, Birmingham, AL 35209. Register by filling out the form below. Share with members in your community. Loading… **Categories:** Economy, Feminism, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice, Workforce Development --- ### [JMA Staff Reflects on the Overturning of Roe v. Wade](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/jma-staff-reflects-on-the-overturning-of-roe-v-wade/) **Published:** July 5, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/IMG-1914-1024x768.jpg "IMG-1914 - Jobs to Move America")June was supposed to be a month of commemorating struggles for freedom with [Juneteenth](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/we-still-have-work-to-do-to-win-true-freedom-for-workers/) and [Pride](https://twitter.com/JobsMoveAmerica/status/1532064951858122752). But then on the last Friday of the month, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which dialed back freedoms for women and anyone who can get pregnant. JMA is fighting for freedom for workers by giving them a voice on the job. Workers who must endure unsafe jobs, jobs with bad or nonexistent healthcare plans, and jobs that limit the time they spend with their families certainly don’t have freedom over their bodies and lives. Through our work winning CBAs, we hold companies accountable to creating good, family-sustaining jobs that provide the freedom of a full life. But we also need to pay attention to threats to workers’ autonomy outside the workplace. The Supreme Court’s decision eliminates the freedom we should have to decide what’s best for our own bodies when it comes to pregnancy, especially in a country that has [the highest maternal mortality rate out of all developed countries](https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2020/nov/maternal-mortality-maternity-care-us-compared-10-countries). JMA’s employees were devastated by the announcement last Friday, and shared some reflections on what this means for our country: ![Angela Dawson photo](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/angela-dawson-258x300.jpg "angela dawson - Jobs to Move America")**Angela Dawson, Mississippi Community Engagement Coordinator:** “When I heard the ruling, it was shocking. Even with the stacking of conservative judges on every level of our judicial system, I was shocked. Even after seeing the leaked decision ahead of time, I was shocked, and then I was shocked that I *was actually shocked,* then I got pissed. Why should I be surprised that the last state to get rid of a confederate emblem on its flag would be at the center of the very law that literally set us back 50 years? As I watched my fellow Mississippians cheering in the streets because ‘children’s lives will be saved. We did this for the children.’ Let me tell you what else Mississippi has done ‘for the children:’ Mississippi has a 19.6% poverty rate, and is one of the hungriest states in the nation. One in four children go hungry here. No one is passing bills to assist parents to lessen the strain, but it’s all for the kids, right? Our teen pregnancy is sky high! When children are born to poor parents they are guaranteed a top notch education, right? No, Mississippi is the least educated and has the highest infant mortality rate in the country. Women literally die giving birth because the nearest hospital is at least 40 miles away. Religion has played a large yet hypocritical role in this decision. We do not take care of our poor, sick, young, elderly, hungry, or imprisoned. Someone please tell me how they skipped over these things, if they ever stopped beating the Bible long enough to actually read it. How can a state that claims to be so religious force a victim of rape to bear her rapist’s child? How can you look into the confused eyes of a girl who is pregnant by a male family member that molested her? And to top it off, this decision was made by men like Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh and Donald Trump who are all accused of one or more forms of sexaul assault.” ![Berenice Tompkins photo](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/jmaheadshot-275x300.jpg "Berenice Tompkins photo - Jobs to Move America")**Berenice Thompkins, New Jersey Campaign Organizer:** “What saddens me most about this decision is that our culture and political system seem to be much more invested in punishing people–specifically women, trans and gender nonconforming folks—who try to assert any level of control over our own bodies than punishing the powerful, wealthy, white men who hurt us and take away our agency. As a result of this ruling, people will likely be imprisoned for seeking abortion care. Meanwhile, men like Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas and Trump not only remain completely unpunished and unaccountable for their abusive behavior, but we continue to grant them the power to run this entire country and make decisions like this one on behalf of all of us.” ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Andre-Steele-JMA-Bio-Photo-225x300.jpg "Andre Steele JMA Bio Photo - Jobs to Move America")**Andre Steele, Illinois Lead Organizer:** “Since 1973, Roe v. Wade protected a woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion. Now in 2022 we are back to the prior conditions but at higher stakes, with the country in turmoil with COVID-19 pandemic, a recession, white supremacy, people of color getting incarcerated in alarming numbers and murdered by police, and now this court decison from the Supreme Court. These are some really dark and sad times. The Me Too movement is fresh in my mind. I have daughters, sisters, niecies and granddaughters. Most of them are very young. It’s bad enough that the system doesn’t do a very good job keeping the predators in check. I was already concerned for the safety of women falling, but now with this decision things are going to be dark times again. I’m just thinking about some of the things people had to do prior to 1973 to choose not to have a baby, and some of the horrible things that women had to do or what they have to live with for not having a choice to make decisions about their own bodies. I’m very concerned for Generation Z and the future of women in America, as well as others who fought hard to have rights through the labor movement, civil rights movement, and the movement for LGBTQ rights. If I had to say what’s the core issue of this big problem that we have in the U.S. is racism, greed and, most importantly, that we lack voters on all levels to combat some of these dark laws that keep appearing. The solution is to continue to organize around all of these issues, such as the federal spending of tax dollars and labor organizing. We need to get out the vote on all levels of government.” **Categories:** Feminism, Racial Justice --- ### [We Still Have Work to Do to Win True Freedom for Workers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/we-still-have-work-to-do-to-win-true-freedom-for-workers/) **Published:** June 17, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** ***By Erica Iheme*** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Erica-Iheme-913x1024.jpg "Erica-Iheme - Jobs to Move America")I am a daughter of Alabama, born and raised. Before coming to JMA, I spent 17 years working as an organizer across the country before coming back home to take what I learned back to my community. I saw my work and the work of many strong leaders in Alabama culminate last month, when Jobs to Move America and New Flyer–the largest bus manufacturer in North America–signed a groundbreaking [community benefits agreement](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/major-electric-vehicle-manufacturer-signs-first-multi-state-agreement-with-community-and-civil-rights-group-for-equitable-hiring-and-good-jobs/) for workers in California and Alabama. This partnership is JMA’s first multi-state community benefits agreement and the first CBA for Alabama. In that time I was away, the South became the new Rust Belt as an influx of global corporations set up shop there. We formed the Alabama Coalition of Community Benefits around the idea that these corporations coming to town need to do right by workers and communities so everyone can thrive. That’s why our partnership with New Flyer is so significant—it shows there’s a way to create a just, fair, equitable workplace with good jobs that can sustain families. But there is still work to do in a region where the legacy of slavery and segregation continues to oppress workers and communities. Despite the manufacturing boom, Alabama still ranks among the states with the [highest poverty rates](https://www.fcnl.org/updates/2021-11/top-10-poorest-states-us#:~:text=These%20states%20and%20territories%20have,%2C%20South%20Carolina%2C%20and%20Georgia.), and this poverty is felt most by [Black workers](https://www.al.com/news/2022/03/alabama-black-belts-struggle-with-poverty-a-chicken-and-egg-problem-but-there-are-solutions.html). I think of this on Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the day enslaved people in Texas learned they were free (a full two years after the Emancipation Proclamation). My people may be “free,” but the structures of slavery still very much exist in modern-day society, both in the South and outside it. In 2022, people are having to work two to three jobs at once and are still not making ends meet. There’s no reason why you should spend all your time away from your family like slaves did in the fields just to come home, go to sleep, and start over—and then end up with no wealth to show for that labor. That is not freedom. What does it look like for people like me to really be free in America? To me, being free is knowing that when things happen to me that they’re not happening to me because I’m a Black woman. Being free to me means having a safe home and resources to maintain our lives and not suffer. Being free is being able to have my children educated. Being free is not having to choose between going to work to provide for my family or staying home to take care of my sick child. What we need to be free are jobs that allow us to live full lives and show up for our communities. Although it seems like there are job openings everywhere, the country has a lack of *good* jobs—ones that not only pay a livable wage, but have safe working conditions, high-quality training programs and opportunities for advancement, and that hire from groups that face barriers to employment. This includes Black workers and also brown workers, workers who speak English as a second language, LGBTQ+ workers, and other groups who have been historically oppressed. At JMA, we’ve built a multiracial team of organizers, policy experts, and researchers—along with the advocates on our board and coalitions—that are fighting for these kinds of good jobs in communities across the country. Here in Alabama, our coalition is continuing to build the relationships and have the conversations that it’ll take to achieve our goal of bringing our community—and everybody—one step closer to freedom. We have a lot of work to do in our country in the next decade, from fighting the worst effects of climate change to updating our aging infrastructure, but we must center the workers in all of this. We particularly need to center Black workers, whose unpaid labor built this country. I’ve been thinking my whole life about what it would take to make Alabama a better place for its citizens. I’ve been thinking about it, dreaming about it, writing about it, and yet many have written off the South as a place that could never change. Our agreement with New Flyer shows that change is possible, and it’s just the beginning. Despite 400 years of oppression and disappointment, I’m still hopeful. **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Solidarity with Amazon workers from the Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/solidarity-with-amazon-workers-from-the-alabama-coalition-for-community-benefits/) **Published:** April 10, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** "This fight is not over. The battle against Amazon has shifted the narrative for what's possible for workers here in Alabama and across the South," said the Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits. **Content:** The Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits issued the following statement in solidarity with workers in Bessemer: “This fight is not over. The battle against Amazon has shifted the narrative for what’s possible for workers here in Alabama and across the South. We are inspired by the workers who stood up to reclaim power for themselves and will continue to stand with them. The urgent struggle for economic and racial justice in the South continues. The campaign also underscores just how broken our country’s labor law is, and the absolute necessity of passing the Protect the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act) to level the playing field for workers standing up for dignity and justice. Our coalition will not cease to organize for justice for workers, and to hold accountable the companies like Amazon that profit on their backs. Solidarity forever. **Categories:** Labor --- ### [Taking on COVID-19](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/taking-on-covid-19/) **Published:** March 20, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** A real recovery from the devastating economic and public health consequences of COVID-19 means putting people over profit, once and for all. **Content:** We are in the midst of a global pandemic of a scale and magnitude difficult to comprehend. COVID-19 has put the gaps in our supposed social safety net into sharp focus. Gaps that have always impacted society’s most vulnerable – gig and temp workers, renters, the undocumented, houseless people, the millions locked up in prisons and jails across the country, and many others – first and worst. To contain COVID-19 and emerge from the brewing economic crisis, we need bold action and solutions that leave no one behind. As industry after industry asks our federal government for massive bailout packages, we need to be clear: business as usual simply won’t cut it. We cannot continue to offer massive corporate giveaways that leave workers and their families high and dry. Only public actions that invest in good jobs and healthy communities will do. That means every single public dollar we spend must put people and communities over profit and corporate shareholders. Or, as we like to say at Jobs to Move America: our public goods must do the most public good. Our public dollars are the most powerful tool we have to shape the economy. This pandemic has made that truth ever clearer. Which is why we will work to advance our vision of an economic recovery package that uses our public dollars to create millions of good jobs, build healthy and resilient communities, and create a climate-safe future for the next generation. We plan to work tirelessly to make our vision a reality. **Real recovery requires creating good jobs.** Jobs to Move America firmly supports the [Build Local Hire Local Act](https://jobstomoveamerica.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5fddaca4b3f3049de6720991a&id=7bc7e495a0&e=9c75548949), a job creation package that features our road-tested good jobs and equity policy, the U.S. Employment Plan. We believe the language in this legislation can and must be included in every piece of economic recovery and stimulus legislation adopted by Congress to ensure that public money leads to the creation of good union jobs for all. **Paid sick leave for ALL workers.** All workers, not just those who work for smaller companies, need paid sick leave. The emergency legislation passed last week only guaranteed paid sick leave to 20 percent of private sector workers; leaving out the millions of people who work for companies with 500+ employees. Many companies are refusing to provide workers with even the most basic sick leave. **Emergency protections for public transit.** For many doctors, nurses, janitors, and other critical frontline workers, public transit is the only way to get to work. Transit agencies are taking extraordinary steps to protect transit workers and riders during this crisis, but they need serious help. Jobs to Move America, along with 222 other organizations, signed on to a letter written by Transportation for America and the Union of Concerned Scientists urging Congress to provide transit agencies with nearly $13 billion in emergency funding to ensure that transit agencies are able to provide safe and reliable access to jobs, schools, and services for millions of people. Read the letter [here](https://jobstomoveamerica.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5fddaca4b3f3049de6720991a&id=27e60fea14&e=9c75548949). Our New York office also organized a [letter](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/MTA-Financial-Aid-Request-Support.pdf) to the New York Congressional Delegation from union and community allies in support of the MTA’s $4 billion bailout request. **Social solidarity.** We’re already seeing fierce organizing and strong mutual aid networks emerge at the community-level. Our coalition partners across the country are creating action teams to protect workers, like the [Jobs with Justice Unified Action Team](https://jobstomoveamerica.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5fddaca4b3f3049de6720991a&id=aa2bfff2f7&e=9c75548949). Our team in California recently joined the [Healthy LA](https://jobstomoveamerica.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5fddaca4b3f3049de6720991a&id=8287b7d1b8&e=9c75548949) coalition to call on Los Angeles to protect renters and houseless Angelenos during this emergency. In Illinois, our partners at Sierra Club are calling for a “just recovery” that protects workers and our climate. We’ll keep amplifying this critical work. If you or your organization have information or initiatives for us to amplify, please email . **Building power behind ideas.** Recently, an organizer told me that she believes that the COVID-19 pandemic has put “everything on the table” in terms of solutions. She’s right. The activists and community leaders who fuel our movements are forwarding brilliant, visionary ideas to get us through this crisis. Jobs to Move America will pour our energy into championing such ideas through research, public education, and advocacy efforts. Stay tuned for more. Now is the time to advance our shared vision of a healthy, equitable future with good jobs for all. This is a crisis that can only be solved collaboratively. Be safe. We’ll see you in the fight. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Health & Safety --- ### [Elected Officials Must Act on Racist Violence in the U.S.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/elected-officials-must-act-on-racist-violence-in-the-u-s/) **Published:** May 19, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** ***B******y*** ***Melanie Jamileh Prasad, JMA Legal Director*** I was born and raised in Buffalo, New York and want to share some thoughts about the shooting there this weekend. I carry a strong attachment and deep feeling of home to my city. My “Buffalove,” as we call it, runs so deep I have driven everyone at Jobs to Move America crazy with stories of how amazing my city is—from the food, to the architecture, to the people. As it happens, I was home this weekend for my sister’s bridal shower when the shooting occurred. Buffalo, like many metropolitan cities in the U.S., is a deeply segregated city. The shooting occurred on Buffalo’s East Side, where about 85% of Buffalo’s Black residents live—thanks to a century’s worth of [restrictive covenants, redlining, and racist urban planning](https://time.com/6177193/buffalo-mass-shooting-racism-segregation/). And despite Buffalo’s renaissance over the past decade, the East Side remains an incredibly impoverished and neglected part of our city. The Tops on Jefferson is particularly important because it is the only grocery store in what has been a food desert for decades. The luxury of having accessible grocery stores is something all of us take for granted. With the closure of the Tops after the shooting, the community–many of whom do not have access to a car–is now left without access to fresh food and produce. The second I heard “Tops on Jefferson Ave,” the first words out of my mouth were: “I bet it was some Trump-loving, young, white guy.” And sure enough, that was true. As we kept reading the news, I was predicting the next lines before they were read. “He probably spent too much time on 4chan.” “He probably wrote about it a lot.” “He’s probably from a rural, poor white area.” And those were all true. As I kept predicting the next lines of the article, I grew more and more angry. Why is it that the same horrific stories keep happening over, and over, and over again, and we do nothing about it? ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/pavol-svantner-20YcoWSS6kw-unsplash-1024x824.jpg "pavol-svantner-20YcoWSS6kw-unsplash - Jobs to Move America")Photo by Pavol Svantner on UnsplashThanks to Trump legitimizing racist ideologies that had previously only been espoused in hushed voices or the darkest depths of the internet, white supremacists have become emboldened, finding community in online echo chambers that reinforce and further radicalize their beliefs. Time and time again, we have seen the same stories play out where the continued reinforcement of these ideologies has escalated to hate crimes across the U.S. As of 2020, hate crimes had risen in America by [42% since 2014](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/hate-crimes-fbi-2020-asian-black/2021/08/30/28bede00-09a7-11ec-9781-07796ffb56fe_story.html). So why is it that we continue to bury our heads in the sand and allow Black and brown communities across the U.S. to live in a perpetual cycle of fear and trauma? As a Middle Easterner who grew up during 9/11, our apathy towards domestic terrorism enrages me. For years after the Twin Towers fell, Middle Easterners, Sikhs, Indians, and other ethnic groups vaguely resembling Middle Easterners were targeted both by everyday people and by law enforcement. At age 10, my newly emigrated cousins were harassed at school so much that the “cool aunt” in my family frequently wrote them notes to get out of class, to give them some peace. At age 13, I vividly remember hiding the tears streaming down my face behind a book, my heart racing, as a border official interrogated my mom, telling her to “go back to home.” At age 15, my dad was “randomly selected” to be searched, at all three connections of the same trip. And yet, we all tacitly allowed my community to be the subject of increased scrutiny, because of the actions that occurred on a single day in our country’s history. Given the incredibly predictable pattern of these increasingly frequent mass shootings, why do we continue to allow domestic terrorists a free pass? Why do we continue to mollycoddle the young, white men who commit these mass shootings, excusing their actions under the guise of “mental health issues”? Why was someone who had been investigated for saying [he wanted to commit a murder suicide](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/05/15/nyregion/shooting-buffalo-ny) allowed to legally purchase a semiautomatic rifle? Why do we continue to ignore websites like 4chan and 8chan where terrorists post how-to’s on committing mass shootings and describe their plans in detail? These terrorists aren’t hiding in the mountains in far reaching places: they’re our classmates, our coworkers, and our neighbors. They don’t whisper their plans in secret meetings, they readily post their meticulous plans on the internet for everyone to see. We know who they are and we know where they are. All we’re waiting for is for someone in power to care. At JMA, we work tirelessly to advance racial justice and equity in and out of the workplace. Many of us are people of color, women, and LGBTQ+ identified. We’re doing our part. It’s time for our lawmakers, the vast majority of whom are white men, to step it up. My heart hurts for my community, my city, my home, but it also hurts for Black folks everywhere who live every day under the crushing weight of constant fear and trauma, and the knowledge that this country continues to turn a blind eye against the systemic violence being perpetrated against their communities. This story is in no way unique. It is not the first racially motivated mass shooting and it will certainly not be the last. Until lawmakers actually acknowledge and act on the domestic terrorism endemic, the overwhelming grief my city has endured will be boiled down to a single bullet point on a list of mass shootings–past, present, and future. Rest in power, Roberta A. Drury, Margus D. Morrison, Andre Mackneil, Aaron Salter, Geraldine Talley, Celestine Chaney, Heyward Patterson, Katherine Massey, Pearl Young, and Ruth Whitfield. If you want to help the community or need access to community resources, [this document](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tq9XMmw_sQmaZqpw0SDYJVPYsv5FKSLNttxbpy6Ct0Q/edit?fbclid=IwAR3iBis8qmy0dAM9qvMaXrI5oewtDx4cAeNGsxxLUevrpD4IxtNJadAFtlE) has a comprehensive list. **Categories:** Racial Justice --- ### [New York needs to Go Green](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/new-york-needs-to-go-green/) **Published:** April 20, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** By Dan Maloney – President, Rochester and Genesee Valley Area Labor Federation AFL-CIO ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/DM-hs4-2-858x1024.jpg "DM-hs4-2 - Jobs to Move America") In New York, we have the opportunity to tackle climate change and address the current 4.9% unemployment rate. We can build a strong future with green energy jobs. To accomplish this goal, we need a plan to manufacture and put green energy powered buses into service across the entire state. Prioritizing and passing the Green Transit Green Jobs bill (S8006B) currently being considered by the state legislature will give New York a huge advantage by virtue of our market size. This legislation will be a transformative boost to regional manufacturing and to the workers that live in our community. The bill requires transit agencies to only purchase zero emission buses by 2029. We can and should use our market potential as leverage in negotiations with auto manufacturers to “build it here.” By incentivizing bidders to commit to secure, family-supporting jobs with good wages and benefits, we can enable job growth in the transportation manufacturing industry located throughout Upstate New York. Also, to ensure accountability and transparency, we need to make sure manufacturers live up to those commitments through regular auditing and reporting. We need to know our public money is spent correctly. The New York City Metro Transit Authority has committed to electrifying their fleet by 2040; other Upstate cities have a more aggressive timeline. This bill can jump start the process by amending the transportation law to require transit agencies to only purchase zero emission buses by 2029 as they phase out older vehicles. Our climate and economic crises are urgent. The sooner we tackle these issues, the sooner we can help auto manufacturers survive and create jobs in New York. Why do we need locally manufactured green energy? Because the global supply chain is frail and broken. We need to increase our own “Made in New York” capacity and build an infrastructure that prioritizes green jobs. We need an All-American supply of green energy to ensure our domestic tranquility and meet our growing energy needs. I believe our top priority should be sustainable and equitable investments prioritizing green technologies. Please encourage your state legislator to support and vote for the Green Transit, Green Jobs bill. We can and should build a cleaner environment while simultaneously building a stronger economy! *Dan Maloney is the President of Rochester and Genesee Valley Area Labor Federation AFL-CIO, representing nearly 100,000 members in the finger lakes region of New York.* **Categories:** Climate Change, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [This Earth Day, Let's Invest in Workers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/this-earth-day-lets-invest-in-workers/) **Published:** April 20, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Today is [Earth Day](https://www.earthday.org/), and this year’s theme is “invest in our planet.” This call is more urgent than ever—the latest report from the [group of scientists](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/04/ipcc-report-now-or-never-if-world-stave-off-climate-disaster) considered the international experts on climate change warns the moment is “now or never” to make the changes we need to avoid climate catastrophe. The recently passed [infrastructure bill](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/how-jma-is-ensuring-the-infrastructure-bill-works-for-all-of-us/) means government dollars are going to things like public transit projects and building electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. The EV industry is booming, and this means green jobs and cleaner air. But unfortunately, we often don’t see our tax dollars doing good in our communities, and many green companies don’t treat workers well. Take Tesla for example. The company put electric cars on the map, but its factories are known for [dangerous working conditions and keeping workers from unionizing](https://revealnews.org/blog/a-users-guide-to-teslas-worker-safety-problems/). Despite this, Tesla [received millions in tax breaks](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/14/texas-county-approves-tax-breaks-for-a-new-tesla-factory-near-austin.html) for building a facility near Austin. Sadly, this is typical; many companies that receive millions—[and even billions](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/the-hidden-costs-of-alabamas-tax-incentives/)—in tax incentives don’t use those public dollars to create public good. It doesn’t have to be like this. BYD—a Tesla competitor—has a facility in California that is unionized, committed to hiring 40% of its workers from groups facing significant barriers to employment, and implemented the country’s first electric bus apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship program. This is the result of a [Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) between JMA, BYD, and SMART Local 105.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/community-benefits-agreement-with-byd/) At Jobs to Move America, we’d like to add to this year’s Earth Day call: As we invest in our planet, we must also invest in workers. Everyone deserves clean air and water and a livable future for their children. They also deserve safe workplaces, family-sustaining jobs, and the right to organize for better conditions. The transition to a green economy is already happening—but we need to make sure this is a *just* transition that centers workers. Here are ways we’re working to put workers at the center of the green economy: - **Winning Community Benefits Agreements with green manufacturers.** CBAs are legally binding agreements between companies and communities that put a wide range of good job standards in writing, including high-quality training programs and the right to unionize. We mentioned our CBA with BYD above. We also signed one with another EV company, [Proterra](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/our-cba-with-electric-bus-builder-proterra/), and we’re working to win more. - **Fighting for good policy in the green sector.** Across the country, we work on policies that make sure public dollars do the most good. As part of the Electrify NY coalition, we’re currently advocating for [Green Transit, Green Jobs in New York](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/bringing-green-transit-green-jobs-to-new-york/), which would grow the transit manufacturing industry in New York with good union jobs. We’re working to ensure that law includes a commitment to [equitable job standards and hiring practices](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/new-york-needs-to-go-green). We’re also working to change the Uniform Guidance, regulations on how cities and states spend federal money. It bans [local hire](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/local-hire/), which keeps cities and states from creating local jobs. The infrastructure bill is a step in the right direction by allowing local hire on road work. But it doesn’t guarantee local hire on projects that protect us from extreme weather, like improving electric and broadband internet resilience. We’re working to change these regulations so cities and states can create local jobs and prepare for climate change. - **Doing research on cutting-edge industries like electric school buses (ESB).** We’re also hard at work doing research on the tools we need to build a just economy. This summer, we’ll be releasing an extensive report on ESB technology, first-hand accounts from school districts using ESBs, and how to center workers in the ESB transition. We hope this report is a resource for policy makers, school districts, and advocates who are interested in working toward clean, safe transit for children. We’re facing a climate crisis, an ongoing pandemic, and economic uncertainty, but we have a chance to change things. By creating good jobs in the green sector, we improve the lives of workers and the places they live. You can play a critical role in ensuring a just transition to a green economy by supporting JMA’s work. When you invest in Jobs to Move America, you invest in workers, communities, families, and the planet. [Donate here](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/donate/) **Categories:** Climate Change, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [How transit workers can succeed in our transition to a green energy future](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/how-transit-workers-can-succeed-in-our-transition-to-a-green-energy-future/) **Published:** February 17, 2022 **Author:** Web **Content:** The bipartisan infrastructure law, the [Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/how-jma-is-ensuring-the-infrastructure-bill-works-for-all-of-us/), included a major investment in zero-emission buses. Transit agencies will be further incentivized to switch to these buses and help transition to a lower-carbon, more sustainable future. But without the right policies in place, we worry that workers could be left behind in this green transition. At Jobs to Move America, we’ve been thinking about this transition, and how we build equity into all aspects of it, for a long time. In 2019, we released a [report](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/transforming-transit-realizing-opportunity/) on how zero-emission buses can benefit the environment and the economy. We recommended policy solutions to prioritize communities that have historically borne the burden of pollution and to create good jobs throughout the supply chain. This week, we took more steps to make sure workers don’t get left behind as our buses go green. We had recommended ensuring that maintenance workers at transit agencies receive the training they need to repair these new electric buses and suggested that transit agencies procure training when they buy their vehicles. That way, manufacturers of zero-emission buses can train transit workers on how to fix them. On Wednesday, [**we released a report along with the International Transportation Learning Center**](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/providing-training-for-zero-emission-buses-recommended-expanded-rfp-language/) that provides language transit agencies can use to procure this training. Manufacturers have frequently been selling extended warranties along with their zero-emission buses, so that the manufacturers fix the buses for the transit agencies. This leaves agency technicians ill-equipped to perform needed repairs once the warranty period ends. It also effectively outsources work currently performed by mostly-unionized public transit workers. If these practices continue, thousands of good-paying jobs are at risk. As an alternative, we worked with [ITLC](https://www.transportcenter.org/) to write language that agencies can use to buy training from the manufacturers, instead of purchasing extended warranties. The report’s recommendations are based on a variety of RFPs containing strong language on procurement and drawn from multiple interviews with leadership and staff from transit agencies, independent procurement trainers, and representatives from transit labor unions. The report also provides a list of customizable training requirements, as well as training on special tools and diagnostic equipment. This language will be especially useful to transit agencies now that the infrastructure bill has passed. In a victory for workers, the bill requires agencies to create a plan to train their workforce in zero-emission technologies and avoid displacement, and to invest in workforce development. We believe our report can provide a set of tools for agencies as they embark on this workforce transition. We encourage transit agencies to use this language, and will work to encourage them to build it into their procurement process. We know that transit workers can be an important part of our transition to a green energy future as long as they are given the tools to succeed. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Workforce Development --- ### [JMA recommendations in White House task force report](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/jma-recommendations-in-white-house-task-force-report/) **Published:** February 7, 2022 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Our recommendation were included in the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment. **Content:** Yesterday, the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment brought us one step closer to ending the federal prohibition on local hire and empowering states and localities to create good jobs in their communities. The task force, led by Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, [released](https://t.co/8wqO5uzU4n) a report recommending executive actions the White House can take to strengthen unions and lift up workers in the United States. Along with our partners, we made the recommendation to the Biden administration that they take a deep look at the Office of Management and Budget Uniform Guidance, get rid of policies that are stifling progressive innovation, and write language encouraging states and cities to use federal dollars to create good jobs for the people who need them most. The task force was receptive to our ideas, and included many of our recommendations in the report! Some of these include: - Identifying opportunities to update the Uniform Guidance to empower workers. - Allowing consideration of job, wage, and worker empowerment impacts as part of the application evaluation process - Ensuring that grantees have the freedom to apply worker-empowering, high-road conditions, including local-hire and PLA obligations, on their subgrantees The task force also recommended ensuring that federal financial assistance programs cannot be used to deny workers the right to organize. Taken together, these provisions can substantially increase the ability of state and local agencies to use their procurement processes to create fulfilling, safe, high-road jobs for workers in their communities – especially for people of color, women, returning citizens, veterans, and other workers facing barriers to employment. **A little background** Among the recommendations was one we’ve been championing with all of our partners at the state and national level: removing the ban on local hire and permitting states and cities to take job quality into account when they spend federal dollars to procure goods and services. As the administration begins to implement the historic Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, these policy changes will ensure states and cities have the necessary tools to create good-paying jobs for their residents and that the economic benefits from these projects remain in their communities. The current ban on local hire is found within the Office of Management and Budget’s Uniform Guidance, a set of regulations which dictate how states and localities can spend federal money in contracting. For too long, these regulations have made it next-to-impossible for states and localities to craft innovative, progressive policy when spending federal dollars. As the White House recognized, changing these regulations presents a real opportunity to open up federal procurement rules, and reorient federal government spending away from its current laser focus on competition and towards investing in our communities. **What’s next?** While this report is a strong first step, there is still work to be done. Jobs to Move America is committed to working with the Biden administration, our union partners, and the many national and local advocacy organizations within our network to get these policy changes across the finish line. **Categories:** Economy, Labor --- ### [Worker Story: Daniel Cervantes](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/worker-story-daniel-cervantes/) **Published:** November 30, 2021 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** For Daniel Cervantes, being a role model for his three kids was important. And for years, he modeled hard work by leaving the house at 4 a.m. and coming back at around 8 p.m. Opportunities were scarce in Lancaster, so Daniel drove up to 4 hours a day, 70 miles south, looking for work in Los Angeles. “I worked for construction companies, mainly digging holes with a pick. It was very heavy work. But that’s what I had to do to support my family.” Unfortunately, those jobs didn’t pay much. At $100-120 a day for 8-9 hours of work, take away lunch and gas costs for the long commute and not much was left. Daniel’s story isn’t unique in a city like Lancaster, where the unemployment rate is the [highest in the county](https://labusinessjournal.com/news/2021/jul/16/county-unemployment-rate-drops-june-11-percent/) at 13.8%. Today, things look very different for Daniel. He was recently one of 20 graduates of the first [Industrial Manufacturing Technician Apprenticeship program](https://www.thefourth-revolution.com/buses/byd-apprenticeship-program-builds-skills-for-green-manufacturing-jobs/) developed by SMART Local 105 and BYD, the electric vehicle manufacturer that opened operations in Lancaster in 2013. The unique apprenticeship program is the result of a Community Benefits Agreement between BYD, the union and Jobs to Move America. First signed in 2017 and renewed in 2020, the agreement includes a commitment by BYD to recruit 40 percent of its workers from populations facing significant barriers to employment, including women, African Americans, justice-impacted individuals and veterans. 5 years ago, Daniel applied and got a job at the newly opened facility as a lead for the assembly department. He was now four minutes away from his home and able to finally spend more time with his wife and kids. He was now part of a union that offered training programs and certificates to increase Daniel and his colleague’s skills. Courses in CPR, OSHA and public speaking. Two years ago, the union offered this apprenticeship program. Almost 40 at the time, Daniel was intimidated because he was out of school for so long but decided to apply anyway. “I took it step by step.” Willy, his instructor, provided crucial support in those first few weeks. “He sat with me and showed me how to use a computer.” “I feel the difference. I feel powerful and confident.” Last month, Daniel was promoted to supervisor. He enjoys weekends off with his family, has health, dental and vision insurance for him and his family, a 401K, and even took a family vacation to Disneyland for the first time a few weeks ago. Most importantly, Daniel has been able to play an active role in his community. He volunteers at his kids’ school and church, planning events and activities and ensuring he can model being the decent human being he wants his kids to be. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Worker Stories, Workforce Development --- ### [Worker Story: Armando Acosta](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/worker-story-armando-acosta/) **Published:** December 17, 2021 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Armando Acosta was born and raised in East LA in a poor family of 12 brothers, some of whom are currently incarcerated. He played professional softball for 15 years, but struggles with addiction that lead him to completely change his life to focus on his recovery. Today, at 51 years old, Acosta has a good job that allows him to also work as an alcohol and drug counselor, maintain his own sobriety, and do work he considers to be important thanks to a pre-hire training program at electric bus manufacturer Proterra. The training program is the result of a Community Benefits Agreement with Proterra, United Steelworkers Local 675, and Jobs to Move America that was signed in December 2020. The CBA contains specific commitments to invest in underserved communities, by training, supporting, and hiring individuals facing barriers to employment for skilled union jobs at Proterra’s City of Industry facility. ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/armando-smaller.jpg "armando-smaller - Jobs to Move America") Over the course of the nine-week program, trainees learn about a different aspect of Proterra and the first-of-its-kind electric bus manufacturing technology. Acosta said that a teacher from Citrus College taught the classes, making the program similar to a college course. The only complaint Acosta has about the program is that it wasn’t long enough. “Proterra is a huge company,” Acosta says. Acosta works as a battery technician from 5 p.m.- 4 a.m. Monday through Thursday, and then works as a drug and alcohol counselor at a rehab facility on the weekends. Acosta said part of why he chose Proterra is that he can keep hours that help him best maintain his sobriety and allow him to aid others in their recovery. Before working at Proterra, Acosta worked as a parts and service manager for Chrystler. He said partaking in Proterra’s pre-hire program was like an “experiment”; he initially wanted to do it so he could tell clients at his rehab facility what it was like. But Acosta “ran with it” and enjoyed the training program and ended up getting a good job with benefits including medical, dental and vision insurance; a 401K; stock ownership; and union membership. “The benefits are great, people are very nice, the money is good, hours are good,” Acosta says. When asked what Acosta considers to be a “good job,” he says that it’s about fostering an environment where workers can grow and learn. “A good job is somewhere where you’re capable of asking questions and not being judged. You’ve got to remember that a job is like family since you spend most of your time working instead of at home, not counting the drive there,” he says. “A good job is a place where you can be safe, comfortable, willing to learn, and be teachable.” Most of all, Acosta finds satisfaction from working in a burgeoning industry that’s contributing to mitigating climate change—it goes hand-in-hand with the work he does as a drug and alcohol counselor. “People say it’s funny that I’m a drug counselor and I work at Proterra. But I get to save lives and change the world as well. Proterra’s making a huge difference when it comes to clean air. They’re going to change the industry, and it’s awesome to be a part of that.” **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Worker Stories, Workforce Development --- ### [Local Hire Provision in Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/local-hire-provision-in-infrastructure-investment-and-jobs-act-iija/) **Published:** November 18, 2021 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** [BIF-local-hire-language](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/BIF-local-hire-language.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/BIF-local-hire-language.pdf) --- ### [How JMA is ensuring the infrastructure bill works for all of us](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/how-jma-is-ensuring-the-infrastructure-bill-works-for-all-of-us/) **Published:** November 18, 2021 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Earlier this month, Congress made a historic investment in our nation’s physical infrastructure by passing the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). This legislation will help communities across the country rebuild their roads and bridges, railways, public transit systems, airports, water systems, and broadband networks, among many other projects, and promises to add an average of 2 million jobs per year over the next decade. The legislation also contains some important investments in climate infrastructure—including a provision from Jobs to Move America around local hire. Some of the highlights of the IIJA include: $110 billion to repair highways, bridges, and roads; $65 billion to improve broadband networks for rural and low-income communities; $39 billion to modernize our public transit systems, which will help them address accessibility and procure trains and buses, including zero-emission buses; and $7.5 billion to invest in electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Under the new legislation, K-12 students will start to enjoy cleaner, healthier rides to school thanks to a serious investment of at least $2.5 billion in the transition to emissions-free [electric school buses](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/clean-buses-for-new-york-kids/). Most of the nation’s school buses still run on heavily polluting diesel, creating toxic conditions for communities and school bus workers as well as for kids. JMA and our allies will work to advocate that an additional pot of $2.5 billion approved for school buses is also dedicated to electric models instead of fossil fuel buses, and that these funds are spent in a way that prioritizes environmental justice communities and creates good jobs for school bus, electrical, and manufacturing workers. In a big victory for racial equity, and thanks to the tireless advocacy of our congressional allies, union partners, and coalition members, the IIJA removes the ban on local hire for highway and road construction projects, allowing cities and states to hire within their communities for federally-funded road work. It also requires the Department of Transportation to issue a Workforce Diversity Report describing how the department is utilizing pre-apprenticeship programs and addressing barriers to employment for communities that are traditionally disadvantaged in the construction industry. This is a great first step towards [ending the ban on local hire](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/lift-the-ban-on-local-hire-campaign-factsheet/) for *all* federal funds, and we look forward to working with the Biden administration on implementing this provision. While the IIJA represents an important and necessary investment in our nation’s physical infrastructure, we hope Congress will move quickly on the rest of President Biden’s agenda and pass the Build Back Better Act. Paired together, these two bills will help our nation rebuild from the pandemic and address climate change in a just and equitable manner. --- ### [Virtual Event: Is a New Southern Worker Movement Possible?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/virtual-event-is-a-new-southern-worker-movement-possible/) **Published:** September 14, 2021 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/2-2-1024x576.jpg "- Jobs to Move America")### **Watch the recording of our event from November 4 where we examine what it will take to unite labor rights and civil rights in the deep South** **Featuring** Randall L. Woodfin, *Mayor of Birmingham* Sanchioni Butler, *Political Campaign Organizer, MS AFL-CIO* Musical guest Kibibi Jones Learn how Jobs to Move America is successfully combining research, policy and community organizing to build a new worker movement in Alabama and beyond. Long written off as a region defined by segregation, oppression and white nationalism, the American South is facing a crossroads. Recent wins suggest that progress *is* possible—Georgia turning blue, community support of Amazon worker unionizing efforts—we are on the cusp of major, widespread change. But Georgia didn’t happen overnight; it was years in the making. Jobs to Move America is at the forefront helping to lead this change; we are fighting to win community benefits agreements that improve workers’ rights, and we’re catalyzing a new generation of young organizers. Will you join us in this fight for true democracy in the South? ### Background Manufacturing production and job growth in the American South remain higher than in other regions of the U.S., yet southern states still experience the highest poverty rates in the country. More than half of our nation’s Black population lives in the South, and Black workers in Alabama and Mississippi in particular suffer unlivable wages and persistent racism. [Meanwhile, those states provide corporations with billions of dollars in public subsidies and tax incentives](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/the-hidden-costs-of-alabamas-tax-incentives/), with zero accountability to ensure that this influx in revenue actually benefits workers and local communities. These powerful companies are deeply invested in crushing labor organizing efforts, with Southern states seeing the lowest union membership in the country. It has never been a more critical time for government and corporations to be held accountable to their people. Black and Brown working families are facing even more systemic injustice and harm in the wake of climate disasters and global pandemics. Jobs to Move America is disrupting these systems and building power in the South. Through the formation and mobilization of the [Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/alabama-coalition-for-community-benefits/), an alliance of labor, community, civil rights, faith, and environmental justice groups, we’re working to hold corporations accountable to workers and communities. Our mission to transform public spending and corporate behavior is rooted in racial and economic justice and community organizing. Your support helps advance important research, pass progressive policy, and mobilize and empower communities for public good. Together, we can create a fair and prosperous economy with good, clean jobs and healthier communities for all. *Event Contact: Jena Brown, jbrown@jobstomoveamerica.org* **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice, Transparency, Workforce Development --- ### [California manufacturers hit new training milestones](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/california-manufacturers-hit-new-training-milestones/) **Published:** October 14, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Two electric bus manufacturers, Proterra and BYD, have made remarkable training milestones in the rush to prepare U.S. workers for California’s green economy future. **Content:** *By Hector Huezo* Two electric bus manufacturers, Proterra and BYD, have made remarkable training milestones in the rush to prepare workers for California’s green economy future. On October 4, BYD and the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) Local 105 launched the U.S. first electric bus manufacturing pre-apprenticeship program after securing almost one million dollars from California’s High Road Training Partnership. The Worker Education Resource Center and Advancing Communities Together are leading the recruitment and training efforts to ensure that women, Black workers, returning citizens, and veterans are among the first in line for the training program so they can become competitive candidates for BYD’s production job openings. Graduates hired by BYD are also accelerated candidates for a three-semester apprenticeship program that SMART, BYD and Antelope Valley College launched in 2019. These programs represent the largest investment an electric bus manufacturer has made in upskilling its U.S. workforce in decades. On October 15, Proterra is graduating its second cohort of trainees as part of their partnership with the United Steelworkers (USW) Local 675, Citrus College, The Miguel Contreras Foundation and the Los Angeles County Workforce Development agency. This is the first cohort to graduate under the newly formed USW-Proterra Training and Apprenticeship Trust Fund. Proterra and its unionized workers have joint decision-making to develop cutting-edge training for electric vehicles, batteries, and power trains. The trust committee and community partners received a $650,000 training grant from California’s High Road Training Partnership to turn these cohorts into official apprenticeship programs focused on recruiting and training populations excluded from quality union jobs in electric bus manufacturing. These investments came as a result of commitments outlined in community benefits agreements (CBA) with Jobs to Move America and its coalition partners. Both training initiatives are the result of years of work to bolster employment and training opportunities for disadvantaged workers. Our CBAs create shared commitments to tackling the climate and economic crisis, and racial justice by centering the voices of working people in training, recruitment and hiring practices. You can learn more about [our CBAs here](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource_type/community-benefits-agreements/). **Categories:** Economy, Labor, Manufacturing, Workforce Development --- ### [Jobs to Move America urges White House to repeal local hire ban to maximize benefits of infrastructure investment](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/jobs-to-move-america-urges-white-house-to-repeal-local-hire-ban-to-maximize-benefits-of-infrastructure-investment/) **Published:** March 31, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** As President Biden rolls out his infrastructure plan today, Jobs to Move America Executive Director Madeline Janis issued a statement urging the Biden administration to repeal the ban on local hire. **Content:** As President Biden rolls out his infrastructure plan today, Jobs to Move America Executive Director Madeline Janis issued the following statement urging the Biden administration to repeal the ban on local hire: “A significant part of rebuilding our economy will be major infrastructure projects, from high-speed trains to a stronger electric grid, and gearing up for the renewable economy. To make sure that infrastructure also means equitable job creation that puts workers first, we are calling on President Biden to remove the prohibition on local hire for federally-funded contracts. This would be a powerful first step toward strengthening our infrastructure and putting workers—especially Black and Brown workers who for too long have been left out of these public projects—on pathways to meaningful careers and healthy lives. We are eager to work with President Biden to lift the burden of this one-size-fits-all regulation and empower states, counties, and cities to put local folks to work. Our coalition of mayors, community, and social justice groups believe that removing the prohibition on local hire will: - make it easier for local officials to create jobs in their communities; - support public officials to act smartly with public money, creating good-paying jobs and strengthening the local tax base to ensure we’re reinvesting in our communities; - have the potential to create thousands if not millions of jobs around the country; - and is a common-sense solution the administration can take to support communities devastated by the pandemic. [Learn more about the campaign to overturn the local hire ban.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/local-hire/) **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Solidarity with Asian American communities across the country](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/solidarity-with-asian-american-communities-across-the-country/) **Published:** March 19, 2021 **Author:** Web **Content:** Jobs to Move America grieves the lives of the eight people, including six Asian women, murdered in Atlanta this week and the thousands of Asian-Americans that have been targeted in hate incidents [over the past year alone](https://secureservercdn.net/104.238.69.231/a1w.90d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/210312-Stop-AAPI-Hate-National-Report-.pdf). We stand in solidarity with groups across the country demanding an end to anti-Asian hate, xenophobia and all forms of racist violence. According to the most recent [data](https://www.advancingjustice-atlanta.org/news/communityresponse), hate incidents targeting Asian Americans rose by nearly 150% in 2020, with Asian American women twice as likely to be targeted. We acknowledge these recent killings and hate incidents as merely an installment of over 100 years of anti-Asian racism and scapegoating that has only [served to divide workers](https://aflcio.org/about/leadership/statements/condemning-and-combating-anti-asian-racism) and our communities. As the country struggles to rebuild and promote an equitable economy, we need to create policies that support all workers rather than blaming one country or population for our economic woes. We support calls for the direction of public dollars towards crisis intervention resources, including in-language support for mental health, legal, employment, and immigration services. Economic justice is inseparable from racial justice and to build a healthy, equitable society, we need to invest public dollars into critical services and support for communities of color. **Categories:** Racial Justice --- ### [To build a worker-centered economy, pass the PRO Act](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/to-build-a-worker-centered-economy-pass-the-pro-act/) **Published:** March 11, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The PRO Act would fix these problems in federal labor law by protecting workers’ right to collective action, holding employers accountable for breaking the law, ensuring free and fair union elections, and creating a fair process for a first union contract. **Content:** **By Ian Elder** This week, the House took a major step towards promoting democracy and fairness in the workplace by passing the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. If signed into law, the bill would make major, long-overdue changes in labor law that would enable workers to harness their collective power to reduce inequality, decrease poverty, and increase respect on the job. Securing passage in the Senate will be a challenge but, given the PRO Act’s potential to better the lives of millions of working families by shifting the balance of power in their favor, it is worth fighting hard for. > Even though unions have a 65 percent approval rating nationwide, only around 12 percent of workers actually have a union. Unions are critical to building the middle class, reducing inequality, and creating a more robust and responsive democracy. [Women and people of color in particular benefit from union membership.](https://www.epi.org/blog/unions-help-narrow-the-gender-wage-gap/#:~:text=Unions%20have%20been%20proven%20to,share%20of%20nonunion%20men's%20dollar.) Unfortunately, current labor law makes it excruciatingly difficult for workers to organize a union. Bosses frequently undermine union elections by threatening and intimidating their employees. Some of the tactics they use are legal—such as the [coercive anti-union meetings Amazon has been forcing its employees to attend](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/03/09/amazon-union-bessemer-history/) at its warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama. Other tactics—such as [firing outspoken union supporters](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/28/business/coronavirus-unions-layoffs.html)— are illegal but extremely common because labor law does not provide meaningful penalties for such actions. Even after a union gains recognition, employers are often able to avoid negotiating a first contract for years. These factors help explain why, even though unions have a 65 percent approval rating nationwide, only around 12 percent of workers actually have a union. The PRO Act would fix these problems in federal labor law by protecting workers’ right to collective action, holding employers accountable for breaking the law, ensuring free and fair union elections, and creating a fair process for a first union contract. It would also end corrosive “right to work” laws which have created a race to the bottom in labor standards and made it especially hard for workers in the South to take action to improve their working conditions. At JMA, we’re focused on building a worker-centered economy. We strongly support this legislation which would make ground-breaking progress towards this goal and help create an environment in which workers and communities can better organize to hold corporations accountable. #### **To learn more about the PRO Act:** Take action by [signing this petition](https://cwa-union.org/national-issues/legislation-and-politics/pro-act) in support of the PRO Act wtih the Communications Workers of America. Watch [this video from IUPAT](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBktIztAv_c) to learn more about 10 ways the PRO Act would transform workers’ rights and build worker power. Watch the [U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor’s video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgDfKNv3nfg) introducing the PRO Act. *[Ian Elder ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/ian-elder/)is a national senior researcher at Jobs to Move America.* *Image credit: Paul Weaver/[Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/weaverphoto/26853003211)* **Categories:** Economy, Labor --- ### [Why we're organizing to overturn the ban on local hire](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/why-were-organizing-to-overturn-the-ban-on-local-hire/) **Published:** March 2, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** On March 2, our coalition of over 160 public officials, community groups, unions, advocates, and academics launched a campaign to overturn the local hire ban. **Content:** Across the country, cities and states are working hard to rebuild communities and recover from the devastating impacts of the pandemic on working families. But something is blocking our road to a just recovery: the local hire ban, an arcane rule that prevents cities and states’ from creating local jobs with public infrastructure dollars. On March 2, our coalition of over 160 public officials, community groups, unions, advocates, and academics launched a campaign to overturn this ban. Watch our press conference, featuring mayors, advocates, and public officials from across the country: Learn more about the history of the ban and what it means for workers and communities on [our campaign page](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/local-hire/). **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Transit Equity Day: Why New Jersey's public transit can't wait](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/transit-equity-day-why-new-jerseys-public-transit-cant-wait/) **Published:** January 28, 2021 **Author:** Web **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Facebook-1-1024x536.jpg "Facebook-1 - Jobs to Move America") *For the past four years on February 4, a network of transit rider unions, community organizations, environmental groups, and labor unions have organized Transit Equity Day — a national day of action to commemorate the birthday of Rosa Parks by declaring that public transit is a civil right. Rosa is an iconic figure of the civil rights era who chose the tactic of refusing to give up her seat on the bus to demand an end to segregation in the Montgomery, Alabama, transit system. We make the connection to this act of resistance to highlight the rights of all people to high-quality public transportation run on clean, renewable energy.* Our team in New Jersey will honor Transit Equity Day by participating in a digital Community Transit Justice Town Hall. Public transit can’t wait — especially in the midst of a public health and deepening economic injustice. Jay Mehta, our New Jersey researcher, will join elected officials, labor and community leaders, and transit riders to discuss our collective vision for a transit system that creates good jobs and clean air for every community in New Jersey. *Will you join us at 12 p.m. noon on Thursday, February 4? You can register here:* *.* The town hall will also include a space for participants to share their own public transit experiences and needs. To submit your transit story, email Kevin Garcia at . **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [Reopening the economy makes us martyrs to economic growth](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/reopening-the-economy-makes-us-martyrs-to-economic-growth/) **Published:** July 2, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** If our leaders valued human life in the same way they value corporate growth, we would have been able to control losses from the pandemic and survive lockdown. **Content:** **Felice Segura** Coronavirus infection rates are spiking again in large swaths of the country, thanks to conservative lawmakers’ [successful push](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/15/republicans-trump-economy-coronavirus-186452) to ignore public health guidance and restart the economy earlier this summer. Their lethal calculus went something like this: the country’s economic losses from coronavirus prevention would be worse than the death toll caused by its unmitigated spread. Nevermind the incomprehensible toll of the unprecedented risks that the coronavirus pandemic continues to present to the public. In terms of coronavirus rates, we are back where we started, albeit in new regions. In the South and the West, overwhelmed ICU staff try to save those they can, essential workers risk their lives to keep life going, and everyone else stays home. It’s no secret how we got here. Trump and several right-wing governors fed off the energy of business lobbyists and a small group of reopen protestors, advocating to reopen states even though polls showed that the majority of Americans were in support of the lockdowns. And, of course, with the second wave of COVID-19 came a second wave of ‘reopen’ protests that, unwittingly, demonstrated the value these protestors place on certain American lives with themes like [“Bar Lives Matter.”](https://www.newsweek.com/bar-lives-matter-protesters-descend-texas-capitol-oppose-closures-1514538) Despite outrage over the government’s (and some Americans’) callous disregard for public health, the recommendation that we let thousands or millions die in the name of financial gain is, unfortunately, not all that radical. In fact, it’s the logical conclusion of a decades-long shift in business, law, and politics to prioritize, to the point of fetish, economic growth, privatization, and policies benefiting corporations and the wealthy. [Champions of law and economics brought strict, bottom-line pricing decisions to all corners of federal purchasing, even when the law and public policy were not entirely on their side](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/reagan-vs-cities-the-20th-century-battle-over-south-african-apartheid-and-lessons-for-the-trump-era/). Valuations of human life became the norm throughout the legal universe – from regulatory actions to the courtroom – meaning that some lives are inherently [undervalued](https://www.nyulawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/NYULawReview-76-1-Geistfeld.pdf) in comparison to those of wealthy individuals or corporate interests. The free market became the [metric](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/features/privatization/) and operating system in areas previously unimaginable, like public schools and prisoner rehabilitation. And, components of public life that are inherently public, like public health, were made private or eliminated because of their inherent unsuitability to the private market. Not only does this math turn every American into a potential martyr of economic growth, the valuations themselves ignore factors that are impossible to quantify. Most importantly, despite the implication that vulnerable Americans have outlived their economic usefulness, they too contribute to our economy by spending money, continuing to work, acting as caregivers, and engaging with their communities. Even with mitigation, the coronavirus has already killed a broad segment of healthcare workers. Tellingly, lockdown opponents are overwhelmingly white and non-urban, while COVID-19 has disproportionately affected Black, Indigenous, and Latinx people in urban settings, demonstrating which lives our leaders value. Finally, there will be the ongoing, overall cost of long-term care for an entire population recovering from a shared [psychological trauma](https://hbr.org/2020/03/that-discomfort-youre-feeling-is-grief) of mass suffering and death on a scale that is many times [larger](https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/29/world/coronavirus-death-toll-cases-intl/index.html) than 9/11. If our leaders valued human life in the same way they value corporate growth, we would have been able to control losses from the pandemic and survive lockdown. A comprehensive social safety net would have made reopening seem less vital. Essential workers with access to paid sick leave would not have to go to work sick and spread COVID-19. If hospitals were not forced to operate on [slim margins](https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/face-masks-in-national-stockpile-have-not-been-substantially-replenished-since-2009/2020/03/10/57e57316-60c9-11ea-8baf-519cedb6ccd9_story.html), they could have stockpiled personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare professionals. The first teenager in the United States to die from COVID-19 would not have been turned away from urgent care simply because he [lacked](https://gizmodo.com/teen-who-died-of-covid-19-was-denied-treatment-because-1842520539) health insurance. Our federal government would have been able to [procure](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/489792-white-house-hesitates-at-1-billion-price-tag-to-contract-general) ventilators before hospitals ran out, rather than balking at the price tag in the middle of an emergency. If our leaders valued a resilient supply chain, they would not [incentivize overseas manufacture](https://www.dallasnews.com/news/watchdog/2020/04/03/if-you-imagine-that-a-local-business-making-surgical-face-masks-is-working-247-guess-again/) of crucial, high-value goods like ventilators and PPE. And, our leadership would have ensured that we had the workforce to build, manufacture, and service our healthcare infrastructure because workers had access to good jobs, with good pay, benefits, and paid leave. (In fact, it was laid-off [GE manufacturing workers](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/30/ge-workers-plan-to-protest-at-two-facilities-after-coronavirus-layoffs.html) who ended the ventilator stalemate by demanding that they be put to work building them.) Our recovery bills funneled trillions of recovery dollars to corporations and the [wealthy](https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/04/business/billionaire-wealth-inequality-pandemic-jobs/index.html), rather than provide respite to the Americans experiencing the worst economic fallout of the pandemic. Despite some short-term protections in the relief bills, workers still face a limited safety net, much of which will expire at the end of this year. A significant percentage of small business relief loans went to big businesses in disguise, leading many small businesses to shutter in the first few months of the pandemic. To heal as a nation and develop a resilient, equitable economy, our government must plan for a just recovery. That recovery must include a stimulus accessible to all, clawbacks for corporate recipients, and procurement reform that prioritizes good jobs for all Americans. We simply won’t recover unless every recovery dollar maximizes benefits to workers and communities. That kind of stimulus would put our country on track to sustainable economic growth that values us all. *Felice Segura is the National Legal Director at Jobs to Move America. Felice has over ten years of experience in labor organizing, worker rights, and environmental law.* **Categories:** Economy, Labor --- ### [How New York can lead on climate action, good jobs, and pandemic recovery](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/how-new-york-can-lead-on-climate-action-good-jobs-and-pandemic-recovery/) **Published:** January 6, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** With Covid-19 cases soaring and many still struggling to make ends meet, New York needs to take swift and long-term action to put the health and safety of workers and communities over corporate profit. **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/50167216792_19a10430f7_o-1024x688.jpg "Mask Dispenser - Jobs to Move America") Today marks the first day of the New York State legislative session. With Covid-19 cases soaring and many still struggling to make ends meet, New York needs to take swift and long-term action to put the health and safety of workers and communities over corporate profit. Black and Latinx New Yorkers have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Our state leaders need to protect frontline workers and communities by setting enforceable health and safety standards and making sure that everyone has access to PPE through the [HERO Act](https://thechiefleader.com/news/news_of_the_week/nurses-essential-workers-push-covid-safety-bill-amid-second-wave/article_97f0534c-43a7-11eb-b7fb-13d1ffa8b98d.html). The very same communities and workers hit hardest by the pandemic are also on the frontlines of another deadly crisis: climate change. This legislative session, New York’s leaders have the opportunity to tackle climate change while fixing our broken economy and acting on systemic racial injustice. **Here’s how New York can lead on building a long-term, just recovery from the pandemic:** 1. By passing the [Green Transit, Green Jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/green-transit-green-jobs/) bills, New York will invest our public dollars in clean air and good jobs in Black and Brown communities. The bills would electrify our state’s bus fleets to reduce emissions and make sure that the transition creates good manufacturing jobs in communities that need them most. 2. Our friends at New York Renews have been leading the charge on climate action for years. This session, NY Renews is working to pass the [Climate and Community Investment Act](https://www.nyrenews.org/what-we-do) (CCIA), which will create good climate jobs through funding by a polluter penalty fee. Passing the CCIA would also help New York lead on electrifying our school bus fleets so kids and communities can breathe clean air — and create good, green jobs, too. To recover from the pandemic, we need to invest every public dollar to do the most public good for workers and communities. That means putting good jobs, clean air, and racial equity at the core of this legislative session’s agenda. *Image: [MTA/Flickr](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MTA_Installs_Plexiglass_and_Vinyl_Barriers_to_Protect_Employees_and_Riders_During_COVID-19_Pandemic_(49802980753).jpg)* **Categories:** Climate Change, Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [Black Lives Matter: Solidarity with racial justice protesters across the country](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/black-lives-matter-solidarity-with-racial-justice-protesters-across-the-country/) **Published:** May 31, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Jobs to Move America stands in solidarity with Black Lives Matter protesters demanding racial justice across the country. **Content:** Jobs to Move America stands in solidarity with Black Lives Matter protesters demanding racial justice across the country. We mourn the recent police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Tony McDade and the murder of Ahmaud Arbery by white civilians. These murders were not isolated incidents, but the product of a violent system that is built on anti-Black racism and fueled by white supremacy. We call for swift justice for George Floyd, and countless other Black lives taken by state-sanctioned violence. Hennepin County must charge and convict all four police officers responsible for George Floyd’s murder. But charging and convicting individuals is far from enough to dismantle systemic racism. For far too long, we have divested from critical public goods and community services in Black communities, while pouring our public dollars into violent policing. Cities across the country are gearing up to slash municipal budgets amidst the coronavirus pandemic, but many are poised to make exceptions for police departments. This is not the solution. We cannot build healthy communities or a fair economy without racial justice. We need to divest from police departments and invest in Black communities—because **Black Lives Matter**. Image: Johnny Silvercloud/Flickr **Categories:** Racial Justice --- ### [Take action: Demand public accountability in California](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/take-action-demand-public-accountability-in-california/) **Published:** August 4, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** California needs to pass SB749 to hold companies accountable to their promises on job creation — and get the most out of the state's economic recovery. **Content:** California needs a worker-centered recovery that invests our public dollars in good jobs and healthier communities. Which is why we need to #PassSB749. Take action with us [**here**](https://actionnetwork.org/letters/its-our-right-to-know-lets-pass-sb749). California will soon invest millions of dollars into our state’s economy to recover from the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. After the 2008 financial crisis, dozens of massive corporations received public stimulus dollars — only to [create low-quality, gig economy jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/good-jobs-can-break-the-crisis-recovery-cycle/?mc_cid=aad3854827&mc_eid=[UNIQID]). We can’t repeat the same mistake. A just recovery from the pandemic means public investments that create good jobs and healthy communities. But it’s not enough to simply ask corporations to create good jobs or pay family-sustaining wages. We need a way to hold *all* public contractors accountable to these commitments. Here’s the problem: right now, California state law allows corporations that get public contracts or subsidies to hide information from the public about whether they follow through on these jobs promises. All corporations have to do to skirt public accountability is claim that information about the jobs they create or the wages they pay is a “trade secret”. The result? California workers and communities miss out on some of the most important information we need to be able to demand accountability. **Which is why we’re reaching out to ask for your help supporting Senate Bill 749,** a common-sense bill that would require jobs-related information in our public contracts to be made public record under the California Public Records Act. This bill will make sure that we’re able to hold companies accountable to their promises on job creation — and get the most out of our recovery. Will you send a letter to your state assembly member and ask them to support Senate Bill 749? Click [here](https://actionnetwork.org/letters/its-our-right-to-know-lets-pass-sb749) to send a letter and call on your representative today! Join the movement to #PassSB479 on [Twitter](https://ctt.ac/93XUf)! Watch Abhilasha Bhola explain why California needs to #PassSB749 *[Abhilasha Bhola](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/abhilasha-bhola/) is a California Senior Policy Coordinator* *at Jobs to Move America*. *Image:[ Joel Mott](https://unsplash.com/photos/7zODz1HMHK4)/Unsplash* **Categories:** Economy, Transparency --- ### [Pandemic, hurricanes, wildfires: Why we need worker-centered climate policy](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/pandemic-hurricanes-wildfires-why-we-need-worker-centered-climate-policy/) **Published:** September 21, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This Climate Week, we need to turn the tide on an economy that puts profit over people and the planet. To make that happen, we must make sure that every single public dollar invested in the economy aids in the creation of millions of good, union jobs and in the building of climate-safe communities. **Content:** Another round of [potentially devastating storms](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/17/hurricane-sally-weakens-to-tropical-storm-leaving-massive-floods-on-us-gulf-coast.html) is sweeping southeastern states as wildfires wreak havoc on the west coast—in the middle of a pandemic. Throughout the summer, deadly climate events have forced hundreds of families across the country to evacuate their homes, many already out of work or facing evictions due to the coronavirus pandemic. If there were ever a time for serious action on climate change, it is now. Unfortunately, the current administration’s response to one existential crisis (COVID-19) has simply fueled another one: climate change. Recent scientific studies have shown that we’re hurtling toward the climate “[cliff edge](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/15/climate/wildlife-population-collapse-climate-change.html?action=click&module=News&pgtype=Homepage)” more suddenly than expected. Without a plan to recover from the pandemic that centers climate justice, we’re poised to sail right off that cliff. This spring, we poured trillions of public dollars into the economy in an initial attempt to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19. Amidst this convergence of climate breakdown and COVID-19 chaos, however, not a single federal stimulus dollar went toward protecting our climate, as Rhiana Gunn-Wright pointed out in the [*New York Times*](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/15/opinion/climate-change-covid-economy.html). In fact, billions of public dollars [flowed directly](https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/bailout-billions-dollars-federal-covid-19-relief-money-flow-oil-industry) to Big Oil, even as many working families have [yet to receive](https://talkpoverty.org/2020/09/15/12-million-people-still-havent-received-unemployment-benefits/) their unemployment benefits. There’s simply no counting on corporate CEOs or the free market to protect our planet. But our continued reliance on milquetoast policy won’t cut it either. We know that austerity in the face of a crisis is lethal. But not all public investments are created equal either. What we need are deep public investments in climate infrastructure that center working people and communities of color who are already on the frontlines of both the pandemic and climate change. Instead of continuing to spend [ten times as much on subsidies for the fossil fuel industry](https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesellsmoor/2019/06/15/united-states-spend-ten-times-more-on-fossil-fuel-subsidies-than-education/#125c2ce34473) as we do on public education, we must demand that our public dollars contribute to building a clean, equitable, and regenerative economy. Instead of fighting over minimum standards for the corporations receiving our public dollars, we need to embrace a new spending paradigm: one where we make sure our public goods do the *most* public good. This Climate Week, we are working to turn the tide on an economy that puts profit over people and the planet. To make that happen, we must make sure that every single public dollar invested in the economy aids in the creation of millions of good jobs and in the building of climate-safe communities. At the onset of the pandemic, over [100,000 clean energy workers](https://grist.org/energy/coronavirus-has-wiped-out-106000-clean-energy-jobs-so-far-can-the-us-get-them-back/) lost their jobs. Through widespread adoption of policies like the U.S. Employment Plan, our good jobs and equity [tool](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/u-s-employment-plan-2/) that is already used by cities and states around the country, we can create even more clean jobs than we’ve lost. Our ability to rebuild after recent hurricanes and this pandemic depends on it. *Image:* **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Labor --- ### [Policy for the people: A teach-in about our good jobs policy at the Chicago Transit Authority](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/policy-for-the-people-a-webinar-about-our-good-jobs-policy-at-the-chicago-transit-authority/) **Published:** September 30, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** There is no better time than now to ensure that every public dollar we spend creates as many good jobs as possible for working people in Chicago and across the U.S., especially for those who have faced the most barriers to employment. **Content:** [Register **here**](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_etT8bSHeSe6WGWhdQYot8g) for our virtual teach-in on October 8 at 1 p.m. CST about how to support good jobs and healthier communities with our public dollars in Chicago. Now more than ever, we need deeper, more intentional public investment to address the intersecting economic, racial inequality, and climate crises of our time. One way we can harness our public dollars for an equitable pandemic recovery is through our city’s government contracts. Every year, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) awards an average $1 billion in contracts to corporations. Jobs to Move America has a plan for harnessing this incredible amount of public money to support good jobs and healthier communities in Illinois and across the country. ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-09-30-at-12.49.14-PM-1.png "Screen-Shot-2020-09-30-at-12.49.14-PM-1 - Jobs to Move America") Since August 2019, when the CTA board [directed](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/contracting-careers-opportunity-policy-ordinance-at-cta/) the agency to develop a jobs and equity policy for the agency’s public contracts, Jobs to Move America has been working to develop a policy that would do just that. This month, we presented CTA leadership with our proposed policy, and we’re working with a coalition of labor, workforce development, and community organizations in Chicago to support the adoption of our policy by the end of the year. Our proposed policy would ensure that CTA’s public contracts go to companies that invest in U.S. manufacturing facilities and good jobs for Chicago’s most disenfranchised communities — the very communities that have been most severely impacted by the pandemic. Specifically, our policy would enable CTA to support up to 19,000 good U.S. jobs — just by replacing buses and railcars. By passing this policy, CTA would be the largest transit agency in the country to adopt such a policy, setting a national example for other transit and government agencies to follow. There is no better time than now to ensure that every public dollar we spend creates as many good jobs as possible for working people in Chicago and across the U.S., especially for those who have faced the most barriers to employment. A good jobs policy at the CTA is critical for both our post-pandemic recovery and for the long-term health of our economy and communities. Next week, Thursday October 8, 2020 at 1 p.m. CST, [we’re holding a virtual teach-in about the policy](https://www.facebook.com/events/250371209699237) via Zoom. We invite you to join us to learn more about how to support good jobs and healthier communities with our public dollars. You can register for the event [**here**](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_etT8bSHeSe6WGWhdQYot8g). Reach out to JMA Illinois Coalition Organizer Natalie Wahlberg for more information at . *Image: [Johannes Krupinski](https://unsplash.com/photos/f4b2CLlDDvE)/Unsplash* **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Column: What should ‘Buy America’ look like in a post-covid world?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/column-what-should-buy-america-look-like-in-a-post-covid-world/) **Published:** October 27, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the failure of decades of US industrial practice dictated by corporations. But the post-COVID economic recovery process offers a critical opportunity to reinvigorate the industry and create millions of new industrial jobs. **Content:** **By Madeline Janis** *This column originally appeared in* [Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/madelinejanis/2020/10/26/what-should-buy-america-look-like-in-a-post-covid-world/). The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the failure of decades of US industrial practice dictated by corporations. Corporate cost-cutting measures like [skimping on inventory](https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-arent-there-enough-paper-towels-11598020793) and offshoring production have left the country’s supply chain ill-equipped to meet the needs of the public in a time of crisis, leading to shortages of essential goods like [paper towels](https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-arent-there-enough-paper-towels-11598020793) and [auto parts](https://www.wsj.com/articles/gms-plans-to-increase-truck-production-delayed-by-parts-shortage-11590155233). The Trump Administration’s tax cuts to unaccountable corporations have undercut US manufacturing and workers even further. But the post-COVID economic recovery process offers a critical opportunity to reinvigorate the industry and create millions of new industrial jobs. Though US manufacturing hit a [more than 70-year low](https://www.industryweek.com/the-economy/article/22028495/manufacturing-is-now-smallest-share-of-us-economy-in-72-years) in terms of percentage of GDP in 2019, the industry still comprised [more than 11 percent of total GDP](https://www.nam.org/state-manufacturing-data/2019-united-states-manufacturing-facts/) in 2018 — or more than $2.3 trillion. And 20 percent of all purchases of manufactured goods in the U.S. are made by public agencies — with our tax dollars. That kind of spending presents an enormous opportunity for the public sector to generate high-quality manufacturing jobs. What if we decided that most of the things public agencies buy — from parts for buses and bridges to masks — would be made in the US? It’s not out of reach, and what a difference it would make for our recovery and for the long-term health of our economy and communities. The federal government’s existing tools for promoting US manufacturing through public procurement — including the [Buy America program](https://www.transit.dot.gov/buyamerica) — present a good starting point for supporting industrial jobs in the US, but they are still far too weak and limited in scope. Though they require that a part of the manufacturing process take place in the U.S., the guidelines for these programs don’t say anything about the type or quality of jobs that companies should create. Research has also shown that the Buy America program creates far fewer jobs than its guidelines intend due to loopholes and lax enforcement of the rules. A 2015 [report](https://www.peri.umass.edu/images/PERI_Procurement_Summary_web.pdf) from the Political Economy Research Institute found that though the program technically required that 60 percent of railcar parts purchased with federal dollars be produced in the US at the time, in practice, only 40 percent of parts paid for through the program actually got made here. (Buy America has since raised the US production requirement to 70 percent.) Local governments and federal agencies also tend to award production contracts to the company offering the lowest price tag, bypassing bids that may cost more on the front end but that ultimately provide more jobs and more value. Cities, states, and the federal government can promote US job creation by instead taking a “best-value” approach to procurement that incorporates an assessment of the employment and other economic impacts of a proposal beyond cost. The [US Employment Plan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/u-s-employment-plan-2/) (USEP) — a policy tool developed by a group of experts, including my organization Jobs to Move America, during the Obama-Biden Administration and [approved for use](https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/files/docs/S10-160211-003_F.pdf)nationally by the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2016 — is one such approach. The USEP is an innovative scoring framework that gives extra points to companies bidding on public procurement contracts for manufactured goods if they create jobs in the U.S., with higher wages and benefits and a greater commitment to recruiting employees from historically marginalized groups — people of color, women, formerly incarcerated people, and other groups that have also been disproportionately impacted by job loss during the pandemic. The USEP has already been implemented successfully in cities including [Los Angeles](https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-11-19/electric-bus-builders-in-l-a-just-joined-a-union-for-oil-workers-with-the-support-of-their-ex-tesla-ceo) and [Chicago](https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-cta-rail-cars-met-1016-20141016-story.html). In his [Build Back Better](https://joebiden.com/made-in-america/) plan, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden makes a number of solid proposals for bolstering US industry, including reversing the Trump Administration’s corporate tax cuts and spending an additional $400 billion on purchasing products made in the US. But we can still do more. If expanded to federal agencies beyond the DOT — something a Biden administration should strongly consider if elected — a revamped Buy America framework paired with the adoption of the US Employment Plan at the federal, state, and local levels could go a long way toward boosting the manufacturing industry and creating millions of good jobs just when US workers need them most. Merely increasing government spending isn’t enough. Maximizing the return on investment of our public spending is critical both for our post-pandemic economy recovery and the long-term health of our economy and communities. Manufacturing is an industry ripe for this kind of approach to public procurement. Decades of deindustrialization and offshoring have set the stage for corporations to [play states and cities against each other](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/good-jobs-everywhere-why-manufacturing-jobs-should-advance-equity-and-strengthen-communities/), forcing competition over who will offer them the biggest subsidy and least regulation to bring ever lower-quality and lower-paying jobs to their jurisdiction. The fierce competition over where Amazon[AMZN](https://www.forbes.com/companies/amazon)[+1.7%](https://www.forbes.com/companies/amazon) — a company notorious for [exploiting its workers](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html?_r=0) — would base its new headquarters in 2018 is one recent, high-profile example. Rather than settle for less, states and cities should use the power of our public funds to ensure that the manufactured equipment that is purchased with tax dollars is made in the U.S., and that the companies we do business with create quality jobs for people impacted by systemic racism and other barriers to employment. Revamping and expanding Buy America and using the US Employment Plan to purchase everything from buses and solar panels to masks will create millions of good jobs and bolster our economy over the long run. There’s no better time to rebuild US manufacturing than now. We can’t afford to miss the crucial opportunity to do it. *Image: Spencer Davis/[Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/photos/QTKwYmMumfk)* **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Manufacturing --- ### [Let's get to work](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/lets-get-to-work/) **Published:** November 9, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Now is our time to put people power, workers, and racial justice at the core of our new government’s agenda. **Content:** The country has convincingly spoken; and American democratic principles — the right to participate and vote — have won. Today, we celebrate the victory of President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris. But winning an election is just a start: our nation remains divided. It will take hard work from all of us to finally make good on the promise of a country in which all people may thrive and prosper. Now is not the time to get complacent. The systems and policies that bolster systemic racial injustice, staggering inequality, a broken economy, and the climate crisis are deeply entrenched, and they can’t be undone overnight or in one election cycle. Now, more than ever, we will work to build expanded support and real people power behind smart progressive alternatives to business as usual. > The systems and policies that bolster systemic racial injustice, staggering inequality, a broken economy, and the climate crisis are deeply entrenched, and they can’t be undone overnight or in one election cycle. For Jobs to Move America, this is truly a game-changing moment. We have a significant opportunity to advance our good jobs and equity policies at the national level. In coalition with our partners, we will advocate for rewriting the rules to make our economy work for working families and specifically, to put racial equity, good job creation, and climate action at the heart of public spending and infrastructure investment. We have exciting news in store about our program. In the coming weeks, we will share more about our plans to organize with workers and communities across the country for good jobs and equity. Now is our time to put people power, workers, and racial justice at the core of our new government’s agenda. We’ll see you on the frontlines as we work with workers, unions, advocacy partners, and communities across our country to restore the idea that everyone should share in the prosperity of our nation. *Image: [Phil Roeder](https://www.flickr.com/photos/tabor-roeder/50564531997/in/photolist-2k3drHP-2k3drAV-2k3cJiU-2k3cJan-2k3dMZa-2k3dMYi-2k3d6ba-2k39gVg-2k39gUK-2k3dMXB-2k39gTN-2k3dMWp-2k39gTc-2k3dMV7-2k3dMTt-2k39gRd-2k3d65i-2k3d65t-2k3d658-2k3d64b-2k3dMRE-2k3dMRe-2k3d5Wc-2k3d62C-2k3dMPL-2k3dMPk-2k3d5ZJ-2k3dMMG-2k39gJV-2k3d5XK-2k3d5Y1-2k3d5VL-2k39gH2-2k3d5UP-2k3d5Ui-2k3dMHt-2k3d5RC-2k39gBA-2k3d5Nr-2k3d5Mz-2k3d5M4-2k3d5Mp-2k3d5L2-2k3dMyq-2k39guG-2k3d5H1-2k3d5Ek-2k3d5ER-2k39gqi-2k3d5Cw)/Flickr* **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Racial Justice --- ### [Tribute to Larry Willis](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/tribute-to-larry-willis/) **Published:** December 7, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Working people lost a long time friend and warrior last Sunday with the death of Larry Willis, the President of the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO (TTD), one of the organizations that helped to found JMA. **Content:** **Madeline Janis and Ed Wytkind** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Screen-Shot-2020-12-07-at-9.38.05-AM-1.jpg "Screen-Shot-2020-12-07-at-9.38.05-AM-1 - Jobs to Move America") Working people lost a long time friend and warrior last week with the death of Larry Willis, the president of the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO (TTD), one of the organizations that helped to found JMA. Larry, who was 53, died after a tragic bike accident. This week, the [AFL-CIO](https://aflcio.org/press/releases/americas-unions-mourn-passing-ttd-president-larry-willis) and [TTD](https://ttd.org/news-and-media/transportation-labor-mourns-the-loss-of-ttd-president-larry-willis/) published wonderful obituaries celebrating Larry’s long and extensive contributions to the fight for workers’ rights and justice for all. We are writing, however, to tell you about what Larry meant to both of us and to Jobs to Move America. --- #### From Madeline: Larry was a Washington “insider” who broke the mold. He was unassuming, extremely knowledgeable, and deeply committed to fighting for a better life for frontline workers. And no matter how busy he was, he always listened and made everyone feel like they mattered. I first met Larry in 2011, when I was still the Executive Director of the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE) and was exploring the idea of creating a new project to use the power of public purchasing to create more and better manufacturing jobs for all communities in the U.S. (What later became JMA.) At the time, we were working with the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority to figure out how to get the U.S. Department of Transportation to let the agency purchase rail cars and buses in a way that created local factories and good jobs for communities hardest hit by the Great Recession. In those early days, Larry sat down a number of times with me to listen and to brainstorm. The federal rules around grants to cities and states are filled with prohibitions and conditions, and Larry knew better than most how difficult the task that we set out to accomplish would be. He asked questions, brought up concerns, but always in the most positive way possible. He was encouraging and supportive. Fast forward to 2016, during the waning days of the Obama-Biden administration after Trump’s unexpected win. During the preceding four years, Larry and TTD had helped launch JMA and had helped to win the hard-fought approval by the DOT of a set of powerful new policy mechanisms to create good U.S. manufacturing jobs called the [U.S. Employment Plan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/u-s-employment-plan-2/). The Obama administration’s DOT had issued a public letter in early 2016 supporting the program. However, with Trump’s victory, we feared the new administration would be quick to declare any program benefiting historically marginalized workers as a “burden” on business. It was then that Larry’s quiet genius and extensive relationships kicked into gear. I called him in a panic almost exactly four years ago and asked if he thought the administration would be willing to acknowledge the legality of the program. Larry listened, asked lots of questions, and went to work. On January 19, 2017, because of Larry’s advocacy, a signed letter from the Acting General Counsel of the Department of Transportation acknowledged the positive results of the U.S. Employment Plan in the many cities that had used it. Credit for that goes to our friend and great colleague Larry Willis who once again, had advocated for working people and prevailed. Larry, rest in peace. #### From Ed: Larry Willis was my friend and brother for two decades. We worked together to build a strong organization, TTD, that was resilient and ready to take on the big challenges. Larry was such a valued partner and counsel as we set out to put TTD on the frontlines of advocating for worker-centered transportation policies. His mastery of complex issues was indispensable in our launch of JMA. His ability to translate wonk into digestible policy proposals. His ability to humanize, of all things, procurement. And his ability to explain to public officials how the big ideas behind JMA were actually in the end, just about building power for workers and communities. Larry did everything in life with a rare zeal. It didn’t matter if he was preparing to go camping or skiing or putting final touches on congressional testimony — Larry put everything he had into it. That is how in the span of two decades he strengthened worker protections in our laws; expanded collective bargaining; raised the bar on transportation safety and security, and helped to mainstream the importance of transportation into our politics. But what we remember most about Larry is his decency, curiosity and passion. Decent in how he treated others. Curious in how he consumed ideas. And passionate in his pursuit of a more just nation. Larry’s shoes will not soon be filled. But the best way to honor Larry is for JMA and all of us to carry on his work with the same gusto with which he lived his life. I will miss this leader and dear friend. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Bringing Green Transit, Green Jobs to New York](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/bringing-green-transit-green-jobs-to-new-york/) **Published:** August 26, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** New Yorkers need long-term, systematic solutions that spur a Covid-19 recovery, invest in racial justice, and combat the climate crisis. One such solution is on its way in the form of a legislative package called Green Transit, Green Jobs. **Content:** ***Mo-Yain Tham*** When people hear the words “New York,” they tend to think of the economic powerhouse New York City. New York State, however, once relied on the manufacturing activity of cities such as Buffalo to drive its economic engine. After the 2008 recession, [Buffalo and other upstate industrial cities ](https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/research/regional_economy/charts/Regional_Buffalo)saw their manufacturing sector decline even further, and their economies have never fully recovered. As the Covid-19 pandemic morphed into an economic crisis, [record high unemployment](https://www.forbes.com/sites/mayrarodriguezvalladares/2020/04/26/new-york-state-unemployment-rate-is-at-highest-level-since-the-great-depression/#57ed253d76f2) levels throughout New York put an increased strain on these post-industrial communities. While many pundits and politicians are calling for budget cuts — community leaders and advocates recognize that now is not the time for austerity. ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Bus-Stop-1024x683.jpeg "Bus Stop - Jobs to Move America") Instead, they argue, New York needs to double down on public spending that stimulates economic regrowth and supports good jobs and healthier communities. Nowhere are possibilities of this more evident than in upstate cities like Buffalo, where low-income communities of color [suffer doubly: from high levels of pollution](https://ppgbuffalo.org/files/documents/poverty_low_wage_work_income_inequality/truth_commission_report__poverty_in_buffalo_causes__impacts__solutions.pdf) and high levels of unemployment. New Yorkers need long-term solutions that spur a Covid-19 recovery, invest in racial justice, and combat the climate crisis. One such solution is on its way in the form of a legislative package called Green Transit, Green Jobs. The legislation, which is co-sponsored by Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz and Senator Tim Kennedy, would mandate transit agencies across the state transition to zero-emission buses and create good jobs in the process. By including our road-tested good jobs and equity policy, the U.S. Employment Plan, this legislation would incentivize transit agencies to purchase electric buses from high-road manufacturers committed to good wages, benefits, and training and retraining programs. This means that that every single public dollar New York spent on clean transit would also support good jobs, lift labor standards, and contribute to building a fair economy that works for working families. At the same time, the [bill](https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2019/a9046) would reduce the carbon emissions and the significant levels of pollution in the transportation sector, which makes up over one-third of greenhouse gas emissions statewide – making the legislation a natural complement to the historic [Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act’s](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/18/nyregion/greenhouse-gases-ny.html) goal to achieve zero-emission in New York by 2050. The Green Transit, Green Jobs bill would contribute to the regrowth of the [transportation manufacturing industry](https://new.mta.info/sites/default/files/2019-09/MTA%202020-2024%20Capital%20Program%20-%20Full%20Report.pdf) scattered throughout upstate New York, providing “forgotten” cities like Buffalo with a much-needed economic stimulus through good green job creation. In turn, the legislation would help New York State address the systemic issues experienced by low-income communities of color — chronic economic insecurity and persistent higher levels of pollution. New York is home to some 8,500 transit buses. It’s time to put them on the road to good jobs and healthier communities. Learn more about Green Transit, Green Jobs bills [here](https://nyassembly.gov/mem/?ad=81&sh=story&story=94003). Press conference for Green Jobs, Green Transit launch on August 26, 2020.*[**Mo-Yain Tham**](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/mo-yain-tham/) is a policy and research associate at Jobs to Move America.* **Categories:** Climate Change, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Recovery from COVID-19? Not without real public oversight](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/california-wont-recover-from-covid-19-without-accountability/) **Published:** May 20, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** California lawmakers will soon oversee billions of stimulus dollars and pass a state-level recovery package. But a loophole in the state’s public records law is preventing workers and communities from real recovery. **Content:** **California lawmakers will soon oversee billions of stimulus dollars and pass a state-level coronavirus recovery package. But a loophole in California’s public records law may prevent workers and communities from seeing real benefits.** Take action with us to #PassSB749 **[here](https://actionnetwork.org/letters/its-our-right-to-know-lets-pass-sb749)**. **Abhilasha Bhola** When the Los Angeles Lakers [received](https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/lakers-money-loan-program-returned/story?id=70364878) $4.6 million dollars from the federal government’s small business relief program, fans were outraged. Why was the richest sports franchise in the country accepting public dollars intended for small businesses to pay workers? Eventually, the Lakers returned the money, joining the ranks of other massive corporations — from Ruth’s Chris Steak House to Shake Shack — that have attempted to siphon away public dollars for corporate gain. But if a handful of corporations were pressured to return the money, [many more continue to receive stimulus dollars](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/13/whos-getting-these-hundreds-billions-government-aid-now-public-may-be-dark/) with few strings attached [and dramatically reduced capacity for oversight](https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2020/04/15/congressional-oversight-of-the-cares-act-could-prove-troublesome/). [According to some experts](http://bostonreview.net/class-inequality-politics/andrew-elrod-mark-engler-meet-bailouts-new-slush-fund), the approximately [$500 billion that the federal government allocated for corporations](https://www.npr.org/2020/03/26/821457551/whats-inside-the-senate-s-2-trillion-coronavirus-aid-package) is nothing more than a slush fund — with even less public oversight than the infamous 2008 TARP program. In 2008, the multi-billion TARP bailout famously lacked any conditions over aid given to corporations and allowed big banks to “[bleed homeowners to rebuild their capital](https://prospect.org/economy/repeating-the-mistakes-of-the-2008-bailout/).” > As in 2008, we simply can’t expect the trillions of public dollars our government has invested in the economy amidst the COVID-19 pandemic to do much if the only accountability mechanisms in place are angry sports fans and people on Twitter. Soon, California policymakers [will oversee billions of public dollars](https://www.ncsl.org/ncsl-in-dc/publications-and-resources/coronavirus-stimulus-bill-states.aspx) allocated to our state from the four federal stimulus bills, and may eventually pass California’s own economic recovery package. Californians will see billions of our taxpayer dollars go towards grants, loans, bonds, tax incentives, and government contracts in hopes of putting people back to work and kick starting our economy. If we want to see real return on our investment, Californians need to be proactive: we need to make sure we have public oversight over our state’s recovery spending. The reality is, right now, all Californians can expect in return for our stimulus dollars is little more than an empty promise. That’s because a loophole in the California Public Records Act allows corporations that receive government contracts and tax credits to evade public oversight over their commitments to taxpayers. Corporations can hide the commitments they made around job creation, quality, and access by asserting that this information is a trade secret. In other words, corporations that receive public dollars by promising to create a certain number of jobs don’t actually have to show the public whether or not they’ve followed through. California legislators have an opportunity to close this loophole this year by passing legislation stating that information pertaining to job creation, quality and access disclosed as part of a tax abatement program or public contract is not a trade secret. As in 2008, we simply can’t expect the trillions of public dollars our government has invested in the economy amidst the COVID-19 pandemic to do much if the only accountability mechanism in place is angry sports fans and people on Twitter. The economic recovery package that was passed in response to the Great Recession promised to create millions of jobs. But without public oversight of that stimulus, corporate greed dominated and many of the promised jobs turned out to be low quality, low wage jobs — or simply did not materialize. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, we have an opportunity to learn from these mistakes. Recovering from COVID-19 will require creating good jobs, lifting labor standards, protecting our environment, and prioritizing long-term climate resiliency — not bailing out corporate shareholders, CEOs, and huge corporate chains. But without access to information about the number of jobs actually created through public investment — not to mention critical information about job quality, like wages and benefits, or plans for how people with barriers to employment can access these jobs — how can Californians expect a real recovery? California lawmakers stand at a crossroads. We can continue down a path of allowing corporations to take advantage of our public dollars, or lawmakers can pass policy to make sure that the public — that’s us! — actually benefits from these expenditures. We urge lawmakers to close the loophole in the California Public Records Act as part of the passage of the budget this year. It’s a common sense solution that goes a long way to make sure that our precious public dollars are putting people back to work in good jobs, not just into the pockets of corporations. *[Abhilasha Bhola](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/abhilasha-bhola/) is a California Senior Policy Coordinator* *at Jobs to Move America*. **Categories:** Economy, Transparency --- ### [Good jobs can break the crisis-recovery cycle](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/good-jobs-can-break-the-crisis-recovery-cycle/) **Published:** May 6, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The bailout after the Great Recession led to a proliferation of low-quality, gig economy jobs. To recover from COVID-19, we can’t repeat the same mistakes. **Content:** *The bailout after the Great Recession led to a proliferation of low-quality, gig economy jobs. To recover from COVID-19, we can’t repeat the same mistakes.* Take action to #PassSB749 **[here](https://actionnetwork.org/letters/its-our-right-to-know-lets-pass-sb749).** **Héctor Huezo** When countries around the world scrambled to respond to the global financial meltdown in 2008, we saw very clearly that countries that invested in their economies recovered faster than those that tightened their belt. As we face the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, we can use lessons from 2009 to recover faster and prepare to withstand future recessions. It’s simple: our public dollars should strengthen communities and empower workers, instead of bailing out massive industries. In 2009, as I was beginning my career in workforce development, I helped put nearly 1,000 high school and college-age youth into temporary, stimulus-supported jobs through the publicly funded American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The purpose of this effort was to stimulate economic activity and expose young people to employment so that they learned the valuable skills required for them to be successful in any job. The majority of youth went into retail and service jobs — but we couldn’t predict then that the growth of these kinds of jobs would become lifelines to working families who needed a second income to support themselves. They became Uber, Lyft, Instacart, and Grubhub jobs, along with Amazon and Whole Foods jobs. The lasting legacy of ARRA was that it [failed to use the power of stimulus](https://www.clasp.org/publications/report/brief/low-job-quality-leaves-workers-and-our-economy-more-vulnerable-next) funding to build worker power and create opportunities for people to enter higher paying, stable jobs with family sustaining wages. Although well intentioned, ARRA was too small and short-lasting. It left us with a stimulus hangover: a slower, extended recovery; a proliferation of low quality jobs; and weakened protections for workers and families. Instead of building a stronger and fairer economy, ARRA widened income inequality and increased employment precarity, putting us all at risk of financial hardship amidst future recessions. What we need now is to harness stimulus dollars in a way that leads to quality employment in sectors that fuel a just economy by putting people and the planet over profits. We need to break the crisis-recovery-crisis cycle, and use the power of our public dollars to build a fair, resilient society and prevent future crises in the first place. > We need to break the crisis-recovery-crisis cycle, and use the power of our public dollars to build a fair, resilient society and economy that helps prevent crises in the first place. First things first: we need all future bailouts and stimulus dollars to go directly to the working families impacted by COVID19. That means insisting that companies who receive our public dollars rehire or retain workers that were laid off or furloughed, and that no worker returning to their job earn less than a $15 an hour minimum wage. But these conditions are just the bare minimum. We know that letting workers stay home when they’re sick [slows the spread](https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-03-12/coronavirus-labor-law-know-your-rights-california-worker) of disease. As schools shuttered, families had to scramble to figure out child care while balancing work responsibilities. Expanding access to family leave and increasing paid sick time are critical tools to weather a crisis like this pandemic. They also raise job quality and protect working families against the downward spiral of lost wages that often lead to missed payments on utility bills, housing, and other necessary expenses. (Yes, we should freeze and forgive rents, mortgages, and utilities, too.) We also need to think long-term about preparing workers who have had barriers to high quality job opportunities. By investing our public dollars in paid pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs, we can make sure that our stimulus spending creates good job opportunities in fields like manufacturing, transit, water, and electric power distribution that desperately need trained workers. By prioritizing partnership models that include community, workforce, labor and business stakeholders, we can remove barriers to training for workers who could not otherwise afford to take time off to learn new skills. For local communities to see the benefits of stimulus investments, we need local and targeted hire initiatives like those proposed in the [Build Local Hire Local Act](https://bass.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/bass-gillibrand-introduce-legislation-ensure-local-communities-benefit). Supporting working families and improving job standards goes a long way to improve health access for workers and communities. Public dollars can help usher us away from a 20th century economy that relies on fossil fuels and into a 21st century green economy that prioritizes clean air, good jobs, and an expanded concept of public good. Expanding and electrifying our mass transit infrastructure, ensuring clean water access, and building out information and energy distribution networks are just some of the ways that public dollars can create the most public good. Let’s not waste an opportunity to fundamentally strengthen our economy while staying healthy after COVID-19. Raising job quality, improving job training, and investing in strengthening communities helps us break away from the disaster capitalism that has us short on medical supplies and at risk of eviction. By going a step further and [making these investments permanent](https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2020/3/25/21180248/just-sustainable-economic-response-coronavirus-explained), we can ensure fast recovery and lasting resilience for decades to come. *Héctor Huezo is the Senior Workforce Equity Coordinator at Jobs to Move America. He is responsible for implementing and expanding on the California Coalition’s workforce policies and community benefits wins to ensure more equitable and diverse hiring and training pathways into good job opportunities.* **Categories:** Economy, Labor, Workforce Development --- ### [John Porcari: For real recovery, let’s rethink infrastructure spending](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/john-porcari-for-real-recovery-lets-rethink-infrastructure-spending/) **Published:** June 18, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Done right, infrastructure stimulus presents opportunities to build stronger, fairer, and more resilient communities, writes former Deputy Secretary of Transportation John Porcari. **Content:** **Guest blog by John Pocari** The changes that the coronavirus has wrought across the United States are reshaping our ideas about resiliency and recovery. In the public dialogue about how we can sustain and restore our local economies — especially for the marginalized communities and small businesses that have been hit hardest — the value of investing in public infrastructure continues to grow. We know each $1 billion of investment in infrastructure creates more than 22,000 jobs that can provide long-lasting careers and support local economic growth. For stimulus efforts to be most effective and for economic and social recovery to be quick and long-lasting, we know that it’s not enough to focus exclusively on macroeconomic goals — we must also attend to local community and workforce needs. Done right, infrastructure stimulus presents opportunities to build stronger, fairer, and more resilient communities. We must rethink our workforce development programs, public contracting rules, and small business growth systems around the idea of *public goods for the most public good*. By empowering local governments to incentivize the creation of high-road jobs, and by better supporting the growth of small and historically marginalized businesses — which are most in danger during this crisis — we can make sure that recovery is inclusive and serves our communities, particularly those hit hardest by the effects of COVID-19. To achieve these outcomes, Accelerator for America has launched the [New Partnership on Infrastructure](https://www.acceleratorforamerica.org/infrastructure-partnership), an initiative focused on ensuring that local leaders — who know their communities the best — can help shape economic recovery across the country. The New Partnership is doubling down on using the power of stimulus spending to create infrastructure jobs pipelines, expanded workforce development programs, and more opportunities for workers from all backgrounds to access jobs with real career potential and family-sustaining wages. The New Partnership on Infrastructure has been working closely with Jobs to Move America and others to ensure that good jobs, investments in training, local and targeted hire, and small and historically underutilized business growth are a core part of recovery efforts. Collectively, these approaches strengthen the foundations of our local economies, supporting recovery from the ground up — while at the same time ensuring that we get the most out of every public dollar we invest in stimulus. We encourage you to learn more by reading the Partnership’s policy brief on [maximizing investment in high-road jobs and small business growth](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d9f9365f67b454b1ce2dc2f/t/5ebd5c207609b07d21998bae/1589468198612/Brief+1_Accelerator_America_FINAL.pdf). *Please join Accelerator for America on June 23rd at 11:00 am PST / 2:00 pm EST for the release of “America’s New Playbook for Infrastructure” at the New Partnership on Infrastructure Forum that will feature Waterloo, IA Mayor Quentin Hart, Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt, and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.* *RSVP for this online event* [*here.*](https://acceleratorforamerica.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1f5baa25922ed36b575ad89f9&id=1bb9c20c5f&e=5860658b67) *John Davis Porcari served as deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of Transportation.* *More information about the New Partnership on Infrastructure is also available* [***here**.*](https://www.acceleratorforamerica.org/infrastructure-partnership) *We are looking to grow our coalition and campaign. If you are interested in learning more, or would like to be involved, please contact* [*cveeder@jobstomoveamerica.org*](mailto:cveeder@jobstomoveamerica.org)*.* **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation --- ### [Take to the digital streets for Earth Day](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/take-to-the-digital-streets-for-earth-day/) **Published:** April 22, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** If there was ever a time to come together to turn the tide on an economy that puts profits over people and the planet, it is now. **Content:** The price of oil plummeted to a record low yesterday. Storms continued to sweep the southeast, killing 34 people in what is shaping up to be the country’s [deadliest tornado season](https://weather.com/storms/tornado/news/2020-04-14-tornado-outbreaks-united-states-2020) in nearly a decade. And a deadly respiratory pandemic has killed over 40,000 people in the U.S., led to mass levels of unemployment, and hurtled us headfirst into a recession. **If there was ever a time to come together to turn the tide on an economy that puts profits over people and the planet, it is now.** Across the country, workers and communities celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day by calling for just that: - In Chicago, the Earth Day to May Day Coalition is taking to the digital streets. At [a virtual town hall](https://medium.com/earth-day-to-may-day-chicago-coalition/earth-day-to-may-day-chicago-coalition-vision-statement-ff94e0b11e43) on April 22 at 12 p.m. CST, activists and organizers will talk about their demands for “a people-centered recovery built with equitable and just policies to protect and support frontline communities, workers, immigrants and the vulnerable.” Join the town hall [here](https://www.facebook.com/events/2602661076647262/), and check out the list of other digital Earth Day and May Day events [here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Yn_uZIPvImo1cS4T5gUTMvVc4LdXHQl8ljy75iN0CKE/edit). - Our allies at the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance (NYC-EJA) released a report “NYC Climate Justice Agenda 2020: A critical Decade for Climate, Equity, and Health” that explores the overlaps between environmental justice and COVID-19, outlining policy recommendations for a just transition. Read the report [here](https://www.nyc-eja.org/nyc-climate-justice-agenda/). - The organizer of the first Earth Day in 1970, Denis Hayes, told the Labor Network for Sustainability that “the first Earth Day would not have happened without labor support.” Read more about the critical role unions and workers play in Earth Day celebrations, and learn about other digital mobilizations through [here](https://www.labor4sustainability.org/articles/earth-day-to-may-day-2020/). **As ever, Jobs to Move America is working to wield the power of our public dollars to create good jobs and a clean economy.** [Join us](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/get-updates/). **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy --- ### [Legal, but despicable: Employers looking to cash in on stimulus checks](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/legal-but-despicable-employers-looking-to-cash-in-on-stimulus-checks/) **Published:** April 8, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Corporate employers are pursuing nefarious tactics to cash in on the stimulus checks people receive from the federal government by docking workers’ pay. **Content:** **Natalie Wahlberg** As the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps the country and world, inspiring human ingenuity and mutual aid networks have brought us hope. Community leaders and activists are organizing to weather the pandemic, bringing us expansive lists of community resources, like [this one](https://medium.com/@WomenEmployed/covid-19-resources-for-working-people-and-families-a7863a9b6075) from Women Employed, a member of JMA’s Illinois coalition; organizing direct funding support for restaurant, delivery, and personal service workers, like [One Fair Wage’s emergency fund initiative](https://ofwemergencyfund.org/); sharing DIY face mask [patterns](https://www.nytimes.com/article/coronavirus-N95-mask-DIY-face-mask-health.html)[ and information](https://www.wabe.org/it-started-when-one-atlanta-doctor-got-in-touch-now-this-non-profit-sews-masks-by-the-thousands/); and, across the country, [forming mutual aid networks](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/opinion/coronavirus-aid-group.html) to help those most vulnerable in their communities. Sadly though, capitalism brings out the worst in some corporations. Some are demanding huge bailouts while pursuing massive layoffs and slashing benefits, others are refusing to provide workers with adequate personal protective equipment (PPE). Rumors are now swirling that some unscrupulous employers are even strategizing on how to absorb the $1,200 payments provided for under the federal stimulus package by simply not paying their workers the equivalent of the $1,200 stimulus check. In Austin, Texas one company sought to dock paychecks for those receiving stimulus checks. “‘The form says they are preemptively deducting funds from our paychecks. That number is based on what they’re anticipating the government relief fund to be,'” one worker for the company told *KXAN*. The worker also said his company emailed a form titled “Employee Acknowledgement of ‘Government Assistance’ Pay Reduction” to some workers. “In response to the economic crisis that is affecting all of us due to the coronavirus pandemic…(company name redacted) are hereby enacting the Employee Emergency Compensation Fund,” the letter stated. The agreement would put workers under a “temporary compensation reduction that is in line with the assistance that it receives from the federal government related to the COVID-19 pandemic.” By signing the agreement, the company’s employees would have their paychecks for April 6 to April 20 pay period cut by 100 percent of any money received under the stimulus bill, [*KXAN*](https://www.kxan.com/news/austin-company-looking-to-dock-paychecks-for-those-receiving-stimulus-checks/) reported. After public scrutiny, ImageNet, the now-named company, [reversed its decision](https://www.kxan.com/news/company-that-wanted-its-workers-stimulus-checks-apologizes-for-ill-advised-plan/). But concerns remain that other corporations may pursue similar nefarious practices. On [Ask a Manager](https://www.askamanager.org/2020/03/my-company-plans-to-absorb-any-stimulus-checks-that-employees-receive-for-themselves.html), a blog, one post cited a reader’s concerns about her employer absorbing stimulus checks. “I just got off of a conference call with Corporate in which they told us that if the U.S. government sends us the proposed stimulus checks due to Covid-19, they plan to absorb the money we receive by cutting our hours to reflect that amount. In other words, if each person receives a check for $1,200, $1,200 will effectively go back to the company. Is this legal?” the reader asked. As Ask a Manager points out, the practice of recouping stimulus checks in this way is, unfortunately, legal. But public scrutiny and organizing brought an end to the policy at ImageNet in Texas. Moving forward, Jobs to Move America and our allies may need to remain vigilant about stories of such corporate malfeasance, sharing information far and wide so that our movements can continue to fight for good jobs and high-road labor standards. In these uncertain times, we all need to hold unscrupulous employers accountable to workers and communities. Together, we are the sunlight. *[Natalie Wahlberg](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/natalie-wahlberg/) is Jobs to Move America’s Coalition Organizer in Illinois.* **Categories:** Economy, Labor, Transparency --- ### [Corporate giveaways gutted the South’s safety net, recovering from COVID-19 requires rebuilding it](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/corporate-giveaways-gutted-the-souths-safety-net-recovering-from-covid-19-requires-rebuilding-it/) **Published:** March 24, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Alabama gives away billions of public dollars to corporations, often with no strings attached. Our new research-action program is organizing for a better deal for Southern workers and communities. **Content:** **Patricia Todd** *Southern Director* Before COVID-19 swept the country, public officials celebrated Alabama’s 2.7 percent unemployment rate: it was a record low for our state, and lower than the national average. But statistics never tell the full story. Were the jobs Alabamians working good ones? With paid sick, family, and medical leave to protect workers from COVID-19? Were people working more than one job to make ends meet? As we reckon with a pandemic and pending economic recession of a magnitude difficult to comprehend, Alabama needs to start looking beyond unemployment rates to ask some soul-searching questions. As industry after industry demands huge public bailouts, the South’s history of offering big corporate giveaways represents a glaring example of why public subsidies should only be on the table if public officials put people and workers first. Corporate subsidies, in the form of economic tax incentives, have become a popular tool that cities and states use to lure companies to a specific location. The fight over where Amazon would set up its second headquarters — cities raced to provide the most attractive incentive packages, offering billions of our public dollars to sweeten the deal — put a spotlight on the problems with these subsidies. Even after national outrage over the bidding war for Amazon, economic development specialists and elected officials continued to tell us that these subsidies were critical to creating jobs and growing the economy. Cities and states like Alabama still compete aggressively to bring corporations to our backyards, using our public dollars as bait. Promises of subsidies include abatement of income and property taxes, infrastructure development, workforce training, and sometimes cash. But the problem that COVID-19 has brought into sharp relief is that promises made are not always promises delivered. What’s worse, many of these promises weren’t good enough to begin with. In Alabama, we celebrate the ribbon cutting of a new manufacturer breaking ground on a new plant and announcing new jobs that will be created. Yet, rarely are we told how much the state or municipality paid to the corporation to bring those jobs to the area or given details about the return on investment. Now that COVID-19 is shutting down production at manufacturing plants across our state, leaving many workers high and dry, it’s time to ask how our public dollars can be most effectively invested in private companies to ensure the outcomes we need. Corporate subsidies have cost Alabama over $3.5 billion dollars over the past decade. The public has no information on how money was spent — or what we got for it. These subsidies do not require corporations to commit to providing a living wage; any paid sick, family, or medical leave; or hiring goals for marginalized communities. Most taxpayers don’t even know where to look for the information. This story holds true across the South. Alabamians, like many of our Southern neighbors, cannot afford any loss of revenue. According to Alabama Possible, our state’s poverty rate is 18.9 percent, making us the 6th poorest state in the country. Our education system, mental health services, and public infrastructure are in dire need of funding. The National Center for Education Statistics ranks Alabama last in math, reading, and science. We also rank at the bottom in teacher pay, infrastructure, and access to health care. As a result, we lack the services and infrastructure needed to support working families through a crisis like COVID-19. Why? For decades, our state has siphoned money from these critical public services and social infrastructure to provide corporations with handsome tax incentives in exchange for little more than a handshake deal. Our state is lining the pockets of corporate CEOs, not workers and communities. > COVID-19 makes it clear that Southerners deserve a better deal. Which is why Jobs to Move America is building a research-action program, headquartered in Birmingham, to win sunshine and accountability policies in the South. We believe that together, we can turn the tide on endless and unaccountable corporate giveaways. We can demand limits on incentives and institute requirements that companies receiving our precious public dollars provide a living wage, benefits, a safe work environment free of racism and gender discrimination, and hiring preferences for marginalized and underrepresented communities. We can also demand a public accountability report about every company that receives subsidies so that Southerners can scrutinize whether their public dollars are actually doing public good. To get there, we need to understand and document all the public dollars that our state has given away. We’ll write reports about that spending, we’ll dig into the consequences of corporate giveaways on our communities and workers. We’ll work in coalition with community-based organizations and social justice groups, like Alabama Arise, to educate public officials and community leaders about the impact of these subsidies. And eventually, we’ll win legislation that ensures our public dollars create the kind of return on investment that we believe in: good jobs and healthy communities. Do Mercedes, Amazon and Walmart really need generous tax subsidies to operate business as usual? The clear answer is no. It is time to get our priorities in order and take care of our own people — instead of corporate shareholders. *[Patricia Todd ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/patricia-todd/)is the Southern Director at Jobs to Move America. Patricia has socially and professionally advocated for public policies relevant to social justice, education, HIV/AIDS, and a wide range of issues affect the entire Birmingham community for over twenty years. Patricia was elected to the Alabama Legislature as the State Representative for House District 54 in November of 2006 as the first openly gay elected official in Alabama’s history. She retired from the legislature in 2018.* **Categories:** Economy, Transparency --- ### [Realizing democracy](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/realizing-democracy/) **Published:** March 11, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** We don't need to restore democracy -- we need to realize it. **Content:** The Democratic primary field may have narrowed to just two frontrunners, Senator Bernie Sanders and Vice President Joe Biden, but the election won’t be over anytime soon. American elections are notoriously protracted. Every one of our votes is crucial, but the length and intensity of our election cycles — not to mention the role that big money plays in our politics — make it no surprise that many people feel disaffected and disillusioned. Luckily, casting a ballot is just one of many ways that people across the country can speak out about the issues that affect their daily lives. And with the convergence of the climate crisis and extreme wealth concentration, more people are recognizing the importance of weaving electoral politics with base-building strategies and tactics. Building the infrastructure critical to maintaining civil society — from unions to tenants associations, community organizing, and social movements — is important work. Not only do these forms of movement organizing have the potential to shift the broader political discourse, they also provide a laboratory for experimenting with new participatory and democratic processes. As legal scholar and activist K. Sabeel Rahman and many others have pointed out: our task is not to *restore* democracy, but to *realize* it. What does realizing democracy look like in practice? The youth climate movement is a powerful example of the impact that social movements have on policy and politics. Many high schoolers and children too young to vote have taken to the streets, skipping school for the Youth Climate Strikes, to call for action and leadership on climate change. Their organizing has had far-reaching impact, pushing Democratic candidates and elected officials to articulate positions on climate change and forcing the Green New Deal into mainstream discourse. The youth climate movement is “participating in democracy in the only way they can, demonstrating to us as adults that we need to support them, listen to them, and do what we can to take action on the climate crisis,” says Abhilasha Bhola, a senior policy associate at Jobs to Move America who provides mentoring and support to youth climate organizers through Sunrise Movement. “Some of the high schoolers I’m supporting are immigrants, others are exchange students, and all of them are under 18 and unable to vote. But, they see the urgency of the climate crisis and are ready to do whatever it takes to have their voices be heard.” The growing support for the Green New Deal has revealed the power and potential of our public dollars. Only these public dollars can bring about the Green New Deal’s vision of an economy powered by renewable energy with good union jobs, racial equity, and community self-determination at its core. With this in mind, our coalition of community groups, unions, and workforce development organizations in Chicago is holding a series of [community forums](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/policy-for-the-public-community-forums/) to help shape the first draft of a good jobs policy that the city’s transit agency, CTA, committed to adopt. The policy, which JMA and CTA are collaborating on, will weave good job creation and racial equity into CTA’s public purchasing and contracting policies. While the development of such policies is typically not such a participatory process, our coalition is working to ensure that CTA riders and Chicagoans have the opportunity to shape the way their public dollars are spent on local transit. At these “Policy for the Public” forums, participants shared their perspectives and priorities, brainstorming suggestions for the policy and offering their thoughts on good jobs, racial equity, and barriers to employment in Chicago. Underlying these forums is a core belief that our public dollars are the strongest tool we have to make change. Organizing around the ways our public dollars are used (or in some instances, not used) to advance the most public good isn’t just a critical accountability mechanism — it’s our responsibility. Imagining and building a better world is hard, collective work, and it’s up to all of us to roll up our sleeves and dig in. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Racial Justice --- ### [Policy for the Public! Community Forums](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/policy-for-the-public-community-forums/) **Published:** February 27, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** We believe that people -- CTA riders and Chicagoans -- should have a direct say in how our public dollars are used to invest in public goods like transit. **Content:** Help shape a good jobs policy for the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)! The Chicago Transit Authority spends billions of our public dollars to purchase trains and buses from manufacturers. But, too often, the companies that receive our public money do not hire from communities most often denied good jobs. We believe that harnessing the power of our government spending can create wage jobs and a fair economy that works for all of us. Last year, CTA made a strong commitment to adopt a good jobs policy. And because the Jobs to Move America coalition in Illinois made clear that CTA’s policy needs to be written with community input, the agency agreed to let our coalition propose a policy that reflects Chicagoans’ voices. That’s why we held a series of community forums this month: to involve local residents in shaping our proposal for a strong jobs policy at CTA. > We believe that people — CTA riders and Chicagoans — should have a direct say in how our public dollars are used to invest in public goods like transit. In February, we hosted two forums, where we learned from participants about how we can ensure that CTA spends our public dollars in a way that creates family-sustaining jobs for people who face major barriers to good employment. ### Keep an eye on [our Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/JobstoMoveAmerica) for upcoming Policy for the Public! forums in March. The forums are open to everyone, especially if you’ve been unemployed, underemployed, or a participant in a jobs-training program. We will discuss how we can work together for a CTA policy that uplifts communities. Join us! **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Racial Justice --- ### [Column: Public officials should say 'no' to economic incentives that don't advance the public good](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/column-public-officials-should-say-no-to-economic-incentives-that-dont-advance-the-public-good/) **Published:** February 13, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Across the United States, enormous public resources are given to manufacturing companies that often make grand promises but actually eliminate or undercut good American jobs. **Content:** **By Madeline Janis** *This column originally appeared in [Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/madelinejanis/2020/02/10/public-officials-should-say-no-to-economic-incentives-that-dont-advance-the-public-good/#98a52134e5e4).* It stands to reason that taxpayer dollars—public dollars—should be used for the public good. But what appears to be reasonable or obvious isn’t always so. Across the United States, enormous public resources are given to manufacturing companies that often make grand promises but actually eliminate or undercut good American jobs. One of the most egregious examples of this involves President Trump and United Technologies, the parent company to Carrier, a furnace manufacturer. On the 2016 campaign trail, Trump declared that United Technologies “would have to pay a consequence” if the company moved one of its Carrier plants from Indiana to Mexico. All bets were off once Trump was elected. As the Center for American Progress [noted](https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2018/11/01/457771/realities-economic-development-subsidies/#fn-457771-5), a deal negotiated by then-Indiana Governor and Vice President-elect Mike Pence in December 2016—gave United Technologies $7 million in state tax breaks over the course of a decade. In return, the company would move about two-thirds of the 2,100 jobs originally planned to go to Mexico and keep the plant open. Classic case of addition by subtraction. But in May 2017, despite the tax breaks, Carrier notified the state of Indiana of its intention to lay off 630 employees. Carrier’s CEO also indicated that the investments would go toward automation technology that would further reduce the number of jobs. Carrier is not alone. As one of the five appointees to the governing Committee of the California Competes Tax Credit Program, I am regularly asked to approve tax credits in the tens of million dollars to private companies—very often manufacturers to create jobs in the state. The Speaker of the California Assembly appointed me to this role because while I am a strong supporter of this important economic development program, I take my fiduciary role on behalf of California’s taxpayers very seriously. For many of these proposed tax credits, I ask the applicant companies whether this funding will create a net positive number of good jobs with career paths and real training. Will the precious taxpayer resources really make a difference in the lives of working people, particularly those who have often been excluded from good manufacturing jobs, such as women and people of color? If not, I am always prepared to say no. Unfortunately, in occasionally saying no, I am almost always alone. This past November, the Committee debated a number of requests to grant tax credits to national companies wanting to do business in California. They all came in with big proposals promising to create better communities and increase jobs. Unfortunately, when I looked behind the curtain, that was not always the case. Take Kroger for example. Kroger is the largest supermarket by revenue and second largest general retailer in the country. The corporation is now partnering with the British automation giant Ocado to create huge, fully automated fulfillment centers throughout the U.S. Kroger asked the Committee for a $3.3 million tax credit in exchange for hiring 234 full-time employees. Sounds good, right? Wrong. When pushed, Kroger admitted that the automated fulfillment center would be almost entirely run by robots. The “highly skilled” workers at the end of automated assembly line would be paid close to minimum wage—between $31,000 and $42,000 a year—for full-time work. The final exchange between the Committee and Kroger was typical: without the tax credit, Kroger threatened to take its business to Nevada. I’ve seen this bullying tactic used time and time again. In Kroger’s case, I felt the threat to go elsewhere did not outweigh the fact that the jobs would not be family-sustaining ones. The workers would earn low wages and lack a collective voice to push for better wages, benefits, and working conditions. At that same meeting, the Committee approved an $800,000 subsidy for Systems Machine Automation Company Corp.—a robotic equipment manufacturing company in Carlsbad, California—to manufacture robotic fingers that would, according to the available [evidence](https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2019/05/01/how-to-keep-the-robots-from-taking-jobs-000895), eventually eliminate jobs. And, yet again, there was a threat to move business elsewhere—this time expanding its work in New Hampshire. I’ve voted “no” on proposals that stand to create more harm than good, all of which are examples of how the process of awarding public subsidies rarely involves consideration of how corporations will impact workers or communities. One thing is clear: we need new, transparent processes for these important decisions. That’s why I proposed to the Committee, and have been encouraging [elsewhere](https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2019/05/01/how-to-keep-the-robots-from-taking-jobs-000895), the establishment of Technology Impact Assessments. These Assessments would require corporations to provide full information on the quantity and type of jobs to be created or eliminated, so cities and states would have the knowledge needed to determine if an investment of public resources will benefit communities. We need to examine the consequences when handing out tax credits, taking into account the needs of the entire community. Who wins, who loses? Do the gains from these subsidies far exceed the subsidies themselves? Are we insisting on and enforcing high labor standards to ensure public subsidies aren’t used to create minimum wage jobs without benefits? Or worse, that the subsidies will support new technologies that ultimately result in a net job loss because of automation. But we should aim for more than “do no harm.” Public officials should also use the power of our public dollars to address historic and contemporary disparities in access to good jobs, ensuring that millions of workers—especially people of color, women, and workers with low wages—are first in line for jobs and training in the workforce of the future. We must use the power of public dollars to address economic injustices amid rapid technological change. We need strategies and actions that move us towards an inclusive, clean economy. Put simply, if corporations want to make a “home” in cities through public contracts and incentives, they must do so by committing to make honest investments in their workers and the communities in which they live. That’s public dollars being used for the public good. **Categories:** Economy, Transparency --- ### [Column: Manufacturers have a recruiting problem. So why aren't they hiring more women?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/manufacturers-have-a-recruiting-problem-so-why-arent-they-hiring-more-women/) **Published:** August 20, 2018 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Despite the fact that women represent 51.4 percent of adults in the U.S., they hold only seven percent of middle-skilled manufacturing jobs. **Content:** **By Madeline Janis** *This column originally appeared in [Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/madelinejanis/2018/08/20/manufacturers-have-a-recruitment-problem-so-why-arent-they-hiring-more-women/#1f1f52814e57)* Manufacturers in the United States are [having a hard time](http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-manufacturing-talent-gap-1218-biz-20161217-story.html) recruiting middle-skilled workers to fill the [growing demand for machinists](https://mn.gov/deed/newscenter/publications/trends/dec-2013/hiring-difficulties.jsp), welders, computer-controlled machine operators and other key positions. Business leaders talk about this [recruitment problem](https://www2.deloitte.com/insights/us/en/deloitte-review/issue-16/manufacturing-skills-gap-america.html) at round-tables, conferences and in articles, [debating](https://www.manufacturing.net/article/2017/09/recruiting-and-training-next-gen-workforce) whether the problem stems from the poor quality of the U.S. school system, the need to invest in job training and apprenticeship programs or a concern about [laziness](https://www.today.com/money/millennials-lazy-entitled-or-maybe-just-young-2D79664367) in the American workforce. The worker shortage becomes more alarming given [emerging research](http://www.themanufacturinginstitute.org/~/media/827DBC76533942679A15EF7067A704CD.ashx) that shows that manufacturers are expected to create 3.5 million jobs in the next 10 years, with two million of those potentially going unfilled. A seemingly unrelated statistic may hold part of the answer to this recruitment dilemma. Despite the fact that women represent 51.4 percent of adults in the U.S., they hold only seven percent [of middle-skilled](https://iwpr.org/publications/pathways-to-equity-narrowing-the-wage-gap-by-improving-womens-access-to-good-middle-skill-jobs/) manufacturing jobs. In a gender-neutral world, the absence of women in middle-skilled factory jobs might cause recruitment-conscious business leaders to do some soul-searching about why women don’t work for them. After all, [middle skilled manufacturing jobs pay better](http://www.nam.org/newsroom/facts-about-manufacturing/) and have better benefits than jobs in the service sector, where many women work. “They don’t want to get dirty.” “Women aren’t cut out for that kind of work.” “Women don’t want to work here. We’ve tried.” These are some of the responses that business leaders often give when asked about why there aren’t more women in front line jobs. The recent spate of stories connected to the #MeToo movement might hold the real answer to this question. [Women would rather work in service jobs because life on the factory floor can be hell](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fmadelinejanis%2F2018%2F08%2F20%2Fmanufacturers-have-a-recruitment-problem-so-why-arent-they-hiring-more-women%2F&text=Manufacturing%20jobs%20pay%20well%2C%20but%20women%20are%20opting%20for%20service%20jobs%20because%20life%20on%20the%20factory%20floor%20can%20be%20hell) . “Dead Mice, Stolen Tools and Lewd Remarks: Coping With Harassment in Blue-Collar Jobs,” was the title of a recent *New York Times* [article](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/29/us/blue-collar-women-harassment.html) that detailed stories from more than 80 women workers about life on the factory floor, where they described how they had been mistreated and sexually harassed. As [one woman](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/19/us/ford-chicago-sexual-harassment.html) facing repeated instances of sexual harassment while working a union job in the Ford Chicago factory said: > “It just was way, way, way, way too much,” she said of the abuses. “Each time that I was taking it, again and again, it just felt like more of me diminishing, just getting smaller until it was just like a shell of a person.” According to the [Chicago Women in Trades](https://iwpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/CWIT-MeToo-in-Male-Dominated-Jobs-003.pdf), women face hostile and even dangerous conditions in factories where they are trailblazers representing a small percentage of the workforce. Common complaints are that there is “locker room” talk and a “macho culture” that is part of the work environment. While women are more likely to be the targets of harassment, they’re also less likely to report. Fortunately, some employers and unions are beginning to take action to improve the environment for women in American factories. The [United Auto Workers](https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1211&context=lrr) was one of the first unions to include a clause in its contracts with Ford and Chrysler allowing members to file a grievance if sexual harassment occurs. Employers that have contracts with the [Ironworkers Union](http://womensequitycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Ironworkers-Best-Practice_Revision1.pdf) recently agreed to provide six months paid maternity leave to help recruit more women. A recent employer/union advertising campaign reads, “Want great maternity leave? Become an Ironworker.” That same Ironworkers Union launched a new campaign, [“Be that one guy”](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/one-guy-janet-dukic/) referring to male workers who make a special effort to challenge harassment when it happens and otherwise work to create a safe haven for women on the shop floor. The national non-profit Jobs to Move America created a program called [Women Can Build: Re-envisioning Rosie](http://womencanbuild.org/home/) which includes a powerful set of new images showing women from all walks of life welding, wiring, assembling and painting heavy equipment. These images have been used across the country to give women the confidence to start a long-term career in manufacturing. These strategies and programs have been having some impact. The Sheet Metal Workers Union in New York City implemented these practices and [increased women’s representation](http://womensequitycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Sheetmetal-Workers-Best-Practice_Revision1.pdf) in new apprenticeship classes from three percent in 2017 to 16 percent in 2018. The Jane Addams Resource Center in Chicago [created](https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/jobs-women-manufacturing-trades-union-labor-welding-pipefitters/Content?oid=39178354) a special recruitment program for women in manufacturing and increased female participation in their Careers in Manufacturing Program to 20 percent. [If manufacturers want to recruit the most talented workers out there, they need to start by making conditions better in the workplace for women](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fmadelinejanis%2F2018%2F08%2F20%2Fmanufacturers-have-a-recruitment-problem-so-why-arent-they-hiring-more-women%2F&text=If%20manufacturers%20want%20to%20recruit%20the%20most%20talented%20workers%2C%20they%20need%20to%20make%20conditions%20better%20for%20women) . Excuses like “boys will be boys” and “it’s just locker room talk” do not justify failure to take action and create a healthy workplace where all people feel comfortable and safe. Manufacturers’ bottom line will appreciate it because talent is talent, regardless of gender, race or sexual orientation. **Categories:** Economy, Feminism, Manufacturing --- ### [Column: What is a good economic development deal? Not the New York Amazon one.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/what-is-a-good-economic-development-deal-not-the-new-york-amazon-one/) **Published:** March 7, 2019 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** All of this soul searching by New Yorkers brings up a bigger question for the rest of the country: what makes a taxpayer-supported economic deal “good?” **Content:** **By Madeline Janis** *This column was originally published on [Forbes.com](https://www.forbes.com/sites/madelinejanis/2019/03/07/what-is-a-good-economic-development-deal-hint-not-the-new-york-amazon-one/#61a778596e2e)* Although Amazon recently announced its decision to “withdraw” from a [$1.7 billion New York economic development deal](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5096409-New-York-Agreement.html), stakeholders continue to urge Amazon to reconsider its decision. All of this soul searching by New Yorkers brings up a bigger question for the rest of the country: what makes a taxpayer-supported economic deal “good?” I have the benefit of experience on this question. Over the past 20 years as a policymaker, I have voted on over 1,000 economic development deals involving local or state government and large private companies. For me, the question on the Amazon New York deal is not whether New Yorkers want Amazon to come to Queens and create 25,000 jobs. Amazon [already has 5,000 employees](https://www.whec.com/news/amazon-drops-new-york-city-as-one-of-its-new-headquarter-locations/5246446/) in New York City and will likely increase this number substantially regardless of whether taxpayers give Amazon $1.7 billion dollars or not. There is no question that Amazon has the right to locate its facility in Long Island City without public involvement in that decision. But does the proposed economic development deal include clear, enforceable commitments from Amazon that make it a worthwhile investment? When individual welfare recipients are required to sign dozens of complex documents and demonstrate that they are “earning” their small grants, big businesses that are set to receive millions and billions in taxpayer contributions need to be held to even higher standards. What did Amazon propose to do in exchange for the public funding they would have received? There is [one document](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5096409-New-York-Agreement.html) that has been made publicly available which has enough in it to reflect on the two things that I believe make a deal worthy of public investment. **DID THE PUBLIC ENTITY CLEARLY DEFINE THE PUBLIC GOALS AND DESIRED RESULTS?** One of the hallmarks of bad economic development deals is when policymakers see their role as making a proposed developer happy, rather than defining up front what taxpayers need and want and then negotiating from that perspective. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) between New York and Amazon makes vague commitments to a workforce development program. Amazon is “encouraged” to use the resources of the state to assist with its job creation and retention program. The MOU does not make clear what the State and City of New York see as the greatest needs in the job market. If, for example, New York needs more middle-skilled jobs, then officials could have asked Amazon to define the projected 25,000 jobs and the required skill level. Key stakeholders could then have worked with Amazon to develop a training and hiring program aimed at New Yorkers who have been historically marginalized or who don’t currently have access to those good jobs. There is currently a huge need for hiring and training programs for women, people of color, veterans, and people needing a second chance. In exchange for public money—including a half billion dollar grant—New York could have negotiated a massive local hiring and training program with key stakeholders in the five boroughs. But it didn’t. Since there is a serious affordable housing crisis in New York City, policymakers could have also negotiated a set of commitments from Amazon to create affordable housing. There are [good precedents](https://www.chicagoreporter.com/how-neighborhoods-have-held-developers-accountable-to-their-needs/) for this. That kind of commitment by Amazon could make the public investment worthwhile. **IS THERE AN ENFORCEABLE AGREEMENT IN CASE THINGS FALL APART?** As everyone knows, wishful thinking does not make a contract successful. In my 20 years of evaluating economic development deals, there are phrases that appear often in public contracts that signal a “bad deal.” For example, the use of the words “may” (vs. shall or will) or “good faith efforts” or “encourage,” instead of “must” indicate that a business receiving subsidies doesn’t have to do much to get the funds. The MOU with Amazon is full of this kind of language. For example, it says that the workforce development initiatives “may” include the following and then lists a few vague workforce development ideas. Also, Amazon would only be encouraged to make “good faith efforts” to create business opportunities for women and minority-owned subcontractors. Like any good business deal, a well-negotiated economic development contract needs to have specific and measurable deliverables and remedies and time tables for the compliance with those deliverables. Every business knows the adage, “trust but verify.” Why would businesses expect public officials to invest precious taxpayer revenue on a venture based only on vague promises to try their best to meet the community’s needs? The draft MOU between Amazon and New York does not meet the two tests that I have used for decades to evaluate if a proposed public investment is a good one. Policymakers cannot be advocates for big companies asking them for big money. Public officials need to have their eyes on the prize of a public return on investment. **Categories:** Economy, Transparency --- ### [Column: A Green New Deal worth taking](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/a-green-new-deal-worth-taking-how-to-advance-inclusion-through-clean-energy-jobs/) **Published:** April 18, 2019 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The Green New Deal is dominating the headlines, but what does this really mean for workers? A new report offers some important insights. **Content:** **By Madeline Janis** *This column originally appeared in [Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/madelinejanis/2019/04/18/how-to-advance-inclusion-through-clean-energy-jobs/#7ee21b261eaa).* The Green New Deal is dominating the headlines, but what does this really mean for workers? A new report released by the [Brookings Institute today](https://www.brookings.edu/research/advancing-inclusion-through-clean-energy-jobs/) offers some important insights. The report, “[Advancing inclusion through clean energy jobs](https://www.brookings.edu/research/advancing-inclusion-through-clean-energy-jobs/),” presents the manufacturing sector with a big opportunity: to hire and train the next generation of workers for good clean energy jobs – jobs which are generally higher-paying, yet often have fewer educational requirements. But [manufacturers still have a recruitment problem](https://www.forbes.com/sites/madelinejanis/2018/08/20/manufacturers-have-a-recruitment-problem-so-why-arent-they-hiring-more-women/#61a1c8174e57): and not surprisingly this “green vision” for the future is leaving many workers – including women and communities of color – behind. According to the [Institute for Women’s Policy Research](http://womenandgoodjobs.org/app/uploads/2016/03/Pathways-to-Equity-executive-summary-FINAL.pdf), there will be 533,000 good middle-skill jobs available over the next decade in manufacturing. Right now, only 7 percent of workers in these jobs are women. While some business leaders stand by the false narrative that women are “not cut out for that type of work” or “don’t like to get dirty,” at Jobs to Move America, we know they’re dead wrong. That’s why we created a program called [Women Can Build: Re-envisioning Rosie](http://womencanbuild.org/home/). Through a powerful series of images showing women from all walks of life welding, wiring, assembling and painting heavy machinery, we are shifting this narrative and empowering women to work in fields traditionally dominated by white men. The program features modern-day Rosie’s like Ruby Diaz, a quality control technician who was “a little intimidated with so many male coworkers,” but soon proved her outstanding mechanical and electrical skills. Or Ami Rasmussen, an interior assembly foreman, who wants to “lead by example” and “show women that they can do anything they put their minds to.” Because they can. Last month was Women’s History Month, but we should really be thinking about racial and gender equity all 365 days of the year. We should be investing not only in a clean energy workforce, but a more inclusive, well-paying, and just one. For businesses, that means being intentional about expanding the labor pool and opening up access to clean energy jobs through recruitment, hiring and job training. It also means working with labor unions and community organizations to eliminate any barriers to employment for historically-underrepresented groups, including women and people of color. But training and education, as proposed by the Brookings Report, can’t stand on its own. Right now, the manufacturing sector is mainly focused on maximizing shareholder value. This laser-focus often leads companies to make the easiest choice (i.e. hire white men with previous mechanical training or low-skilled people to do these jobs), rather than the more equitable and sustainable one. Here’s how we can change this economic calculus: by tying public investment in job creation to creating jobs for people who have been historically marginalized from clean energy and manufacturing, among other growing sectors. Forward-thinking policies like these will ensure that clean energy and technology companies have a direct stake in hiring women, people of color, veterans, and other people facing barriers to employment. And that’s a (Green) New Deal worth taking. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [Column: A challenge to American business, fight for infrastructure spending, or suffer the consequences](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/a-challenge-to-american-business-fight-for-infrastructure-spending-or-suffer-the-consequences/) **Published:** May 21, 2019 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** With a $2 trillion infrastructure package on the line, business leaders need to step up and fight for the common good in the form of public infrastructure spending -- or suffer the consequences. **Content:** **By Madeline Janis** *This column originally appeared in [Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/madelinejanis/2019/05/21/a-challenge-to-american-business-fight-for-infrastructure-spending-or-suffer-the-consequences/#705679f06dcf).* Last week, hundreds of communities, elected officials, labor unions, workers, and industry leaders gathered for the seventh annual Infrastructure Week to underscore the pressing need for investment in the renewal and modernization of America’s crumbling infrastructure. Calls to build [safer](https://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/2019/05/15/opinion-infrastructure-updates-keep-michigan-safe/3664872002/), [cleaner](https://usa.streetsblog.org/2019/05/14/theres-a-right-way-to-spend-trillions-on-infrastructure/), [smarter](https://infrastructureweek.org/building-smarter-with-smarter-infrastructure/), [greener](https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-budget/443938-infrastructure-conversation-must-include-americas-public), [bluer](https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-budget/443938-infrastructure-conversation-must-include-americas-public), and all-around better infrastructure projects rang across dozens of panels, events, and in the media. With a $2 trillion infrastructure package on the line, business leaders need to step up and fight for the common good in the form of public infrastructure spending — or suffer the consequences. And only truly inclusive investment in our infrastructure will yield the economic, social, and environmental gains that this country needs. It’s no secret that much of the country’s infrastructure — from roads and aviation systems to waterways and ports — is currently under-maintained, too old, or simply over capacity. Our infrastructure is in such a serious state of deterioration and disinvestment that the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave it a “D+” rating in 2017. Businesses and their workers are feeling the impact. Chronic underinvestment in transit means that commuters waste an average of [42 hours per year](https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/09/commuters-waste-a-full-week-in-traffic-each-year.html) and millions of dollars in fuel stuck in traffic. Extreme weather events have taken their toll on our reservoirs. Dam and levee failures have led to massive evacuations, contaminated drinking water systems, and have and put hundreds of thousands of lives at risk. A strong public sector that has the resources to rebuild our infrastructure is a prerequisite to a healthy American business climate. As Senator Elizabeth Warren said in 2011, “There is nobody in this country who got rich on their own. Nobody. You built a factory out there — good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate.” With the 2017 Republican tax cuts, the [federal debt has skyrocketed](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/12/18/18146253/tax-cuts-and-jobs-act-stock-market-economy) and we now have fewer public resources to invest in infrastructure. The result is is that factories — as well as the workers and communities that benefit from them — suffer. So long as the sustained attack on government’s ability to raise the revenue necessary to maintain our roads, bridges, water systems, and mass transit continues, deteriorating infrastructure will continue to cost businesses and the overall economy. Failing to act on infrastructure now could translate into an additional [2.5 million jobs lost by 2025](https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/opinion/contributors/viewpoints/2019/05/16/ignoring-our-infrastructure-dangerous-its-time-fix-roads/3665340002/). Winning increased investment in infrastructure is only half of the solution. Only by leveraging our infrastructure spending to advance inclusion and fight for the common good will businesses and communities maximize economic gains. By tying infrastructure investments to enforceable equity, inclusion, and job quality measures, we can create and expand access to high-quality jobs for people from marginalized communities, especially those who face barriers to employment. At a time when concerns about persistent labor shortages are mounting in the manufacturing, construction industries, and other infrastructure-adjacent sectors, inclusive investments help businesses build up a skilled labor pool while boosting their bottom line. The math isn’t hard. Communities across the country facing unprecedented crises — from the impact of climate breakdown on homes and neighborhoods to financial instability, a dearth of affordable housing, and rising transportation costs. And if there’s one thing voters and politicians on both sides of the aisle agree on, it’s that investing in infrastructure is a top priority. Nearly [80 percent of voters](https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000168-1450-da94-ad6d-1ffa86630001) identified infrastructure spending as an “extremely important” priority for 2019. [Research has proven that taking a healthy, inclusive approach to infrastructure investment could support or create an additional 14.5 million job-years across the U.S. economy](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fmadelinejanis%2F2019%2F05%2F21%2Fa-challenge-to-american-business-fight-for-infrastructure-spending-or-suffer-the-consequences%2F&text=Research%20proves%20that%20healthy%2C%20inclusive%20infrastructure%20investment%20could%20add%20%241.66%20trillion%20to%20our%20GDP%20over%20a%20decade.) and add a cumulative $1.66 trillion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over 10 years. [Rather than pressing for tax cuts and smaller government, businesses must step up to fight for the funding needed to solve our common infrastructure problems.](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fmadelinejanis%2F2019%2F05%2F21%2Fa-challenge-to-american-business-fight-for-infrastructure-spending-or-suffer-the-consequences%2F&text=Rather%20than%20pressing%20for%20tax%20cuts%20%2B%20smaller%20gov%27t%2C%20businesses%20need%20to%20fight%20for%20funding%20to%20rebuild%20our%20infrastructure.) That way, businesses across the country can continue to benefit from roads, bridges, mass transit, clean water, clean air, police, fire, schools, and everything else that makes a country great. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Column: Let's electrify public buses without throwing workers under the bus](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/lets-electrify-public-buses-without-throwing-workers-under-the-bus/) **Published:** July 30, 2019 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** A large-scale transition to electric buses is a logical way to meet these emissions targets and clean our air. Now it’s time to get serious about making that transition work for everyone. **Content:** **By Madeline Janis** *This column originally appeared in [Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/madelinejanis/2019/07/30/lets-electrify-public-buses-without-throwing-workers-under-the-bus/#70699c661124).* At a recent meeting with 80+ diesel bus mechanics represented by the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), I got an earful about the fears these workers have that their jobs will soon be eliminated as cities and states transition to battery-electric buses. Even though all of these workers suffer the [dangerous health impacts](https://oem.bmj.com/content/55/9/594) from working with diesel equipment, they were staunchly opposed to the idea of battery-powered electric buses. And who can blame them? We’ve seen countless examples of exciting new technology resulting in massive layoffs that hit workers and their families hard. Why should tens of thousands of bus mechanics in the United States cheer on electric buses before knowing whether their livelihoods are at risk? Here’s the thing: electric buses are coming. That much is certain. Countless cities and states across the country have begun to electrify their fleets and countless more are in the planning stages of the process. But how electric buses will be deployed *en masse* is another story, one that’s still unfolding. Will cities like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles that have committed to transitioning their entire bus fleets to zero-emissions technology simply lay off all of their current mechanics and ask electric bus manufacturers to keep the new equipment in good repair? Or is there another way for the current workers to be retrained and even for the buses to be manufactured in the communities that so desperately need good jobs? In the convoluted debate about the future for American workers, very few thought leaders have focused on the potential that we — as taxpayers — have to shape the type and quality of jobs that can be created and retained. As I describe in a recent [article](https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2019/05/01/how-to-keep-the-robots-from-taking-jobs-000895) (co-authored by Jose Garcia from the Ford Foundation), cities and states have the power to ensure that hard-working people get to share in the benefits of technological innovation. And the shift to battery-electric buses is an example of how a smart approach to the transition can be a win-win for manufacturers, communities, and workers. Last week, Dr. Christy Veeder, the National Director of the non-profit organization — Jobs to Move America — that I lead, [outlined a clear, reliable pathway](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/research/transforming-transit-realizing-opportunity-how-battery-electric-buses-can-benefit-the-environment-the-economy-and-public-transit/) to electric buses that doesn’t leave workers behind. Dr. Veeder takes a [comprehensive look](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/research/transforming-transit-realizing-opportunity-how-battery-electric-buses-can-benefit-the-environment-the-economy-and-public-transit/) at the state of battery-electric bus technology and offers a holistic set of policy solutions that will ensure a large-scale transition to electric buses is a win all around — for workers, the environment, communities, and the economy. Importantly, the new technology doesn’t have to mean layoffs — it can be an opportunity to retrain and improve the quality of our new technology jobs. Notably, Dr. Veeder’s report uses economic modeling to find that a nationwide transition to electric buses using these policy recommendations is poised to create at least20,000 good manufacturing jobs in the US. When I brought up these possibilities with the ATU bus mechanics I spoke with earlier this year, our conversation went from hesitant to hopeful. We can’t just expect frontline workers to wait on the sidelines while we move towards new technology, which is why Dr Veeder’s report encourage cities and states to consult with and listen to bus operators, maintenance workers, and unions to determine what technical skills training is necessary. That brings us to perhaps the most important recommendation of all: Cities and states need to make a serious, lasting commitment to listening to and learning from a broad, inclusive group of key stakeholders. From communities and frontline workers to public utility officials and members of the general public, these stakeholders hold the keys to successful bus electrification. Without them, we simply won’t reap wide benefits from a transition to electric buses. More and more, state and local governments are getting serious about passing ambitious climate policies. A large-scale transition to electric buses is a logical way to meet these emissions targets and clean our air. Now it’s time to get serious about making that transition work for everyone. **Categories:** Climate Change, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Column: 'American Factory' tells an all too familiar story](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/american-factory-tells-an-all-too-familiar-story/) **Published:** August 28, 2019 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Netflix is airing a new documentary, “American Factory,” which tells an important and powerful story. Spoiler alert: the ending is not a triumphant one for the workers. But better endings do, in fact, exist. **Content:** **By Madeline Janis** *This column originally appeared in [Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/madelinejanis/2019/08/28/american-factory-tells-an-all-too-familiar-story/#499d444a4d42).* Donald Trump claims to be waging his trade war with China on behalf of American workers. But as with most things this president says, the truth is almost precisely the opposite of what Trump contends it is. I know, because I see it up close every day. The non-profit organization I lead, Jobs to Move America, works with cities and states to encourage private companies to create good jobs with fair wages for a diverse, locally hired workforce, and to protect the environment from harm. JMA also organizes workers and residents of the towns and cities where manufactured equipment is built. Our shop floor-level view is radically different from Trump’s White House view. From our vantage point, we see how foreign investment in the U.S., including from China, can be either a terrible deal for American workers, or it can be an outstanding one. The same can be said for investment for any company — U.S.-based, Canadian-based companies, or otherwise. The difference has little to do with trade deficits, bilateral trade agreements, or bloviating politicians threatening tariff hikes. It has to do with whether cities and states do right by workers and communities and insist on accountability from the corporations that set up shop in their homes. Netflix is airing a new documentary, “American Factory,” which tells an important and powerful story. The film follows the workers at Fuyao, a new car glass Chinese-owned and managed manufacturing plant in Dayton, Ohio. Local politicians awarding million dollar subsidies welcome Fuyao to Dayton with great fanfare, heralding the plant’s opening as a boon to the city’s residents, who are hurting from the closure of the old GM plant, which is the site of the new factory. Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown publicly endorses the unionization of the factory, much to the consternation of management. But Fuyao’s bosses are virulently anti-union; seem indifferent to the well-being of their workers, Chinese and American alike; and are myopically fixated on maximizing profits, whatever the cost to workers and the local community. The American workers and the Chinese managers clash over working conditions, and that clash is only aggravated by the differences in the managers and workers’ conceptions of fair labor standards. The film is a depressing snapshot of corporate globalization. Community groups and unions have seen variations on this story play out all around the country, but with differences. The important differences we’ve seen are outcomes. Spoiler alert: the ending of “American Factory” is not a triumphant one for the workers. But better endings do, in fact, exist. JMA and I have been part of making them happen. In Lancaster, California, another Chinese-owned company, called Build Your Dreams (BYD), built a plant that manufactures electric buses for cities and counties across the U.S.. When it first announced its intention to build its North American headquarters and two factories in LA County, BYD wasn’t convinced that it was in their interest to work with unions and community groups. However, BYD chose a different path than Fuyao. The company ultimately embraced a partnership with the local union, SMART Local 105, and a coalition of community groups led by Jobs to Move America to negotiate a far-reaching agreement that guarantees fair hiring practices, family-sustaining wages, good working conditions, and skills training. Today, the plant in Lancaster is a model for how to build a strong workforce and workplace where management is committed to diversity and environmental sustainability. Trump would have you believe that all Chinese business owners are cheats who don’t care about American workers. But here’s the truth: Chinese corporations aren’t the only ones. You can find corporations that cut corners if given the chance, where indifference to workers is in their DNA. Take a look at corporations based in Europe, [Canada](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/09/business/economy/public-contracts-wage-commitments.html), and the [United States](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/sep/10/tesla-workers-union-elon-musk): you’ll find a pattern in their anti-worker conduct. Unless cities and states stand up for workers and communities, corporations will get away with what they’re allowed to get away with, regardless of where they’re based or where they’re investing. The good news is that we don’t have to let them get away with anything short of the high labor and environmental standards that many [foreign-owned companies](https://www.stargazette.com/story/news/local/2016/07/25/400-manufacturing-jobs-coming-alstom-hornell/87526602/) in the US are living up to today. We’ve seen it over and over: when workers and community members join together to demand dignity and respect, they can achieve the goal of shared prosperity that should be the basis for all of these agreements in the first place. A win for workers is a win for communities and corporations who invest in them. Hopefully, one day an “American Factory” sequel will be able to tell this story as well. **Categories:** Economy, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Building a more inclusive climate justice movement](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/building-a-more-inclusive-climate-justice-movement/) **Published:** July 3, 2019 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** How do we confront the social harms experienced by marginalized workers and collaborate towards a Green New Deal? **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/1_2nTUB32vBrv0sTxtXnzeyQ-1024x719.jpeg "- Jobs to Move America")Last weekend, I attended the Third National Labor Convergence on Climate here in Chicago. The conference, organized by the [Labor Network for Sustainability](https://www.labor4sustainability.org/), aimed to strengthen the labor movement’s voice to help shape the Green New Deal. Hundreds of activists and advocates from the labor, environmental, and economic justice movements participated. And although everyone may not have agreed on the Green New Deal or where it should head, the conference fostered essential dialogue across movements, especially about those who are too often divided and separated by barriers, such as geography and community segregation. One key question that I came away asking myself was how our push for climate justice can truly identify and address the intersections between economic, environmental, and social issues in the transition to a carbon-free country. How do we confront the social harms experienced by marginalized workers and collaborate towards a Green New Deal? On day one, an impressive panel of speakers, including Sara Nelson, International President of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA; Cecile Roberts, President of the United Mine Workers of America; and Maria Castaneda, Secretary Treasurer of 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East kicked off the conference. Responding to efforts by some in the media to divide labor and environmental groups, President Nelson affirmed: “We cannot allow this idea that labor is opposed to addressing climate change to exist.” While the environmental and labor movements have been too often pitted against each other, both are essential to building robust policy solutions for a sustainable, equitable economy — one that works for our planet and our workers. ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/1__QyjeDC9NppB6plzyY9ilg-300x225.jpeg "1__QyjeDC9NppB6plzyY9ilg - Jobs to Move America")Mustafa Salahuddin PresidentBusiness Agent of ATU LOCAL 1336 Chanelle Yang and Akshai Singh MOVE Ohio at the conference But we cannot expect to bridge the labor and environmental movements without understanding and addressing the struggles of the people left out of those movements — especially those from vulnerable and marginalized communities. This point became especially clear to me as I listened to Saket Soni, the Executive Director of the National Guestworker Alliance and Resilience Force, tell the story of two immigrant workers who struggled to rebuild neighborhoods after natural disasters, like Hurricane Katrina, working precarious jobs amid turmoil in their own lives. Listening to this story reminded me that we don’t talk enough about the future of immigrants in low-wage work as we face the challenges of climate change. Coming out of the conference, I found myself thinking about a few major issues. First, as advocates, we must do the hard work of asking ourselves who isn’t in the room during discussions about the Green New Deal, and whose voices have been historically excluded or underrepresented in our movements. We will be in a better position to tackle environmental and economic problems if we understand how these issues intersect with systemic racism and sexism for people in and out of the workplace. Secondly, we won’t get to a Green New Deal that benefits nearly every person in America and overhauls industries across the nation unless we develop more inclusive processes to get there. That means engaging rank-and-file union members, low-wage and non-union workers, fossil fuel workers, immigrants, communities on the front-lines of climate change and industrial pollution, low-income communities, and people of color. My home state, Illinois, is leading the way on inclusive solutions and policy-making. In 2016, the Illinois legislature passed the Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA), which “[ramped](https://www.governing.com/gov-institute/voices/col-what-cities-states-can-do-climate-change-jobs.html) up renewable-energy development in the state with a particular focus on bringing solar-related jobs to low-income communities.” But according to Juliana Pino, the Policy Director of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO), “Communities most impacted were originally not involved in FEJA. FEJA was the first time environmental justice impacted communities had a seat at the table with energy companies.” Because low-income and environmental justice advocates, such as LVEJO, ended up playing a key role in the bill’s formation, FEJA included large increases to workforce training for folks historically excluded from the renewable energy industry, as well as incentives to hire returning citizens with records and alumni of the foster care system. Last weekend’s conference was just the beginning of conversations that must continue nationwide. It’s up to all of us in the labor and environmental movements to embrace these hard conversations about what a more inclusive, equitable policy-making process looks like to arrive at concrete policy solutions for a Green New Deal that will propel us towards a better future. We need to shape the Green New Deal — before lawmakers in Washington, corporate interests, and lobbyists shape and weaken it for us. --- *Chanelle Yang is a Senior Policy Associate with Jobs to Move America based in Illinois.* *Image credit: Peg Hunter/Flickr* **Categories:** Climate Change, Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [Welcome to our new website!](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/our-new-website/) **Published:** January 7, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This year is shaping up to be a big one, from the presidential election to a national climate justice movement. We're ahead of the curve with a new website and visual identity. **Content:** This year is shaping up to be a big one. There’s a presidential election on the horizon, the labor movement is experiencing a nationwide resurgence, and the youth climate justice movement is leading the way to a climate-safe future. **To kick off this year in high gear, Jobs to Move America is excited to reveal our new website and visual identity,** which will help us share resources and ideas, connect with our coalitions, and flip the script on the power of our public dollars to do public good. If you’re reading this, you’re already on our new website, welcome! As you take a look around, here are some tips to help you get the most out of our new site. **Flip the script** Our public dollars are the backbone of our economy. But for the past two decades, special interest groups and conservative pundits have waged an [all-out war](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/the-history-of-privatization/) on our public institutions and governments. The result? Corporations that seem to have more power than communities, and an economy that often puts profit over people. It doesn’t have to be this way. At Jobs to Move America, we believe that our public dollars are the most important tool in our fight to build a just, clean, and worker-centered economy. Our new website will help us flip the script on the power of our public dollars by showcasing the latest news and views about our work. *Check out the [What’s New](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/) section for a blog with the latest updates on our work, the [Pressroom](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/pressroom/) for news clips, press releases, and media highlights, and the [Our Approach](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/our-approach/) section for insight into the principles, strategies, and practices that inform our work.* **Knowledge is power** Sharing information and research about how our public dollars are used — and how they might be used better — is critical to our work. *Our new website includes a Resource library that brings together all of our rigorous research, policy tools, webinars, white papers, and fact sheets in one easy-to-use library. We’ll also showcase our partners’ research and resources — so if you have a publication to share with us,* [*send*](mailto:sreuss@jobstomoveamerica.org) *it our way!* **Organizing to win** We believe that working in coalition is the only way to make real, structural change. Right now, JMA is building strong coalitions in California, Illinois, New York, and New Jersey, and the American South to advocate for good jobs and equity policies, win community benefits agreements, and more. Stay up to date with our regional campaigns, as well as our national program, in the *[Our Work](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/our-work/)* section of our website. You can also learn more about our partners and coalitions on the *[Who We Work With](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/our-approach/who-we-work-with/)* page. If you have any questions about the new website, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our communications specialist, Sophia Reuss, at Happy browsing! --- ### [Fear on the factory floor is bad for business](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/fear-on-the-factory-floor-is-bad-for-business/) **Published:** October 15, 2018 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** In the past 20 years, U.S. manufacturing jobs have become more insecure and precarious. **Content:** **By Madeline Janis** *This column originally appeared in [Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/madelinejanis/2018/10/15/fear-on-the-factory-floor-is-bad-for-business/#14c725d3751b)* In the past 20 years, U.S. manufacturing jobs have become more insecure and precarious. The [use of temporary workers](https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/temp-work-now-permanent-fixture-creating-problems-invisible-workforce-n793466) has increased dramatically, with [47 percent of the U.S. temporary workforce ](https://www.industryweek.com/workforce/manufacturings-temporary-worker-boom)consisting of manufacturing and industrial workers. While the economy improves, manufacturing wages have continued to [decrease](https://www.cheatsheet.com/money-career/why-manufacturing-workers-have-seen-their-wages-fall-under-trump.html/) and over [one third of manufacturing workers](http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/producing-poverty-the-public-cost-of-low-wage-production-jobs-in-manufacturing/) are now on some form of public assistance. Unions, which have historically protected workers when they brought up concerns about safety, production mistakes and inefficiencies, now [represent less than 10 percent](https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/union2.pdf) of the manufacturing workforce. The result of this shop-floor instability: the constant presence of fear. Fear of losing your job, fear of harassment, and fear of not getting a promotion. As one worker from a factory in rural Illinois told me, “When I report a safety hazard, I immediately get interrogated by my lead and branded as a troublemaker. That means I have to decide whether I want to risk injury or whether I want my life to be hell.” Research suggests this fear of retaliation is well-founded. A 2009 report from the National Employment Law Project found that 43 percent of low-wage workers surveyed in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago [experienced illegal retaliation from their employer after filing a safety-related complaint](http://www.nelp.org/content/uploads/2015/03/BrokenLawsReport2009.pdf?nocdn=1). A [recent survey](https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/05/03/retaliation-happens-how-to-build-a-speak-up-culture-in-the-age-of-transparency/#44301ab33ec0) from the Ethics and Compliance Initiative found that the percentage of employees claiming to have experienced retaliation climbed from 22 percent to 44 percent since 2013. An Equal Employment Opportunities Commission [report](https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/10/15/16438750/weinstein-sexual-harassment-facts) found that 75 percent of all people reporting sexual harassment in their workplaces experienced retaliation. Production worker fear is bad for worker morale and well-being, and it could also be affecting manufacturing industry health. In the past 12 years, productivity in U.S. manufacturing has [declined](https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2018/article/multifactor-productivity-slowdown-in-us-manufacturing.htm) by an average of 0.3 percent per year. The same products are being produced with more labor hours and slightly higher costs, despite the increased efficiencies created by the use of robots and other speed-enhancing technologies. While some researchers speculate that [lower worker educational attainment](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2015/wp15116.pdf) is to blame, the fear and uncertainty faced by manufacturing workers may also be a contributing cause. I have heard a common refrain from many factory workers over the past 10 years. They remain silent despite having good ideas for improving production, reducing mistakes and safety hazards because of intimidating factory floor environments. As one Southern-based heavy-equipment manufacturing worker recently told me, “When a supervisor tells me to caulk over a mistake, I do it. Complaining to upper management would likely get me fired and I need this job.” 25 years ago, management expert Dr. W. Edwards Denning wrote about [14 best practices](https://deming.org/explore/fourteen-points) for improving company productivity, emphasizing the value of firm-level commitment to shop floor feedback and driving out fear from the workplace. [Dennings argued](https://blog.deming.org/2013/02/where-there-is-fear-you-do-not-get-honest-figures/) that fear undermines teamwork and “invites wrong figures. Bearers of bad news fare badly. To keep his job, anyone may present to his boss only good news.” Other experts have also emphasized the benefit to a company’s bottom line of creating a shop floor environment that encourages direct worker feedback. A case study from the [Harvard Business Review](https://hbr.org/2005/11/leading-from-the-factory-floor) describes the successful effort of German materials manufacturer Isola Group to reorganize production based on worker ideas. “The head of site, production planner, and site controller turned their workspace on the shop floor into a ‘project office’ and continued to invite informal feedback; soon workers were dropping by to offer suggestions or report problems.” The result of this change: the plant achieved a yield boost of four percent, from 91 to 95 percent, with each percentage point of improvement representing about $850,000 in annual material-cost savings. In the U.S., the battery-electric bus manufacturer BYD recently [negotiated](http://www.metro-magazine.com/management-operations/news/724405/byd-commits-to-hiring-from-communities-facing-significant-barriers-to-employment) a Community Benefits Agreement with a coalition organized by Jobs to Move America, the non-profit organization that I run. Workers at the company are now unionized and have a collective bargaining agreement with SMART Local 105 that established a process for ongoing and direct shop floor feedback, including improved safety training from the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration office. “Since we negotiated the CBA and started working with the union, our quality control has improved significantly. Our workers now catch mistakes at a much faster clip and the [morale on the shop floor](https://www.facebook.com/newamericanroadtrip/videos/unsung-climate-heroes-the-workers-of-byd/2194320290826747/) has never been better,” said BYD Vice President Bobby Hill. When manufacturers embrace factory worker feedback, productivity and business improve. Workers are more willing to step up to supervisory and management positions. Factories become a place where workers want to stay and contribute over a long period of time. And importantly for business owners, this can help their bottom line. **Categories:** Feminism, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Congress takes a first step to give second chances, manufacturers should follow](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/congress-takes-a-first-step-to-give-second-chances-manufacturers-should-follow/) **Published:** December 20, 2018 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** While many consider the First Step Act to be just that -- a first step -- the bill may also contain important lessons for manufacturers looking to solve the sector’s ongoing recruitment crisis. **Content:** **By Madeline Janis** *This column originally appeared in [Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/madelinejanis/2018/12/20/congress-takes-first-step-to-give-second-chances-manufacturers-should-follow/#5ebf3469717a)* This week, Congress passed the [First Step Act](http://time.com/5483066/congress-passes-bipartisan-criminal-justice-reform-effort/), the broadest criminal justice reform bill in decades, with wide bipartisan support. The bill, if enacted, will reduce sentences and introduce opportunities for early release for people serving time in federal prisons, reforms that will impact some 181,000 people. While many analysts consider the First Step Act to be just that — a first step — the bill may also contain important lessons for manufacturers looking to solve the sector’s ongoing recruitment crisis. By including funding for vocational training programs for people incarcerated in federal prisons, the First Step Act acknowledges that the U.S. can no longer afford to consign people with criminal records to permanent poverty. What do employers stand to gain? It’s no secret that American manufacturers have a recruitment [crisis](https://www.forbes.com/sites/madelinejanis/2018/08/20/manufacturers-have-a-recruitment-problem-so-why-arent-they-hiring-more-women/#7e0ad6224e57). Despite fears about the impact of automation and advanced technology on the labor market, manufacturing job openings have [skyrocketed in 2018](https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/manufacturing/articles/future-of-manufacturing-skills-gap-study.html). Jobs in manufacturing are projected to continue their double-digit growth rate and are fast approaching the [historic high reached in 2001](https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/manufacturing/articles/future-of-manufacturing-skills-gap-study.html). Despite this growth, a recent report estimates that a shortage of skilled workers — the so-called “skills gap” — may leave [2.4 million manufacturing jobs unfilled](https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/manufacturing/articles/future-of-manufacturing-skills-gap-study.html) over the next decade. The result? A potential $2.5 billion hit to the U.S. economy. As businesses scramble to fill openings and industry leaders prepare for the “future of work,” one answer to this recruitment crisis lies in the future of a particular group of workers: those re-entering the workforce after serving time for a past mistake. In the U.S., nearly one in three working adults — over 77 million people — have some type of[ criminal record](https://www.brennancenter.org/blog/just-facts-many-americans-have-criminal-records-college-diplomas), almost as many as hold college degrees. The U.S. currently incarcerates 2.2 million people, with an additional 4.7 people on probation or parole. These millions of people will all have some sort of record — the kind that shows up on a simple background check — attached to their name. For the [600,000 ](https://www.nelp.org/publication/reentry-and-employment-for-the-formerly-incarcerated-and-the-role-of-american-trades-unions/)people returning home from prisons and jails each year, and for anyone who has had contact with the justice system, having a record is a major obstacle in finding a good job like the ones found in the manufacturing sector. Studies have consistently proven that securing and maintaining a stable, family-sustaining job is crucial for formerly incarcerated individuals reintegrating into their communities. Access to employment — especially right after release from incarceration — is also proven to [reduce recidivism](https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/06/11/immediate_access_to_employment_reduces_recidivism_126939.html) rates. Recent estimates show that formerly incarcerated people ages 25-44 are [unemployed at a rate of around 27.3%](https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/outofwork.html), which is five times higher than the 5.2% unemployment rate for their peers in the general public, and higher than the total U.S. employment rate during any historical period, including the Great Depression. The data shows that [people from communities of color are disproportionately impacted](https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/p16.pdf) both by incarceration and the barriers to employment associated with having a criminal record. For women, Black, or Latinx people, having a record [negatively affects employment opportunities](https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/outofwork.html') at even higher rates. When formerly incarcerated people do find jobs, it is often on an occasional, part-time or informal basis in a low-wage sector, which puts many workers with records [below the poverty line](https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/es_20180314_looneyincarceration_final.pdf). Obstacles facing people returning to the workforce create a vicious cycle of incarceration and poverty, one with far-reaching impacts on families, communities, taxpayers, and the economy. Barriers to employment for people with records — such as strict occupational licensing requirements — amounted to [a loss of at least 1.7 million workers from the workforce and a cost of at least $78 billion to the U.S. economy](http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/barriers-to-work-individuals-with-criminal-records.aspx). [The Senate’s passing of the First Step Act signals growing bipartisan recognition that dismantling barriers to employment for people with records is crucial to shoring up the American economy.](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fmadelinejanis%2F2018%2F12%2F20%2Fcongress-takes-first-step-to-give-second-chances-manufacturers-should-follow%2F&text=%23FirstStepAct%20signals%20growing%20recognition%20tht%20dismantling%20emplymnt%20barriers%204%20people%20w%2F%20records%20is%20crucial%20to%20economy) At the state and local levels, where the majority of people are incarcerated, [33 states and 150 cities have passed “ban the box” or “fair chance” legislation](https://www.nelp.org/publication/ban-the-box-fair-chance-hiring-state-and-local-guide/#Chart_of_Local_Fair_Chance_Policies). These laws range in scope, with many mandating employers to consider a candidate’s skill-set and qualifications before determining whether a past mistake should factor into the hiring process. A recent study of “ban the box” legislation produced promising results for workers and employers, concluding that individuals with records have [much longer tenure and are less likely to quit](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2851951) their jobs voluntarily than other workers. But ending employment discrimination is not enough, not for the workers seeking to provide for themselves and their families, nor for the employers seeking to hire these workers. Innovative partnerships have sprung up to provide training and support for workers with a history in the justice system. In California, the [Anti-Recidivism Coalition](http://www.antirecidivism.org/jobs-education-1/) works in partnership with the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, the California Labor Federation, and other partners to run the Second Chance Union Training Program. The program is an innovative training program for people needing a second chance that includes technical education, soft skills development, and supportive services. Since its launch in 2016, ARC has enrolled 128 program participants. Graduates of the program have been placed in apprenticeships as electricians, laborers, carpenters, and painters. The Second Chance Union Training Program is not alone. [Tech firms](http://fortune.com/2018/01/20/coding-jobs-prisoners-employment/), [labor unions](https://www.nelp.org/publication/reentry-and-employment-for-the-formerly-incarcerated-and-the-role-of-american-trades-unions/#_edn1) and even artists like [John Legend](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/29/john-legend-is-backing-startups-led-by-former-inmates.html) recognize the value of building regional partnerships with social services to address human resources issues while creating pathways to good jobs for workers with records. With the debate over the manufacturing “skills gap” unlikely to slow down soon, employers can’t afford to overlook the 77 million American workers with records. The data — and now the law — is clear: hiring them is good for communities, and for the economy. **Categories:** Economy, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Celebrating Black leaders in labor and transportation](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/celebrating-black-leaders-in-labor-and-transportation/) **Published:** February 4, 2019 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This Black History Month, we are profiling a group of Black trade unionists, civil rights leaders, workers, and leaders in transportation. **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/1__7I1et7iQrbwLpV7SwMleg.jpeg "1__7I1et7iQrbwLpV7SwMleg - Jobs to Move America")As Black History Month kicks off, communities and institutions across the country are celebrating Black culture, excellence, and achievement. Black History Month is also an occasion to renew and reinforce our commitments to advancing racial and economic justice. The United States has a long way to go on both counts. With the added challenges of climate change and the corporate assault on organized labor, the activists and communities mobilizing across the country to fight systemic racial inequality continue to gain momentum every day. Their vision for an equitable, healthy future is rooted in the historical struggles of Black leaders, activists, and workers who fought for civil rights in the most robust sense of the term and were instrumental in organizing for a more democratic labor movement. This Black History Month, we are profiling a group of Black trade unionists, civil rights leaders, workers, and leaders in transportation. Read the first two profiles below to learn more about the first Black woman hired to drive railcars in Los Angeles, and a community and labor activist from Seattle. Don’t forget to follow us on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/JobsMoveAmerica) and [Facebook](http://www.facebook.com/jobstomoveamerica), where we’ll be posting the rest of the profiles throughout the month. --- ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/1_2XQxW17oSSRIWAJJZLy3sg.jpeg "1_2XQxW17oSSRIWAJJZLy3sg - Jobs to Move America")Arcola Philpott**Arcola Philpott (1913–1991)** was the first African American woman hired by the Los Angeles Railway. Philpott drove railcars on the “F” line from 116th South Vermont Avenue to Union Station terminal. The LA Railway had begun hiring women as streetcar and bus operators in 1942. Racial integration followed two years later after a successful campaign led by labor and community leaders. Philpott’s hiring in Los Angeles represented a major shift in hiring practices across the country. In her later years, Philpott moved back to Chicago, where she worked as a nurse, journalist, and in museums and libraries. She spoke foreign languages, studied social sciences at Loyola University, and attended City College while in Los Angeles. > “She was a real go-getter. She was extremely intelligent, courageous, fearless, and a lifelong learner,” said her daughter, Ethel Philpott of Chicago in an [interview with LA Metro.](http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/employeenews/mymetro/20050324-arcola-philpott.pdf) ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/1_30A9I5DTvE8xSFn3k9Zl2w.jpeg "1_30A9I5DTvE8xSFn3k9Zl2w - Jobs to Move America")Tyree Scott**Tyree Scott (1940–2003)** was a labor leader and civil rights activist. Born in Texas, Scott moved to Seattle with his father in 1966. At that time, the building trade unions in the area still discriminated against Black workers, making it difficult for Scott and his family to secure work. Three years after their move, Scott began organizing Black workers and contractors in order to gain access to work under new federal contracts available in the city of Seattle. Scott formed the Central Contractors Association (CCA) and in 1969, the CCA succeeded in shutting down every major federal construction site throughout Seattle to protest discrimination in the industry. Ultimately, the CCA protests prompted the first federal imposition of affirmative action on union locals: the Department of Justice filed a suit and eventually ordered the unions to adopt a broad program that included commitments to apprenticeship programs, quotas for union membership, and changes to hiring procedures. In 1970, Scott became head of the United Construction Workers Association (UCWA), a new community group created in partnership with allies at the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). The UCWA organized workers of color through activism, social work, and political advocacy. Under Scott, the UCWA also published a left-wing monthly called [*No Separate Peace*](http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/NSP.htm), to build solidarity with working people in communities around the world. When UCWA dissolved in 1981, Scott fueled the NW Labor and Employment Law Office (LELO), a worker-led organization which continues to exist today. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Scott traveled abroad to build solidarity with workers and advance civil rights activism. Scott died in 2003. *Follow us on* [*Twitter*](http://www.twitter.com/JobsMoveAmerica) *and* [*Facebook*](http://www.facebook.com/JobsToMoveAmerica) *to read the next profiles in our Black History Month series.* **Categories:** Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [Two women’s visions of diversity, equity, and inclusion in infrastructure](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/two-womens-visions-of-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-infrastructure/) **Published:** March 14, 2019 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Listen to this podcast with two social justice leaders about the struggle for gender justice in the transportation and infrastructure sectors. **Content:** To celebrate Women’s History Month this year, we’re interviewing two social justice leaders about their perspectives on how inclusive infrastructure spending can advance the struggle for gender justice and equality. Beverly Scott’s career in the public transportation industry has spanned more than three decades of executive leadership in transportation agencies, and she is also the Vice-Chair of our Board of Directors here at Jobs to Move America (JMA). Anita Cozart is currently the Managing Director of PolicyLink, where she leads place-based, equitable development initiatives. Anita is also a member of our Board. ***Listen to the podcast here.*** *This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.* ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/1_U9rm4U9_X1pglJqDNVLEHA-1024x791.jpg "1_U9rm4U9_X1pglJqDNVLEHA - Jobs to Move America")**Linda Nguyen (LN): What does Women’s History Month mean to each of you?** **Bev Scott (BS):** For me, it’s really a time to reflect, a time of more internal retrospection. I have really been in the work world for 40 something years, and I can certainly see that there have been major changes. I always think about those whose shoulders we stand on. We have all the luminaries, people like a Rosa Parks. But there were so many silent people that you just don’t hear about that much. Somebody like \[Jerrie\] Mock, the first woman to fly \[solo\] around the world. Or \[Arcola\] Philpott, she was the first woman back in the 1940s that became a \[motormanette\] at LA Railways. There have been a lot of people whose shoulders that you know that you actually stand on. But it’s a period for me to reflect on where we’ve been, where are we today, and more importantly: where do we need to be? And how do we best get there? And always reflecting on what are we doing to make sure that we best equip, not just women but the next generations, to continue to make \[progress\], but to actually tangibly do more fix it. It’s one thing to reflect, it’s quite another to act. **Anita Cozart (AC):** I want to thank you all for taking a chance to reflect on what women’s month really means. It’s a powerful time and it’s important that we recognize it. For me, it reminds me of the importance of having a big vision and acting on that vision. And so I think about people like Mary McLeod Bethune, who dreamed of educating Black girls and boys after the civil war and was a dogged and stellar fundraiser for equality in schools and colleges that were dedicated to educating Black people. I also think about people like Mae Jemison, who dreamt that she could use her brilliant scientific mind to expand how we even understand outer space and its relevance to us. And she continues to inspire many people to pursue science and technology. For me, that’s important because I have two daughters who are both interested in that and having someone who dreams big and contributes to understanding of science provides inspiration to them. And then also, another person I think about is Shirley Anita Chisholm, and not just because I share part of a name with her, but she really dreamed that Black women would have a seat at the table in making decision about the prosperity, safety, and health of communities. She blazed a pathway for the hundreds and maybe thousands of women that are currently serving elected office including this last wave, that includes people like Sharice Davids and Lucy McBath, who are people that are inspiring me right now. I think that the key is that all of these women faced deep racism, and in some cases violence and threat birthed by those “isms”, and all of them have worked to dismantle the personal and systemic racism and sexism that threatened their dreams for themselves and their communities. Even more important and inspirational is how much they worked in partnership with others. And it’s just important to really have a big vision and summon the strength that’s within our grasp to really make our dreams real. And that’s what I reflect on this month. **BS:** You know, Anita, I know a lot of people who are very motivational, who even have a lot of integrity and principle. But the thing that I find in shortest supply is courage. And really the kind of courage that has you step out to be active. It’s not enough to think it, it’s not enough to just philosophize about it. In every one of the people that you noted, they took the additional steps to become actively engaged in moving and taking personal responsibility. This is just one of those periods that just lets you kind of reflect on those kinds of things. **LN: Anita, you’ve championed policies that yield just and fair infrastructure investment and have spent your career as a planner thinking about equity, infrastructure, and transportation. There’s a pretty robust, ongoing conversation about the way we plan and design public transportation. But we also know that infrastructure and transportation can have a real impact on other aspects of women’s livelihoods. Can you tell us about the impact of that transportation and infrastructure have on women’s economic security?** **AC:** Sure, and I’ll start by making it a little personal and then broadening it out to community and nation. This is personal for me because my sister and I were raised by a single mother. She worked long hours and was fortunate enough to be able to get the support of her family to get a graduate degree, which really catapulted her into an income bracket where she was really able to support us. But we definitely relied on a lot of specialized programs that were focused on getting women and women of color into science and technology fields. And for me, a key part of transportation is that for all of the programs I was involved with, I was given a transit subsidy to be able to get to and from each of the programs. These were programs with renowned science and engineering professors in the city where I grew up, Cleveland, Ohio. And for me, that really opened my eyes to the possibility of being able to be in a field related to how our communities are shaped and what are the technological influences that make our cities. Without that, I wouldn’t have been able to be in an economic secure position that I’m in right now. So, transportation was literally kind of that pathway for me. And I’m really not sure that without that transportation subsidy that I would’ve been able to take advantage of those programs, because they were not close to my home at all. And so in many ways, women of color particularly in this day and age, face significant economic insecurity. In many ways this has to do with historic barriers of women in the workplace, but even more it has to do with structural barriers related to unequal pay, lack of benefits, and economic penalties for caregiving. And the transportation sector, and portions of it, have brought some glimmers of hope. Because we know when women are in unionized, public transportation jobs, their incomes and benefits lead towards greater stability, and can be a stepping stone for some in terms of being able to build wealth. And moreover, when women have dependable transportation options, they can actually be able to travel to work and daycare and groceries without the costly expense of owning a vehicle. But many challenges still remain for women when it comes to accessing reliable transportation, and many women are finding themselves having to figure out and have uncertainty each day about whether or not their friend or neighbor or family member can give them a ride to work, whether or not they’re going to have to rely on a transportation system that may be underfunded, or whether they’re going to have to find their way through what can be a confusing and unpredictable on-demand transportation service. And even more, the components of being able to get a job in the transportation sector or a contracting opportunity, there are still challenges that are faced there. And while mentorship is important, even more important is the tools of local, state, and federal policy to really target jobs and opportunities to women. A great example is in Los Angeles, at the urging of the LA Black Worker Center, transit officials in LA County have been prioritizing hiring of local residents along the Crenshaw light rail corridor, and so that people in the community are actually benefitting economically from the project in addition to the additional accessibility. And lastly, I just want to say something about entrepreneurship. It’s really important for people of color as it relates to closing the racial wealth gap, which has resulted because of the economic insecurity that exists, because not only can entrepreneurship be a stepping stone towards wealth building, these are the firms that more often are going to hire people of color or low income people versus some of your white-owned firms. **LN: Bev, you’ve been working in transportation for decades. When you reflect on our transportation systems and public infrastructure in the U.S. as you’ve seen it evolve over the course of your career, what do you think that governments, communities, and businesses can be doing better when it comes to advancing gender justice and equality? Where is there still room to grow?** **BS:** The chasm that we have is like the difference between night and day. That’s why when I go through these periods of reflection, I always say: don’t get confused, we have to be clear about where we came from. Let’s be clear about the facts. And we need to elevate the facts in the data at every point that we can, because it’s horrendous, but it also helps people to understand: this is simply not right. When you take the big look at it: the disparities in terms of women from an economic standpoint, it goes as low as three percent and all the way up to 50 percent and on average up to 20 percent. below in terms of what women are making versus what men are making. This is not some ephemeral thing that people are talking about. This is like really real stuff. > The gender inequities are deeply ingrained, they are systemic, and it is systems that have to be attacked. Whether we’re talking about transportation or any of the infrastructure sectors, let’s not be confused about how important it is for women to wind up being able to be elevated and full participants in these sectors. We’re talking about transportation, power, water, manufacturing, agriculture, and public health. Women are sadly underrepresented across the board in every single one of those sectors, and even when their representation has increased over the years, it is still woefully behind, and very much still concentrated in areas that are not the higher wage paying positions. Think about what I just said: infrastructure, transportation, power, all the utilities, the manufacturing sector, the water sector, the agriculture sector. I’ve just taken 50 per cent or more of what’s driving GDP in this country and saying, women are woefully behind. So when we start talking about what is the vision and where we have to go, there is no way that we are significantly going to impact the condition of women until we penetrate these major sectors that are driving of the economy. Pure and simple. Here, I do what to name and celebrate the work that Jobs to Move America is doing, because this whole notion of unapologetically and intentionally bringing an inclusion framework and making sure that every single dollar that we use to invest in infrastructure is at the same time being intentionally utilized to create jobs, business opportunities, and better infrastructure within communities, is exactly the business that we have to be about. Because that’s the only way that we’re going to wind up literally being able to change paradigms. It’s an all-out war. We need it at every level. And I think the other portion is that we cannot lose sight on the importance of compliance, compliance, compliance. Some people say: “we shouldn’t always have to have a hammer.” Well I’ll just say this: equal pay, equal work, making sure that sexual harassment is not something that’s okay. Those compliance measures and enforcement around compliance are absolutely critical because of the fear factor of simply loss of employment. I don’t think that these are areas where we can just sit at the table and just go along to get along. If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu, and be clear about that. So I’m delighted with what’s happened with the current Congress, we have to have many more women that are sitting in these boardrooms, because it makes a difference when you’re sitting at the table — when you have enough sitting at the table and actually in a position to be able to advocate and bring personal experience and sensitivity to the discussion. Those are just some of the kinds of things that I think we still have a lot of work and room to do. **LN: What do you hope to see as far as women’s involvement in terms of planning the future of transportation and infrastructure in the U.S.?** AC: Well the first thing that I want to say is that I am so hopeful. I’ll start right here at home with Jobs to Move America. If you want inspiration about the future of transportation and infrastructure in the U.S., you should look at the staff page and see how many women and women of color are on staff and really thinking about and planning for our future. I’m also hopeful because last week, I was part of a convening in Washington, D.C. that was about how automated vehicles are going to impact the DC/Virginia/Maryland area, and as we went through putting together the panels, we put them together with great intentionality. We had two panels focused on the impacts that were all women. And this is really important because as I sit here, I have a pamphlet from an exhibit that’s about community development in Washington, D.C., and one of the pictures in the exhibit features president Eisenhower and an entire panel of about seven white men who are planning in 1958 for the urban renewal of Southwestern portions of DC. And they’re looking happily at the plans and thinking happily about what’s next. And resulting less than a year later is the destruction of whole communities of people of color. Because these men didn’t have any connection with the community, and they certainly could’ve used some women in the room to steer the conversation in a different direction. We know when women are in the room, the processes are much more participatory, they reflect local knowledge of longtime residents, they value people’s work and contributions and build that into what they deem the project to be successful. So, I have great hope from the leadership that we have in our nonprofit, government, and private sectors, and totally agree with Bev about the need to build that up even more and to make sure that the participation of women is meaningful and involves influencing major decisions. And lastly what I’ll say is, we have to remember the importance of organizing, grassroots organizing. Because grassroots organizing is not only the glue that holds together our communities and builds a vision that really is equitable, but grassroots organizing is also the accountability mechanism for our governments, nonprofits, and private sectors. As we build in diversity and inclusion and move towards equity, we have to invest our time, talent, and financial resources into our grassroots partners — to make sure that they who hold our moral compass are pushing us in the direction we need to go. And that’s the urgency and it gives me hope at the same time. **BS:** We have come a long way, but we still have so long to go. The areas I’d focus on is that we can’t do enough to stimulate young people particularly to actually be excited by these careers. Every single one of the areas I talked about, whether it’s transportation, water, power, all of them have major, major documented workforce issues and challenges, millions and millions of positions that they don’t know how they’re going to fill. On top of the fact that we know that everything is changing, technology is rapidly changing. One of the things that we must really do is make sure that our young people are really captivated and motivated by being a part of these careers. And what I would say on that end, really what I’ve had the ability to do over the course of 40 years is be in the business of community building. When you can bring that magical element to the table so that young people can understand that being in these careers, they have an ability to make decisions and influence decision-making that takes place. Where is the curb cut going to go? Where will the street lights go? Where does the tree cover go? Where do the pedestrian walkways go? What kind of energy are we going to wind using? When you bring that part to them so that they can honestly see that that is what you’re talking about, it’s very different proposition. > The other piece of it is that community engagement, community participation, and community building: this has got to be a ground up on all of the pieces. This is generational work, these are generational investments, these are generational decisions. This is hard work, its lifetime work, but that’s the boots on the ground stuff. The other part is institutionalization. People are nice, personalities are nice, but nothing trumps statute, policy, procedure and institutionalization. Anybody who is sitting in a seat to make decisions has to understand that you will go one day, and if it is important you have to spend as much of your time ensuring that you actually leave that codified. Once again, deep and meaningful community engagement and participation — not just checking boxes — comes along with it a different way of understanding and respecting learned experience. We need learned experience of people, you don’t have to be a PhD to be a person who really understands what is needed within one’s community. I think that the more partnerships and working together that people do at all levels, the more that people respect the fact that even when you have the best of intentions, you cannot come into an area and plan for people. You must plan with them. And that means that you also benefit from what that deep learned experience is that’s just absolutely invaluable. We have to be active, we cannot sit back, and I know it’s hard and people get tired and we got so much to do. But there is nothing more important than the world that we live in and the society that we live and what we pass along and leave behind. And that is hard work and there’s nothing that’s going take the place of us being personally involved in that. We can and we will make a difference. Active participation and engagement are at all levels and accountability are absolutely critical. So, things like access to information and transparency as a matter of course, as how we do business. At the end of the day, we really do hold the pen as the people, and we need to do everything that we can to exercise those rights. *Our focus at Jobs to Move America is on harnessing the power of public spending to build an equitable, climate-safe future and advance racial and gender justice.* *Read more about our work online:* [*www.jobstomoveamerica.org*](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/) By Linda Nguyen Linda Nguyen is the co-founder and deputy director of Jobs to Move America and was the driving force behind the expansion of the organization’s work nationally. **Categories:** Feminism, Infrastructure/Transportation --- ### [How to operationalize a just transition](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/how-to-operationalize-a-just-transition/) **Published:** March 27, 2019 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** We already have a strong policy mechanism — public purchasing — that can deliver on core aspects of Green New Deal and lift up working people across the country. **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/1_gicejyeJGmBorL1bF23VHQ.jpeg "- Jobs to Move America")In a [politically divisive](https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/green-new-deal-on-track-to-senate-defeat-as-democrats-call-vote-a-sham/2019/03/26/834f3e5e-4fdd-11e9-a3f7-78b7525a8d5f_story.html?utm_term=.f4e88790dfd8) procedural vote yesterday, the Senate [voted against](https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/435899-senate-blocks-green-new-deal) the Green New Deal resolution, which since its introduction in February has stoked heated debate over feasibility, policy details, and financing. But last night’s vote shouldn’t be a roadblock to the bold climate policy needed to implement a just transition towards a clean environment and economy. What the media frenzy and public debate over the resolution have ignored is the existence of a strong policy mechanism — public purchasing — that we could use to deliver on core aspects of Green New Deal and lift up working people across the country. Our government’s total public purchasing rings in at approximately [$2 trillion](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Volker_Doing-the-Peoples-Business.pdf) per year — that’s massive purchasing power — and includes spending on everything from textbooks and software to buses and trains. Typically, public purchasing policies guide our cities and states to award contracts to the companies offering the [“lowest cost”](https://www.nigp.org/docs/default-source/New-Site/position-papers/150105_best-value_position-paper-complete_updated.pdf?sfvrsn=4) bid. As a result, public agencies are not incentivized to consider other benefits, such as job creation and quality. This cost-effective status quo on public purchasing represents a missed opportunity. With the $2 trillion in taxpayer dollars we spend yearly, our government has the power to make purchases that set high standards — and hold corporations accountable to them. Cities and states need to use public purchasing as a mechanism to create high quality jobs, set rigorous climate standards, and spur innovation in clean energy technologies. In doing so, we can harness the public dollars we *already* spend to flow economic and environmental benefits back into our communities. Whatever you call this approach — “purchasing for the common good” or just plain old good government — it’s a tool we could be using right now to build critical climate infrastructure while creating good jobs for working people. Some cities are already waking up to the power of their public purchasing policies. At Jobs to Move America, our coalition of labor and community groups worked with Los Angeles’s public transit agency, LA Metro, to pass a “purchasing for the common good” policy called the [U.S. Employment Plan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resources/us-employment-plan-resources-2/) that now applies to the [billions of public dollars](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/pathway-22000-jobs-los-angeles-county-metro-board-unanimously-approves-first-kind-good-jobs-policy/) LA Metro spends purchasing trains, buses, and transit equipment. With the recognition that investing in clean-powered public transit is crucial to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, this policy at LA Metro ensures that the manufacturing companies building LA’s transit equipment are committed to creating high-road jobs. Combined with California’s recent mandate that the state’s transportation agencies electrify all bus fleets by 2040, this policy could support the creation of up to 20,000 good, clean jobs. In Chicago, JMA worked with the Chicago Transit Agency (CTA) to apply the U.S. Employment Plan to a recent purchase of up to 846 railcars. As a result, the CTA helped create hundreds of good jobs at a new railcar factory on Chicago’s Southeast side, which were targeted to workers who face barriers to employment, including formerly incarcerated people, single parents, and veterans. As more cities and states weigh legislation to transition their economies away from fossil fuels, “purchasing for the common good” policies ensure that every dollar spent on clean-powered infrastructure results in good jobs and real benefits for our communities. In [Illinois, where the general assembly is considering a bill](https://www.vox.com/2019/3/7/18251566/green-new-deal-renewable-energy-illinois-bill) that would set aggressive decarbonization targets and invest $20 billion in new clean infrastructure, adopting the U.S. Employment Plan would give the state an enforceable mechanism to ensure investments in wind turbines and solar panels create good jobs for workers transitioning out of high-carbon industries. The good news is we don’t need to wait. We’re working to make the Green New Deal a reality by building strong coalitions of labor, community, and environmental groups to advocate for “purchasing for the common good” policies. Together, we can create family-sustaining jobs and a climate-safe world for future generations — and we can do it now. --- *Sophia Reuss is Jobs to Move America’s communications specialist based in New York.* *Image: Fibonacci Blue/Flickr* **Categories:** Climate Change, Labor --- ### [A climate-safe future is a good jobs future](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/a-climate-safe-future-is-a-good-jobs-future/) **Published:** April 22, 2019 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** We’re celebrating some developments in the fight for climate justice — ones that prove that real solutions to the climate crisis are ones that lift up workers, fight racial injustice, and contribute to building a better society. **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/1_lZY3Ll9jLIL3WoXzoLk5zw-1024x659.jpeg "1_lZY3Ll9jLIL3WoXzoLk5zw - Jobs to Move America")Happy Earth Day! Today, we’re celebrating some invigorating developments in the fight for environmental justice — ones that prove that the only real solutions to the climate crisis are ones that lift up workers, fight racial injustice, and contribute to building a society based around principles of equity, care, and accountability. **Cities are committing to 100% clean energy for all** This month, Chicago made history by becoming the largest U.S. city to commit to 100 percent renewable energy before the middle of the century. Chicago will not only transition to clean energy in buildings by 2035 and fully electrify the public bus fleets by 2040, but will also prioritize good job creation and community self-determination. Read more about Chicago’s leap towards a climate-safe future [here](https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/10/monumental-chicago-commits-100-renewable-energy-2040). Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. to make such a commitment, but it certainly isn’t the only one. Check out the Sierra Club’s list of the hundreds of other cities and states committed to renewable energy [here](https://www.sierraclub.org/ready-for-100/commitments). Don’t see your city on the list? Reach out to the local environmental justice groups or community-based organizations in your area and get involved in the fight for a just transition and clean energy for all. Find a Climate Justice Alliance member in your area [here](https://climatejusticealliance.org/members-of-the-alliance/), reach out to your state’s Sierra Club [chapter](https://www.sierraclub.org/chapters), or find a local labor group organizing around climate action through the [Labor Network for Sustainability](https://www.labor4sustainability.org/). **Governments are waking up to the power of public purchasing** Setting ambitious clean energy goals is just the first step in the fight for a climate-safe future. The next steps — how you get there — are arguably more important. As we move to electrify bus fleets and transition power grids to renewable energy, the policy tools and political channels we rely on will determine whether the future we build is inclusive, equitable, and caring. But the good news is, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to public policy. In 2017, LA Metro, the Los Angeles public transit agency, set out to become the first major transit agency in the country with an all-electric bus fleet. LA Metro’s all-electric commitment was impressive, but the path LA Metro is taking to get there is the real achievement. The transit agency harnessed their public purchasing process to hold the transit manufacturers building their new electric buses accountable to the creation of good, high-road jobs. The result? An electric bus factory in the Antelope Valley that now hires over 700 workers from communities that have been historically left out of manufacturing career pathways. And that’s what good job creation for a just transition looks like. **People are listening to youth, grassroots groups, and environmental justice communities** But a just transition isn’t just a question of good, high-road job creation. It’s about centering communities — especially environmental justice communities, low-income communities, communities of color, and Indigenous communities — in the process. As the movement for a Green New Deal mounts with youth groups like Sunrise Movement embarking on national tours, we’re heartened to see folks engage in debate and conversation around what a real just transition looks like. --- *Sophia Reuss is Jobs to Move America’s communications specialist based in New York.* **Categories:** Climate Change, Labor --- ### [Creating good jobs as California transitions to electric buses](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/creating-good-jobs-as-california-transitions-to-electric-buses/) **Published:** April 26, 2019 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The transition to a clean, equitable economy that works for everyone starts in California, as recent efforts across the state show. **Content:** #### *The transition to a clean, equitable economy that works for everyone starts in California, as recent efforts across the state show.* ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/1_ZDA9y3QpkBin6DDEVCWrSA.jpeg "1_ZDA9y3QpkBin6DDEVCWrSA - Jobs to Move America")--- California recently mandated the transition to zero emission transit buses with a good job creation provision, giving hope that the transition will benefit communities often left behind in the rush to adopt new technology: communities of color, women, veterans, and people returning home from prison. The need for good jobs in California is more pressing than ever, especially within low-income communities and communities of color. For example, a much higher percentage of Latinx and African-Americans in California live in census tracts that are [highly impacted by pollution](https://grist.org/article/breathing-while-black-or-latino-in-california-is-disproportionately-hazardous-to-your-health/), health disparities, and high rates of poverty and unemployment. California’s [poverty rate also tops the nation](mailto:https://la.curbed.com/2018/9/14/17856870/california-poverty-rate-housing-cost-of-living) when housing costs are factored into the cost of living. That’s why the BlueGreen Alliance and Jobs to Move America (JMA) are working together in California to ensure that investments in zero emission bus manufacturing lead to economic opportunities and career pathways for disadvantaged workers. With JMA and the BlueGreen Alliance’s involvement, California’s Department of General Services recently put forward a contract for zero emission buses that incentivized bidders to provide high-quality, good-paying jobs for workers building the buses. These buses will be purchased by transit agencies throughout the state. This effort comes on the heels of the California Air Resources Board’s decision to [mandate that all transit agencies in the state operate 100 percent zero emission transit buses by 2040](https://www.bluegreenalliance.org/the-latest/carb-commits-to-zero-emission-buses-and-job-creation-in-new-rule/), while investing in workforce training programs in manufacturing, infrastructure installation, and maintenance. A diverse set of community, labor, and environmental groups supported the Air Resource Board’s decision, including our groups, the United Steelworkers, Sierra Club, Earthjustice, Union of Concerned Scientists, American Lung Association, Coalition for Clean Air, Communications Workers of America District 9, the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART), SMART Western States Council, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 11, IBEW Local 569, and IBEW LMCC. The passage of this rule and the inclusion of jobs policy language in the DGS master contract is a huge win for many in our communities who — despite working hard for years — have been unable to benefit from the Silicon Valley tech boom and infrastructure investment. Not only will this transition to zero emission buses reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but it also has the potential to create and support tens of thousands of jobs in our state. And it isn’t just zero emissions public transit buses that will reduce emissions and create high quality jobs. A [grant opportunity](https://www.energy.ca.gov/contracts/GFO-18-604/) from the California Energy Commission (CEC) for bulk purchasing of electric school buses is in the works. The BlueGreen Alliance, JMA, and the State Labor Federation’s Workforce and Economic Development unit worked together to secure good jobs and equity language in this taxpayer funded public investment as well. Now CEC’s efforts to eliminate school bus tailpipe emissions will also drive equitable economic development. Moving to cleaner transit is one way we can reduce harmful air pollution and create good-paying jobs targeted to communities long excluded from pathways to middle-class jobs. This is a critical chance for communities of color, people returning home from prison, women, veterans, and others facing systemic barriers to employment. California is leading the way in building a clean economy. Leaders in the state are finally realizing that the quality of jobs created by climate investments matters. Policy work in electric bus manufacturing provides just another example of California’s growing commitment to building a clean, fair, strong economy for all. --- *This article was co-authored by Jobs to Move America’s former California Director, Erika Thi Patterson, and BlueGreen Alliance’s West Coast Director JB Tengco.* **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Labor --- ### [This California bill is a win for communities and transparency](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/this-california-bill-is-a-win-for-communities-and-transparency/) **Published:** August 7, 2019 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** If Amazon came to your city promising to create 50,000 jobs in exchange for over a billion dollars in dollars in tax credits and grants, could you easily access records verifying the existence of those jobs? **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/1_Pge4sqvf1qBTSIJxuZon9Q-1024x478.jpeg "- Jobs to Move America")If Amazon came to your city promising to create 50,000 jobs in exchange for over a billion dollars in dollars in tax credits and grants, could you easily access records verifying the existence of those jobs? In California, the answer right now is: not really. That’s why a broad coalition of community, labor, environmental, and good governance groups are coming together to advocate for SB749, because we have a right to know! Here’s why SB749 is a win for Californians: 1. **A common-sense bill.** SB749 will make sure that all information supplied by companies about job creation, job access, and job quality in state and local contracts is transparent and accessible to the public. 2. **She’s got our back.** SB749 is sponsored by Senator Maria Elena Durazo, a long time community, labor, and immigrant rights activist. Thank you for sponsoring this bill, Senator! 3. **Accountability is everything.** Right now, when community and advocacy groups like ours request information about the jobs created under a public contract, companies can block access by claiming this information is a trade secret and thus protected by law. As a result, people looking for basic information about how our taxpayer dollars are spent can get stuck in months of costly lawsuits. The public — that’s us! — needs access to this information in order to hold companies accountable to their promises on everything from job creation to wages, benefits, and working conditions. 4. **Let’s focus on what’s important.** We’ve seen [numerous examples](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/09/business/economy/public-contracts-wage-commitments.html?rref=collection%2Fbyline%2Fnoam-scheiber&action=click&contentCollection=undefined®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection) of companies that create fewer or lower quality jobs than promised, and then hide that information from the public. SB749 will fix this problem and make sure that jobs information is part of the public record, so we can focus on what really matters: clean air, good jobs, and stronger communities. 5. **Don’t listen to the business lobby.** No court in California has found that information companies disclose about jobs, wages, or benefits in a public contract should be considered a trade secret. In fact, California courts have said that ensuring these records are accessible to our communities is in the public interest. 6. **Good jobs = we all win.** In the past few years, more California public agencies have asked the companies bidding for public contracts to create good jobs with family-sustaining wages as part of their end of the deal. These good jobs create ripple effects in local economies, creating even more jobs and strengthening our communities! SB749 will help us make sure our taxpayer dollars go toward creating more of these good jobs. 7. **A good deal.** SB749 will actually *save* government agencies valuable money and time because current public records law will be clarified to emphatically state that jobs commitments are not a trade secret. 8. **We mean partnership.** When communities have access to information to hold companies accountable, we can create meaningful partnerships between businesses and community groups like electric bus manufacturer BYD’s Community Benefits Agreement with the California Jobs to Move America Coalition. 9. **Strong support.** Over 20 labor, community, environmental, and good governance groups are supporting SB749! Big shout out to our partners at Green Lining, ACT-LA, IBEW569, IBEW11 SMART 105, In the Public Interest, LA County Bus Coalition, Black Worker Center and many others! 10. **Your voice matters!** We need your help. If you think transparency and accountability when it comes to how corporations use our public dollars are good things,[**click here**](https://actionnetwork.org/letters/its-our-right-to-know-lets-pass-sb749/) **to send a letter to your Assembly Member telling them to #PassSB749!** --- *Abhilasha Bhola is the Senior Policy Coordinator at Jobs to Move America.* *Correction: An earlier version of this blog post referred to “IBEW59” instead of “IBEW569”. That correction has been made.* *Image: Armando Aparicio* **Categories:** Labor, Transparency --- ## Resources ### [Be a Good Neighbor, Micron: Creating Enforceable Commitments for Central New York](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/be-a-good-neighbor-micron-creating-enforceable-commitments-for-central-new-york/) **Published:** July 22, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Micron Technology is coming to Central New York and is scheduled to receive upwards of $20 billion in public subsidies and tax credits from federal, state, and local governments. Micron’s arrival has been touted as an economic boon for upstate New York with the promise of thousands of good jobs, community investments, and environmentally sustainable growth. However, Micron has made few firm, enforceable commitments on what will make these permanent jobs “good jobs,” how community investments will positively impact those historically left out of economic opportunities, or how Micron will achieve its sustainability commitments and protect public health and safety. A new report from Jobs to Move America detailing the results of its poll of Onondaga County voters’ which surveyed their opinions on Micron Technology’s arrival. The results show a clear message from voters: Micron can be a major economic opportunity for Central New York, but only if public officials and the company ensure that local communities share in the benefits and are protected from the risks. [The survey conducted ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/data-for-progress-poll-of-onondaga-county/)by Data for Progress and commissioned by Jobs to Move America and the Urban Jobs Task Force of Syracuse, polled 624 registered voters in Onondaga County about the Micron project. As local resident and board member of The Urban Jobs Taskforce of Syracuse Inc. Bonita Siegel put it, *“I’m really concerned about the fact that Micron is a trillion-dollar organization. And while we are a very well-educated, impressive community, we’re really small potatoes. So why are they going to care or pay any attention to us? Well, I think they should care because who is it that’s going to work in these plants? Who is it that’s going to help them bring in those big bucks? And if they don’t treat those people well, what’s the ultimate end result of that? So being a good neighbor is really what you do to benefit not only your community, but yourself as well.”* **Key Findings from the Report:** - **Why We Need a Community Benefits Agreement –** New Yorkers deserve to know how their public funds are being spent, and workers and surrounding communities deserve real commitments to good jobs and a safe environment. Because Micron’s current promises are largely nonbinding public assurances, a community benefits agreement containing enforceable commitments from Micron can offer the community a seat at the decision- making table. 87% of voters support legally binding requirements for Micron to make investments in job creation, environmental protection, and public infrastructure. Support for legally binding requirements cuts across party lines, with 89% of Democrats, 86% of independents, and 84% of Republicans backing the proposal. - **Environmental Protections: Reducing Air And Water Pollution And Protect Public Health –** Community members are concerned about the various environmental, health, and safety hazards to CNY posed by Micron’s chipmaking complex. When asked to name top priorities for Micron to meet, Onondaga voters most frequently selected environmental protections to reduce air and water pollution and protect public health (59%). - **Job Quality and Access: High Wages, Benefits, And Job Quality Standards –** 79% of Onondaga voters agree that permanent operations workers at Micron should have the option to join a labor union if they choose. Across party lines, respondents also agree that Micron should prioritize hiring local workers given the amount of public funding it receives. Among respondents who listed local hiring as a top priority, 77% were Democrats, 67% were independent and third party, and 54% were Republicans. - **Socioeconomic Impacts: Housing To Prevent Shortages, Displacement, And Rising Housing Costs –** Survey respondents ranked investing in housing to prevent shortages, displacement, and rising housing costs as their top third priority for Micron to meet. 80% of survey respondents expressed high levels of concern that Micron will increase housing prices, making it harder to rent or purchase a home. ![City skyline with fall trees and bold white text reading 'Be a Good Neighbor, Micron' over the image, with a purple banner containing additional text below and logos at the bottom.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Be-a-Good-Neighbor-Micron-Creating-Enforceable-Commitments-for-Central-New-York-791x1024.jpg "Be a Good Neighbor Micron Creating Enforceable Commitments for Central New York - Jobs to Move America") --- ### [JMA Public Comment on Hyundai Louisiana Steel Plant](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/jma-public-comment-on-hyundai-louisiana-steel-plant/) **Published:** August 24, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** [Jobs to Move America comment on Hyundai-POSCO Part 70, PSD & EAS permitting](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Jobs-to-Move-America-comment-on-Hyundai-POSCO-Part-70-PSD-EAS-permitting.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Jobs-to-Move-America-comment-on-Hyundai-POSCO-Part-70-PSD-EAS-permitting.pdf) **Types:** Climate Justice Policies, Letters --- ### [Data for Progress Poll of Onondaga County](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/data-for-progress-poll-of-onondaga-county/) **Published:** July 14, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** A new poll shows broad support among Onondaga County voters for enforceable commitments from Micron Technology as the company builds its chipmaking complex in Clay. The survey, conducted by Data for Progress and commissioned by Jobs to Move America and the Urban Jobs Task Force of Syracuse, polled 624 registered voters in Onondaga County about the Micron project. The results show a clear message from voters: Micron can be a major economic opportunity for Central New York, but only if public officials and the company ensure that local communities share in the benefits and are protected from the risks. [dfp\_jma\_ujtf\_onondaga\_county\_micron\_survey\_tabs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/dfp_jma_ujtf_onondaga_county_micron_survey_tabs.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/dfp_jma_ujtf_onondaga_county_micron_survey_tabs.pdf) **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Health & Safety, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Transparency --- ### [Letter from Los Angeles Coalition to FIFA Head of Human Rights](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/letter-from-los-angeles-coalition-to-fifa-head-of-human-rights/) **Published:** July 9, 2026 **Author:** Alaa Milbes **Content:** [Letter from Los Angeles Coalition to FIFA Head of Human Rights](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/2-Final-Letters-for-Delivery-w_Logos_Fifa-action-1.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/2-Final-Letters-for-Delivery-w_Logos_Fifa-action-1.pdf) **Categories:** Health & Safety, Labor, Transparency **Types:** Letters --- ### [Letter from Los Angeles Coalition to LA Sports and Entertainment Commission](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/letter-from-los-angeles-coalition-to-la-sports-and-entertainment-commission/) **Published:** July 9, 2026 **Author:** Alaa Milbes **Content:** [Letter from Los Angeles Coalition to LA Sports and Entertainment Commission](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/1-Final-Letters-for-Delivery-w_Logos_Fifa-action.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/1-Final-Letters-for-Delivery-w_Logos_Fifa-action.pdf) **Categories:** Health & Safety, Labor, Transparency **Types:** Letters --- ### [The Social Impact Model for CBAs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/the-social-impact-model-for-cbas/) **Published:** May 29, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Workers and residents advocate for community benefits agreements (CBAs) to secure a seat at the table and ensure public planning, procurement, and development processes guarantee community benefits. CBAs counter systemic harms and inequities and promote more equitable economic development. Jobs to Move America’s (JMA) Jay Mehta Community Benefits Agreement Resource Center developed the social impact model to help labor-community coalitions assess CBA impact and track progress on social justice commitments. This guide offers a brief overview of community benefits agreements and provides the overarching framework of the social impact model. It defines key principles and utilizes key indicators and metrics to understand and evaluate how CBA provisions affect workers and residents. [0526 JMA\_Social Impact Model\_web.f](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/0526-JMA_Social-Impact-Model_web.f.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/0526-JMA_Social-Impact-Model_web.f.pdf) **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Health & Safety, Infrastructure/Transportation, JMA National, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice, Transparency, Workforce Development --- ### [JMA Lawsuit Against Hyundai-Kia](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/jma-lawsuit-against-hyundai-kia/) **Published:** November 21, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Jobs to Move America filed a lawsuit against Hyundai and Kia for engaging in unconscionable labor practices while falsely certifying to California state and local governments that their vehicles are manufactured in compliance with state and federal law. The lawsuit alleges violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law and is filed against Hyundai Motor America, Inc. (“HMA”), Hyundai Motor Company (“HMC”), Kia America, Inc. (“Kia”), Kia Corporation (“KC”), Hyundai Mobis Co. Ltd. (“Hyundai Mobis”), and Glovis America, LLC (“Glovis”) (collectively described here as Hyundai and Kia). The complaint, filed in Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, describes a pattern of abuse and deception that runs contrary to California’s “high-road” labor policies, public purchasing standards, and public values. It details extensive evidence that Hyundai and Kia, despite marketing themselves as socially responsible to California public agencies to secure public contracts, rely on a Southern supply chain that has engaged in illegal and unethical labor practices—including prison labor, coerced migrant labor, and the documented use of child labor—in violation of California law and values. These suppliers, the complaint alleges, operate unsafe workplaces that have led to repeated citations, injuries, and preventable deaths. [Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief.11-13-25](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Complaint-for-Declaratory-and-Injunctive-Relief.11-13-25.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Complaint-for-Declaratory-and-Injunctive-Relief.11-13-25.pdf) **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [The Impact of Incarcerated Labor in Hyundai’s U.S. Supply Chain](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/the-impact-of-incarcerated-labor-in-hyundais-u-s-supply-chain/) **Published:** November 7, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** This pioneering study from Columbia Labor Lab provides a rigorous, large-scale statistical analysis of the economic impact of prison labor in driving wage suppression in Hyundai/Kia’s supply chain. Drawing on an original survey of more than 600 workers, combined with an analysis of government data and extensive public records collected through a two-year collaboration with Jobs to Move America (JMA), it also documents the greater exposure those workers have to occupational hazards and bad employment practices, such as wage theft. “When companies use incarcerated workers who can’t easily leave dangerous or low-paying jobs, they can lower wages for the entire workforce,” said Prof. Suresh Naidu, Jack Wang and Echo Ren Professor of Economics at Columbia University and co-author of the report. “The world’s biggest auto companies, building the cars of the future in the U.S., can, and should, provide good, safe jobs that benefit everyone.” **Key Findings from the Report:** - **Lower Wages in Hyundai’s Supply Chain:** Surveyed workers employed in Hyundai’s Alabama supply chain reported earning 10-15% less than other auto-sector workers in the state – even after controlling for education, race, gender, and age. - **Widespread Labor Violations:** These workers report higher rates of safety hazards and more frequent experiences of wage theft, forced overtime, harassment, and denial of breaks compared to other auto supply chain employees in Alabama. - **Regional Wage Suppression:** In the Montgomery area, where Alabama’s Hyundai suppliers are concentrated, auto supplier wages are 7–9% lower than expected compared to similar jobs elsewhere in Alabama and neighboring states. One contributing factor appears to be the use of incarcerated labor through Alabama’s prison work-release program—particularly within auto parts manufacturing. - **Economic Impact of Prison Labor:** A 10% increase in the share of incarcerated workers in a plant is associated with a 10–14% decrease in wages for non-incarcerated (“free”) workers. Evidence suggests this occurs because incarcerated workers, unable to leave over low pay or poor conditions, give employers leverage to suppress wages and standards for all employees. **Captive Labor: A Modern Form of Coercion** Under Alabama’s work release program, incarcerated individuals are contracted out to private companies, including suppliers within Hyundai/Kia’s Southern manufacturing network. Across Alabama and Georgia, Hyundai/Kia has established a dense cluster of suppliers – many of which produce parts exclusively for Hyundai and Kia vehicles. Some of those suppliers rely on low-mobility workers, including incarcerated individuals. The report details that many incarcerated workers seek placement in Alabama’s work release program to escape the extreme violence and overcrowding of the state’s prison system. These findings echo atrocities recently documented in the acclaimed film *The Alabama Solution*, which exposes the human toll of Alabama’s prison labor system and the persistent exploitation that links incarceration to corporate profit. In 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that conditions within Alabama’s men’s prisons likely violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, citing “reasonable cause to believe” that the system was unconstitutional under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA). The Department’s 2017 investigative findings reported a homicide rate within Alabama’s prisons that was eight times higher than the national average within prisons nationwide. Within this context, work release assignments offer a measure of safety—but at a high cost. Within this system, Hyundai/Kia’s suppliers rely on incarcerated workers who are far less likely to quit over low pay due to coercive prison conditions, which gives the company leverage to lower wages and working conditions for all of their employees. **Categories:** Health & Safety, Labor **Types:** Reports & Policy Briefs --- ### [Off the Rails: Inequality, Insecurity, and Unsafe Conditions at Kawasaki's U.S. Manufacturing Facilities](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/kawasaki-report/) **Published:** September 30, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** A newly released report from Jobs to Move America and Cornell University’s Climate Jobs Institute reveals troubling findings about working conditions at MTA contractor Kawasaki’s railcar manufacturing facilities in New York and Nebraska. Citing low pay, hazardous conditions and widespread experience of discrimination reported by workers, a coalition of NY and Nebraska groups are calling on Kawasaki to begin negotiating a legally binding Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) that would ensure the public monies the company receives are matched by fair treatment for its workers and neighbors. Kawasaki has received billions of dollars over the past four decades to manufacture railcars for the MTA. In 2018, the NY MTA awarded the company a $4.5 billion railcar contract – the largest in its history. Although Kawasaki committed to providing good jobs for the duration of the contract, specific details about wages and benefits have been withheld from the public by the MTA, citing the company’s concerns that such information may “unnecessarily agitate” its workforce. In the absence of this data, report authors spent a year surveying 180 Kawasaki workers and conducted in-depth interviews with current and former workers to independently assess working conditions at the company’s manufacturing facilities in Nebraska and New York. Many described a culture that prioritizes speed and profit over safety and well-being, contributing to low morale and serious injuries. #### **Key findings from the report** *Pay Inequities* - Surveyed women earned **$3.49 less** per hour on average than surveyed men. - Temporary workers hired through staffing agencies represented over half of survey respondents and earned **$4.66 less** per hour on average than workers directly hired through Kawasaki. *Unsafe Working Conditions* - Workers reported **witnessing a coworker get injured** (40%) or being **injured themselves** (17%) at their worksite. *Widespread Experience of Discrimination* - Half of workers reported **witnessing unfair treatment based on race** (24%), **gender** (24%), **immigration status** (10%), and other protected categories. *Toxic Workplace Culture* - Workers reported witnessing supervisors use **slurs or derogatory language about a group of people** (16%) and **make offensive comments or jokes** (27%) in the workplace. **Categories:** Health & Safety, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Worker Stories **Types:** Reports & Policy Briefs --- ### [A Case Study of the New Flyer of America Inc. Community Benefits Agreement: Lessons Learned in the Bus Manufacturing Industry](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/new-flyer-cba-case-study/) **Published:** July 15, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20220715_090114-e1752592171898-1024x592.jpg "20220715_090114 - Jobs to Move America")Community benefits agreements, once primarily used for real estate development projects, are increasingly used in the manufacturing space as a tool to ensure that public investments yield measurable results for the public. The case study by Athena Nicole Last, PhD, Senior Research Fellow for the Jay Mehta Community Benefits Agreement Resource Center, focuses on the 2022 multi-state community benefits agreement (CBA) signed between New Flyer, the largest electric transit bus manufacturer in North America; Jobs to Move America; and the Alabama Coalition of Community Benefits. The CBA encompasses New Flyer facilities in Anniston, Alabama and Ontario, California, but the report focuses on the Alabama facility. #### **What is a Community Benefits Agreement?** CBAs are defined as contracts with legally enforceable and accountable commitments, signed between community-labor coalitions and project owners. #### **Why Anniston?** This study focuses on a community benefits agreement in Anniston, Alabama, a racially and ethnically diverse city with half of the population identifying as Black. It has a poverty rate that is significantly higher than the national average and families of color disproportionately live in higher rates of poverty compared to white families in the area. The CBA aims to mitigate past social, economic, environmental and political harms affecting residents, and the agreement’s success challenges dominant narratives about what is possible in the South. #### **Report Summary** Focusing primarily on New Flyer’s Annison facility, the study details how a coalition of labor, community and advocacy groups negotiated the CBA, and how it supports the process of implementing resources to reduce barriers to employment, pre-apprenticeship programs, inclusive hiring practices, and a safe and inclusive workplace as outlined in the agreement. #### **Key findings** **Community Benefits Agreements are a Mechanism for Equitable Development.** CBAs provide a replicable, legally enforceable framework for ensuring that public investments yield measurable benefits for historically disadvantaged workers and communities. The New Flyer CBA serves as a national model, showing how CBAs can counteract development practices that exploit workers and communities. **Labor-Community Coalitions Can Advance Economic Democracy.** The study demonstrates that democratic coalitions including labor unions, community organizations, and advocacy groups can meet global corporations at the table to negotiate complex agreements. **Innovations in Inclusive Workforce Development** The CBA’s inclusion of equitable training programs, employment practices that prioritize historically disadvantaged populations (e.g., targeted outreach/hiring goals and ban-the-box policies), and wraparound services like transportation stipends illustrate scalable approaches to bridging the skills gap and diversifying the workforce. These programs are especially effective at creating needed good job opportunities for formerly incarcerated or other individuals impacted by the justice system, women, people of color and other groups historically excluded from high-paying manufacturing and green economy jobs. **Southern Labor Organizing as a Site of Innovation** The success of the New Flyer CBA in Alabama highlights the South as the site of a worker-led movement, where coalitions are organizing in innovative ways to challenge the old playbook of how companies do business in the region. It also provides a counterpoint to right-to-work policy frameworks, demonstrating that worker power can still be built and sustained. The CBA is proof that companies don’t have to follow the so-called “Alabama discount” to be successful. **Public Subsidies Must Come with Public Accountability** The case study reveals how states and localities offer millions in subsidies to companies with little built-in accountability. CBAs represent a solution for communities to ensure that economic development policy benefits them. **Why this matters** As real wages decline, many workers have a dismal view of the U.S. economy. The government has attempted to spur an economic upsurge by offering corporations economic development incentives and subsidies to invest locally, yet wealth inequality and limited access to family-sustaining jobs persist. If the government continues to make significant investments in U.S. manufacturing, it’s crucial that these investments include commitments to the public. #### **Report recommendations** The study suggests that the CBA model can be replicated to promote equitable economic development while addressing the shortcomings of economic strategies prevalent in the South (“Alabama discount”). The report uplifts recommendations for negotiating CBAs, including: - **Research Community Needs:** It is crucial for labor-community coalitions to conduct thorough research on community, worker, and employer needs, including surveys of workers and surrounding communities. This groundwork is essential in identifying key stakeholders and understanding community problems that CBAs can address. - **Educate Stakeholders:** To garner support, it is recommended that organizations educate the community, corporations, and other stakeholders about the benefits of CBAs. Stakeholders should understand when CBAs can be utilized, how they function, and their potential advantages for all parties involved. - **Build a Diverse Coalition With an Inclusive, Democratic Structure:** Authentic community engagement with stakeholders from various backgrounds is necessary to build trust and strengthen the coalition. An organizational structure that promotes strong participation from community members and workers should be established, ensuring that the process is democratic and equitable for all involved. - **Identify Non-Negotiables:** Before negotiations, coalitions should clarify their top priorities and what provisions are non-negotiable to ensure unity and coherence during discussions with project owners. - **Ensure Attainability of Provisions:** Provisions included in the CBA must be realistic and achievable for all parties. It is recommended to engage experts for guidance to ensure that these provisions can be effectively implemented. - **Include Transparency and Monitoring Mechanisms:** CBAs should incorporate strong monitoring and evaluation measures to verify compliance and hold all parties accountable to their commitments. - **See CBAs as “Win-Win” Contracts:** CBAs are a mutually beneficial contract for all parties involved. Equitable training and employment opportunities can benefit historically disadvantaged populations, while simultaneously building a workforce pipeline for companies. **Share this report using our [digital toolkit](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/CBARC-New-Flyer-case-study-toolkit_public.pdf).** For more information on the Jay Mehta Community Benefits Agreement Resource Center, visit [the CBARC website](https://cbarc.org/). **Categories:** Economy, Health & Safety, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice, Workforce Development **Types:** Reports & Policy Briefs --- ### [Community Benefits Agreements](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/community-benefits-agreements/) **Published:** December 18, 2013 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs) are legally enforceable agreements between private companies and coalitions of community and labor groups that are used to secure a wide range of job standards and equity measures. **Content:** Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs) are legally enforceable agreements between private companies and coalitions of community and labor groups. CBAs can be used to ensure a wide range of high-road job standards and equity measures. #### **What is a CBA?** When cities and states enter into contracts with private corporations to build transit equipment, these private corporations are rarely required to create good jobs or commit to equity measures. JMA has developed policy tools like the U.S. Employment Plan to incentivize companies bidding for public contracts to create good jobs in the U.S. Using the USEP allows cities and states to invest in new manufacturing facilities. CBAs allow coalitions of community-based groups, workforce development organizations, labor unions, and other social justice advocates to ensure even deeper equity commitments and high road hiring practices at these facilities. #### **Why organize for a CBA?** CBAs can: - Maximize returns on government investment in manufacturing. - Transform communities through stronger, more equitable economies. - Hold companies accountable to their promises to local governments, workers, and communities. - Advance racial and gender equity by creating training and apprenticeship opportunities for women, people of color, veterans, and systems-impacted people who have historically been left out of good jobs in the manufacturing sector. CBAs are a win-win for communities and manufacturers. Manufacturers doing business in the U.S. are facing a shortage of skilled and middle-skilled workers to fill the demand for machinists, welders, computer-controlled machine operators and other key positions. CBAs help manufacturers develop and train a skilled workforce while creating good jobs with benefits for working families. *Read more about the history of CBAs* *in the development context* *[here](https://www.powerswitchaction.org/resources/community-benefits-agreements "here")*. **Categories:** Economy, Labor, Racial Justice, Workforce Development **Types:** Policy + Programs --- ### [Local Opportunities Coalition Comment in Response to Proposed Updates to Uniform Guidance](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/local-opportunities-coalition-comment-in-response-to-proposed-updates-to-uniform-guidance/) **Published:** December 5, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The Local Opportunities Coalition, alongside supporting partner organizations, constitute 148 organizations from across the country who submitted comments regarding proposed updates to federal grant rules—known as the Uniform Guidance—that dictate how states and localities can spend federal money. Since the 1980s, the OMB’s Uniform Guidance has made it difficult for states and localities to attach labor and equity standards to federally-funded contracting. These organizations represent a broad range of stakeholders from across the country unified in ensuring the full benefits of federal dollars for local communities and workers. [LOC-Sign-On-Comment\_Uniform-Guidance-NPRM](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/LOC-Sign-On-Comment_Uniform-Guidance-NPRM.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/LOC-Sign-On-Comment_Uniform-Guidance-NPRM.pdf) **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Webinar: Reimagining Procurement Law to Maximize State & Local Benefits of Infrastructure Investments](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/webinar-reimagining-procurement-law-to-maximize-state-local-benefits-of-infrastructure-investments/) **Published:** November 13, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** On November 8, 2023, Jobs to Move America and the UCLA Law Review presented “Preemption Through Procurement” a webinar discussing the evolution and impact of a long standing legal misinterpretation of “competition” in federal procurement law, which has prevented state and local governments from maximizing the benefits of federal investments. The webinar offered a deeper exploration and expansion of the findings presented in the recently published [UCLA Law Review article](https://www.uclalawreview.org/preemption-by-procurement/), co-authored by two of the panelists, JMA’s Co-Executive Director, Madeline Janis and UCLA School of Law Professor, Scott Cummings. Panelists in the webinar discussed how this misinterpretation fits into broader historical and legal paradigms as well as the challenges and opportunities inherent in reimagining federal procurement for a more just and equitable future. ### Watch the Webinar Here ### **About the Speakers** **Scott Cummings** is the Robert Henigson Professor of Legal Ethics at the UCLA School of Law and the founding faculty director of the UCLA Program on Legal Ethics and the Profession. His academic research focuses on the legal profession, legal ethics, access to justice, and local government law. He co-authored a new analysis of federal procurement law, [recently published](https://www.uclalawreview.org/preemption-by-procurement/) in the UCLA Law Review to reveal how ideologically driven conceptions of “full and open competition” dating back to the 1980s have constrained federal contracting considerations and limited state and local innovation. In 2021, he was named the Fulbright Distinguished Chair at the European University Institute and in 2023, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to study the role of lawyers in democratic backsliding. **Madeline Janis** is the co-founder and co-executive director of Jobs to Move America. For over 35 years, she has used her legal expertise on the inside and outside of local and state government, working to create high road, equitable economic development, and strong industrial policy. She is a recognized expert on procurement law, urban economic and industrial development, women’s rights, immigrant rights, and racial justice. She co-authored a new analysis of federal procurement law, [recently published](https://www.uclalawreview.org/preemption-by-procurement/) in the UCLA Law Review to reveal how ideologically driven conceptions of “full and open competition” dating back to the 1980s have constrained federal contracting considerations and limited state and local innovation. **K. Sabeel Rahman** is a Professor of Law at Cornell Law School. He is also a co-founder and faculty co-director of the Law and Political Economy Project. His academic research focuses on issues of democracy, governance, economic power, political economy paradigms, racial equity, and inequality. From 2021-2023, he served in the Biden-Harris Administration where he led the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). At OIRA, he oversaw the policy review and approval of all significant federal regulations and played a lead role in the Administration’s efforts on equity, data and information policy, and reforming regulatory analysis. From 2018-2021 he served as President of Demos, a racial justice think tank and advocacy organization working on democracy reform and economic policy through research, litigation, and movement partnerships **Amy Kapczynski** is a Professor of Law at Yale Law School. She is also a faculty co-director of the Law and Political Economy Project, cofounder of the Law and Political Economy blog, and faculty co-director of the Global Health Justice Partnership. Her academic research focuses on law and political economy, and theorizes the failures of legal logic and structure that condition contemporary inequality, precarity, and hollowed out democracy. Before teaching, she served as a law clerk to Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Stephen G. Breyer at the U.S. Supreme Court, and to Judge Guido Calabresi on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Local Opportunities Campaign Summer 2023 Congressional Letter](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/local-opportunities-campaign-summer-2023-congressional-letter/) **Published:** September 19, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Last week, a [letter signed by 61 Members of Congress](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cZJs9eD8NCsSHHB5rtgFJ84WqRQtXNRC/view?usp=sharing) was sent to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in support of the [Local Opportunities Campaign](http://localopportunities.org/) efforts to update current federal grant regulations, which are known as the Uniform Guidance. The letter was led by Representative Greg Casar and Senator Tammy Duckworth, and encourages the Biden Administration to move forward with updating federal grant regulations to allow cities and states to incorporate labor and equity standards when contracting with federal funds, including allowing good jobs policies and local and targeted hiring on all federally-funded projects. Members of Congress emphasized the critical importance of updating the Uniform Guidance to ensure that state and local recipients are able to implement legislative landmarks—like the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)—in a way that advances equity and family-sustaining jobs in their communities. [LOC\_Final-Congressional-Letter-to-OMB\_-9\_2023](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/LOC_Final-Congressional-Letter-to-OMB_-9_2023.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/LOC_Final-Congressional-Letter-to-OMB_-9_2023.pdf) **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing **Types:** Letters --- ### [Report: Job Quality and Community Well-Being in Mississippi and Alabama’s Manufacturing Facilities](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/job-quality-and-community-well-being-in-mississippi-and-alabamas-manufacturing-facilities/) **Published:** February 15, 2023 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Manufacturing is big business in the South. Lured by generous tax incentives, global companies like Mercedes, Boeing, Nissan and more have set up shop in Alabama and Mississippi. But what's the quality of these jobs these major companies are creating with residents' tax dollars? **Content:** ### What’s it like working in manufacturing in the Deep South? Manufacturing is big business in the South. Lured by generous [tax incentives](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/the-hidden-costs-of-alabamas-tax-incentives/), global companies like Mercedes, Boeing, Nissan and more have set up shop in Alabama and Mississippi. But what is the quality of the jobs these major companies are creating with residents’ tax dollars? ### Alabama and Mississippi Manufacturing Workers Share Their Experiences With data from over 1,300 manufacturing workers in Alabama and Mississippi, a report from Alabama A&M University—with support from Jobs to Move America—sheds new light on the reality of these jobs. The report found that across the board, job quality at these facilities is low and work-life balance is virtually nonexistent. Other key takeaways include: - Average reported pay is substantially less than in unionized facilities although better than the $7.25 per hour minimum wage for the region. However, significant racial wage gaps are reported, and averages still do not meet what is considered needed to support a family. - Although most jobs are permanent positions, very few respondents reported opportunities for upward career mobility. - Work-life balance is virtually nonexistent for many respondents who put in long shifts with highly variable and difficulty to predict schedules. - High rates of serious injury and reports of racially hostile and sexually harassing work environments are reported. - Fear of retaliation from employers prevents workers from using their voice and speaking up to improve practices or report workplace issues. - Many workers express pride in their work but this pride is tempered by stories of unfair or mistreatment by their employers. See the report below: [SWMP-report](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/SWMP-report.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/SWMP-report.pdf) Watch the panel event held at Jackson State University, *Southern Manufacturing’s Impact on Jobs and Community*, that discussed the report: **Categories:** Health & Safety, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice **Types:** Reports & Policy Briefs --- ### [Coalition Letter on proposed memorandum of understanding (MOU) between EPA and Department of Labor](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/coalition-letter-proposed-memorandum-of-understanding-mou-between-epa-and-the-department-of-labor/) **Published:** September 8, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The letter from 26 labor, environmental, and civic organizations, including Jobs to Move America, encouraged the EPA to negotiate a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Labor. On July 14, the DOL announced the signing of a [MOU with both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Interior](https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osec/osec20230714). [Coalition-Letter-on-EPA-DOL-MOU\_2023-2](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Coalition-Letter-on-EPA-DOL-MOU_2023-2.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Coalition-Letter-on-EPA-DOL-MOU_2023-2.pdf) **Categories:** Labor --- ### [Harnessing the Power of Procurement: Issues, Considerations, and Best Practices to Advance Equity in the Contracting of PublicGoods and Services](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/harnessing-the-power-of-procurement-issues-considerations-and-best-practices-to-advance-equity-in-the-contracting-of-publicgoods-and-services/) **Published:** September 8, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The report from In the Public Interest and Local Progress mentions JMA’s U.S. Employment Plan as a way to weave equity into the procurement process. [Harnassing-the-Power-of-Procurement-Report-July-2023](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Harnassing-the-Power-of-Procurement-Report-July-2023.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Harnassing-the-Power-of-Procurement-Report-July-2023.pdf) **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing **Types:** Good Jobs Policies, Policy + Programs, Reports & Policy Briefs --- ### [Electrify NY Green Transit, Green Jobs Press Event](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/electrify-ny-green-transit-green-jobs-press-event/) **Published:** September 8, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Elected officials, advocates and labor leaders held a Zoom event on August 31, 2023 to urge Gov. Hochul to add the comprehensive Green Transit, Green Jobs Bill to the executive budget. Speakers: Jay Mehta, Northeast Director at Jobs to Move America Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz, District 81 Assemblyman Steven Otis, District 91 Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher, District 50 Assemblywoman Anna Kelles, District 125 Rick Rogers, Senator Timothy Kennedy Legislative Director Farah Ahmad, Senior Organizer at Jobs to Move America Anshul Gupta, Senior Policy Analyst at New Yorkers for Clean Power Brandon Mancilla, Director at UAW Region 9A Kevin Garcia, Transportation Planner, NYC Environmental Justice Alliance Ray Jensen Jr., Assistant Director at UAW Region 9 Monique Fitzgerald, Climate Justice Organizer, Long Island Progressive Coalition George Kerr III, IUE-CWA Member **Categories:** Climate Change, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing **Types:** Climate Justice Policies, Good Jobs Policies, Multimedia, Policy + Programs --- ### [Project Labor Agreement Resource Guide](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/project-labor-agreement-resource-guide/) **Published:** June 8, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA’s community benefits agreement with New Flyer is mentioned in the Department of Labor’s Project Labor, Community Workforce, and Community Benefits Agreements Resource Guide. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing **Types:** Factsheets --- ### [Primer: Green Industrial Strategy for Just Transitions](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/primer-green-industrial-strategy-for-just-transitions/) **Published:** May 3, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The Climate + Community Project’s report mentions JMA’s U.S. Employment Plan as model legislation to leverage government purchasing power to support the development of a high-road electric vehicle manufacturing industry. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing **Types:** Reports & Policy Briefs --- ### [Southern Manufacturing's Impact on Jobs and Community report presentation](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/southern-manufacturings-impact-on-jobs-and-community-report-presentation/) **Published:** April 27, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Excerpt:** A summary of the report on manufacturing jobs in Mississippi and Alabama. **Content:** [Job-Quality-and-Community-Well-Being-in-MI-and-AL-Manufacturing-Facilities-Final-Presentation-Feb.24.2023-1](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Job-Quality-and-Community-Well-Being-in-MI-and-AL-Manufacturing-Facilities-Final-Presentation-Feb.24.2023-1.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Job-Quality-and-Community-Well-Being-in-MI-and-AL-Manufacturing-Facilities-Final-Presentation-Feb.24.2023-1.pdf) **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice **Types:** Reports & Policy Briefs --- ### [Our CBA with electric bus builder New Flyer](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/our-cba-with-electric-bus-builder-new-flyer/) **Published:** May 24, 2022 **Author:** Web **Content:** Our coalition in Alabama and New Flyer, the largest electric bus manufacturer in North America, signed our Community Benefits Agreement on May 24, 2022. This is our first multi-state agreement, impacting New Flyer facilities in Anniston, AL and Ontario, CA. It supports the creation of robust manufacturing jobs through investments in workforce development and training programs, especially for historically disadvantaged people. **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice, Workforce Development **Types:** Community Benefits Agreements --- ### [Local Opportunities Coalition comment in response to Office of Management and Budget’s Request for Information](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/local-opportunities-coalition-comment-in-response-to-office-of-management-and-budgets-request-for-information/) **Published:** March 16, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The Local Opportunities Coalition and supporting partners wrote a comment in response to the Office of Management and Budget’s [Request for Information](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/02/09/2023-02158/omb-request-for-information-rfi) on how the Uniform Guidance can be updated or revised to give state and local recipients of federal financial assistance more tools to create good jobs and promote greater racial and gender equity in their hiring processes. The Uniform Guidance is a set of federal regulations that lay out how states and cities can contract with federal funds, such as from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act. For decades, states and cities have been asking the federal government to revise these regulations, and the Biden Administration has taken the first steps to making these critical updates. Click “download” to see the comment. To read more about this campaign, including details on our policy recommendations, please visit the Local Opportunities Coalition website [here](https://localopportunities.org/). **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing **Types:** Good Jobs Policies, Policy + Programs --- ### [Local and Economically-Targeted Hire Brochure](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/local-and-economically-targeted-hire-brochure/) **Published:** February 6, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will bring $1.2 trillion to states and cities over the next 5 years for new and existing infrastructure–a once in a generation opportunity. For the first time, local and economically targeted hire on transportation projects is allowed without prior approval. This printable brochure details how communities can take advantage of this funding by bringing good jobs to their communities. --- ### [Alabama Team Fact Sheet](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/alabama-team-fact-sheet/) **Published:** February 3, 2023 **Author:** Web **Content:** Our coalition in Alabama and New Flyer, the largest electric bus manufacturer in North America, signed our Community Benefits Agreement on May 24, 2022. This is our first multi-state agreement, impacting New Flyer facilities in Anniston, AL and Ontario, CA. It supports the creation of robust manufacturing jobs through investments in workforce development and training programs, especially for historically disadvantaged people. --- ### [League of Women Voters Alabama: Civic Engagement and Advocacy Training](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/league-of-women-voters-alabama-civic-engagement-and-advocacy-training/) **Published:** January 30, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA’s Southern Policy Manager Patricia Todd spoke at the training. --- ### [Diversity for Hire: Astroturfing, New Flyer, and the Transportation Diversity Council](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/diversity-for-hire-astroturfing-new-flyer-and-the-transportation-diversity-council-2/) **Published:** August 6, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** How New Flyer and the Transportation Diversity Council are “astroturfing” worker and community demands for racial and economic justice. **Content:** *An inside look at how one major corporation created an “astroturf” campaign to undermine worker and community demands for racial and economic justice*. Systemic racism infects every single institution in our society, including corporations. In the wake of the police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and so many others, corporations across America have made statements affirming a commitment to anti-racism and racial equity. Some of these corporations have committed to looking deeply at and addressing racial inequity in their ranks, while others have been criticized for their hypocrisy. Broadly, experts have identified two paths corporations can follow in response to demands that they do their part to remedy the present day institutional manifestations of longstanding racism and white supremacy. One, the high road, is to give workers a voice by addressing the underlying issues they bring up. The other, the low road, is to engage in a sophisticated marketing campaign to convince the public that the corporation is “doing the right thing,” while taking little action to end institutional injustice, thereby perpetuating it. New Flyer of America (New Flyer), the largest manufacturer of public transit buses in North America, is a multi-billion dollar corporation that has taken the low road. In the fall of 2019, Black and women workers had, in survey responses and interviews, identified race, gender discrimination and dangerous and unhealthy conditions at New Flyer’s Alabama factory as major concerns. In a more recent report, even greater percentages of surveyed workers raised concerns about discrimination and unsafe working conditions at the Alabama plant. New Flyer rejected a demand from a [coalition of Alabama residents, civil rights groups, and workers to negotiate an enforceable, national “Community Benefits Agreement”](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/alabama-community-coalition-asks-bus-manufacturing-behemoth-to-negotiate-first-nationwide-community-benefits-agreement/) to create better jobs, equal opportunity, and healthier communities for the company’s workers. Instead, on the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday in 2020, New Flyer announced a “partnership” with the Transportation Diversity Council (TDC), a New York-based organization, to create a so-called Community Benefits Framework. The Alabama coalition charged that, in reality, New Flyer hired TDC to run an “astroturf” campaign to lend a facade of legitimacy to New Flyer’s refusal to address the concerns of workers and residents. ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/RealCBAs-1.png "RealCBAs-1 - Jobs to Move America")**New Flyer hired a consultant to run an “astroturf” campaign to lend a facade of legitimacy to the company’s refusal to negotiate a Community Benefits Agreement with workers and community members.** This report documents how New Flyer’s relationship with TDC follows a well-traveled corporate astroturf low road: - TDC has collaborated with New Flyer to produce a vague “framework” that has no mechanisms of enforceability and no means for input by affected workers, instead of an enforceable Community Benefits Agreement created with true worker and community participation that provides meaningful benefits and genuine accountability; - TDC has repeatedly demonstrated that it sees its role as acting on behalf of New Flyer, not representing the independent interests of workers and community members; - TDC, as part of its core activities, advocates for transportation businesses and executives and assists their efforts to access taxpayer funds; and - TDC has conflicts of interest that likely prevent it from independently representing worker or community interests. [Read the report.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Diversity-for-Hire_Final.pdf) **Categories:** Manufacturing, Racial Justice, Transparency **Types:** Reports & Policy Briefs --- ### [Fact Sheet: Empowering Cities and States: Making Federal Funds Work for Our Communities](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/fact-sheet-empowering-cities-and-states-making-federal-funds-work-for-our-communities/) **Published:** December 1, 2022 **Author:** Web **Content:** Currently, a set of decades-old federal rules (known as the Uniform Guidance) impede cities and states from using innovative programs in the procurement process that can amplify the benefit of federal funds for communities. The procurement process can be a powerful tool to address historic inequities and uplift millions of struggling people—particularly people of color—but current rules inhibit this ability. With trillions of dollars set to be spent on infrastructure projects, it’s critical that we act now. By updating and clarifying the Uniform Guidance, we can allow cities and states to maximize the benefits of federal investments for our local communities. Download our fact sheet to learn more about our proposed solutions and how you can take action. --- ### [Report: Using Local and Economically-Targeted Hire to Promote Good Jobs Through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/local-hire-guide/) **Published:** September 29, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), also known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), was signed into law on November 15, 2021. This federal legislation will bring $1.2 trillion to states and cities over the next 5 years to repair and build roads and bridges, public transportation, the broadband network, and water infrastructure, among many other critical infrastructure projects. Each state will receive billions of dollars in funding over the next 5 years through mandatory and competitive grants, loans, and bonds. These funding opportunities offer a once in a generation opportunity to address community priorities for developing, strengthening, and building resilient infrastructure for the 21st century. At the same time, infrastructure dollars allocated to states and local communities may also be used to promote economic opportunity by creating good jobs. A number of obstacles—some rooted in history and others just the result of everyday struggles for workers—have often stood between local communities and the benefits of public infrastructure investment. The policies and programs described in this document are intended to help reconnect many workers to the good career jobs that infrastructure projects provide. This guide provides an overview of local and targeted hiring policies, answers key questions for states and cities looking to implement these policies, and offers success stories from around the country. Please also review this [Q&A on hiring preferences from the USDOT](https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/construction/hiringpreferences/qanda060822/), which we encourage you to use alongside this guide in meetings with contracting agencies. This document explains in detail the types of hiring preferences that can be used under the BIL. It also explicitly states that DOT is prioritizing projects that use local and other economic hiring in their discretionary grant applications**.** W Additionally, the USDOT provides [background resources ](https://www.transportation.gov/bipartisan-infrastructure-law/bipartisan-infrastructure-law-resources)as well as [state specific fact sheets](https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/usdot-releases-state-state-fact-sheets-highlighting-benefits-bipartisan) describing how each state may benefit from federal infrastructure dollars. These are important resources providing information on the amount of federal infrastructure money each state will receive over the next 5 years through formula funding, as well as discretionary grants states and cities can apply for. If you have questions while preparing for a meeting with state officials, please contact one of the organizations that sponsored this guide (contact info is on the last page of the guide). **Categories:** Economy, Labor, Manufacturing, Workforce Development --- ### ["Good Jobs: Making the Most of Infrastructure Investments" Panel](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/good-jobs-making-the-most-of-infrastructure-investments-panel/) **Published:** November 3, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** New America hosted the panel on Oct. 24 to discuss the importance of using recent federal investments to create good jobs. JMA’s National Director, Miranda Nelson, was on the panel. Watch it below. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Workforce Development **Types:** Multimedia --- ### [Taking the High Road to Cleaner Air for Kids and Communities](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/taking-the-high-road-to-cleaner-air-for-kids-and-communities/) **Published:** September 26, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Local Progress and Jobs to Move America co-authored a memo on how to use high-road procurement policy to clean our air and create good jobs with electric vehicles. --- ### [Pathways to an Equitable and Just Energy Transition: Jobs and Workforce Development workshop](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/pathways-to-an-equitable-and-just-energy-transition-jobs-and-workforce-development-workshop/) **Published:** September 6, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA Executive Director spoke on a panel about jobs and workforce development in The National Academies’ Pathways to an Equitable and Just Energy Transition workshop. Watch the session below: [Jobs and Workforce Development Session](https://vimeo.com/734078907) from [The National Academies](https://vimeo.com/academies) on [Vimeo](https://vimeo.com). **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice **Types:** Webinars --- ### [SB 674: California's High-Road Jobs Program](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/california-sb-674/) **Published:** August 11, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** As the country recovers from the pandemic and works to fight the worst of the climate crisis, investments in infrastructure and clean transit will be key to stimulating local economies. And thanks to the [Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/how-jma-is-ensuring-the-infrastructure-bill-works-for-all-of-us/) (IIJA, or the infrastructure bill) and the Inflation Reduction Act, federal dollars will be flowing to our communities to spark this much-needed rebuilding. But cities and states must ensure these investments result in quality jobs. That’s why we’re supporting SB 674, a bill sponsored by California Sen. María Elena Durazo. #### **What’s at stake** As climate change continues to wreak havoc on weather patterns worldwide, experts agree that California will experience an increased prevalence of severe wildfires, heat, drought, and rising sea levels. In addition to the extreme threat to human health, safety, and quality of life, without a swift reduction in emissions, climate change will lead to hundreds of billions of dollars in losses across the state’s industries. Moving to zero emission transportation vehicles as quickly and efficiently as possible is a vital step in reducing emissions. But as we make these needed changes, we cannot fall into poor labor standards for the workers making our transition to green transportation possible. On average, the job quality standards of clean energy jobs lag significantly behind those in the fossil fuel industry. Wages for workers in various clean energy sectors often fall far short of those in combustion-based industries, and the extent of health insurance coverage in the clean energy industries generally ranges between 34–48%, compared to 70% in the [fossil fuel industry](https://peri.umass.edu/component/k2/item/download/969_3900ffcb89b3b2d9ac94c79fe37ee96). Without policy intervention, it could take decades for clean energy jobs to reach the same level of quality as fossil fuel jobs. And without secured, high quality jobs for fossil fuel workers to transition into, the economic cost of the transition to clean energy will be significantly higher. #### **How it works** SB 674 supports the creation and retention of quality, non-temporary and full-time green manufacturing jobs that provide high wages, good benefits, and access to training. It does so by requiring state contracts for zero-emission transit vehicles or electric vehicle supply equipment valued at over $10 million to incorporate minimum high-road job standards into their contracts. These high-road standards include requiring contractors to certify that they aren’t misclassifying workers and are complying with health and safety regulations, sick leave, and ADA requirements. SB 674 also supports the state’s interest in rolling out zero-emission vehicles as quickly and efficiently as possible, by safeguarding against work stoppages that could impede production. Contractors must annually recertify that they are in compliance with the bill provisions, or else pay a fine. SB 674 also allows public agencies to incorporate additional high road job factors, such as job creation, wages, and benefits, into their scoring criteria. SB 674 is sponsored by longtime labor and social justice advocate Senator Maria Elena Durazo and a coalition of labor, community, industry and environmental organizations across the state. #### **How to help** We’ll need your help in urging our elected representatives to make this critical legislation law. Fill out the form below to receive updates on the bill’s progress and on how you can make your voice heard. California cannot keep fueling a deeply inequitable economy. We need to rebuild our state and invest in our future with a focus on worker- and equity-centered public infrastructure. The bill passed the Assembly, and now it’s on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk to sign. [**Will you send him an email letting him asking him to #PassSB674?**](https://actionnetwork.org/letters/demand-governor-gavin-newsom-pass-sb-674/) --- ### [Ban Secret Deals: How to Take On the Economic Development Subsidy Machine](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/ban-secret-deals-how-to-take-on-the-economic-development-subsidy-machine/) **Published:** August 1, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA Southern Policy Manager Patricia Todd appeared at Ban Secret Deals’ online event, How to Take On the Economic Development Subsidy Machine. Watch it below: --- ### [Webinar: Community Benefits Agreements (CBA) 101](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/webinar-community-benefits-agreements-cba-101/) **Published:** July 12, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Melanie J. Prasad, JMA’s Legal Director, spoke at “Community Benefits Agreements (CBA) 101” hosted by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of the Secretary in collaboration with the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity on June 24, 2022. The goal of the webinar is to familiarize all participants with CBAs, especially considering the recently passed Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) which provided significant new funds to the DOE to address some of the country’s most pressing energy sustainability, resilience, and equity challenges. Watch the webinar here: --- ### [LRAN Conference 2022: Building Power for Black and Brown Workers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/lran-conference-2022-building-power-for-black-and-brown-workers/) **Published:** July 6, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA’s Mississippi Community Engagement Coordinator Angela Dawson and Southern Policy Manager Patricia Todd spoke at the 2022 Labor Research & Action Network Conference on June 21-22. Watch the video here: **Categories:** Health & Safety, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice **Types:** Workforce Equity Programs --- ### [Webinar: Using Federal Funds to Create Local Infrastructure Jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/webinar-using-federal-funds-to-create-local-infrastructure-jobs/) **Published:** June 28, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** On June 14, 2022, Jobs to Move America partnered with the [National League of Cities](https://www.nlc.org/) to host a webinar on how elected and agency officials around the country can create good jobs for their residents using local and targeted hiring policies. The call covered the history of local and targeted hiring programs, what has changed for cities and states under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and opportunities for further federal action, like Jobs to Move America’s campaign to update the [Office of Management and Budget’s Uniform Guidance](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/local-hire/) and end the federal ban on local hire. The call also featured presentations from elected officials, agency leaders, and community organizations that have successfully implemented local and targeted hiring provisions in their cities, including how tools like project labor agreements and community benefits agreements can be used to create equitable access to infrastructure jobs. **Speakers** Michael Lawliss, Senior National Policy Coordinator, Jobs to Move America Miguel Cabral, Executive Officer, Diversity and Economic Opportunity, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority Janice Zahn, Assistant Director of Engineering and Construction, Port of Seattle Deka Dancil, President, Urban Jobs Task Force (Syracuse, NY) [**Watch the Video Recording Here**](https://www.nlc.org/resource/from-the-event-using-federal-funds-to-create-local-infrastructure-jobs/) Are you an elected official interested in joining Jobs to Move America’s campaign to end the federal ban on local hire? You can sign our letter to the Biden administration advocating for these changes [here](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1lkKgU2AC1Je5e0rGZDy9lBIhc6tceMlOsS_uffl4w-8/edit). **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Workforce Development --- ### [Webinar: Leveraging Federal Infrastructure Dollars for Good Jobs in Communities that Need them Most](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/webinar-leveraging-federal-infrastructure-dollars-for-good-jobs-in-communities-that-need-them-most/) **Published:** May 16, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** On May 13, 2022, Jobs to Move America partnered with the [EARN Network](https://earn.us/) to host an [event on local and targeted hiring practices. ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njpMUoay_00&list=PLOeWdRZsn2L-xF_OTDFgw1g8IThzLB2vY&index=2&t=8s) The [webinar](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njpMUoay_00&list=PLOeWdRZsn2L-xF_OTDFgw1g8IThzLB2vY&index=2&t=8s), which also featured speakers from LA Metro and Stand Up Nashville, discussed the historical and legal background of local and targeted hire policies, what changed under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), and how states and cities can use tools like project labor agreements and community benefits agreements to create equitable access to infrastructure jobs for their residents. The event also highlighted the ongoing campaign from Jobs to Move America to permanently [end the federal ban on local hire](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/local-hire/). **Speakers** Jaimie Worker, Senior State Policy Coordinator, Economic Analysis and Research Network Miguel Cabral, Executive Officer, Diversity and Economic Opportunity, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority Nathaniel Carter, Director of Workforce and Employment, StandUp Nashville [Michael Lawliss](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/michael-lawliss/), Senior National Policy Coordinator, Jobs to Move America **Moderator** Jennifer Sherer, Senior State Policy Coordinator, Economic Analysis and Research Network **Video** --- ### [Driving the Future: How to Electrify our School Buses and Center Kids, Communities, and Workers in the Transition](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/driving-the-future-how-to-electrify-our-school-buses-and-center-kids-communities-and-workers-in-the-transition/) **Published:** May 17, 2022 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This represents a trailblazing effort to document the opportunity of school bus electrification in all its complexity. **Content:** Millions of U.S. students rely on the nation’s nearly 500,000-strong school bus fleet to travel to and from school every day. For decades, most of these buses have been powered by diesel engines. Despite the harmful pollution these buses emit, there haven’t been viable alternatives that are significantly better for the environment. But with the arrival of electric school bus technology and ever-improving batteries, the nation’s student transportation fleet is on the cusp of a radical and badly needed transition to zero-emissions vehicles. JMA’s report is a detailed look at many of the most pressing questions for advocates, school district officials, and policymakers who want to understand the transition to electric school buses fully. The research relies on a wide variety of sources and is grounded by insights shared by more than two dozen representatives from school districts, private fleet operators, utilities, unions, and other stakeholders. This report provides numerous recommendations, including: - **Prioritizing funding for disadvantaged communities**. Funding programs should create explicit, well-defined, and accountable preferences for communities who have historically been blocked from accessing new technologies. - **Promoting equitable employment practices and good jobs for school bus drivers, attendants, and operators** through workforce impact assessments, in which fleet operators evaluate the expected impact of ESBs on school bus drivers, attendants, and technicians, and provide their plan to ensure that workers retain their positions, receive the training they need, and maintain wage and benefit levels. - **Incorporating the U.S. Jobs Plan in funding streams and solicitations**. ESB funding programs should promote the development of a high-road ESB supply chain. One of the best ways to do this is through the [U.S. Jobs Plan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/u-s-employment-plan-2/), where manufacturers make enforceable commitments on the creation of good jobs and the use of equitable hiring and training practices. - Ensuring safe and proper installation of charging infrastructure and promoting recycling and responsible mining **Ian Elder, senior national researcher at Jobs to Move America** and the report’s author said, “Now is the time to transition to electric school buses: to protect kids’ health, to provide clean air in communities overburdened by pollution, and to create the jobs of the future. But as this research shows, these outcomes are not a given. We need to invest in this technology wisely and fairly in a way that centers kids, communities, and workers.” **Categories:** Climate Change, Infrastructure/Transportation, Manufacturing, Workforce Development **Types:** Reports & Policy Briefs --- ### [About JMA factsheet](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/about-jma-factsheet/) **Published:** May 12, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This factsheet outlines JMA's vision, what we're doing to get there, and who we work with. **Content:** This factsheet outlines JMA’s vision, what we’re doing to get there, and who we work with. Across the country, we advocate for policies that create good jobs and lift labor standards for workers across the country. We also advocate for transparency policies that give the public greater oversight over our public dollars. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing **Types:** Factsheets --- ### [Providing Training for Zero Emission Buses: Recommended Expanded RFP Language](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/providing-training-for-zero-emission-buses-recommended-expanded-rfp-language/) **Published:** February 17, 2022 **Author:** Web **Content:** JMA released a report with [The International Transportation Learning Center (ITLC)](https://www.transportcenter.org/) to assist public transit agencies in meeting the requirements in the bipartisan infrastructure bill to train workers in the operations and maintenance of zero emissions buses (ZEBs). In the report, “Providing Training for Zero Emission Buses: Recommended Expanded RFP Language,” agencies are provided language on workforce training that may be included in their ZEB Request for Proposals (RFPs). The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocates $5 billion for low- and no-emission bus procurement, requiring that 5% must be spent on workforce training and development. Recognizing that every agency has different needs, the report’s recommendations are based on a variety of RFPs containing strong language on procuring and drawn from multiple interviews with leadership and staff from transit agencies, independent procurement trainers, and representatives from transit labor unions. The report also provides a list of customizable training requirements, as well as training on special tools and diagnostic equipment. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Workforce Development --- ### [Lift the ban on local hire campaign factsheet](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/lift-the-ban-on-local-hire-campaign-factsheet/) **Published:** May 11, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This factsheet outlines JMA's work on our campaign to lift the ban on local hire. **Content:** This factsheet outlines JMA’s work on our campaign to lift the ban on local hire. Across the country, cities and states are taking steps to rebuild communities and recover from the devastating impacts the pandemic has had on working families. A significant part of rebuilding our economy will be major infrastructure projects. Currently, however, federal regulations prohibit cities and states from prioritizing local residents for employment on any projects that are federally funded. We’re working in coalition with public officials, advocates, and community groups across the country to urge the Biden administration to lift this harmful and counterproductive ban. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor **Types:** Factsheets --- ### [How much would it cost to electrify the nation's school buses?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/how-much-would-it-cost-to-electrify-half-the-nations-school-buses/) **Published:** April 8, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** To electrify half of the nation's 500,000 fossil-fuel-powered school buses, it would cost approximately $30 billion. **Content:** How much would it cost to replace the nation’s fossil-fuel-powered bus fleets with clean electric ones? Jobs to Move America and [Clean Energy Works](https://www.cleanenergyworks.org/), in collaboration with the Alliance for Electric School Buses led by [Chispa](https://cleanride4kids.org/), have estimated how much it would cost to establish a federal program to electrify half of the nation’s 500,000 school buses. A federal program should provide funding for at least the difference in cost between a diesel bus and an electric bus, as well as the cost of installing the necessary electrical infrastructure. One of the main goals of the program would be to spur large-scale production, which should result in significant reductions in cost over time. Funding should also support training and workforce development, deployment assistance, and resources to deploy new technologies such as Vehicle to Grid (V2G) integration. > **We estimate that it would cost approximately $30 billion to replace 250,000 school buses with electric models.** The full explanation of the annual costs and assumptions is provided [here](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Estimated-cost-of-school-bus-replacement-US.pdf). [A recent report by Jobs to Move America](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/clean-buses-for-new-york-kids/) on electric school buses in New York suggests that investing heavily in electric school buses—if done right—could provide cleaner air for students, help address environmental injustice, and create good, green jobs. The report recommends providing significant funding for ESBs, as well as the use of inclusive, best-value procurement to create high-road standards in school bus manufacturing and operations. *Ian Elder, National Senior Researcher at Jobs to Move America, and Margarita Parra, Clean Energy Works’ Transportation Director contributed to this research.* **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation **Types:** Factsheets --- ### [Letter to OMB on Uniform Guidance Updates - April 2022](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/letter-to-omb-on-uniform-guidance-updates_april-2022/) **Published:** April 18, 2022 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Representative Bass, Senator Gillibrand, and Senator Duckworth led a letter signed by 73 of their Congressional colleagues in support of Jobs to Move America’s local hire campaign **Content:** In April 2022, Representative Karen Bass, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and Senator Tammy Duckworth led a letter signed by 73 of their Congressional colleagues in support of Jobs to Move America’s local hire campaign. The attached letter, sent to the Office of Management and Budget, advocates for updating federal regulations to allow cities and states to do local and targeted hiring on all federally-funded projects and to include other labor and equity standards in their procurement. **Categories:** Labor, Workforce Development **Types:** Letters --- ### [Our CBA with electric bus builder Proterra](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/our-cba-with-electric-bus-builder-proterra/) **Published:** January 4, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** In December 2020, Jobs to Move America signed our third Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) with electric bus manufacturer Proterra and United Steelworkers Local 675 (USW 675). **Content:** In December 2020, Jobs to Move America signed our third Community Benefits Agreement (CBA), this time with electric bus manufacturer Proterra and United Steelworkers Local 675 (USW 675). The CBA has led to transformative investments in Los Angeles communities, helping to train, support, and hire workers for skilled union jobs in zero-emissions bus manufacturing at Proterra’s City of Industry facility. The CBA includes commitments to develop a pre-hire training program that could grow into a bona fide apprenticeship. The agreement formalized the inclusion of JMA coalition partners in recruiting, training, and hiring candidates from disadvantaged backgrounds and populations historically underrepresented in manufacturing. In the spring of 2021, the USW-Proterra training partnership was awarded a $650,000 grant from California’s High Road Training Partnership (HRTP) to build out a newly formed joint labor-management training committee that will develop certified apprenticeship pathways for existing workers and new hires. Proterra’s CBA with JMA and the Miguel Contreras Foundation made them eligible for HRTP resources designed specifically for training partnerships between workers, community members, and employers. Before the HRTP award, Proterra successfully graduated 12 participants in a pilot training program with the Los Angeles County Workforce Development Agency and Citrus College. In the summer of 2021, a second cohort completed the training program with support from HRTP funds and LA County First District Supervisor Hilda Solis. You can read one of the graduate’s stories [here](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/worker-story-armando-acosta/). **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice, Workforce Development **Types:** Community Benefits Agreements --- ### [BYD Apprenticeship Readiness Training](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/byd-apprenticeship-readiness-training/) **Published:** April 17, 2018 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This pre-apprenticeship program will train people with systemic barriers to employment for clean, union jobs in the manufacturing industry. **Content:** Our team in California is proud to be a part of a community-labor coalition that is changing how we think about public contracts and working to create more jobs for Californians across the State. JMA, along with our community-labor coalition, including the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers Union (SMART) signed a [Community Benefits Agreement with electric bus manufacturer BYD](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/community-benefits-agreement-with-byd/). Through the CBA, BYD committed to diversifying its staff in California by developing high-quality apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs to train a new generation of workers in the manufacturing industry for quality, skilled union jobs at their facility in Lancaster, CA. These trainings have created a career ladder for existing workers who are gaining cutting-edge skills, and an industry-recognized credential via an apprenticeship program, thereby earning more on the job. In 2019, SMART Local 105 and BYD launched the country’s first electric bus manufacturing apprenticeship program using the nationally-recognized Industrial Manufacturing Technician (IMT) credential. This apprenticeship selects competitive applicants employed by BYD who have demonstrated a desire to further their careers to participate in a 1.5-year hybrid program that includes in-classroom instruction and hands-on training. The first cohort of graduates completed their apprenticeship in partnership with Antelope Valley College in the [Spring of 2021](https://www.thefourth-revolution.com/news/20-graduate-from-byd-and-smarts-manufacturing-apprenticeship-program/). You can read one of the graduate’s stories [here](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/worker-story-daniel-cervantes/). In 2020, SMART Local 105 and BYD, in partnership with the Worker Education Resource Center (WERC), were awarded nearly $1 million from the State of California’s High Road Training Partnership (HRTP). These workforce development funds are only available for industry, labor, and community groups to expand access to apprenticeship programs and quality jobs in clean technology sectors that will support the state in reaching its ambitious greenhouse gas reduction goals. The community benefits agreement makes BYD eligible for these resources to build new employees’ training and hiring pipelines. Together, the BYD-SMART apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs comprise the single largest investment in high-quality employment and training programs by any electric transit vehicle manufacturer in U.S. history. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Racial Justice, Workforce Development **Types:** Workforce Equity Programs --- ### [U.S. Employment Plan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/u-s-employment-plan-2/) **Published:** April 10, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The U.S. Employment Plan (USEP) is our customizable, federally-approved policy tool that builds good jobs and equity into the public purchasing process. **Content:** ### A good jobs and equity policy The U.S. Employment Plan (USEP) is our customizable, federally-approved policy tool that builds good jobs and equity into the [public purchasing process](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/our-approach/why-public-purchasing/). The USEP is proven to: - Incentivize manufacturers bidding for public contracts to commit to creating good jobs - Invest in new manufacturing facilities in our communities - Generate career pathways for people traditionally left out of the manufacturing sector, including women, people of color, veterans, and formerly incarcerated folks. #### **How does it work?** Cities, states, and public agencies can incorporate the USEP into their bidding process to adjust what kind of information is required for a company to submit a bid for a public contract. Rather than just submitting information about traditional factors like technical specifications and price, the USEP requires the companies competing for public contracts to disclose the number, type, and location of jobs the contract will create and retain, as well as salaries, benefits, training programs, and their plan to recruit and train historically marginalized workers. The USEP includes policy language for three parts of the purchasing process: - **Proposal tool:** language that can give transportation equipment manufacturers the opportunity to earn extra credit in the bidding process by proposing the creation and/or retention of a proposed number and quality of U.S. jobs supported in connection to a contract, facilities, and commitments to hiring workers facing multiple and significant barriers through recruiting and training efforts. - **Evaluation tool**: provides a system of voluntary price credits and/or a scoring method to help public agencies to evaluate the quality of proposals submitted in response to a request for procurements. - **Compliance & implementation tool:** contract and enforcement language that ensures transparency and accountability for U.S. jobs, hiring and training commitments on a contract. > To date, the USEP has been used by cities and states across the country on billions of dollars of infrastructure projects from the Northeast Corridor to Chicago and Los Angeles. Thanks to the USEP, that spending created thousands of direct jobs and has supported the creation of tens of thousands of additional indirect jobs. #### **Success stories** ***Los Angeles*** LA Metro has used the USEP eight times – leading to the creation of more than 550 direct jobs and thousands of additional jobs throughout the supply chain. In 2011, LA Metro became the first transit agency in the country to use the USEP for the purchase of new rail cars, on a bid that resulted in (1) the award of an $890 million contract to Kinkisharyo International for light rail vehicles; (2) a new factory in Los Angeles County; and (3) the creation of 404 high quality jobs in the county. In 2013, LA Metro again used the USEP to purchase 550 buses, awarding a $305 million contract to New Flyer Industries. In 2018, LA Metro committed to implementing its own Manufacturing Careers Policy, which would apply the USEP to all future railcar, bus, and manufactured equipment purchases above $100 million. The policy is estimated to support up to 22,000 U.S. jobs as LA Metro replaces its entire fleet. ***Chicago*** The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) used the USEP in 2014 to purchase new rail cars. In 2016, it awarded a $1.3 billion contract to rail manufacturer CRRC. The company ultimately built a new manufacturing facility in the Southeast side of Chicago, which created over 200 jobs during construction and will create at least 170 good manufacturing jobs during production. CRRC’s new factory marks the first time CTA’s rail cars have been produced in Chicago since 1964. CRRC also signed a landmark community benefits agreement to recruit, train, and hire low-income workers, people of color, women, returning citizens, and veterans and to invest in the development of a pre-apprenticeship and workforce training program. ***Amtrak*** In 2014, Amtrak used the USEP in its purchase of $2 billion worth of new high-speed trains for its Northeast Corridor Acela line. Alstom Transport, a manufacturer headquartered in France, won the contract and committed to creating 400 jobs in upstate New York to build Amtrak’s new rail cars. The trains will be manufactured at Alstom’s Hornell and Rochester facilities in New York. Parts for the new train sets will come from more than 350 suppliers in more than 30 states, generating an additional 1,000 jobs nationwide. More than 95 percent of the train set components will be manufactured in the U.S. #### **History of the USEP** During the year-long process of developing the USEP in 2012 and 2013, [U.S. Department of Transportation Deputy Secretary John Porcari](https://www.wsp.com/en-US/profiles/porcari-john) appointed an internal DOT task force to review and approve the USEP model documents as compliant with Federal Procurement law and regulations. Between 2012 and 2014, the policy was approved by the DOT for use with federal funds by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro), the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), and Amtrak. In February 2016, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx sent a [letter](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/DOT-Secretary-Foxx-Letter-2016.pdf) to transportation stakeholders that recognized the USEP as an innovative approach to using public transportation funds to create good jobs in the United States. A UCLA law school [study](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Cummings_Moran_Memos4.pdf) from 2016 showed that the use of the USEP did not have a significant impact on price or the number of bidders and was therefore found to be consistent with the federal laws and regulations that require all procurements involving federal funds be conducted in a way that maximizes full and open competition. **Sample U.S. Employment Plan Language** - [Full U.S. Employment Plan Model RFP](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/USEP_FTAHandbook_7-24-161.pdf) - [U.S. Employment Plan Full Request For Proposals Language – Policy Language or Request for Proposals (RFP) procurements](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Model-USEP-with-FTA-approved-disadvantaged-defs_Full_Version_FINAL_PDF.pdf) - [Full Model U.S. Employment Plan Request for Proposal Language- approved by the US DOT in 2013](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Full-Model-USEP-RFP-Proposal-Language_2013-11.pdf) - [Full Model U.S. Employment Plan Quantitative Proposal Spreadsheet – approved by the US DOT in 2013](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Model_USEP_Workbook_Full_Version_v9-updated.xls) - [Instructions and Workbook for U.S. Employment Plan Quantitative Proposal Spreadsheet](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Instructions-for-Model-USEP-Quantiative-Proposal-Spreadsheet-1.pdf) **U.S. Employment Plan Language Adopted by Transportation Agencies** ***Amtrak Acela:*** - [Request for Proposals\_July 1 2014\_Amtrak](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Instructions-to-Offerors-ITO-dated-070114.pdf) - [Amtrak Acela U.S. Employment Plan EXHIBIT C, FORMS – July 1, 2014](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Exhibit-C-FORMS-AND-SUPPLEMENTAL-DOCUMENTS-.pdf) ***Chicago Transit Authority:*** - [Request for Proposals\_February 2020\_CTA](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/RFP_2-19-2020_CTA-Bus-RFP-C20FT102342998.pdf) - [Request for Proposals\_May 2015\_CTA](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Chicago-Transit-Authority_C14FI101554098_RFP_Advertised_101614.pdf) - [Letter\_April 2015\_ Coalition Letter to CTA President Forrest Claypool](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/CTA_Lttr_USEP-Scoring-Receommendations_FINAL_042015.pdf) - [Press Release\_July 24 2014\_Mayor Emanual, CTA, CFL Launch Partnership for Job Growth in Chicago](https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/mayor/press_room/press_releases/2014/jul/mayor-emanuel--chicago-transit-authority-and-chicago-federation-.html) ***Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority:*** - [Request for Proposals\_2016\_LA Metro Zero-Emission Buses](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/LA-Metro-CNG-EV-Bus-RFP_2016.pdf) - [Request for Proposals\_2015\_LA Metro Heavy Rail RFP](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/RFP-No.-HR4000_Final.pdf) - [Request for Proposals\_2013\_LA Metro Low-Floor CNG Buses](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/LA-Metro-40-ft-CNG-Bus_2013.pdf) - [Request for Proposals\_2011\_LA Metro Amendments to Light Rail RFP](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/LA-Metro-Light-Rail-Amendments_2011-1.pdf) ***Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority:*** - [Request for Proposals\_October 2013\_MBTA Rail Cars](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/MBTA-Red-Orange-Contract-Commercial-Provisions.pdf) ***Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority:*** - [Request for Proposals\_June 2017\_Marta Addendum to RFP for Procurement of Rail Cars](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/MARTA-RFP-P38186-Addendum-1.pdf) - [Request for Proposals\_2011\_Marta Light Rail Car](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/MARTA-Request-for-Information-for-the-Procurement-of-Rail-Cars2.pdf) - [Request for Information\_August 2016\_Marta Procurement of Rail Cars](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/MARTA-Request-for-Information-for-the-Procurement-of-Rail-Cars2.pdf) ***MTA New York City Transit:*** - [Request for Proposals\_2016\_MTA Proposals for Subway Cars](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/NYC-MTA-Subway-RFP_2016.pdf) - [Contract\_2018\_MTA and Kawasaki](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/MTA-Kawasaki-Contract-R34211.pdf) *The U.S. Employment Plan (USEP) was developed by a team of experts from Jobs to Move America, the*[ *Brookings Institution*](http://www.brookings.edu/)*, the University of Southern California’s*[ *Program for Environmental and Regional Equity*](https://dornsife.usc.edu/pere)*, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s*[ *Political Economy Research Institute*](http://www.peri.umass.edu/)*, with funding from the*[ *Surdna Foundation*](http://www.surdna.org/)*,*[ *Annie E. Casey Foundation*](http://www.aecf.org/)*,*[ *Ford Foundation*](http://www.fordfoundation.org/)*,*[ *Rockefeller Foundation*](http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/) *and*[ *Living Cities*](http://www.livingcities.org/)*.* **Types:** Good Jobs Policies --- ### [JMA Illinois factsheet](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/jma-illinois-team-factsheet/) **Published:** May 11, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This factsheet outlines the work of JMA's Illinois team. **Content:** This factsheet outlines the work of JMA’s Illinois team, including our work to establish a standing U.S. Employment Plan policy at the Chicago Transit Authority and our coalition work to push to the state to invest in cleaner power and vehicle electrification. Black, brown, and low-income communities in Chicago and throughout Illinois are struggling with the consequences of decades of disinvestment. JMA and our Illinois coalition are fighting for intentional, equitable public investment in our communities — in clean transit and infrastructure that create family-sustaining jobs and support healthy communities. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor **Types:** Factsheets --- ### [Our CBA with railcar manufacturer CRRC](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/our-cba-with-railcar-manufacturer-crrc/) **Published:** April 16, 2016 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** For the first time in 50 years, Chicago is manufacturing railcars. Our CBA with manufacturer CRRC will create good jobs for south side residents facing barriers to employment. **Content:** After winning the largest-ever railcar procurement in the Chicago Transit Authority’s history, railcar manufacturer CRRC signed a CBA with our coalition in Illinois. This CBA ensures that good jobs at the new railcar factory on Chicago’s south side are available to people facing barriers to employment. The CBA also establishes a jobs pipeline for local residents through a pre-apprenticeship and workforce training program. **Types:** Community Benefits Agreements --- ### [National program factsheet](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/national-program-factsheet/) **Published:** May 11, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This factsheet outlines Jobs to Move America's work at the national level. **Content:** This factsheet outlines Jobs to Move America’s work at the national level, including our campaign to lift the ban on local hire, our advocacy for school bus electrification, and our advocacy for our signature policy tool, the U.S. Employment Plan, and other policies that create good jobs and lift labor standards for workers across the country. We do this work by helping agencies and policymakers combine public investments in our infrastructure with the creation of worker-friendly, family-supporting jobs, and by partnering with JMA’s regional teams — and at the national level, with transportation, labor, civil rights, environmental, and policy allies. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor **Types:** Factsheets --- ### [Toward a New Procurement Law: Reclaiming Competition for the Common Good](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/toward-a-new-procurement-law-reclaiming-competition-for-the-common-good/) **Published:** August 3, 2021 **Author:** Web **Content:** **About the panel** Panelists presented a groundbreaking new analysis of federal procurement law to reveal how regulatory changes can transform the U.S. economy by directing federal resources for physical, social and climate-related infrastructure to rebuild high-road American businesses and create good jobs for all. Panelists traced the history of procurement law to expose how the Reagan administration and its free market ideology constrained federal contracting considerations and limited state and local innovation. Speakers also presented the legal analysis that clarifies that procurement law can be a tool to rebuild the American middle class by creating good jobs, advancing climate justice, and breaking down barriers to racial equity. **Background** Every year, federal, state, and local governments spend nearly $2 trillion of our public dollars to purchase services, infrastructure and manufactured equipment—everything from school buses to wind turbines and garbage trucks. This cash can go towards building up our economy with jobs for workers across the country. But that’s not the case because legal interpretations made decades ago by the Reagan administration put federal restrictions on hiring from local communities and including social justice considerations when cities and states use federal dollars for infrastructure projects. The restrictions were established on the unfounded basis that local hiring and economic development policies would increase the price of public works projects and reduce the number of companies willing to bid on those projects, i.e. reducing “competition.” The “competition rule” was made without any evidence, and the local hire ban was adopted [without consulting Congress](https://capitalandmain.com/bidens-jobs-plan-could-build-racial-equity-with-one-simple-fix-0428). Instead, this rule supports business interests over the health, safety and economic well-being of communities across the country. **When:** August 9, 2021 at 11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET **Speakers** - Scott Cummings, Robert Henigson Professor of Legal Ethics and Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law - Nestor M. Davidson, Albert A. Walsh Chair in Real Estate, Land Use, and Property Law, Fordham University School of Law - Felice Segura, National Legal Director, Jobs to Move America **Moderator** Madeline Janis, Esq. Executive Director, Jobs to Move America --- [Powerpoint\_08-09-2021\_Opening the Door to Innovation](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Powerpoint_08-09-2021_Opening-the-Door-to-Innovation.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Powerpoint_08-09-2021_Opening-the-Door-to-Innovation.pdf) --- [The Competition Rule webinar 080921](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/The-Competition-Rule-webinar-080921.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/The-Competition-Rule-webinar-080921.pdf) --- [State Labor and Employment Preemption.pptx](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/State-Labor-and-Employment-Preemption.pptx.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/State-Labor-and-Employment-Preemption.pptx.pdf) **Categories:** Economy, Labor, Racial Justice **Types:** Webinars --- ### [The Hidden Costs of Alabama’s Tax Incentives](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/the-hidden-costs-of-alabamas-tax-incentives/) **Published:** August 9, 2021 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Between 1993 and 2020, Alabama gave away $4 billion in tax incentives to corporations like Amazon, Mercedes, Toyota and Google to incentivize job creation. But those giveaways were made with little to no transparency and accountability—and with often questionable return on investment for Alabama taxpayers. Meanwhile, Alabama’s incredibly low tax collection rates each year impact the state’s ability to invest adequately in critical public services and programs. While the state ranks No. 49 in total tax collection, it also ranks among the states with the highest poverty rate, lowest levels of educational attainment, and highest incarceration rate. In this report, Patricia Todd, JMA’s Southern Policy Manager and a former Democratic Alabama state legislator of 12 years, combines her inside political perspective with additional research by Jobs to Move America to make the case for a increasing transparency and accountability around Alabama’s corporate tax incentive giveaways. If implemented, the report’s recommendations would bring Alabama closer in line with other Southern states like Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, Mississippi, and Tennessee, which already release much more public information about their tax incentive programs. Among the report’s recommendations: - Provide full public information on all corporate subsidies and tax credits awarded, the terms of each deal, and the extent to which the recipient has complied with the terms of the subsidy agreement. - Provide robust public information on how return on investment is calculated for each incentive award, including information on the impact of companies’ operations on communities, workers, and current businesses. - Adopt a Unified Economic Development budget for all economic development initiatives, including a comprehensive accounting of all corporate tax incentive awards. “Alabamians’ public tax dollars should be used to create as much good as possible for our communities—not to further enrich billion dollar corporations,” said Todd. “The recommendations in this report will bring more transparency to our state’s tax incentives programs and ensure that Alabamians have the information they need to keep corporations and public officials accountable to the public.” **Categories:** Manufacturing, Transparency, Workforce Development **Types:** Reports & Policy Briefs --- ### [JMA New York team factsheet](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/jma-new-york-team-factsheet/) **Published:** May 11, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This factsheet outline's the work of JMA's New York team. **Content:** This factsheet outline’s the work of JMA’s New York team, including our work to establish a standing U.S. Employment Plan policy at the MTA, our legislative work to pass the Green Transit, Green Jobs bills and the Climate and Community Investment Act, and our work with the NYC Clean Bus Coalition. From the climate crisis to the pandemic, the problems facing New Yorkers require ambitious solutions to meet the challenge. Jobs to Move America is fighting to ensure those solutions create good, green jobs, promote a more sustainable economy and healthier communities, and invest in communities of color. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor **Types:** Factsheets --- ### [What is a CBA? factsheet](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/what-is-a-cba-factsheet/) **Published:** May 12, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This fact sheet explains the basics of a CBA and our work to win them. **Content:** This factsheet explains the basics of a CBA and our coalition work to win them. When corporations set up shop in our communities, residents and workers should share in the benefits. CBAs are legally enforceable agreements that community groups negotiate with companies to secure benefits for residents and workers, including company commitments to paying workers family-sustaining wages, creating training programs, and environmental commitments. **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing, Workforce Development **Types:** Factsheets --- ### [JMA California team handout](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/jma-california-team-handout/) **Published:** May 11, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This factsheet outlines the work of JMA's California team. **Content:** This factsheet outlines the work of JMA’s California team, including our work to improve the standing U.S. Employment Plan policy at LA Metro, organizing with community partners for Community Benefits Agreements, and our work to pass the California Jobs Plan Act. Every year, California, which is the country’s most populous state and represents the world’s 5th largest economy, hands billions in public dollars over to major corporations through contracts and tax breaks. Our California team is fighting to ensure that those public dollars create good, clean, family-sustaining jobs for workers and their communities throughout the state. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor **Types:** Factsheets --- ### [Climate and Community Investment Act](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/climate-and-community-investment-act/) **Published:** May 5, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Jobs to Move America is fighting alongside the NY Renews coalition to pass the Climate and Community Investment Act (CCIA), which would invest $15 billion in new green infrastructure. **Content:** Jobs to Move America is fighting alongside the [NY Renews](https://www.nyrenews.org/) coalition to pass the Climate and Community Investment Act (CCIA), which would invest $15 billion in new green infrastructure — from electric buses and charging systems for our transit systems to solar panels and wind turbines. The CCIA would raise $15 billion from a fee on polluters. Under the bill, a newly-created authority would spend that money to build a renewable economy through large-scale green infrastructure projects, community resiliency, and energy bill rebates for low-income consumers. The bill also works to ensure a just transition for fossil fuel workers and their communities. The CCIA makes sure that every single public dollar our state and local governments spend on new clean infrastructure supports the creation of good, family-sustaining jobs — all by changing the way New York does business. When the new authority invests in new climate infrastructure, it will use JMA’s policy tools: the Local Employment Plan and the [U.S. Employment Plan.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/u-s-employment-plan-2/) These tools build good job creation and equity into the public purchasing process. The USEP requires manufacturers and companies bidding for public contracts to build or supply our infrastructure will submit information about a range of factors, including: - How many good jobs paying high, family-sustaining wages the investment will create in New York State and, - their plan for hiring workers who face barriers to employment, including people in frontline communities, people returning from incarceration, veterans, women, and people of color. The CCIA builds accountability and transparency into the process by making sure that the commitments bidders make are contractually enforceable. The bill also includes other strong labor requirements, like prevailing wage and apprenticeship programs. The result? The 150,000 jobs created by the CCIA will be good jobs, with good wages, that help communities thrive. By using our policy tools, the CCIA will create and sustain over 150,000 good, green jobs over the first decade in communities that need them most. **Categories:** Climate Change, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor **Types:** Climate Justice Policies --- ### [Worker-centered state climate policy in Illinois](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/worker-centered-state-climate-policy-in-illinois/) **Published:** April 10, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Illinois is poised to pass comprehensive energy legislation in the upcoming 2021 session. Our Illinois team is organizing with environmental and labor coalitions to propose worker-centered policies that would ensure an equitable transition to 100% clean energy and transition the state's public vehicle fleets. **Content:** Illinois is poised to pass comprehensive energy legislation in the upcoming 2021 session. Our Illinois team is organizing with environmental and labor coalitions to propose worker-centered policies that would ensure an equitable transition to 100% clean energy and transition the state’s public vehicle fleets. Both the [Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition](https://ilcleanjobs.org/) and [Climate Jobs Illinois ](https://climatejobsillinois.org/)coalitions are advancing JMA’s good jobs policies as best practices for the transition to climate-safe infrastructure. The Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA), which includes our good jobs policies, would commit Illinois to 100% carbon-free power by 2030 and 100% renewable energy by 2050 and move the state toward electric vehicles. Municipal investments in electric vehicles using JMA’s policies not only incentivize good jobs and equity in this growing market, but also pave the way for increased private sector investments in electric vehicles. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Labor **Types:** Climate Justice Policies --- ### [Clean Buses for New York Kids](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/clean-buses-for-new-york-kids/) **Published:** March 16, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** A report with policy recommendations for how New York can harness the transition to electric school buses to create healthier communities, good jobs, and clean rides for kids. **Content:** ***How electric school buses can create healthier communities, good jobs, and clean rides for kids in New York*** Before the COVID-19 pandemic, more than two million New York students relied on the state’s 46,000 school buses — the vast majority of which are major producers of toxic emissions and greenhouse gasses. This report, by Ian Elder, national senior researcher at Jobs to Move America, argues that by transitioning swiftly to electric school buses, New York can reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, create cleaner air for kids and communities, and support good job creation. The report includes a suite of policy recommendations tailored for New York, including: - The creation of a major pilot program and the implementation of an electrification policy for New York City’s new school bus nonprofit, NYCSBUS. So far, New York City has purchased two ESBs. - At the city level, passing a citywide electric school bus mandate. As of January 2021, there was a proposal before the City Council to mandate a transition to electric school buses; this report suggests that an even faster transition may be possible. - At the state level, the report recommends that New York State follow the model of the Jobs to Move America’s [U.S. Employment Plan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/u-s-employment-plan-2/) to create a New York Jobs Plan (NYJP) policy that would improve jobs in school bus manufacturing. Such a plan should also include best-value procurement for school bus contractors. Best-value procurement for school bus services will allow fleet operators to compete on quality and community benefits, not just price, and will improve job quality and stability for school bus drivers, attendants, and technicians. - At the state level, creating a large and stable funding stream for electric school buses. One promising avenue is the NY Climate and Community Investment Act (CCIA), under consideration in the 2021 legislative session. > “From the climate crisis to the pandemic, New Yorkers need ambitious solutions that will create good, green jobs; invest in communities of color; and build a clean economy. If our city and state leaders get the policy right, New York can use the transition to electric school buses to create healthier rides for kids while supporting a just recovery for New York’s working families.” > > I**an Elder, author of the report and senior national researcher at Jobs to Move America.** **Learn more about electric school buses in New York:** Read why environmental justice organizations, community groups, and unions endorsed our policy recommendations in [our press release](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/as-school-systems-recover-new-research-reveals-how-new-york-can-speed-up-equitable-transition-to-electric-school-buses/). Read Michael Elsen-Rooney’s [story in the *New York Daily News* about the report](https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/ny-electric-school-bus-expansion-20210322-fyuw72vfibb7ngybjfzjbnlaz4-story.html). **Categories:** Climate Change, Health & Safety, Manufacturing **Types:** Reports & Policy Briefs --- ### [Green Transit, Green Jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/green-transit-green-jobs/) **Published:** August 26, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This legislative package would electrify New York's public bus systems and create good, clean jobs. **Content:** The Green Transit, Green Jobs bills, sponsored by New York Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz and State Senator Timothy Kennedy, would electrify New York’ bus fleets and create good jobs in New York. The Green Jobs bill includes Jobs to Move America’s [good jobs and equity policy](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/u-s-employment-plan-2/) to make sure that every public dollar New York invests in electric buses supports the creation of good manufacturing jobs and training pathways in communities that need them most. Read more about why the bills are key to building an equitable recovery for New York in [this op-ed in *Buffalo News* ](https://buffalonews.com/opinion/another-voice-green-transit-and-jobs-bills-would-boost-upstate-recovery/article_167161ba-1a96-11eb-a28c-8b8e6fd715a2.html)by Hae-Lin Choi of CWA District One and Miranda Nelson, New York director for Jobs to Move America. Take action to support the Green Transit, Green Jobs bills by sending a letter to your state representatives today! [Send a letter](https://actionnetwork.org/letters/support-green-transit-green-jobs-in-new-york) **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Labor **Types:** Climate Justice Policies, Good Jobs Policies --- ### [Analysis of USDOT Local Labor Hiring Pilot: Local hire increases opportunities for disadvantaged workers, strengthens local economies](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/analysis-of-usdot-local-labor-hiring-pilot-local-hire-increases-opportunities-for-disadvantaged-workers-strengthens-local-economies/) **Published:** March 2, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This report from Jobs to Move America demonstrates that the lifting of a Reagan-era regulation prohibiting cities and states from using local hire policies in federally-funded construction projects would create stronger local economies, advance racial equity, and increase the ways that cities and states can create good jobs while building and repairing infrastructure. **Content:** [**Click to learn more about our campaign to overturn the ban on local hire.**](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/local-hire/) This report from Jobs to Move America demonstrates that the lifting of a Reagan-era regulation prohibiting cities and states from using local hire policies in federally-funded construction projects would create stronger local economies, advance racial equity, and increase the ways that cities and states can create good jobs while building and repairing infrastructure. A decades-old ban on local hire forbids cities and states from using local hire policies to specify a geographic preference for job creation in any public procurement funded with federal dollars. The first stride toward eliminating this prohibition came under the Obama administration through the Local Labor Hiring Pilot project. “JMA is the first organization to analyze data from the Obama-era pilot project and found that using local hire does not adversely impact the number of bidders or bid price, contrary to the original justification for prohibiting local hire,” said Madeline Janis, JMA’s executive director. The report also found that the pilot revealed extensive societal and economic benefits of local hire in creating jobs for local residents, especially for marginalized workers. A national coalition of over 160 elected officials, community groups, and academics have joined Jobs to Move America in signing a letter calling on the Biden administration to swiftly remove the prohibition on local hire. ***For media inquiries:*** Alaa Milbes, **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor **Types:** Reports & Policy Briefs --- ### [Alabama A&M: Are good jobs possible in the deep South?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/are-good-jobs-possible-in-the-deep-south/) **Published:** March 10, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This report, by Dr. Emily Erickson at Alabama A&M University, takes an in-depth look at the costs and benefits of the manufacturing industry’s growth by surveying workers across one city and residents living in the shadows of large manufacturing plants in Alabama. **Content:** Report from researchers at Alabama A&M University about Anniston, Alabama: a Southern manufacturing community This report, by Dr. Emily Erickson at Alabama A&M University, takes an in-depth look at the costs and benefits of the manufacturing industry’s growth by surveying workers across one city and residents living in the shadows of large manufacturing plants in Alabama. The Southern United States is experiencing rapid growth in heavy manufacturing industries as firms take advantage of the region’s business-friendly policy environment, large public incentives, and low wages. The automotive industries alone represent $13 billion in capital investments in Alabama (Smith, 2019). As the growth of heavy manufacturing industries in the South continues, there has been little research into the costs of public investment in local manufacturing jobs and the benefits to local communities. > The global companies that open manufacturing plants in the American South – including in Anniston – earn higher profits on the backs of both white and Black low-wage workers. This paper addresses that gap by presenting original data collected from one manufacturing community – Anniston, Alabama. The report identifies unsafe working conditions and unequal opportunity. Public investment in manufacturers has winners and losers. In general, the businesses are the winners, but the employees (whose jobs typically do not pay a livable wage) and the general public (whose tax dollars subsidize these companies rather than local schools, libraries, public safety, and street repairs) are the losers. The companies want the workers and community residents to be grateful that they have brought jobs to Anniston and other Alabama cities. However, many of the jobs they provide do not allow families to make ends meet – pay the rent or mortgage, pay for health care, get the car fixed, put three nutritious meals on the table, and other essentials. It is extremely difficult to support a family on less than $20 an hour. [Download now](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/are-good-jobs-possible-in-the-deep-south-erickson-march-2021.pdf) [About our AL campaign for good jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/alabama-coalition-for-community-benefits/) **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice **Types:** Reports & Policy Briefs --- ### [Accelerator for America: Maximizing Investment for Job and Small Business Growth](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/accelerator-for-america-maximizing-investment-for-job-and-small-business-growth/) **Published:** May 21, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Local officials across the country are contending with how to build a sustained recovery from the coronavirus pandemic that includes the entire community, including how to get residents back to work into well-paying jobs. **Content:** Local officials across the country are contending with how to build a sustained recovery from the coronavirus pandemic that includes the entire community, including how to get residents back to work into well-paying jobs. To accelerate the economic recovery, [the New Partnership on Infrastructure](https://www.acceleratorforamerica.org/infrastructure-partnership) (NPI) recommends that Congress: - establish a national training center for workforce development and apprenticeship programs for infrastructure, - declare in any economic stimulus bill that federal competition rules do not prohibit innovative job creation incentives such U.S. Employment Plan (USEP) and local hire in procurements for all infrastructure projects, and - incentivize state and local agencies to hire growing small and medium sized businesses. *Learn more about Accelerator for America and the New Partnership on Infrastructure [here](https://www.acceleratorforamerica.org/infrastructure-partnership).* **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation **Types:** Reports & Policy Briefs --- ### [Contracting Careers Opportunity Policy Ordinance at CTA](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/contracting-careers-opportunity-policy-ordinance-at-cta/) **Published:** August 17, 2019 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** CTA will be the second transit agency nationally and the largest agency to apply our signature good jobs policy, the USEP, to its major procurements. **Content:** In August 2019, the Chicago Transit Authority Board (CTA) passed the Contracting Careers Opportunity Policy Ordinance instructing CTA staff to create and implement a good jobs policy to apply to the agency’s contracts. The Ordinance specifically calls on CTA to implement a standing USEP, which will ensure CTA’s public purchasing creates good jobs and advances equity. CTA will be the second transit agency nationally and the largest agency to apply our signature good jobs policy, the USEP, to its major procurements. CTA has applied the USEP to two major procurements: first a $1.3 billion dollar contract (their largest ever railcar procurement) and second a 600 bus Request for Proposals (RFP). In the first application of the USEP, the contractor committed to building a new facility on the SE side of Chicago (creating 200 construction jobs) and committed to employing at least 170 jobs when the facility is at full production in 2021. In order to fulfill its USEP commitments, the company signed a Community Benefits Agreement with our coalition in Illinois to establish a jobs pipeline that includes a pre-apprenticeship program, union certification, and hires people of color and women for these good manufacturing jobs. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing **Types:** Good Jobs Policies --- ### [Electric vehicles should be a win for American workers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/electric-vehicles-should-be-a-win-for-american-workers/) **Published:** September 24, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This report from the Center for American Progress highlights the U.S. Employment Plan, our cornerstone good jobs and equity policy, as a key tool to create a good jobs future for the United States. **Content:** *This [report](https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2020/09/23/489894/electric-vehicles-win-american-workers/) from the Center for American Progress highlights the U.S. Employment Plan, our cornerstone good jobs and equity policy, as a key tool to create a good jobs future for the United States.* Specifically, the report recommends that the federal “government should require that public transit funds go to employers who demonstrate compliance with good jobs principles and require state and local recipients of high levels of funding to use a U.S. Employment Plan. These plans, which were developed by the Jobs to Move America coalition and approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2016, are a customizable tool to encourage companies competing for public rolling stock procurement contracts to disclose information on job creation, job quality, and plans to recruit and train historically marginalized workers. The U.S. Employment Plan model serves as a roadmap for how cities, states, and public agencies could build jobs and equity into their bidding processes. Finally, government authorities should commit to retraining public sector workers to operate and maintain EV buses, rather than contracting out those services.” **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor **Types:** Big Ideas --- ### [Good Jobs Policies](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/good-jobs/) **Published:** December 18, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** We start from one core belief: that public goods should create the most public good. In practice, this means that the billions of public dollars our government spends every year to invest in public goods like transit, infrastructure, education, and more should create good jobs, advance racial and gender equity, and tackle the climate crisis. Our public dollars are the key to shaping a fairer society and equitable economy. Jobs to Move America has a bold vision and road-tested plan for harnessing the power of our public dollars to create hundreds of thousands of good, family-sustaining jobs for workers across the country. Our key policy is called the U.S. Employment Plan, or the USEP. The USEP is a customizable, federally-approved policy tool that builds good jobs and equity into the[ public purchasing process](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/our-approach/why-public-purchasing/). Learn more about how the USEP works [here](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/u-s-employment-plan-2/). **Categories:** Economy, Labor, Manufacturing **Types:** Policy + Programs --- ### [Sunshine in California Public Contracts](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/sunshine-in-california-public-contracts/) **Published:** April 10, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** We're fighting to bring transparency to public contracts in California. **Content:** As communities across the U.S. are learning, companies that contract with our governments often fail to deliver the good jobs promised in their contracts. More robust sunshine and accountability laws can reverse that trend. SB749 is statewide legislation in California that would strengthen transparency by ensuring that information about the jobs commitments companies make as part of the public contracting process are accessible to the public under the California Public Records Act. “Detailed information about our public contracts in California are difficult to track down,” said Abhilasha Bhola, California senior policy coordinator at JMA, in an email. “That’s why bills like SB 749 are so important—the public needs to have access to information about how our dollars are spent if we want to see real return on our shared investments.” When companies make commitments to create jobs in connection with public contracts, grants, or subsidies, the public should have access to this information. SB749 would affirmatively state that any information around job creation, access and training disclosed as part of a public contract or tax abatement program, excluding CalCompetes, would not be considered a trade secret and thus accessible through a public records request. This two-year bill is sponsored by longtime labor and social justice leader Senator Maria Elena Durazo and a coalition of 20+ labor, anti-poverty, environmental justice, and open government organizations. Read more about this legislation in [*Capital & Main*](https://capitalandmain.com/transparency-in-public-works-contracts-0902). **Categories:** Economy, Transparency **Types:** Transparency and Sunshine Policies --- ### [Reagan vs. Cities: The 20th Century Battle Over South African Apartheid and Lessons For The Trump Era](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/reagan-vs-cities-the-20th-century-battle-over-south-african-apartheid-and-lessons-for-the-trump-era/) **Published:** June 15, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** By the 1980s, the apartheid political system in South Africa and its brutal oppression of people of color had become increasingly shocking to the world. Sustained global opposition resulted in the system’s collapse by the beginning of the next decade. In the United States, anti-apartheid efforts pitted community leaders, states, and cities against the federal government and the Reagan administration, along with numerous corporations and their business groups. By withholding public contracts and other financial benefits, cities and states sought to sanction U.S. businesses that were profiting from the South African apartheid system. They were met with fierce opposition from the Reagan administration, whose stated position was to fully support the racist government of South Africa through “constructive engagement,” claiming that policies to address apartheid should be developed by the federal government, not states or cities, and that economic sanctions would “exacerbate” the situation of black South Africans. The clash between the Reagan administration and cities and states over apartheid teaches important lessons that provide guidance today. The tools wielded by the federal government to thwart cities and states during the anti-apartheid struggle continue to inhibit local innovation in public contracting today. How cities and states fought back also provides lessons for policymakers contending with threats from the Trump administration to punish “sanctuary” cities and other state or local communities that are resisting aggressive measures by the federal government. **Categories:** Economy, Racial Justice **Types:** Reports & Policy Briefs --- ### [Climate Smart Ports Act](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/climate-smart-ports-act/) **Published:** June 3, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The legislation would green the country's ports, fight climate change, and create good green jobs. **Content:** Jobs to Move America supports the Climate Smart Ports Act, introduced by Congresswoman Nanette Diaz Barragán in May 2020, which would green the country’s ports and reduce toxic pollution that severely harms the health of people in port communities. The legislation would invest in zero-emissions technology and infrastructure, protect dockworkers, fight climate change, address a source of environmental injustice, and create good-paying green jobs. The Climate Smart Ports Act would create a $1 billion-a-year zero-emissions ports infrastructure program to assist ports and port users with the following: - Replacing diesel-burning cargo handling equipment, port harbor craft, drayage trucks, and other equipment with zero emissions equipment and technology; - Funding the installation of shore power for docked ships, and electric charging stations for vehicles and cargo equipment; - Developing clean energy micro-grids onsite at the ports to power their facilities; - Authorizing an additional $50 million a year for the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act, specifically for reducing emissions at ports. - Implementing strong labor provisions to protect dockworkers from automation, require a prevailing wage for installation work generated through grants, and encourage the use of union labor and local hiring. “At a time when our country and economy will need to quickly bounce back from an economic recession, we cannot afford to miss opportunities to invest in reducing pollution while growing the availability of green employment opportunities for communities who need to work. Now is the time for us to harness the power of public investment to create the most public good through cleaner air and good jobs for disproportionately impacted communities in California and across the United States. Jobs to Move America commends Representative Barragán on this initiative and her commitment to ensuring good jobs and clean air go hand in hand,” said Abhilasha Bhola, California senior policy coordinator with Jobs to Move America. *Read more in [the press release](https://barragan.house.gov/barragan-introduces-climate-smart-ports-act-to-improve-air-quality-and-create-good-jobs-in-port-communities-across-america/) from Rep. Barragán’s office.* **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Labor **Types:** Climate Justice Policies --- ### [Our CBA with electric bus builder BYD](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/community-benefits-agreement-with-byd/) **Published:** April 16, 2013 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This landmark CBA with electric bus manufacturer BYD led to the country's first electric bus apprenticeship program. **Content:** In 2017, our community-labor coalition in California signed a landmark CBA with electric bus manufacturer BYD. The CBA is supporting the creation of good, family-sustaining jobs through deep investments in pre-apprenticeship and training programs. BYD committed to a goal of recruiting and hiring 40 percent of its workers from populations facing significant barriers to employment, including women, African Americans, justice-impacted individuals and veterans. Through this CBA, BYD is implementing the country’s first electric bus apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship program. **Types:** Community Benefits Agreements --- ### [Workforce Equity Programs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/workforce-equity-programs/) **Published:** April 17, 2013 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Jobs to Move America is working across the country to develop apprenticeship programs and job pipelines that will ensure people who have historically been denied access to manufacturing careers have the necessary skills to obtain good, family-sustaining manufacturing jobs. **Content:** We are working to harness the power of our public dollars to create good jobs in the manufacturing sector for people facing barriers to employment. As manufacturing continues to reshore and electric bus technology advances, few workers have the necessary skills to enter an advanced manufacturing facility without significant job training. The emerging electric bus manufacturing sector does not have a clearly defined skills-training program for job seekers with no experience in electric vehicle manufacturing to safely qualify them for entry-level positions with a growing cluster of electric bus makers in the U.S. Jobs to Move America is working across the country to develop apprenticeship programs and job pipelines that will ensure people who have historically been denied access to manufacturing careers have the necessary skills to obtain good, family-sustaining manufacturing jobs. **Categories:** Economy, Racial Justice, Workforce Development **Types:** Policy + Programs --- ### [Climate Justice Policies](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/climate-justice-policies/) **Published:** March 4, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** We need to transition to a clean economy that runs on renewable energy with good union jobs at its core. **Content:** The climate crisis is the single greatest emergency of our time. To tackle climate change, we need bold climate justice policies that build a clean economy, lift up working families, and address systemic racial, gender, and economic injustice. Jobs to Move America advocates for climate policies that center worker and community voice. Public investments in green technologies and critical climate infrastructure — from public buses to solar panels — can create millions of good jobs for workers, especially those who have historically been denied good jobs in the manufacturing sector. Our public dollars have the power fuel a clean economy with good union jobs at its core. *We’re conducting research, advocating for strong climate policy, and organizing in coalition across the country to make it happen. Learn more about our climate justice policy advocacy below.* **Types:** Policy + Programs --- ### [Transforming Transit, Realizing Opportunity](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/transforming-transit-realizing-opportunity/) **Published:** July 18, 2019 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Through economic modeling and dozens of interviews, this report offers policy recommendations to enable agencies to center community health, climate solutions, and good job creation in their transition to electric buses. **Content:** ### How battery-electric buses can benefit the environment, the economy, and public transit Through economic modeling and dozens of interviews with leaders from public transit agencies, environmental organizations, and community-based organizations, the report offers a suite of policy recommendations intended to enable agencies to center community health, climate solutions, and good job creation in their adoption of battery-electric bus technology and infrastructure. Notably, the report finds that full-scale electrification of public bus fleets in the U.S. could create at least 20,000 good American manufacturing jobs. **The policy recommendations include suggestions for:** - Building out bold electrification programs that center community voices and benefits - Prioritizing environmental justice - Creating good jobs that lift up workers - Committing to real transparency and accountability “Bus mechanics and operators across America recognize the environmental benefits of expanding our transit systems’ electric bus fleets. Protecting and expanding job opportunities during this transition is essential to ensure that electric bus services reach their full potential. That is why we support proposals that ensure transit workers and their unions become partners with the agencies in identifying the new skills and training programs necessary to safely operate and maintain the new equipment,” says **John Costa, President of the Amalgamated Transit Union International.** **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Labor **Types:** Reports & Policy Briefs --- ### [New York MTA Electric Bus Transition](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/new-york-mta-electric-bus-transition/) **Published:** April 10, 2019 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The ElectrifyNY coalition pushed the largest transit agency in the country to commit to electrifying its entire bus fleet. **Content:** In 2019, Jobs to Move America and the [ElectrifyNY coalition](about:blank) successfully pushed the country’s largest transit agency, New York’s MTA, to commit to transitioning its entire bus fleet to zero emissions buses by 2040. The MTA’s fleet comprises more than 5,700 buses. In its most recent capital plan, the MTA announced plans to kickstart this transition with a purchase of 500 EV buses between 2020 and 2024. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy **Types:** Climate Justice Policies --- ### [Chicago Ready for 100](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/chicago-ready-for-100/) **Published:** December 10, 2019 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Chicago is transitioning to 100 percent clean, renewable energy by 2030 -- to get there, the city has also planned to create good jobs. **Content:** The Ready for 100 Resolution, passed unanimously by the Chicago City Council in April 2019, requires the city to transition to 100 percent clean, renewable energy by 2030. The resolution also requires the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) to fully transition to an all-electric bus fleet by 2040. This critical climate justice policy for Chicago was written by a collective of environmental justice, faith, student, and labor groups to push the city to the lead on fighting climate change while creating good jobs for people who need them most. As part of the collective, Jobs to Move America ensured that the resolution included our signature good jobs policy, the U.S. Employment Plan, which will ensure that every public dollar spent on this transition prioritizes equity and good jobs. Chicago has committed to adopting a transition plan by the end of 2020. The collective is working to frame this transition plan and is currently organizing community listening sessions to make sure all policy recommendations are rooted in the voices, perspectives, and needs of city residents. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Labor **Types:** Climate Justice Policies --- ### [Chicago Good Jobs Pipeline](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/chicago-good-jobs-pipeline/) **Published:** April 17, 2017 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Our community-labor coalition is developing a jobs pipeline to train Chicagoans facing barriers to employment for jobs at CRRC, a railcar manufacturer in Chicago. **Content:** In 2017, our community-labor coalition in Illinois signed a [Community Benefits Agreement](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/our-cba-with-railcar-manufacturer-crrc/) with railcar manufacturer CRRC. This CBA committed our coalition and CRRC to establishing a jobs pipeline, which will bring together community stakeholders and unions to recruit, train, and hire workers in Chicago who face systemic barriers to employment. After completing a pre-apprenticeship program, workers will begin manufacturing railcars at the CRRC plant and receive union certification. Our coalition is hard at work establishing a jobs pipeline rooted in the needs of marginalized workers. The pipeline includes resources and referrals, a new railcar pre-apprenticeship program, and on-the-job transferable manufacturing certifications. The majority of workers are expected to be hired in early to mid-2021. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice, Workforce Development **Types:** Workforce Equity Programs --- ### [Good Jobs through LA Metro's purchasing process](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/good-jobs-at-la-metro/) **Published:** April 17, 2018 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** In 2018, LA Metro committed to creating tens of thousands of good manufacturing jobs by adopting our good jobs and equity policy. **Content:** In 2018, LA Metro committed to implementing an agency-wide good jobs and equity policy, called a Manufacturing Careers Policy, to create good jobs and advance equity through the agency’s purchases of manufactured transit equipment. This policy applies our signature [good jobs and equity policy](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/u-s-employment-plan-2/) to all of LA Metro’s railcar, bus, and manufactured equipment purchases above $100 million. The policy is still in development, and is anticipated to support up to 22,000 U.S. jobs as LA Metro replaces its entire fleet. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing **Types:** Good Jobs Policies --- ### [Manufacturing Careers Policy at the MTA](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/manufacturing-careers-policy-at-the-mta/) **Published:** November 17, 2019 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** We’re advocating for a good jobs and equity policy at the nation's largest transportation agency: New York's MTA. **Content:** In New York, we’re advocating for a good jobs and equity policy, called a Manufacturing Careers Policy, at the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the nation’s largest transportation agency. This policy would create good manufacturing jobs by applying our [signature good jobs and equity policy,](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/u-s-employment-plan-2/) as well as critical job retraining provisions to ensure a just transition for frontline workers, to all of the agency’s purchases of manufactured equipment. “As the largest transit agency in the country, the MTA can be a leader in ensuring that our new electric buses are manufactured for transit agencies in workplaces with decent wages and working conditions. Our public transit money should be invested in jobs that lift up our communities. As stewards of the public’s money, we hope the state legislature can continue to hold them accountable to do so,” said Miranda Nelson, our NY/NJ director, in testimony to the state legislature. Read that testimony [here](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Testimony-to-the-State-Legislature-on-the-MTA-Capital-Plan.pdf). **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing **Types:** Good Jobs Policies --- ### [Good Jobs through LA DOT's purchasing process](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/good-jobs-through-la-dots-purchasing-process/) **Published:** April 17, 2017 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** In 2017, the LA Department of Transportation committed to applying our signature good jobs and equity policy to all future purchases of clean transit equipment. **Content:** In 2017, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LA DOT) committed to electrify its transit fleet by 2030. That commitment also inaugurated a standing USEP at the LA DOT, which will be applied to all public purchases over a specific dollar value. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor **Types:** Good Jobs Policies --- ### [Build Local, Hire Local](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/build-local-hire-local/) **Published:** April 17, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The Build Local, Hire Local bill contains a comprehensive set of reforms to raise wages and labor standards, strengthen unions, invest in American manufacturing, create new opportunities for high-quality jobs, and strengthen communities. **Content:** The Build Local, Hire Local bill contains a comprehensive set of reforms to raise wages and labor standards, strengthen unions, invest in American manufacturing, create new opportunities for high-quality jobs, and strengthen communities that have been negatively impacted by previous infrastructure policies. These reforms would be applied to the nation’s estimated $100 billion in annual infrastructure spending across a series of industries. The policy has been introduced in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, but has not yet been discussed in the relevant committees. [Read the introductory text of bill summary here.](https://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/7.31.19_Summary_of_Build_Local_Hire_Local_Act.pdf) **Types:** Good Jobs Policies --- ### [Comments on U.S. Department of Transportation Notice of Proposed Rulemaking DOT OST-2015-0013-0002](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/comments-on-u-s-department-of-transportation-notice-of-proposed-rulemaking-dot-ost-2015-0013-0002/) **Published:** April 6, 2015 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** In 2015, JMA and 39 organizations submitted this letter to then Secretary of Transportation, Anthony Foxx, about strengthening geographic-based hiring preferences in federal transit awards related to equipment procurement. **Content:** On April 6, 2015, Jobs to Move America submitted a letter to then Secretary of Transportation, Anthony Foxx, on behalf of 39 organizations. Read the full letter below, and find our press release about the letter [here](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/experts-from-jobs-to-move-america-coalition-submit-input-in-department-of-transportation-comment-period-for-local-job-creation-initiative). --- Hon. Anthony Foxx Secretary U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE Washington, DC 20590 Special attention to: Michael Harkins Deputy Assistant General Counsel for General Law (OST-C10) Office of the Secretary, Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Room W83-312 Washington, DC 20590 Re: Comments on Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, ID Number DOT OST-2015-0013-0002 Dear Secretary Foxx: We are writing on behalf of the Jobs to Move America Coalition (hereinafter “JMA”), an alliance of over 40 organizations from across the United States that is dedicated to the creation and improvement of jobs and opportunity for low income communities through the investment of public transportation dollars. Specific organizations signing onto this letter are listed below. We submit these comments in response to the DOT’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (hereinafter “NPRM”) ID number DOT-OST-2015-0013-0002, Geographic-Based Hiring Preferences in Administering Federal Awards. Because the collective work of JMA is focused on the creation of good manufacturing jobs in the transit vehicle manufacturing industry, our comments relate primarily to strengthening the final rule currently entitled Geographic-Based Hiring Preferences in Administering Federal Awards (hereinafter “Final Rule”) as it relates to rolling stock and other equipment procurement. While we have seen many creative examples of geographic preferences and targeted hiring programs linked to the award of construction contracts, we leave other organizations to comment more specifically in that arena. **GENERAL COMMENTS:** First, we applaud the DOT’s proposed rule as well as the recently launched DOT experimental program for 2015. Virtually all of the JMA member organizations have extensive experience in the creation of geographic and targeted-based hiring preferences in public contracting, and therefore recognize the historic nature of the DOT’s proposed rule as well as the recently launched DOT experimental program. As discussed below, we urge the DOT to include a direct reference to **targeted hiring programs** in the Final Rule. The evidence shows that, if grantee agencies are allowed to apply innovative contracting language to all of their procurements, the job creation and economic development impact of that investment will grow substantially. Past experience has also shown – as described below – that these **increased community and economic benefits will occur without significant negative impacts on open competition in the bidding process**. In addition, we believe that grantee agencies should be able to use geographic preferences in rolling stock procurement with certain limitations, as described below. We have long believed that the previous Department of Justice and DOT interpretation of the “open competition rules” (as reflected in [**http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/olc/opinions/1986/06/31/op-olc-v010-p0101.pdf**](http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/olc/opinions/1986/06/31/op-olc-v010-p0101.pdf)) has stifled creativity and innovation in the award of construction, rolling stock and service contracts. In fact, the historic DOT interpretation of the “open competition” requirements in 49 USC§5325(a) and 49 CFR 18.36 has significantly hindered DOT grantees from maximizing the impact of transportation expenditures: i.e., purchasing high-quality and cost-effective equipment and services AND creating high quality jobs and opportunity for low income people and communities in the United States. As we write these comments, the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst is finishing a comprehensive report on the significant leakage of transit vehicle production jobs outside of the United States because of the weakness of the existing Buy America law as well as the status quo prohibition on the use of innovative contracting language by grantee agencies. For more information on this research, please contact Professor Robert Pollin at . Preliminary findings show that transit vehicle manufacturers awarded federally funded contracts generally source only about 40 percent of the total value of their contracts from domestic firms. In short, the DOT restriction on the use of innovative job requirements/incentives in federally funded rolling stock procurement is currently causing an unnecessary loss of up to about 60 cents on every transit dollar spent. This enormous opportunity lost comes at a time when the U.S. economy and its most disadvantaged communities are still struggling to recover from the deep 2007 – 2009 recession. The example of the U.S. Employment Plan language used by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (hereinafter “USEP”) in a 2012 light rail vehicle contract illustrates that allowing DOT grantees to use targeted hire criteria can actually help bring production over to the United States from overseas. (For more information on this experience, please contact Victor Ramirez from LA Metro at ramirezv@Metro.net.) In addition, available evidence shows that the historic interpretation of the “open competition” rules has in effect **stifled genuine open competition**, especially for firms competing in the U.S. market based on any criteria **other than low price**. Numerous discussions with U.S.-based rolling stock manufacturers confirm that, while some firms prefer to compete based on offering the absolute lowest price possible, (see, e.g., and [http://www.mbta.com/uploadedfiles/Business\_Center/Bidding\_and\_Solicitations/Staff%20Summary](http://www.mbta.com/uploadedfiles/Business_Center/Bidding_and_Solicitations/Staff%20Summary%20for%20Red%20and%20Orange%20Line%20Procurement%2010-22-2014.pdf) [%20for%20Red%20and%20Orange%20Line%20Procurement%2010-22-2014.pdf](http://www.mbta.com/uploadedfiles/Business_Center/Bidding_and_Solicitations/Staff%20Summary%20for%20Red%20and%20Orange%20Line%20Procurement%2010-22-2014.pdf)) other firms compete based on the quality of their vehicles, the creativity and innovation of their technology, the reduced environmental impact of their equipment, the number of jobs that they propose to create in the United States, the quality of jobs and training provided to employees and other factors that are unrelated to low price. (See, e.g. and .) In fact, growing evidence shows that living wage requirements, for example, attached to public contracts **have actually increased competition** from firms vying for those contracts. In a report written by Paul Sonn and Tsedeye Gebreselassie, “[The Road to Responsible Contracting](http://nelp.3cdn.net/985daceb6c3e450a10_pzm6brsaa.pdf): Lessons from States and Cities for Ensuring That Federal Contracting Delivers Good Jobs and Quality Services,” National Employment Law Project, 2009 at page 14 the authors found that: “by increasing the ability of firms that pay their workers more than the minimum wage to compete for public service contracts, living wage laws can increase the competitiveness of the procurement process as a whole.” In a 2008 assessment of Maryland’s living wage law after its first year in operation, almost half of bidders interviewed reported that the living wage requirement encouraged them to bid on state contracts because it meant that contractors that paid very low wages would not automatically be able to underbid them. Maryland found that the average number of bidders for state service contracts increased once its living wage policy took effect—from an average of 3.7 bidders to 4.7 bidders. As one current contractor explained, “I would rather our employees work with a good wage. If a living wage is not mandated, the bids are a race to the bottom. That’s not the relationship that we want to have with our employees. \[The living wage\] puts all bidders on the same footing.” (Department of Legislative Services, Impact of the Maryland Living Wage (Dec. 2008), available at **.** The best example of the anti-competitive impact of a strictly low bid rolling stock procurement process (versus a best value process that includes criteria around U.S. job creation, job quality, training opportunities and hiring in disadvantaged communities) is the experience of the Chicago Transit Authority (hereinafter “CTA”) as it has tried to procure up to $2 billion worth of new rapid transit vehicles for the Chicago transit system over the past two years. In 2013, the CTA released an Invitation for Bids (hereinafter “IFB”) to procure these rapid transit cars from the lowest-priced responsible bidder. ([http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-05-20/news/chi-cta-tosses-out-rail-car-bids-will-start-over-on-new-fleet-contract-20140520\_1\_bombardier-transit-corp-nippon-sharyo-u-s-a-base-order](http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-05-20/news/chi-cta-tosses-out-rail-car-bids-will-start-over-on-new-fleet-contract-20140520_1_bombardier-transit-corp-nippon-sharyo-u-s-a-base-order) and ). While the CTA initially received interest from four car builders, only two railcar manufacturing companies actually submitted proposals. Subsequently, the CTA canceled the IFB and in October of 2014, re-issued a best value format request for proposals (hereinafter “RFP”) that used the U. S. Employment Plan framework, the innovative contracting language mentioned above and described below. While RFP responses are not due until May 29, 2015, according to publicly available information, the CTA has received expressions of interest from 11 different railcar manufacturers. ([file:///C:/Users/lnguyen/Desktop/IL%20JMA/7000%20RFP/7000\_RFP\_Add\_4.pdf](file:///C:/Users/lnguyen/Desktop/IL%20JMA/7000%20RFP/7000_RFP_Add_4.pdf), at page 145.) Based on the Chicago and other procurement experiences, JMA believes that innovative contracting language that could be permitted under the proposed new DOT rule would create more open competition as described above or, at the very least, would have little or no impact at all on the rolling stock procurement process. We look forward to discussing the CTA experience – as we have observed it – as well as our experiences working with other U.S. transit agencies over the past 10 years, such as LA Metro, Amtrak, the California High Speed Rail Authority, and the Maryland Transportation Authority. **SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS FOR CRAFTING THE FINAL RULE**: As described above, JMA strongly supports both the DOT experimental program and the NPRM. Based on our experience, we also have a number of specific suggestions for the crafting of the Final Rule as it relates to rolling stock and other equipment purchases. We believe that the Final Rule will have greater positive impacts on the state and local procurement process if it is written in a way that more specifically guides DOT grantees in the use of both geographic and targeted hiring language in their federally funded contracts. **CREATE SEPARATE GUIDANCE FOR USE OF RULE IN CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTING, ROLLING STOCK AND PERSONAL SERVICE CONTRACTS.** First, members of our coalition have worked long and hard with numerous transit agencies to craft and implement geographic and targeted hiring programs in the three main categories of transit agency procurement: construction, rolling stock and personal service contracts. Successful policy and contract language has varied significantly based on the type of contract and the related industry. We have noticed a consistent, significant difference in the market circumstances and practical implementation challenges for each of these three general categories of contracts. For example, construction contracts generally require that the actual construction work be done in a specific location where the infrastructure is being built or redeveloped. In addition, the construction industry has created comprehensive apprenticeship and/or pre-apprenticeship programs to help contractors recruit and hire local and targeted workers. Thus the strongest construction local and targeted hire programs use these existing apprenticeship networks in crafting the language and program. (See, e.g., programs from LA Metro and the California High-Speed Rail Authority, referenced below.) In rolling stock procurement, there is no practical requirement that the manufacture of the vehicles be done in a specific geographic location in the United States. In fact, existing domestic rolling stock manufacturing facilities are located in a dozen or so locations around the U.S. generally unrelated to where the contracts are awarded (see, [www.jobstomoveamerica.org/map](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/map)). In addition, the U.S.-based transportation manufacturing industry has very few apprenticeship or pre-apprenticeship programs to help rolling stock manufacturers recruit and train local and disadvantaged workers. Personal service contracts also have distinct circumstances. We therefore urge the DOT to create separate criteria and general language in the Final Rule for each of these three categories of contracts supported by DOT funds. **CREATE SEPARATE CRITERIA FOR THE USE OF TARGETED HIRE VERSUS LOCAL HIRE LANGUAGE.** In addition to separating out the application of the rule to construction, rolling stock and personal services contracts, we urge the DOT to clarify in the Final Rule that federally funded transit agencies have broad flexibility to include provisions in their bid documents that incentivize or require targeted hire programs that do not include any geographic or locally-based preferences. As we have previously argued in a legal analysis submitted to the DOT in 2013 ( and incorporated by reference) we believe that – under relevant statutes and 49 CFR 18.36 – grantees may currently implement non-geographic specific targeted hire programs to incentivize or require contractors to hire disadvantaged, low income, veterans or other targeted categories of workers from anywhere in the United States. Unfortunately, this flexibility to implement non-geographic specific targeted hiring language is not widely understood by DOT grantees. **Therefore we urge the DOT to use the Final Rule to clarify that grantees may apply non-geographic specific targeted hire language to federally funded contracts.** **A. Final rule should give grantee agencies clear authority to use non-geographic specific targeted hiring language** As mentioned above, the DOT pilot program temporarily clarifies that FTA and FHWA grantee agencies have authority from the DOT to utilize non-geographic specific targeted hiring language in their contracting processes so long as the agencies request advance permission from those agencies to do so. We urge the DOT to clarify in the Final Rule that grantee agencies can use this kind of language, so long as it does not have a significantly negative impact on open competition. The targeted hire of workers from disadvantaged backgrounds has been identified by the Obama administration as a high priority (see e.g. ). Other federal programs use specific targeted hiring criteria to incentivize employers to directly hire more workers from disadvantaged backgrounds. For example, the Department of Labor encourages employers to take advantage of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit by committing to hiring workers from any or all of 8 specific disadvantaged categories. According to the website of the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration ( ), **“Employers can hire eligible employees from the following target groups for WOTC.** [Unemployed Veterans (including disabled veterans)](http://www.doleta.gov/business/incentives/opptax/eligible.cfm#Veterans) [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Recipients](http://www.doleta.gov/business/incentives/opptax/eligible.cfm#TANF) [Food Stamp (SNAP) Recipients](http://www.doleta.gov/business/incentives/opptax/eligible.cfm#SNAP) [Designated Community Residents (living in Empowerment Zones or Rural Renewal Counties)](http://www.doleta.gov/business/incentives/opptax/eligible.cfm#DCR) [Vocational Rehabilitation Referred Individuals](http://www.doleta.gov/business/incentives/opptax/eligible.cfm#VRR) [Ex-Felons](http://www.doleta.gov/business/incentives/opptax/eligible.cfm#Ex-felons) [Supplemental Security Income Recipients](http://www.doleta.gov/business/incentives/opptax/eligible.cfm#SSI) [Summer Youth Employees (living in Empowerment Zones)](http://www.doleta.gov/business/incentives/opptax/eligible.cfm#SYE).” In our experience, successful targeted hire programs have created incentives for bidders to hire people from high poverty census tracts (anywhere in the United States), to hire low income veterans, more women, more people of color and other disadvantaged workers such as the long-term unemployed or people who have a history with the criminal justice system that makes it hard for them to get jobs. In particular substantial evidence shows that workers with criminal records can face significant employment discrimination, costing the United States economy between $57 and $65 billion annually in lost economic output (John Schmitt and Kris Warner, “[Ex-offenders and the Labor Market](http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/ex-offenders-2010-11.pdf),” Center for Economic and Policy Research, November 2010.) In addition, LA Metro’s Construction Careers Policy identifies one category of disadvantaged workers as “having a criminal record or other involvement with the criminal justice system.” [http://media.metro.net/about\_us/pla/images/Construction\_Careers\_Policy.pdf](http://media.metro.net/about_us/pla/images/Construction_Careers_Policy.pdf) Again, targeted hiring programs without geographic preferences are currently being implemented across the United States with great success. Below are links to good examples of targeted hire programs used by U.S. transportation agencies: - California High-Speed Rail Authority’s Community Benefits program: [http://www.hsr.ca.gov/docs/brdmeetings/2012/December/brdmtg1212\_bot3.pdf](http://www.hsr.ca.gov/docs/brdmeetings/2012/December/brdmtg1212_bot3.pdf) and [http://www.hsr.ca.gov/docs/programs/construction/National\_Targeted\_Hiring\_Initiative\_Plan.pdf](http://www.hsr.ca.gov/docs/programs/construction/National_Targeted_Hiring_Initiative_Plan.pdf) - LA Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Construction Careers Program: [http://media.metro.net/about\_us/pla/images/Construction\_Careers\_Policy.pdf](http://media.metro.net/about_us/pla/images/Construction_Careers_Policy.pdf) - LA Metro’s U.S. Employment Plan program: - Amtrak’s U.S. Employment Plan program: and - The Maryland Purple Line’s U.S. Employment Plan program: - The Chicago Transit Authority’s U.S. Employment Plan program: and **B. Geographic preferences for rolling stock procurement should be authorized in the Final Rule under limited circumstances:** While we support the limited use of geographic preferences in rolling stock procurement, we strongly urge the DOT to develop a set of qualifying parameters for the utilization of local hire or geographic preferences as part of the public procurement of rolling stock. We suggest that these parameters be written into the language of the Final Rule. While we have not had time to specifically develop proposed language regarding the criteria for inclusion of geographic preferences, we suggest that factors including size and value of a procurement as well local transit market demand be part of a required market demand assessment as a prerequisite to the use by transit agencies of geographic preferences in rolling stock procurement. The rule should incentivize geographic preferences in locations where there is the potential for continued demand either in transit vehicle manufacturing or combined with other related industries that would create long-term, high quality jobs, rather than short term investments in employment. Additionally, to ensure that transportation investments result in real economic benefit for our communities, we suggest that the development of geographic boundaries for local hire also take into consideration population density, local demographics, educational attainment, and availability of industrial sites. **CREATE A SUGGESTED IMPLEMENTATION FRAMEWORK, TO ENSURE TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY AND EFFECTIVE EVALUATION BY GRANTEES.** Finally, in our experience, both targeted and local hire procurement and contract language is significantly less effective without a suggested implementation framework, to ensure that the language and the accompanying programs are enforceable and publicly transparent. To achieve this important goal of transparency and enforceability, we suggest that the DOT require its grantees to implement basic common language that is inserted into awarded contracts. This language – at a minimum – should spell out reporting requirements on the achievement of targeted or local hire goals, proposed enforcement mechanisms in the case of noncompliance or inaccurate reporting as well as cooperation by the private contractor with the awarding agency in the evaluation of the results of the hiring language. This kind of contract language will give both the grantee and the DOT the ability to assess the success and effectiveness of the grantees’ language and program. One implementation framework that has been extensively shared with the DOT is the U.S. Employment Plan, which has been adopted and adapted by a number of transit agencies across the country, as described above. In addition, model contract language for the U.S. Employment Plan can be found at [www.jobstomoveamerica.org/resources](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resources). Also at (page 36.) Again, on behalf of our entire coalition, we applaud the DOT for launching this bold initiative, to help achieve the full promise of public transportation investment in communities across the nation. Yours very truly, Madeline Janis, Esq., Director Submitted on behalf the following organizations, in alphabetical order: [American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)](http://www.aflcio.org/About/What-the-AFL-CIO-Does) [Alliance for a Greater New York (ALIGN)](http://www.alignny.org/) [Americans for Transit](http://americansfortransit.org/) [Annie E. Casey Foundation](http://www.aecf.org/) [Black in Green (BIG)](http://blacksingreen.org/) [Blue Green Alliance](http://www.bluegreenalliance.org/) [Center for Community Change](http://www.communitychange.org/) [Center for Neighborhood Technology](http://www.cnt.org/) [Center for Popular Democracy](http://populardemocracy.org/) [Chicago Federation of Labor](http://www.chicagolabor.org/) [Chicago Jobs with Justice](http://www.chicagojwj.org/) [Communications Workers of America (CWA)](http://www.cwa-union.org/) [Gamaliel Foundation](http://www.gamaliel.org/) [Good Jobs First](http://www.goodjobsfirst.org/) [Green for All](http://greenforall.org/) [In the Public Interest](http://www.inthepublicinterest.org/) [Industrial Union Council, AFL-CIO](http://www.aflcio.org/Issues/Jobs-and-Economy/Manufacturing/Industrial-Union-Council) [International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART)](http://smart-union.org/) [International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)](http://www.ibew.org/) [International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW)](http://www.uaw.org/) [ISAIAH](http://www.isaiah-mn.org/) [Jobs with Justice](http://http/www.jwj.org/) [Jobs to Move America](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/) [Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE)](http://www.laane.org/) [Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO)](http://launionaflcio.org/) [Massachusetts Community Action Network (MCAN)](http://www.mcan-pico.org/) [NAACP, Economic Department](http://www.naacp.org/programs/entry/economic-opportunity) [National Employment Law Project](http://nelp.org/) [National Skills Coalition](http://nationalskillscoalition.org/) [National Urban League](http://nul.iamempowered.com/) [Partnership for Southern Equity](http://partnershipforsouthernequity.org/) [Partnership for Working Families](http://www.forworkingfamilies.org/) [PICO National Network](http://www.piconetwork.org/) [PVJOBS](http://www.pvjobs.org/) [Transportation Equity Network (TEN)](http://www.transportationequity.org/) [Transportation Trades Department (TTD), AFL-CIO](http://www.ttd.org/) [The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union (USW)](http://www.usw.org/) [University of Southern California, Program for Environmental and Regional Equality (PERE)](http://dornsife.usc.edu/pere) [WE ACT for Environmental Justice](http://www.weact.org/) **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Transparency and Sunshine Policies](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/transparency-and-sunshine-policies/) **Published:** April 10, 2020 **Author:** Web **Content:** Our public dollars are the most powerful tool we wield to shape a better, healthier, just future. Which is why transparency and accountability around *how* we spend our public dollars is critical. Over the past twenty years, more governments have started to ask the companies bidding for public dollars to commit to creating good jobs as part of their contracts. This kind of public spending can be a real win all around – for workers, communities, and high-road businesses alike. But too often, the companies that win public contracts or economic incentive packages by promising to create good jobs fail to follow through on their commitments. Without access to this information, the public has no way to hold companies accountable to their promises. When this happens, it’s workers and communities who lose out. Jobs to Move America advocates for transparency through sunshine policies that ensure that the public has access to critical information about jobs promises and public incentives. **Types:** Policy + Programs --- ### [Los Angeles DOT Electric Bus Transition](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/los-angeles-dot-electric-bus-transition/) **Published:** April 10, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** The Los Angeles Department of Transportation became the the third largest transit agency in the country to commit to all-electric buses by 2030 in 2017. As part of the [Los Angeles County Electric Bus and Truck Coalition](http://laelectrictruckandbus.org), Jobs to Move America joined groups such as SouthBay 350, Environment CA, EarthJustice, IBEW Local 11, Food and Water Watch, and Sierra Club to push for this commitment. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy --- ### [LA Metro Zero-Emissions Bus Transition](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/la-metro-zero-emissions-bus-transition/) **Published:** April 10, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** In 2017, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) committed to transitioning its entire bus fleet — over 2,200 buses — to zero emissions technology by 2030. This transition will help improve air quality, fight climate change, and advance equity. By mandating that Jobs to Move America’s signature good jobs policy, the U.S. Employment Plan, apply to all agency purchases of zero-emissions buses buses, LA Metro committed to creating good jobs. LA Metro is on track to meet its commitment by 2030. As part of the [Los Angeles County Electric Bus and Truck Coalition](http://laelectrictruckandbus.org), Jobs to Move America joined groups such as SouthBay 350, Environment CA, EarthJustice, IBEW Local 11, Food and Water Watch, and Sierra Club to push for this commitment. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy **Types:** Climate Justice Policies --- ### [CARB Innovative Clean Transit Rule](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/carb-innovative-clean-transit-rule/) **Published:** January 10, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** Transportation makes up the bulk of greenhouse gas, particulate matter, and NOx emissions in California. To combat dirty transportation emissions, California initially mandated the use of compressed natural gas transit buses. But as zero emissions bus technology advanced, a broad coalition committed to clean air and good jobs pushed California’s Air Resources Board to mandate that the state move towards zero emission transit buses. The Innovative Clean Transit Rule passed in December of 2018, and transit agencies across the state are starting to purchase more zero emission transit buses.The Rule was supported by a broad coalition of business, environmental and economic justice organizations and labor groups, including Jobs to Move America. Read more about the Innovative Clean Transit rule [here](https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/innovative-clean-transit). **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy **Types:** Climate Justice Policies --- ### [Women Can Build: Re-envisioning Rosie](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/sreussjobstomoveamerica-org/) **Published:** March 8, 2017 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The Women Can Build photo series project uplifts the hardworking women in the transportation manufacturing industry. **Content:** During World War II when men left for war, American women filled a labor shortage by entering into jobs traditionally held by men. The iconic image of Rosie the Riveter was born — a strong, capable woman able to swing a hammer just like a man. Rosie the Riveter and the countless women who came after her are a critical reminder that women are capable of anything they set their minds to. While significant progress has been made in the fight for gender equity, we still have a long way to go. Although women serve as the primary or co-breadwinner in half of American families, they represent the majority of full-time workers earning poverty wages. For instance, one in four Hispanic women and nearly one in five Black women work full-time and earn less than $20,000 per year, which falls well below the federal poverty line for a family of four. > Advancing gender and economic justice requires a long-term commitment to public policies and social programs that uplift women and remove barriers to opportunity. The *Women Can Build* exhibit and photo series embodies this spirit and aims to empower women by elevating their integral role in the U.S. economy. The Women Can Build project uplifts women’s leadership and contributions to the transportation industry and highlights the hardworking women who build America’s buses, trains, roads, and bridges. Evoking the spirit of Rosie the Riveter in a modern context, the project aims to bring to the forefront women who CAN build — America’s transportation systems and anything they set their minds to — with hard work, determination, strength, and commitment. Photography by Deanne Fitzmaurice Music: Working Woman Performed by: Ruthie Foster Courtesy of Blue Corn Music Written by Grace Pettis Publisher: Soon Bloomed Songs (ASCAP) **Categories:** Feminism, Labor, Manufacturing **Types:** Multimedia --- ### [The Power of Inclusive Procurement](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/the-power-of-inclusive-procurement/) **Published:** February 12, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** How can inclusive procurement help create a fairer economy and healthier environment? Find out in our "Power of Inclusive Procurement" -- filled with tips and suggestions for how to bring inclusive procurement to your community. **Content:** Our local governments work nonstop to keep cities and communities thriving — and more and more, city agencies are seeking new, inclusive ways to address historic inequities and help their residents achieve professional and economic success. Public procurement — the process that government agencies use to buy goods and services for public use — is a powerful pathway by which cities can confront racial and economic disparities while also encouraging the growth of women-owned and minority-owned businesses in their communities. With input from municipal officials from seven cities in the South, we’ve created this infographic handout for agency officials, small business owners, and community members that explains how **inclusive procurement** can maximize economic, social, and environmental equity for communities. Transforming the procurement process so that all businesses can access local opportunities can help address systemic disparities and build prosperity for everyone. > Inclusive procurement is an approach to public purchasing that’s designed to maximize equitable economic, social , and environmental benefits for the communities that public agencies serve. > > From the *Power of Inclusive Procurement* handout - ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Screen-Shot-2020-02-11-at-2.00.34-PM-1.png "Screen Shot 2020-02-11 at 2.00.34 PM - Jobs to Move America") - ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Screen-Shot-2020-02-11-at-2.04.37-PM.png "Screen Shot 2020-02-11 at 2.04.37 PM - Jobs to Move America") *Our deep thanks to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which provided generous support for this work.* **Categories:** Economy **Types:** Factsheets --- ### [Memo: Effect of U.S. Employment Plan on Competitive Bidding](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/memo-effect-of-u-s-employment-plan-on-competitive-bidding/) **Published:** December 7, 2016 **Author:** Web **Content:** This UCLA Law School study demonstrates the [U.S. Employment Plan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/u-s-employment-plan/)‘s impact on price and bidder pools. **Categories:** Economy **Types:** Reports & Policy Briefs --- ### [Moving Forward: Toward Women's Equity and Inclusion in the Rail and Transit Sector](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/moving-forward-toward-womens-equity-and-inclusion-in-the-rail-and-transit-sector/) **Published:** December 1, 2017 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The resources in this toolkit support the recruitment, training, and retention of women in nontraditional apprenticeship and jobs in the rail and transit sector. **Content:** #### A Toolkit for Increasing Women’s Employment in Traditionally Male-Dominated High-Wage, High-Skill Fields on the Railroad and in Public Transit Agencies Rail and transit sector jobs offer significant opportunities for women to access middle skill jobs that offer economic security and enable them to support them-selves and their families. However, many transit and rail jobs are considered nontraditional occupations for women. Women still remain underrepresented in the major categories of jobs, especially the high-wage, high skilled blue-collar jobs. This toolkit is designed to help rail companies, transit agencies, training programs and unions break through the occupational segregation that limits women’s participation in a range of rail and transit sector jobs. The resources in this toolkit will support the recruitment, training, and retention of women in nontraditional apprenticeship and jobs in the rail and transit sector. The toolkit can be used by program planners, managers, and frontline staff conducting outreach and assessment and training, to ensure that each stage of the employment process—from recruitment through retention—looks at how the workplace environment can be responsive to women of many backgrounds and how systems can be created or improved to address the barriers women face. **Categories:** Feminism, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor **Types:** Reports & Policy Briefs --- ### [Inclusive Procurement and Contracting: Building a Field of Policy and Practice](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/inclusive-procurement-and-contracting-building-a-field-of-policy-and-practice/) **Published:** March 1, 2018 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This study, co-authored by Emerald Cities and PolicyLink, surveys the current landscape on inclusive procurement and contracting policies and practices in the infrastructure and construction industries. **Content:** This study, co-authored by Emerald Cities and PolicyLink, surveys the current landscape on inclusive procurement and contracting policies and practices in the infrastructure and construction industries. The goal was to specifically determine how to best position minority-owned, women-owned, and disadvantaged businesses (MWDBEs) to effectively compete for large-scale construction projects in these industries. A successful inclusive procurement program of action is key not only to providing jobs, but also to closing the wealth gap needed to secure the well-being and future of children, families, and the regions in which they live. This report details the rationale for inclusive practices in this industry and includes historical and current equitable development policies and trends. It also identifies challenges and best practices and sets forth recommendations for strengthening the field of practice. The report provides insight into inclusive procurement and contracting policies within the energy, water, transportation, health, education, and public housing sectors. It also considers the field of practice in different geographic regions of the United States. **Categories:** Economy, Labor, Workforce Development **Types:** Reports & Policy Briefs --- ### [Make It In America: The Apollo Clean Transportation Manufacturing Action Plan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/make-it-in-america-the-apollo-clean-transportation-manufacturing-action-plan/) **Published:** October 1, 2010 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The Transportation Manufacturing Action Plan recommendations, outlined in this report, present a comprehensive plan to scale up investments in public transit, rail, and clean freight, while simultaneously building up manufacturers and the jobs that they support. **Content:** Currently, the United States lags in meeting public transportation needs and falls far behind its European and Asian counterparts in modernizing public transportation systems. In this context, federal policymakers will consider future investments to modernize public transit infrastructure. If these investments are done correctly, they will create new opportunity for American manufacturers. It is time to embrace a 21st century transportation plan: one that creates millions of American jobs; provides increased transportation options and alternatives to fossil fuels; and recognizes our potential to invent and manufacture cleaner vehicles and transit systems here at home, instead of sending our dollars overseas. The Transportation Manufacturing Action Plan recommendations, outlined in this report, do just that. The recommendations present a comprehensive plan to scale up investments in public transit, rail, and clean freight movement, while simultaneously building up vehicle, system, and component part manufacturers and the jobs that they support. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing **Types:** Reports & Policy Briefs --- ### [Doing The People's Business](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/doing-the-peoples-business/) **Published:** January 1, 2016 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This study from the Volcker Alliance explores the state of the public procurement workforce. **Content:** ### Key Competencies for Effective Public Procurement Each year, governments in the United States spend about $2 trillion to purchase goods and services for public use. This procurement spending—on items ranging from tanks to textbooks, from health care to software—affects the daily lives of Americans and is essential to our nation’s well-being. Yet outside of a scandal, the public employees charged with conducting the public’s business receive scant attention. To begin to address this, the Volcker Alliance undertook this study to explore the state of the public procurement workforce, as part of the Alliance’s mission to promote excellent public administration in the service of effective government. Through interviews with qualitative and quantitative components, this study lever-ages these leaders’ expertise to deliver (1) a competency model that breaks down the procurement role into twelve key competencies required of an effective public procurement workforce and (2) an evaluation of the procurement workforce’s current proficiency in each competency. **Categories:** Economy, Labor **Types:** Big Ideas --- ### [Public Transit Procurement: A National Initiative to Promote Economic Prosperity and to Unite Communities, Workers and Business](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/public-transit-procurement-a-national-initiative-to-promote-economic-prosperity-and-to-unite-communities-workers-and-business/) **Published:** July 26, 2012 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This paper describes a national initiative to increase the quantity and improve the quality of U.S. manufacturing jobs related to the production of rail cars, clean buses and component parts used to operate public transit in the United States. **Content:** This discussion paper describes a new national initiative to significantly increase the quantity and improve the quality of U.S. manufacturing jobs related to the production of rail cars, clean buses and component parts used to operate public transit in the United States. The initiative will build on successful community, business and governmental efforts over the past 10 years to create a greener and more sustainable U.S. fleet of public buses and rail cars and to increase the overall local, state and federal investment in public transit. The paper includes a discussion of challenges to and a roadmap for increasing opportunities for training, workforce development and the creation of high road clean transit manufacturing jobs for unskilled workers and disadvantaged communities across the U.S. Contributors to this paper: Madeline Janis, Esq. & Linda Nguyen-Perez Helen Chin, Shawn Escoffery, and Michelle Knapick, The Surdna Foundation Robert Puentes, Brookings Institution Brian Lombardozzi, Blue-­Green Alliance Kevin Brubaker, Environmental Law and Policy Center (ELPC) **Categories:** Economy, Labor, Workforce Development **Types:** Reports & Policy Briefs --- ### [Pathways to Equity: Effective Transportation Career Partnerships](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/pathways-to-equity-effective-transportation-career-partnerships/) **Published:** January 1, 2013 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This report by the Transportation Learning Center examines two programs aimed at advancing equity by expanding access to quality careers in transportation. **Content:** America faces a profound mismatch between the needs of urban communities for quality jobs and careers and the parallel needs of industries (especially urban industries) for qualified applicants for front-line workforce technical jobs. Many industries chronically complain of a shortage of qualified applicants – especially young applicants – for technical blue-collar jobs, even as the retirement of the Baby Boomer generation is opening up millions of vacancies in those very jobs. Conversely, people of color concentrated in inner cities have much higher rates of unemployment and poverty than the country as a whole, while inner-city high school dropout rates exceed 30, 40 and even 50 percent. The public transportation industry is strategically positioned to leverage good public policy and far-sighted leadership to positively address both ends of this paradox. Public transportation is an essential public service, critical to the economic health of every city. Public policy and public investment in public transportation provide potential policy levers that can improve career access outcomes for urban populations. Public transportation is inherently an urban industry: the bulk of public transportation jobs are in metro areas, transit passengers are metro voters, and by definition urban residents make up the bulk of city school populations and voters. It has been argued persuasively that the possibilities for creative progressive coalitions linking infrastructure and job strategies are stronger in urban areas than at the statewide or national levels. Expanding access to quality careers in transit systems and in transit capital construction has been the focus of innovative local programs around the country in recent years. This report presents case profiles of two of the most promising examples – one for youth Career Pathways into transit industry careers, and one for targeted construction hiring and training of disadvantaged workers for transit capital projects. *A report by the Transportation Learning Center.* **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Workforce Development **Types:** Big Ideas --- ### [Electric buses are creating jobs in SoCal](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/electric-buses-are-creating-jobs-in-socal/) **Published:** July 25, 2017 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** An inside look into the Community Benefits Agreement between the JMA coalition, SMART union Local 105, and electric bus manufacturer BYD. **Content:** Video: Sierra ClubZero emission buses are on the forefront of innovation. They add countless jobs to our community, keep our clean our air and drive us toward a clean energy future. And because of SMART union Local 105, and Jobs to Move America, BYD will pay the people doing the work a living wage, offer more training and prioritize recruiting people from underserved and underrepresented populations. **Categories:** Climate Change, Labor, Workforce Development **Types:** Multimedia --- ### [Purchasing for the Common Good 201](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/purchasing-for-the-common-good-101/) **Published:** May 4, 2018 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** An introductory webinar to "inclusive procurement" or "purchasing for the common good." **Content:** An introductory webinar to “inclusive procurement” or “purchasing for the common good.” The webinar covers a range of initiatives that LA Metro and other transit agencies have taken to create good jobs and bring more women, people of color, and other underrepresented groups into the infrastructure and manufacturing workforce. Featuring Stephanie Wiggins, Deputy CEO of LA Metro, and Dr. Beverly Scott, a longtime leader of the transit world and Vice President of JMA’s Board of Directors discuss their experience with inclusive procurement. **Categories:** Economy, Labor **Types:** Webinars --- ### [The History of Privatization](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/the-history-of-privatization/) **Published:** December 19, 2018 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This article from Talking Points Memo, by Donald Cohen of In the Public Interest, explores the history of privatization and the four decade attack on government. **Content:** *This series from* Talking Points Memo*, by Donald Cohen of In the Public Interest, explores privatization and the history of political attacks on government*. #### How an Ideological and Political Attack on Government Became a Corporate Grab for Gold Today, after 50 years of attack on government, privatization is a standard conservative response to tight public budgets, a key pillar of attacks on government, and a lucrative market opportunity for domestic and global corporations. Large corporations operate virtually every type of public service including prisons, welfare systems, infrastructure, water and sewer, trash, and schools. For example: - Private prisons didn’t exist thirty years ago. Today, publicly traded, billion-dollar corporations are key players in prisons and immigrant detention. Privatized immigration facilities now house over two-thirds of all detained immigrants. - In 1988 AFT president Al Shanker proposed a new idea: To create charter schools where teachers could experiment and innovate and bring new ideas to the nation’s public schools. Today, nearly 3 million children attend charters, and large corporate chains and billionaires are funding the rapid growth of privatized, publicly funded charters. - Former defense contractors, IT corporations, and publicly traded corporations are running welfare, food assistance, and other safety net systems in many states across the country. - Today the federal government employs more than three times as many contract workers as government workers, and state and local governments spend a combined $1.5 trillion on outsourcing. - Across the country, a well-established network of conservative think tanks, industry associations, investors and corporate lobbyists – The State Policy Network, ALEC, and others – are on the front lines developing privatization legislation and proposing privatization projects. Read the full series [here](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/features/privatization/one/). **Categories:** Economy, Transparency **Types:** Big Ideas --- ### [Reviving the U.S. Rail and Transit Industry](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/reviving-the-u-s-rail-and-transit-industry/) **Published:** September 1, 2010 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This 2010 report examines the job creation potential of increased federal investment in rail and transit. **Content:** ### Investments and Job Creation With the federal transportation bill up for renewal, the United States has an opportunity to invest in public transportation and renew its manufacturing base. This report reveals that the country could gain more than 79,000 jobs in rail and bus manufacturing and related industries under an investment scenario sufficient to double transit ridership in 20 years. If the United States were to invest at even higher levels—similar to those of China—this would yield more than a quarter million jobs. The United States needs urgently to revive its rail and transit industry. The nation’s manufacturing sector accounts for over 10 percent of GDP, but manufacturing has seen job losses in the millions in recent years. And the U.S. trade deficit continues to rise. The country needs new manufacturing jobs now to address the trade deficit and to put unemployed Americans back in well-paying jobs. This report uses three scenarios to estimate the job creation potential from increased federal investment in rail and transit. A “Business-as-Usual” scenario would invest $2.7 billion in rail vehicles and $2.8 billion in bus purchases. An “Increased Domestic Investment” scenario would invest $7.2 billion and $4.8 billion, respectively, toward these purchases. And an “International Competitiveness” scenario would invest $24.4 billion and $12.8 billion, respectively—a level that is comparable to China’s investment in rail and bus vehicles. The “Business-as-Usual” scenario yields 34,563 jobs in U.S. rail car and bus manufacturing and their supplier industries. The “Increased Domestic Investment” scenario would support 79,343 jobs, and the “International Competitiveness” scenario would yield 252,213 jobs. The number of jobs would increase significantly if more than the required 60 percent of inputs (as specified by the Buy America provision) were produced domestically. These jobs would stimulate thousands more jobs in other sectors of the economy. If U.S. manufacturing is to experience a serious revival that produces more than fragmented showcase projects and scattered jobs, the federal government needs to take much bolder policy action that creates demand and supports research and development in key industries. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing **Types:** Big Ideas --- ### [Harnessing Government Spending to Revitalize Good Manufacturing Jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/harnessing-government-spending-to-revitalize-good-manufacturing-jobs/) **Published:** October 3, 2016 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This report considers new ways in which government can play a role in revitalizing manufacturing, and brings to light new tools to ensure good jobs, inclusivity, and community benefits. **Content:** Manufacturing has historically been a vital part of the United States economy as a major provider of stable, high-wage jobs and a builder of a strong middle class. Currently, the sector remains a vital part of the U.S. economy by directly supporting 12.4 million jobs and generating significant demand for goods and services from other economic sectors. However, over the past four decades, the sector has shrunk, and so too has the growing economic prosperity that accompanied it. This hollowing out of the American middle class has progressed steadily, income inequality growing to the point that the top 10 percent of earners now reap nearly 50 percent of the nation’s income. Further, this income inequality has been widened along racial and ethnic lines, as the wealth of white households has increasingly exceeded that of people of color. As state and local governments across the country have been seeking innovative solutions to combat these growing social and economic trends, our public institutions must play a central role in strengthening policies that can rebuild the middle class. With millions of U.S. manufacturing job openings projected over the next decade, now is the time to seize the opportunity for innovative policies that can revitalize this sector and ensure that the jobs we are creating are high-quality, permanent jobs, and are accessible to all. This report considers new ways in which government can play a role in revitalizing manufacturing, and brings to light new tools to ensure good jobs, inclusivity, and community benefits tied to all public investment in private manufacturing. Namely, the report is intended to help spark a discussion around re-energizing the U.S. manufacturing sector by coupling government procurement dollars with incentives for inclusive, high-road employment, as well as mechanisms for evaluation and accountability of results. **Categories:** Economy, Labor, Manufacturing **Types:** Reports & Policy Briefs --- ### [Strengthening U.S. Manufacturing Through Public Procurement Policies](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/strengthening-u-s-manufacturing-through-public-procurement-policies-how-procurement-policies-can-promote-innovation-and-good-jobs/) **Published:** December 1, 2015 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This seminal study advances a policy framework capable of supporting a major revival of the U.S. manufacturing sector with a focus on expanding good job oppotunities for workers. **Content:** ### How Procurement Policies Can Promote Innovation and Good Jobs This study advances a policy framework capable of supporting a major revival of the United States manufacturing sector. We are especially focused on the prospects for greatly expanding good job opportunities for U.S. workers that would result through the revival of the U.S. manufacturing sector. We focus, further, on using one set of policy tools—U.S. public sector purchases of manufactured goods, or procurement policies—to promote growth and expanding job opportunities within one manufacturing industry, i.e. the production of rail car transportation equipment. We show how some significant, though still straightforward, reforms of the official U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) procurement program known as Buy America are capable of generating major benefits to domestic rail car manufacturers as well as to workers in this sector. We reach the following main conclusions with respect to the Buy America procurement program as it operates presently throughout the U.S.: - **Domestic content standards are too low.** The official domestic content requirements include 60 percent domestic production for components and 100 percent for final assembly in rail car manufacturing. But as we show, these standards amount to an overall requirement of only 40 percent domestic production. That is, up to 60 percent of production can be provided by imports. - **Monitoring and enforcement standards are too weak.** The monitoring and enforcement levels for even these low domestic content requirements are weak. Moreover, few local transit agencies have adequate capacity to conduct audits in-house and public interest groups face major obstacles in obtaining relevant compliance information. - **Too many waivers are granted.** The available evidence suggests that the Department of Transportation has been too willing to grant waivers to contractors bidding on transportation procurement projects covered under Buy America. The Department of Transportation needs to keep systematic records on waiver applications and decisions and to establish consistently high thresholds for granting waivers. - **Lowest-price standards are too narrow.** Procurement contracts under Buy America are predominantly awarded to firms offering the lowest-price bids. This pattern suggests that the broader benefits generated by domestically-based manufacturing projects are likely being undervalued. These are tangible benefits that accrue to U.S. taxpayers—in terms of strengthening innovative manufacturing firms in the U.S., as well as generating more jobs, better jobs, and better access to job opportunities, including for women, minorities and recent labor market entrants with lower formal credentials. The U.S. Employment Plan developed initially in 2010 by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Authority demonstrates how these other important considerations can be readily incorporated into an employment-enhanced best-value evaluation system. From a broader perspective, we conclude that strengthening the DOT’s Buy America procurement policies, and combining these stronger policies with employment-enhanced best-value contract evaluation criteria, can make major contributions toward promoting a revival of the manufacturing sector in the United States and creating millions of good manufacturing jobs for U.S. workers. **Categories:** Economy, Labor, Manufacturing **Types:** Reports & Policy Briefs --- ### [U.S. Manufacture of Rail Vehicles for Intercity Passenger Rail and Urban Transit](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/u-s-manufacture-of-rail-vehicles-for-intercity-passenger-rail-and-urban-transit/) **Published:** June 24, 2010 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This report determines the manufacturing potential of increased investment in passenger and transit rail by mapping the U.S. supply chain for six rail types. **Content:** ### A Value Chain Analysis Since the 1950s, the United States has invested far more heavily in highways and air transport than in rail transportation. There are signs, however, that the nation is beginning to step up its commitment to rail by increasing funds for intercity passenger rail (Amtrak) and urban transit rail (metros, light rail and streetcars). The 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provided a total of $17.7 billion for transit (including bus transit) and intercity rail programs combined, including $1.3 billion for Amtrak and $8 billion for new high-speed rail corridors and intercity passenger rail. These are small investments compared to those in other countries with well-developed rail systems, but they constitute a watershed in the nation’s commitment to passenger rail, and they have been presented as a “down payment” on future investments (White House, 2010). Similarly, current proposals for the much-anticipated renewal of the nation’s six-year surface transportation bill call for significantly greater commitments to public transit, including rail. If the United States is to increase its investment in passenger rail and transit rail, several important questions arise: How much of the required “rolling stock”—the passenger locomotives and rail cars—will be manufactured in the United States? What gaps in the current U.S. supply chain need to be filled? What are the relevant opportunities for U.S. manufacturing? To determine the extent of U.S. manufacturing potential and show where it lies, this report maps out the U.S. supply chain for six rail types: intercity passenger, high speed, regional, metro, light rail, and streetcars. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Manufacturing **Types:** Big Ideas --- ### [Strengthening Skills Training and Career Pathways Across the Transportation Industry](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/strengthening-skills-training-and-career-pathways-across-the-transportation-industry/) **Published:** August 1, 2015 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This report analyzes employment and skills data in the transportation industry to highlight future areas of growth and identify high-demand jobs with good wages. **Content:** #### **Data Report on Future Transportation Workforce Needs** As America’s population grows, there is also a growth in transportation demand for moving both people and products. Transportation investments and policies can improve access to jobs, education, and goods movement, while providing construction and operations jobs. The choices that are made regarding transportation infrastructure can strengthen communities, create pathways to jobs, and improve the quality of life for all Americans. While demand for transportation workers will vary by region, sub-sector, and occupation, these workforce changes will result in a large number of job openings for skilled and semi-skilled workers across the transportation sector over the next decade. The recruitment and training of new workers who will be responsible for the operation, maintenance, and construction of the nation’s transportation infrastructure will be critical. This collection and analysis of employment and skills data for the transportation industry is laid out in this report, “Strengthening Skills Training and Career Pathways across the Transportation Industry,” highlighting the future growth areas or employment “hot spots” in transportation by industry sub-sectors, occupations, career areas, and geographic areas. It also identifies high-demand jobs with good wages and analyzes the patterns in the education and work experience required for entry, as well as On-the-Job training required for new entrants to gain full competency. *A report compiled by the Department of Education, Department of Transportation, and Department of Labor.* **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Workforce Development **Types:** Big Ideas --- ### [Creating U.S. Manufacturing Jobs: How “Buying American” Can Raise the Job-Creation Potential of Public Transit Investments](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/creating-u-s-manufacturing-jobs-how-buying-american-can-raise-the-job-creation-potential-of-public-transit-investments/) **Published:** December 1, 2013 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This research brief finds that when manufacturers raise the domestic content of their products, they create at least 26% more jobs than manufacturers that only meet the 60 percent Buy America requirement. **Content:** Across the United States, transit agencies at all levels of government—local, state, and federal—make annual purchases of new vehicles for their public transportation systems. Current investments in new railway vehicles and buses average about $5.6 billion (2012 dollars) annually. Concerns over pollution, traffic, and climate change may push the nation to reach for a more expansive goal: to double ridership in 20 years. This would require an estimated $12.8 billion worth of annual rolling stock purchases. The Federal Transportation Administration (FTA) uses a “Buy America” requirement to raise the job-creation potential of such public investments that uses its funds. Specifically, the Buy America provision requires that all final assembly of the railway vehicles and buses purchased with FTA grant dollars must occur within the U.S., and all components and sub-components must have more than 60 percent domestic content. The goal of this Buy America requirement is to insure that U.S. taxpayers’ dollars create jobs in the U.S., rather than overseas by promoting greater domestic content in these vehicles. How many jobs does the U.S. economy gain when manufacturers raise the domestic content of their products? This research brief presents estimates which show that, on average, when manufacturers fully source the components and sub-components of their vehicles domestically they create at least 26 percent more jobs than manufacturers that only meet the 60 percent Buy America requirement. Clearly on a case-by-case basis, stronger requirements would significantly raise the number of U.S. jobs created from these public investments. **Categories:** Economy, Labor, Manufacturing **Types:** Big Ideas --- ## Staff and Board ### [Yohanny Garcia-Ashley](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/yohanny-garcia-ashley/) **Published:** December 11, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** Ana graduated from the University of Colorado in Denver, and began her career in Denver in 1981, where she organized The Concerned Citizens of Westwood. She affiliated with the Metropolitan Organization for People in 1982 and went on to work on local and state campaigns, including enforcement of the Community Reinvestment Act and affordable public services. Intensely interested in the intersection of politics and faith, Ana attended the Iliff School of Theology in Denver to develop a foundation for organizing congregations. During her theological studies and organizing, Ana’s conviction deepened that organizing was a divine calling for her—the purpose of the miracle that allowed her and her family to safely emigrate from the Dominican Republic to the United States. Ana began her work in Gamaliel in the early 1990s, as Lead Organizer of MICAH (Milwaukee Inner City Congregations Allied for Hope). During her tenure there, the organization won a $500 million reinvestment commitment from the city’s banks. Ana was also the founding organizer for WISDOM, the Gamaliel-affiliated Wisconsin state organization. She has been a member of the Gamaliel central staff for nearly two decades, serving as senior trainer at Gamaliel’s National Leadership Training and co-director of the Civil Rights for Immigrants campaign. In 2009, Ana was named Associate Director, becoming Executive Director in 2012. Under her leadership the organization’s Fire of Faith campaign is on track to save or create nearly 1 million jobs over 3 years, while also rekindling the 1,000 interfaith congregations that belong to Gamaliel’s affiliate organizations through community organizing. Ana’s deep sense of organizing as a ministry, her interest in the relationship between faith and politics, and her status as a naturalized immigrant dovetail perfectly with the goal of Gamaliel to be “a community of people living out our faith and values to collectively transform our communities and bring about justice locally, nationally and globally.” She splits her home life between Franklin, Wisconsin and Atlanta, Georgia. She is married and has two daughters. **Roles:** Our Board --- ### [Tamara L. Lee, Esq.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/tamara-l-lee-esq/) **Published:** June 20, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Tamara L. Lee, Esq. (she/her), is an Associate Professor of Labor Studies and Employment Relations at the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University. A member of Justice League NYC, Dr. Lee is an activist-scholar committed to publicly engaged scholarship and the democratization of knowledge. Her research seeks to more deeply account for structural racism and other identity-based hierarchies that impact our understandings of the working class, their organizations, and their movements. **Roles:** Our Board --- ### [Robert Puentes](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/robert-puentes/) **Published:** December 11, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** Robert Puentes is the Vice President and Director of Brookings Metro. Puentes most recently served as the president and chief executive officer of the Eno Center for Transportation, a non-profit think tank with a mission to shape public debate on critical multimodal transportation issues and build a network of innovative transportation professionals. Prior to joining Eno, Puentes was a senior fellow at Brookings Metro where he led the program’s infrastructure work. Puentes has worked extensively on developing evidence-based solutions to pressing problems local leaders care about: improved accessibility, a healthier climate, and a stronger economy. Puentes has also served on a variety of other boards and committees including, most recently, the Federal Advisory Committee on Transportation Equity; United for Infrastructure; the Shared Use Mobility Center; the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies Advisory Board; 2100 Infrastructure Commission; and the New York MTA Reinvention Commission. He is a frequent speaker to a variety of groups, a regular contributor in newspapers and other media, and has testified before Congressional committees. Puentes holds a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Virginia where he served on the Alumni Advisory Board. He was an affiliated professor with Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute and an instructor with Rutgers University’s Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. **Roles:** Our Board --- ### [Carl Kennebrew](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/carl-kennebrew/) **Published:** December 11, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** Carl Kennebrew became the 8th President of IUE-CWA on August 2, 2018. Carl has been a proud member of IUE-CWA for nearly 25 years. He started his Union career as an elected delegate and Vice-President of Local 84755 in Dayton, Ohio. While Vice-President, Carl graduated from The Minority Leadership Institute (MLI), an intensive 3-week program dedicated to increasing the involvement of minorities at all levels of our union. As Vice President, Carl also worked as an organizer, served as the local’s Legislative Political Action Team Member, and as an Executive Board Member for the Dayton Miami Valley AFL-CIO. In August of 2013, Carl became the first Minority President of Local 755, the founding local of IUE-CWA. He was re-elected without opposition in the fall of 2014 and 2017. In addition, Carl served as a Recruitment Specialist for the Green Alliance for Manufacturing Skills Training in 2012, a program offering dislocated workers free training and certification in the nationally recognized Certified Production Technician (CPT). While employed by DMAX Ltd in Dayton, Ohio, Carl served for ten years as a Leadership Trainer, teaching both management and union members classes such as Diversity, Change, Communication, Team Concept, and many others. Carl obtained Life Coach Certification through Fowler Wainwright International Institute of Professional Coaching and also became a John Maxwell Certified Leadership Trainer and Mediator. President Kennebrew is a long-time supporter of many community and partner groups such as Stand Up Ohio and the MVOC (Miami Valley Organizing Collaborative). He serves as a Board Member for The OOC (Ohio Organizing Collaborative), a Board Member of Triune Skilled Development Services, whose goal is to assist persons living in subsidy housing with finding their own self-worth and becoming positive forces within society, a a Board Member for GDUCI (The Greater Dayton Union Co-op Initiative), a Board Member for The United Way of the Greater Dayton Area, and a Dayton Metro Library Board of Trustee. Additionally, Carl was ordained last year as a Minster for Revival Center Ministries. In 2017, Carl was recognized one of the Top Ten African American Males in the Miami Valley. Additionally, Carl has also received the Staircase to Excellence Award, the United Way Volunteer of The Year Award, and Dayton’s Men of Influence award. President Kennebrew resides in Dayton, Ohio with his wife, Shamica. **Roles:** Our Board --- ### [Xinge Wang](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/xinge-wang/) **Published:** December 11, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** Xinge Wang is the Deputy Director of the Transportation Learning Center. Ms. Wang is one of this country’s leading experts on workforce demand, training capacity, and future projections of workforce needs. In 2015, Ms. Wang led the joint research effort of US Department of Transportation, Education and Labor to identify the future workforce needs to strengthen skills training and career pathways of the transportation industry. She has been also the key researcher and co-author on many projects funded by the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) focusing on transit workforce development, including *Building a Joint System of Qualification for Transit Rail Car Technicians*; *National Training & Certification for Transit Vehicle Maintenance Instructors*; *Transit Training Practices; Improving Bus Operator Health, Wellness, and Retention*; and *Improving Public Transportation Safety Culture*. Teaming with the other Center staff, she has managed multiple projects funded by the Federal Transit Administration, including the National Training Consortia for Elevator and Escalator, Transit Signals and Rail Car Maintenance, leveraging industry resources to develop standards-based training curriculum and instruction-ready courseware. More recently under the DOL Transit Apprenticeship Initiative, she is working with transit agencies and their local unions on developing and implementing standards-based apprenticeship programs for transit frontline occupations. She also provides consultation to partners involved in Chicago Transit Authority’s procurement of rail rolling stock and establishment of the new CRRC rail manufacturing facility outside of Chicago. **Roles:** Our Board --- ### [Christian Sweeney](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/christian-sweeney/) **Published:** June 20, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Christian Sweeney serves as the Deputy Director of Economic Power & Growth at the AFL-CIO. From higher education and gaming to manufacturing and child care, Sweeney has assisted workers from diverse industries and backgrounds in forming unions. Prior to coming to the federation, Sweeney worked in organizing for the UAW for more than 10 years, where he helped lead successful organizing campaigns for more than 60,000 workers. He was the first president of UAW Local 2865, the union for 12,000 academic student employees in the University of California system, when he worked as a graduate student instructor and was enrolled as a doctoral candidate in history at the University of California, Berkeley. **Roles:** Our Board --- ### [Mike Miller](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/mike-miller/) **Published:** January 23, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Mike Miller was elected UAW Region 6 Director in December of 2022 under the UAW’s first direct ballot election. Miller’s involvement with the UAW started in 1992 when he was a Teaching Assistant at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). In that year, Miller and his co-workers began what would be a long process of forming their union as academic student employees at the University of California (UC). After many years of struggle, including several recognition strikes and numerous other creative tactics, UC recognized their union and bargained a first agreement with what became UAW Local 2865. Since then, he has worked with organizing committees at several universities across now-Region 6 to help them form their unions. These 47,000 workers include: Academic Student Employees at the California State University system; Academic Student Employees, Postdocs, and Research Scientists and Engineers at the University of Washington; and Postdocs, Academic Researchers, and Graduate Student Researchers at the University of California. With each organizing drive, Miller and the workers improved on successful organizing models in ways that have led to the UAW being one of the most successful unions representing workers in higher education. On an ongoing basis, Miller organizes with workers across all sectors of Region 6 to form new unions, bargain standard-setting agreements through militant and participatory contract campaign tactics, and fight for progressive change. Some areas of focus include: organizing in the electric vehicle manufacturing industry, taxing the rich, fighting climate change, promoting racial and gender justice, expanding immigrants’ rights, advancing housing justice, and helping elect progressive candidates to office. He lives in Los Angeles with his family. **Roles:** Our Board --- ### [Dr. Beverly Scott](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/dr-beverly-scott/) **Published:** December 11, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** Dr. Scott’s career in the public transportation industry spans more than three decades, including four appointments as General Manager/CEO – General Manager, Massachusetts Bay Transportation and Rail & Transit Administrator for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), the Sacramento Regional Transit Authority (SRTD), and the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA), one of four statewide public transit systems. She has also served in senior level positions at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York), New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJT), the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (WMATA), Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), and the Houston Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Houston METRO). Dr. Scott is recognized throughout the U.S. and North American transportation industry for her visionary leadership, results driven management style; focus on people and communities; and progressive approach to labor management relations. Among her most notable industry contributions is her pivotal leadership role in the critical areas of workforce and leadership development and work to improve outcomes for people and communities – particularly our most vulnerable. In this regard, she is an ardent proponent for significantly increased “people development and investment” at all levels. Dr. Scott is a frequent motivational speaker on the critical need to invest in smart infrastructure to advance *American competitiveness, sustainable outcomes, and “shared prosperity”.* In December 2016, she was appointed to the newly established Federal Advisory Committee on Transportation Equity (ACTE) by USDOT Secretary Anthony Foxx. The purpose of the Committee is to provide advice and recommendations to the Department to institutionalize opportunity and inclusion into agency-wide programs, policies, regulations, and activites. Dr. Scott serves in an Advisory capacity to the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard University Law School in the areas of transportation, infrastructure, and equity (www.charleshamiltonhouston.org). She is a Senior Advisor to Parker Infrastructure Partners, LLC, a developer of essential infrastructure that focuses on opportunities to develop projects that create value for both the public and private sector (http://parkerinfrastructure.com). She is a also a Senior Fellow at the Transportation Learning Center, a unique transportation labor-management partnership focused on skills training, research, safety and health for the sector’s frontline workforce; and a Research Associate and Adjunct Professor at the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University. Throughout her career, she has received numerous awards and recognitions, i.e., the 2015 Hubert Humphrey Award for Distinguished Public Service from the American Political Science Association (APSA), 2015 Government Sector Pinnacle Award from the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce for Outstanding Service, the prestigious Sharon A. Banks Humanitarian Service Award from the Transportation Research Board, National Academies of Science; named Woman of the Year by the Women’s Transportation Seminar. In 2012, she was named a “Transportation Innovator of Change” by President Barack Obama and the U.S. Department of Transportation for her long record of exemplary leadership and service in the transportation industry. A past Chairperson of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), Dr. Scott currently serves on the national Boards of the American Public Transportation Association (www.apta.com), Women’s Transportation Seminar Foundation, Rail-Volution (past Chairperson) (railvolution.org), Americans for Transit; and Jobs To Move America. Dr. Scott holds a doctorate in political science, with a specialization in public administration from Howard University; and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Fisk University (magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa). **Roles:** Our Board --- ### [Tanya Wallace-Gobern](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/tanya-wallace-gobern/) **Published:** December 11, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** Tanya Wallace-Gobern became the Executive Director of the National Black Worker Center Project in June 2016. She brings over 20 years of experience in labor and community organizing. Tanya began her career immediately following college graduation, when she joined the Organizing Institute of the AFL-CIO. Soon after that, her desire to organize Black workers led her to work for the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU — a predecessor union of Unite HERE) and move to the Southeast to help on their unionization campaign in that region. Later, she created the AFL-CIO’s Historical Black College Recruitment program in order to increase the number of Blacks among union leadership and staff. For the past 10 years, Tanya has been working for the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions including running their field operation. **Roles:** Our Board --- ### [Michael Coleman](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/michael-coleman/) **Published:** June 21, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Michael Coleman assumed the position of SMART General President on June 1, 2023, having been elected by the SMART General Executive Council following the retirement of former SMART General President Joseph Sellers. In all, Coleman has more than 20 years of dedicated leadership at the local and international level. He played a crucial role during SMART’s second-ever General Convention in 2019, serving as secretary of the Constitution Committee and shepherding through 114 proposed amendments – helping to facilitate the democratic process of our union and positioning SMART for future success. Coleman began his career as a SMART sheet metal worker in 1985, when he joined what was then Local 65 in Cleveland, Ohio (Local 65 merged with Local 33 soon after). After graduating into journeyperson status and honing his craft for several years, he ran for election as a member of the local’s executive board. From there, he became business representative, then Local 33 president and business manager in 2012. At Local 33, Coleman cultivated a reputation for pursuing innovative strategies in order to organize more members, effectively structure benefit and pension plans, provide greater flexibility to members and more. He worked tirelessly to boost the local’s profile throughout northern Ohio and West Virginia and demonstrated a willingness to think outside the box in taking on the challenges our union faces. Seven years later, upon the request of the SMART General Executive Council, Coleman moved to Washington, DC to work as SMART’s director of business and management relations. Shortly after that, General President Sellers asked Coleman to become assistant to the general president, a position in which he served until May 31, 2023. **Roles:** Our Board --- ### [Greg Regan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/greg-regan/) **Published:** December 11, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** Greg Regan was elected TTD’s Secretary-Treasurer in 2017. As the department’s chief financial officer, he oversees the daily financial and administrative activities of TTD. He accounts for affiliate dues, budgets for the operations of the department, and plans for the long-term fiscal needs of the organization. In addition to his financial responsibilities, Greg leads and oversees TTD’s policy and legislative activities, representing the interests of TTD and its affiliate unions before Congress and among key Executive Branch officials. He is a leading labor expert on issues related to aviation safety and security, and led TTD’s fight in 2015 for Amtrak reauthorization legislation that protects and promotes our national passenger rail service and its skilled workforce. In addition, he coordinates TTD’s work to reform transportation procurement policy. Prior to being elected Secretary-Treasurer, Greg was TTD’s senior legislative representative and oversaw TTD’s work in aviation, passenger rail and procurement. Before joining TTD, Greg spent six years working for Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY), advising her on a variety of issues, including labor, trade, defense, energy, and homeland security. For the latter three years, he served as the Congresswoman’s Chief of Staff. Originally from Rochester, New York, Greg holds a Bachelor of Arts in public policy from Hamilton College in Clinton, NY **Roles:** Our Board --- ### [John Samuelsen](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/john-samuelsen/) **Published:** December 11, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** Sworn in as the 10th TWU International President in May of 2017, John Samuelsen represents 40,000 members at the nation’s largest public transit agency. Prior to being elevated to the office of the President, Samuelsen served as Executive Vice President since 2013. Samuelsen is also the former President of TWU Local 100 in New York City – the TWU’s largest local. A Brooklyn native, Samuelsen was hired by the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) in 1993 and was assigned to a track gang in Brooklyn, where he and his fellow union members worked under difficult and unsafe conditions. Managers ignored safety regulations, disciplined workers who spoke up, and had no respect for the workers or their union. While still in his probationary period, Samuelsen’s co-workers elected him shop steward of their local union, and he fought vigorously for their rights. By winning small battles against management abuse, the local was able to slowly turn things around. From 2001 to 2006, Samuelsen served as chair of the Track Safety Committee, and chair of the Track Division. From 2002–2005 he was Acting Vice President of the Maintenance of Way Department, representing 7,100 workers providing essential services to NYCTA in Track, Line Equipment and Signals, Power and Structure. During that time, he also served as lead negotiator for all safety-related issues during contract bargaining between Local 100 and NYCTA, and authored the Comprehensive Track Safety Bill, passed by both houses of the New York State Legislature. He was elected President of Local 100 in December 2009 and was elected overwhelmingly in 2012 and 2015. He served as Local 100 president until September 26, 2017. He still maintains an active public role in New York politics and advocates on behalf of all TWU members. **Roles:** Our Board --- ### [Maria Somma](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/maria-somma-2/) **Published:** August 21, 2020 **Author:** Web **Content:** Organizing Director for the United Steelworkers, Maria Somma has had a long history with organizing starting with her experience as a teenager where she spent a summer at a women’s peace encampment on the outskirts of London next to a US airbase stocked with nuclear weapons. After attending college, Somma transitioned to working with student activists at the University of Illinois. Then she moved to Minneapolis where she worked with mostly low-income families as a community organizer before heading to the Illinois Nurses Association where she became a union organizer. After many years with the Illinois Nurses Association, she left to take a job as an organizer with the United Steelworkers where she has worked since 2001. She is the former National President of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, the Asian constituency group of the AFL-CIO. **Roles:** Our Board --- ### [Ed Wytkind](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/ed-wytkind/) **Published:** December 11, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** Policy development and advocacy professional with more than two decades of executive leadership experience constructing, shaping and influencing labor, transportation, infrastructure, technology, safety, security and other policy and legislation. Launched EW Strategies LLC in July 2017 after leading a national transportation labor organization, TTD, AFL-CIO, for more than two decades. EW Strategies LLC assists clients in advancing their policy agenda, devising bargaining, positioning and messaging strategies, finding solutions to organizational challenges and developing effective responses to the changing nature of work across America in every sector of the economy. Substantial public speaking experience before diverse audiences – from labor, industry, nonprofit, academic and international conferences to congressional committees and executive branch and independent agencies. Significant experience as a spokesperson in the news media and an opinion writer and blogger in Politico, The Hill, Huffington Post, Medium and other platforms. Focused on getting strong outcomes for members and clients. Thought leader in the national conversations about job creation policies, the future of labor and employment, transportation and infrastructure, Public-Private Partnerships, autonomous transportation technology and artificial intelligence, automation across all sectors and the national economy. Appointed in January 2017 as a Member, U.S. Department of Transportation’s Advisory Committee on Automation in Transportation. Board Chair of the innovative Jobs to Move America organization focused on fair and inclusive public procurement policy. **Roles:** Our Board --- ### [Scott Douglas, III](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/scott-douglas-iii/) **Published:** December 11, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** Scott Douglas, III, a native of Nashville, TN, attended the University of Tennessee in Knoxville where he co-founded the University’s Black Student Union in 1967. Residing in Birmingham since 1976, he served under the leadership of Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth and Anne Braden as Executive Director of the Southern Organizing Committee for Economic and Social Justice from 1984-1989. He was Southern Regional Program Officer for the Partnership for Democracy Foundation from 1989-1992. After serving as the first Environmental Justice Grassroots Organizer for the Sierra Club, he was hired as Executive Director of Greater Birmingham Ministries in 1993. Scott is a former board member of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Friends of the Earth, and SANE/Freeze and currently serves on the board of the Equal Justice Initiative. Scott has written articles on social and racial justice for Southern Exposure, Howard Law Journal, the National Newspaper Publishers Association and Dissent Magazine. Scott is an alumnus of Leadership Birmingham, Leadership Alabama, the Rockwood Leadership Institute and the Windcall Residency Program. Scott is a founding board member of the Alabama Association of Nonprofits and a 2011 alumnus of the MIT Mel King Community Fellows Program. **Roles:** Our Board --- ### [Jacky Grimshaw](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/people/jacky-grimshaw/) **Published:** December 11, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** Jacky joined CNT in 1992, and has since developed its capacity to engage in public policy advocacy and transportation planning, transportation research, environmental justice, public participation tool development, GIS mapping, community economic development and air quality. Jacky advocated for and provided expertise to increase transit in the Chicago region. She created and led CNT’s transportation and air quality programs for over a decade and led CNT’s Transit Future campaign in the fight for mass transit reform and dedicated funding in the Chicago region. Since 2005, she has led CNT’s policy efforts at all levels of government. Jacky has served on numerous boards, including: Chicago Transit Authority, National Academy of Sciences’ Transportation Research Board’s Environmental Justice and Public Involvement Committees. She has just completed terms on the Women’s Issues in Transportation Committee. Prior to CNT, Jacky spent time as a researcher in hematology and gastroenterology, in both state and federal government, in the Chicago Public School district and served in numerous other capacities, including political advisor for the late Mayor Harold Washington and Director of the Mayor’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. Jacky has completed the Master of Arts in Public Policy requirements at Governors State University and holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Marquette University in Milwaukee. **Roles:** Our Board --- ## Press Releases ### [New Poll: 87% of Onondaga County Voters Polled Support Legally Binding Commitments from Micron to Ensure Community Benefits ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/new-poll-87-of-onondaga-county-voters-polled-support-legally-binding-commitments-from-micron-to-ensure-community-benefits/) **Published:** July 24, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** *New poll shows broad support for Micron to agree to enforceable commitments, including investments in job creation, environmental protections and public infrastructure* Syracuse, New York – [A new poll ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/data-for-progress-poll-of-onondaga-county/)shows broad support among Onondaga County voters for enforceable commitments from Micron Technology as the company builds its chipmaking complex in Clay. The survey, conducted by Data for Progress and commissioned by Jobs to Move America and the Urban Jobs Task Force of Syracuse, polled 624 registered voters in Onondaga County about the Micron project. The results show a clear message from voters: Micron can be a major economic opportunity for Central New York, but only if public officials and the company ensure that local communities share in the benefits and are protected from the risks. By an overwhelming margin, voters support legally binding requirements to ensure Micron delivers local benefits in exchange for the public support it has received, which is upwards of $20 billion in federal, state, and local subsidies. The poll found that: - **87% of voters support legally binding requirements** for Micron to make investments in job creation, environmental protection, and public infrastructure. Support for legally binding requirements cuts across party lines, with 89% of Democrats, 86% of independents, and 84% of Republicans backing the proposal. - **91% say local hiring should be a priority**, among those 68% say it should be a top priority. - **76% agree Micron should provide job training and opportunities** for Central New York residents living in disadvantaged communities. - **79% agree permanent operations workers at Micron should have the option to join a labor union** if they choose. While the poll found that 70% of Onondaga County voters support the project, the results above reveal a clear demand for accountability. Voters also recognize the project’s potential: 87% say the facility will have a positive impact on jobs, and 80% say it will have a positive impact on the local economy. However, when voters were asked to rank their top priorities for Micron to meet, 59% listed enforcing environmental protections; 50% listed providing high wages, benefits, and job quality standards; and 37% listed investing in housing to prevent shortages, displacement, and rising housing costs. The open-ended responses from voters reinforced the same message. One respondent wrote, “*It’s a positive for the region, no doubt. \[Micron\] should be required to be extremely transparent in compliance with environmental regulations, and local hiring*.” Another wrote, “*Micron should hire qualified workers locally if possible and have a route toward training local residents… They should maintain environmentally safe practices and invest in local infrastructure especially in the areas affected by their facility!*” Voters also expressed concerns about an increase in traffic (79%), decrease in availability or reliability of the local water supply (76%), decrease in local water quality and wastewater systems (76%), strains on the local power supply (80%), strains on the local emergency services (61%), environmental harm (78%), decrease in public funding such as education (65%) and increase in housing prices (80%) as a result of the project. *“These results show voters are paying attention to the potential harms of the project if enforceable protections are not put in place,”* said **Katie Mulligan, Syracuse Organizer at Jobs to Move America**. *“With the massive amount of public support Micron is receiving, Central New York deserves a binding community benefits agreement that guarantees good jobs, job access, environmental safeguards and infrastructure investment.”* “For Jobs to Move America and Urban Jobs Task Force, the poll confirms that a community benefits agreement is not a side issue — it is central to maintaining public trust and ensuring that the project delivers on its promises. Voters want Micron commitments to *local hiring, strong job standards, real career pathways* that are specific, public, enforceable, and tied to the needs of the communities that are hosting and funding the project.” Quote from **Emanuel Henderson Vice President of Urban Jobs Task Force of Syracuse Inc.** “*Central New York voters understand the stakes*,” Mulligan said. “*They want Micron to succeed, but they want that success measured by whether it leaves Central New York stronger than it was before. That requires binding commitments from Micron, not unenforceable promises*.” **About the Survey** From May 14 to 27, 2026, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 624 registered voters in Onondaga County, New York, using SMS and web panel respondents. The survey was weighted to be representative of registered voters by age, gender, education, race, geography, and recalled presidential vote. The survey was conducted in English and has a margin of error of ±4 percentage points. **About Jobs to Move America** Jobs to Move America (JMA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that conducts rigorous, independent research to develop the ideas, practices, and policies necessary to build a just new economy. For more than a decade, federal, state, and local policymakers have relied on JMA’s research to inform their decision-making at the intersection of public procurement and emerging industries. JMA has recently produced leading insights into industries such as electric school bus manufacturing, microchip manufacturing, and lithium extraction. **About Urban Jobs Task Force of Syracuse, Inc.** The Urban Jobs Task Force of Syracuse (UJTFS) is a collaboration of individuals and organizations advocating for and with disadvantaged Syracusans for equitable employment and economic opportunities. UJTFS’ vision is a Syracuse where all prosper through good paying jobs and meaningful careers. **About Data for Progress** Data for Progress (DFP) is a multidisciplinary group of data experts that measures — and moves — public opinion by equipping the progressive movement with the insights it needs to win. Led by a team of experts, DFP offers high-quality, affordable polling in every corner of the country, message testing and focus groups on complex issues, and in-depth, victory-minded analysis. Learn more at [dataforprogress.org](https://www.dataforprogress.org/). Follow DFP on X at [@dataprogress](https://twitter.com/DataProgress) and on Bluesky at [@dataforprogress.org](https://bsky.app/profile/dataforprogress.org) **\###** --- ### [Protect the People Behind the World Cup: Coalition Demands Worker and Community Protections from FIFA and LASEC](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/protect-the-people-behind-the-world-cup-coalition-demands-worker-and-community-protections-from-fifa-and-lasec/) **Published:** July 9, 2026 **Author:** Alaa Milbes **Content:** **Press Contact:** Alaa Milbes ![Collage of advocacy logos: Jobs to Move America, Recall Injustice at Hyundai-Kia, Public Citizen, Fair Games, LAANE (A New Economy for All), Loyola Law School, and CLUE Justice.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-09-141104-1024x411.png "Screenshot 2026-07-09 141104 - Jobs to Move America")#### *Labor, community, environmental and human rights organizations release recommendations urging stronger accountability for FIFA and its corporate sponsors.* [Letter from Los Angeles Coalition to FIFA Head of Human Rights](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/letter-from-los-angeles-coalition-to-fifa-head-of-human-rights/) [Letter from Los Angeles Coalition to LA Sports and Entertainment Commission](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/letter-from-los-angeles-coalition-to-la-sports-and-entertainment-commission/) **LOS ANGELES, July 9, 2026 —**Workers, fans, and community members held a rally outside of Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission (LASEC) headquarters in Downtown Los Angeles. The coalition of labor, community, environmental and human rights organizations called on FIFA, LASEC, the Los Angeles Host Committee, and corporate sponsors to address human rights, labor, immigrant rights, and environmental concerns before future games in Los Angeles. The coalition also delivered two letters: one to LASEC urging adoption of core human rights safeguards, and another to FIFA calling for strong human and labor rights protections and accountability for corporate sponsors Participants carried a jumbo‑sized “red card,” along with banners and posters, and called on FIFA and LASEC to do the following: - Require comprehensive and publicly available human rights plans before future games, including: - Require human rights plans to include concrete prevention strategies, timelines, funding, implementation details, and accountability measures. - Engage workers, service providers, survivor leaders, immigrant rights groups, labor partners, and community-based organizations early in the planning process. - Ensure corporate sponsor accountability, including: - FIFA must ensure corporate sponsor accountability as a condition of sponsorship, and end its sponsorship agreement with Hyundai-Kia unless they address issues linked to their supply chain, such as allegations related to the disappearance of community leaders involved in land rights disputes surrounding supplier mining operations, child labor violations, and preventable worker deaths. **Jobs to Move America** “Our team has spent years documenting labor abuses across Hyundai‑Kia’s U.S. supply chain, and the findings are impossible to ignore. Workers in the supply chain have faced dangerous and exploitative conditions, including violations of health and safety and child labor laws . As a corporate sponsor, Hyundai cannot continue to benefit from the global spotlight while its supply chain leaves workers at risk. FIFA, LASEC, and host committees must engage workers, service providers, survivor leaders, immigrant rights groups, labor partners, and community-based organizations early in the planning process.” – Valerie Lizárraga, Assistant Director of Policy & Organizing, Western States **Sunita Jain Anti‑Trafficking Initiative at Loyola Law School** “FIFA’s 2026 human rights plan falls far short of what workers and communities deserve. Mega‑events of this scale carry real risks for labor trafficking, wage theft, and exploitation, but the current framework lacks the funding, transparency, and accountability needed to prevent harm. LASEC and FIFA must require comprehensive and publicly available human rights plans for future sporting events that protect workers and communities before, during, and long after the games leave town.” – Paloma Bustos, Policy Associate **Public Citizen** “The record is clear: Hyundai‑Kia’s supply chain is marred by documented human rights abuses, environmental destruction, and labor exploitation. The World Cup’s corporate sponsors cannot continue to profit while workers, communities, and our planet bear the deep impacts of corporate misconduct. FIFA must adopt enforceable standards that hold sponsors accountable and ensure its tournaments do not come at the expense of human dignity or environmental protections.” -Abhilasha Bhola, Climate Campaigns Director **Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE)** “For too long, mega-events have been rife with wage theft and unsafe conditions for workers. Worse, under this administration workers at hotels and stadiums are forced to contend with a potential ICE presence that poses a threat to themselves and fans alike. As the leading local organization in attracting mega-events, LASEC has a special responsibility to ensure events such as the World Cup and its sponsors uphold the highest levels of labor and human rights standards. We deserve mega-events that not only do not harm Angelenos but ensure that workers and residents share in the benefits they create.” – Víctor Sánchez, Executive Director ![Crowd of diverse protesters holding signs outside a glass-fronted building, with a speaker at a podium in the foreground.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/20260709_103030-1024x768.jpg "20260709_103030 - Jobs to Move America")![Crowd of protesters holding signs at an outdoor rally in a city plaza with modern buildings and trees nearby.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/1000323691-1024x768.jpg "1000323691 - Jobs to Move America") --- ### [Jobs to Move America, Local Residents, File Lawsuit to Challenge Environmental Review of Micron’s Syracuse-Area Chip Plant](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/jobs-to-move-america-local-residents-file-lawsuit-to-challenge-environmental-review-of-microns-syracuse-area-chip-plant/) **Published:** January 16, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Excerpt:** Neighbors for a Better Micron, an association of local residents, and the advocacy organization, Jobs to Move America (JMA), have filed a lawsuit in New York State Court to address what residents and organizations say are serious, unresolved concerns about the potential environmental, health and community impacts of the company’s planned semiconductor manufacturing facility outside of Syracuse and ensure that there are robust economic benefits for the local community.  **Content:** Media contacts: *The lawsuit seeks to address concerns related to the largest private investment in New York State history* **Syracuse, NY – January 16, 2026** Neighbors for a Better Micron, an association of local residents, and the advocacy organization, Jobs to Move America (JMA), have filed a lawsuit in New York State Court to address what residents and organizations say are serious, unresolved concerns about the potential environmental, health and community impacts of the company’s planned semiconductor manufacturing facility outside of Syracuse and ensure that there are robust economic benefits for the local community. Last summer, as part of Micron’s legally-required environmental review process, residents, community leaders and organizations from Central New York and around the country submitted over 1200 comments to the U.S. CHIPS Program Office and the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency (OCIDA). These comments – including a lengthy comment from JMA that cited analysis of experts in a range of fields – raised a wide range of potential harms associated with the project, including impacts to public health, housing, the environment, and regional transportation systems. The lawsuit argues that these impacts were not properly addressed and mitigated in the environmental review process. Among the impacts: 1) Potential pollution of local air, water, and soil due to the intensive use and disposal of toxic forever chemicals; 2) Harms resulting from the destruction of approximately 200 acres of wetlands, including increased flood risk to surrounding properties; 3) The project’s enormous carbon footprint from on-site emissions and energy demand, and how that complies with greenhouse gas reduction goals enshrined in state law. Micron’s environmental review acknowledges many of these risks but concludes they are acceptable tradeoffs for the facility’s projected economic benefits. Plaintiffs in the case counter that these benefits are uncertain, considering that not enough is publicly known about the quality and compensation of the permanent jobs, especially for roles available to those without advanced degrees. Micron also has yet to provide a concrete, enforceable plan related to hiring permanent workers from disadvantaged communities. Nor has the company provided detailed plans or enforceable commitments to address potentially significant housing and transportation impacts on the region. “This conclusion is unacceptable given that Micron is expected to receive an estimated $20 billion in combined federal, state and local subsidies. Public agencies overseeing the approval process should require the company to pursue stronger mitigation measures and less harmful alternatives,” said Khadeejah Ahmad, a lifelong resident of Central New York and organizer with JMA. Under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), agencies must evaluate environmental impacts early in the planning process for projects that they undertake, fund or approve, and must certify that adverse impacts are avoided or minimized as much as possible. Micron’s project is subject to SEQRA review. If agencies fail to comply with these requirements, individuals and organizations that will be directly harmed by a project have the right to seek judicial review. Impacted community members believe the lead reviewing agencies failed to adequately consider and mitigate the project’s environmental harms. “Micron must be a good neighbor to those of us who have lived here for years. The agencies did not adequately make sure those of us who live near the Micron site will be protected,” said Bonita H. Siegel, President of Neighbors for a Better Micron. “The goal of the lawsuit is to make sure Micron moves forward in a way that keeps us and our environment safe. We want Micron to be a good neighbor for years to come.” See the full petition [here](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/NOT_ASSIGNED_NEIGHBORS_FOR_A_BETTER_v_NEIGHBORS_FOR_A_BETTER_PETITION_1.pdf " here"). **Categories:** Climate Change, Health & Safety, Manufacturing, Transparency --- ### [Hyundai-Kia’s U.S. supply chain named in “Dirty Dozen” report for dangerous and abusive working conditions](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/hyundai-kias-u-s-supply-chain-named-in-dirty-dozen-report-for-dangerous-and-abusive-working-conditions/) **Published:** April 23, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Excerpt:** The annual list spotlights 12 employers that have put workers at risk by failing to prevent on-the-job injuries, illnesses, and deaths.  **Content:** **FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE** **April 22, 2026** **Contact:** Luis Robledo 256.390.9630 *Inclusion based on documented labor and human rights violations, including those cited in a Jobs to Move America report about low-road practices that put workers and communities at risk* Los Angeles—For the first time, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) has listed Hyundai-Kia’s U.S. supply chain in its annual 2026 Dirty Dozen Report. The annual list spotlights 12 employers that have put workers at risk by failing to prevent on-the-job injuries, illnesses, and deaths. The designation comes amid growing documentation of unsafe working conditions, labor violations, and exploitative practices within Hyundai-Kia’s U.S. supply chain, including allegations of child labor and coercive prison labor. This year’s Dirty Dozen report highlights systemic failures across industries, driven by corporate decisions that prioritize speed and cost-cutting over worker safety. The inclusion of Hyundai-Kia’s U.S. supply chain comes after a groundbreaking report, [*Hidden in Plain Sight*, *Safety, Labor & Environmental Violations Driving Hyundai-Kia’s Supply Chain*](https://recallinjustice.org/read-the-report/)*,* was released by Jobs to Move America in coalition with community organizations that uncovers documented labor violations among auto part companies in Hyundai-Kia’s U.S. supply chain, including child labor, preventable injuries and fatalities, and coercive prison labor. **Kissy Cox, an auto manufacturing worker at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama,** **said**: “I reported my injuries, but I was still required to work in pain for months before getting proper medical attention. I have witnessed many of my coworkers are going through the same thing. The company says it’s a safe place to work, but the reality does not match what we experience.” **An auto manufacturing supply chain worker employed through a subcontractor** **connected to the Hyundai-Kia U.S. Supply Chain**, who requested anonymity, said: “We see safety violations every day, from inadequate training to dangerous conditions that put lives at risk. Workers have been injured and even killed, yet there is little accountability. We want safe jobs, not just promises.” The Recall Injustice Campaign is working to secure a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) with Hyundai‑Kia to ensure workers and communities across the country not only have safe and dignified jobs, but also a real voice and influence in improving their working conditions throughout the company’s U.S. supply chain. “Hyundai-Kia’s U.S. supply chain, listed in this year’s Dirty Dozen Report, has shed light on a disturbing pattern of worker injuries and safety violations. Their report exposes a broader system of carelessness that impacts all levels of the supply chain. All workers deserve to have safe and dignified jobs. Their health and safety should not be sacrificed to line the pockets of company owners. The UAW has fought alongside millions of workers to win union jobs that provide a good life for their families. We stand in solidarity with all auto manufacturing workers and believe everyone deserves a real voice on the job.” said **Mike Miller, Director of the United Auto Workers (UAW) Region 6**. “No one should die for a paycheck,” said **Valerie Lizarraga, Western States Assistant Director at Jobs to Move America, a member of the Recall Injustice at Hyundai-Kia coalition**. “Hyundai-Kia U.S. supply chain’s inclusion on the Dirty Dozen list reflects serious concerns about the conditions workers are facing across its operations and supply chain. These are not isolated incidents; they point to systemic failures that demand accountability.” “As advocates, we stand alongside workers whose voices are too often ignored. We stand in solidarity with immigrant workers and their families, many of whom face unsafe labor conditions and exploitation. We support all workers on the frontlines who are organizing for dignity, demanding accountability, and calling on corporations like Hyundai to do better,” **Jenny Miron, an organizer with the Georgia-based organization, Migrant Equity Southeast.** \### **About Jobs to Move America** Jobs to Move America (JMA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that conducts rigorous, independent research to develop the ideas, practices, and policies necessary to build a just new economy. For more than a decade, federal, state, and local policymakers have relied on JMA’s research to inform their decision-making at the intersection of public procurement and emerging industries. JMA has recently produced leading insights into industries such as electric school bus manufacturing, microchip manufacturing, and lithium extraction. **About Recall Injustice at Hyundai-Kia** We are a coalition of community organizations, research and policy groups, workers, faith leaders, environmentalists, unions, and labor councils committed to environmental, racial, economic justice, and workplace democracy. Our coalition believes that companies can and should partner with their neighbors to address problems and care for their shared communities. **About Good Neighbors Alabama** Good Neighbors Alabama brings together labor groups, advocacy organizations, and community partners who want more accountability for the big manufacturing companies in our state. --- ### [JMA Applauds the City of Los Angeles’ Introduction of Recent Policies](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/jma-applauds-the-city-of-los-angeles-introduction-of-recent-policies/) **Published:** April 17, 2026 **Author:** Alaa Milbes **Content:** **JMA Applauds the City of Los Angeles’ Introduction of Policies to Safeguard against Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Unsafe or Unlawful Working Conditions in Public Purchasing** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/20260417_100727-1.jpeg "20260417_100727 - Jobs to Move America")The City of Los Angeles introduced new legislative policies, led by Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez, acknowledging the recent egregious labor practices found in the auto manufacturing industry and calling for responsible public procurement practices. Those policies include: - A resolution highlighting recent egregious labor abuses in the auto-manufacturing industry, including child labor, exploitative prison labor, and unsafe working conditions. - A motion directing a review of the City’s vehicle purchasing policies to ensure they align with existing standards for strong oversight and responsible public spending so taxpayer dollars never support exploitation. - A resolution supporting California Assembly Bill 1245, which aims to prevent goods produced through forced labor from entering California’s public purchasing system by closing gaps in existing oversight and reinforcing the state’s commitment to ethical purchasing. These resolutions and motion build on Los Angeles’ “Sweat-Free Procurement Ordinance**,”** which bans purchasing goods or services made with “sweatshop” labor. This move will ensure that Los Angeles continues to be a leader in protecting and advancing workers’ rights and ethical purchasing practices. These policies come in response to troubling labor and human rights violations in U.S. automotive manufacturing supply chains documented by Jobs to Move America in its [Hidden in Plain Sight](https://recallinjustice.org/read-the-report/) report, including violations that occurred at companies in Hyundai-Kia’s U.S. supply chain. JMA is part of a national coalition —[Recall InJustice at Hyundai Kia](http://recallinjustice.org)— that calls on Hyundai-Kia to make commitments to their workers and local communities by negotiating a Community Benefits Agreement. “We’re introducing this legislation to send a clear message: our public dollars should never support child labor, forced labor, or unsafe working conditions. As a city, we need to do everything we can to create good, safe jobs, and I want to thank Jobs to Move America for helping to expose serious abuses in the auto industry that warrant our attention,” said **Los Angeles City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez**. “UAW Region 6 supports the City of Los Angeles as they highlight the importance of ensuring the purchase of public vehicles does not contribute to keeping workers in dangerous conditions and putting profit over people. Aligning public purchasing with existing labor protections, closing loopholes in our supply chains, and ensuring taxpayer dollars are used responsibly is a first step. Other cities and states need to follow. Our path forward, as a labor movement and as a community, is to organize, demand accountability, and fight for workers across our region and nationally,” said **Mike Miller, director of the United Auto Workers (UAW) Region 6**. “California should be a leader in modeling the prioritization of worker protections and family-sustaining jobs. When we invest our public funds in companies leading the race to the bottom, we risk undermining the progress we’ve built these past decades. LAANE fully supports bringing these resolutions forward that solidify the City of Los Angeles commitments to ensuring the purchase of public fleet vehicles do not support the exploitation of workers anywhere,” said **Victor Sanchez, Executive Director at the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy.** “At the Los Angeles Black Worker Center, I fight every day to make sure Black workers and our communities have real access to good, stable, union jobs, and the dignity that comes with them. Right now, California must be more than a bystander, we have to be a line of defense for democracy and human rights as we face coordinated attacks and rising fascism across this country. Let’s be clear: our tax dollars should never fund exploitation. Not child labor. Not prison labor. Not unsafe workplaces. Not trafficked workers. Period. We have a responsibility to stand on the right side of history, and that means standing with workers, fully and unapologetically. That’s why I’m proud to support our city in passing these resolutions and pushing for a workforce that is truly just, equitable, and accountable to the people,” said **Trina Traylor, Campaign & Coalition Manager at the Los Angeles Black Worker Center** **Teto Héctor Huezo, Western States Director at JMA said**, “We thank the LA City Council and Councilmember Hugo Soto‑Martínez for introducing resolutions that take these abuses seriously and ensure public dollars are used to protect workers and uphold our city’s values. We need the world’s biggest auto companies to build the clean electric cars of the future, but not at the expense of their workers and surrounding communities. Jobs to Move America and our allies have uncovered, through both worker surveys and analysis of public records, exploitative labor practices within companies in Hyundai-Kia’s U.S. supply chain.” \### --- ### [Coalition Launches to Ensure Micron’s $100B Project Delivers for Local Communities](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/coalition-launches-to-ensure-microns-100b-project-delivers-for-local-communities/) **Published:** January 21, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** **Contact: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE** JMA: Lauren LaBorde llaborde@jobstomoveamerica.org ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/image-1024x322.png "image - Jobs to Move America")**Coalition Launches to Ensure Micron’s $100B Project Delivers for Local Communities** *CNY United for Community Benefits seeks commitments from the company related to environmental, workforce, and affordability concerns* SYRACUSE, NY, Jan. 21, 2026 – Central New York United for Community Benefits —a new coalition of community organizations, educators and environmental leaders — launched today, calling for a legally enforceable Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) with Micron Technology. View the virtual press conference and coalition launch event [here.](https://youtu.be/k6l8JVWv57Y) Micron, the Boise-based microchip manufacturer, broke ground on its Clay, NY facility January 16, backed by $20 billion in federal and NY state subsidies — making it one of the largest publicly subsidized development projects in the region’s history. A coalition of groups representing environmental, community and workforce concerns formed to ensure that the unprecedented investment of public dollars behind the project translates to benefits for the community. The coalition, which includes Jobs to Move America, Sierra Club, Sustain CNY, Urban Jobs Task Force, Syracuse Chapter of NAACP, and others, is calling for a CBA with Micron to address concerns the coalition feels the company has not adequately addressed, including: - **Workforce:** Ensuring Micron commits to family-supporting compensation packages, access to good jobs without barriers, and to maintaining the highest health and safety guarantees for workers. - **Environmental:** Protect air, water, and soil by minimizing toxic chemical use and adhering to the highest standards for handling and disposal; replacing destroyed wetlands and protecting endangered species and habitats; generating or procuring 100% new renewable energy without relying on renewable energy credits. - **Housing, transportation and affordability:** Ensure the burden of Micron’s energy and water use does not fall on residents; mitigating housing inequality and rising prices that could result from an influx of Micron workers; invest in public transportation so jobs are accessible to transit-dependent workers across Central New York. Coalition members also delivered a letter addressed to Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra outlining its concerns. Read the letter [here](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/CNY-United-for-Community-Benefits-Letter-to-Micron-1.21.26.pdf). Micron has made a series of commitments to the community, including up to 50,000 new permanent jobs and a $500 million Green CHIPS Community Investment Fund. However, without a legally binding CBA, the coalition is concerned that these commitments lack the enforcements needed to ensure accountability. **Quotes from coalition members** “Micron’s promises to our community so far are a good first step, but these promises aren’t enforceable. A Community Benefits Agreement would create enforceable commitments to ensure Micron follows through. With the amount of public money the Micron project is receiving, the CNY community deserves transparency and enforceable accountability to ensure these investments deliver real shared benefits for our region.” **Khadeejah Ahmad, Jobs to Move America** “Micron is building a huge manufacturing complex in Central New York. While this represents a historic opportunity for economic growth and employment, we must also recognize the enormous risks this poses to our environment. An unprecedented amount of wetlands will be destroyed, along with hundreds of acres of forest which serve as habitat for endangered bats as well as birds, amphibians, and other wildlife. Once built, the facility will consume hundreds of tons of chemicals per week, many of which are extraordinarily toxic. The facility will generate millions of gallons per day of industrial wastewater and will release millions of tons of greenhouse gases into the air annually. Furthermore, the facility will consume over 1,000 megawatts of power, with no viable plan to sustainably produce that electricity. We call on Micron, Onondaga County, and the state of New York to live up to the promise made by DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton to ‘uphold the protection of freshwater wetlands, water quality, air quality, endangered and threatened species, and other environmental priorities.’” **Caitlin Ferrante, Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter** “As stewards of clean air, clean water and clean soil, members of our organization are committed to the preservation of the vast natural resources in CNY. A Community Benefits Agreement with Micron, with full collaboration from all sides, will ensure our commitment to the environment is here for future generations.” **Cheryl Matt, CNY Izaak Walton League** “GreeningUSA supports sustainable development in all communities. The Community Benefits Agreement is a way to engage the Central New York community with Micron to focus on making our region more economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable while working to prevent some of the mistakes of the past.” **Peter J. Arsenault, GreeningUSA** “Since 2012 Urban Jobs Task Force of Syracuse has been an advocate for ‘local hire’ on projects using public money. Micron expects to garner $20 billion in subsidies and has promised to deliver jobs to underrepresented populations. The way forward to include Syracusans in these good-paying jobs is a Community Benefits Agreement.” **Aggie Lane, Urban Jobs Task Force** **Coalition list** ACTS-Alliance of Communities Transcending Syracuse Alliance for a Green Economy ALIGN Central New York Coalition of Black Trade Unionists CHIPS Communities United Clean+Healthy Climate Change Awareness and Action CNY Solidarity Coalition Earthjustice Food Access Healthy Neighborhoods Now Inc. GreeningUSA Izaak Walton League CNY Chapter JHP INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY CO,INC Jobs to Move America Moving People Transportation Coalition NY Renews United University Professions Urban Jobs Task Force of Syracuse Satter Ruhlen Law Firm, PLLC Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter SustainCNY Syracuse Cultural Workers Syracuse Chapter of NAACP Syracuse Peace Council Sterling Water Stewards Workers Center of Central NY \### **About CNY United for Community Benefits** CNY United for Community Benefits is an Alliance of Central New York workers, community leaders, educators, and environmentalists working to ensure that public subsidies translate to real benefits for our community. **www.centralnyunited.org** **Categories:** Climate Change, Labor, Manufacturing, Transparency --- ### [New Columbia Labor Lab Report Reveals Companies in Hyundai’s Alabama Supply Chain Rely on Prison Labor](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/new-columbia-labor-lab-report-reveals-companies-in-hyundais-alabama-supply-chain-rely-on-prison-labor/) **Published:** November 7, 2025 **Author:** Alaa Milbes **Content:** ***Study shows how coercive labor practices drive wage depression, unsafe conditions, and systemic inequality in the South*** **New York, NY November 6, 2025** — Groundbreaking research from four prominent academics has quantified, for the first time in U.S. history, the economic impact of prison labor in Hyundai Motor Group’s (“Hyundai/Kia”) Southern supply chain, which makes parts for Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis vehicles. Research conducted by Dr. Sue Helper (Case Western Reserve University), Dr. Suresh Naidu (Columbia University), Dr. Adam Reich (Columbia University), and Dr. Aaron Sojourner (Upjohn Institute) reveals that Hyundai/Kia’s suppliers’ reliance on coerced labor negatively impacts both incarcerated and nonincarcerated workers. This pioneering study, [*The Impact of Incarcerated Labor in Hyundai’s U.S. Supply Chain*](https://laborlabcu.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Labor-Lab-Incarcerated-Labor-2.pdf), provides a rigorous, large-scale statistical analysis of the economic impact of prison labor in driving wage suppression in Hyundai/Kia’s supply chain. Drawing on an original survey of more than 600 workers, combined with an analysis of government data and extensive public records collected through a two-year collaboration with Jobs to Move America (JMA), it also documents the greater exposure those workers have to occupational hazards and bad employment practices, such as wage theft. “When companies use incarcerated workers who can’t easily leave dangerous or low-paying jobs, they can lower wages for the entire workforce,” said Prof. Suresh Naidu, Jack Wang and Echo Ren Professor of Economics at Columbia University and co-author of the report. “The world’s biggest auto companies, building the cars of the future in the U.S., can, and should, provide good, safe jobs that benefit everyone.” **Key Findings from the Report:** - **Lower Wages in Hyundai’s Supply Chain:** Surveyed workers employed in Hyundai’s Alabama supply chain reported earning 10-15% less than other auto-sector workers in the state – even after controlling for education, race, gender, and age. - **Widespread Labor Violations:** These workers report higher rates of safety hazards and more frequent experiences of wage theft, forced overtime, harassment, and denial of breaks compared to other auto supply chain employees in Alabama. - **Regional Wage Suppression:** In the Montgomery area, where Alabama’s Hyundai suppliers are concentrated, auto supplier wages are 7–9% lower than expected compared to similar jobs elsewhere in Alabama and neighboring states. One contributing factor appears to be the use of incarcerated labor through Alabama’s prison work-release program—particularly within auto parts manufacturing. - **Economic Impact of Prison Labor:** A 10% increase in the share of incarcerated workers in a plant is associated with a 10–14% decrease in wages for non-incarcerated (“free”) workers. Evidence suggests this occurs because incarcerated workers, unable to leave over low pay or poor conditions, give employers leverage to suppress wages and standards for all employees. **Captive Labor: A Modern Form of Coercion** Under Alabama’s work release program, incarcerated individuals are contracted out to private companies, including suppliers within Hyundai/Kia’s Southern manufacturing network. Across Alabama and Georgia, Hyundai/Kia has established a dense cluster of suppliers – many of which produce parts exclusively for Hyundai and Kia vehicles. Some of those suppliers rely on low-mobility workers, including incarcerated individuals. The report details that many incarcerated workers seek placement in Alabama’s work release program to escape the extreme violence and overcrowding of the state’s prison system. These findings echo atrocities recently documented in the acclaimed film *The Alabama Solution*, which exposes the human toll of Alabama’s prison labor system and the persistent exploitation that links incarceration to corporate profit. In 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that conditions within Alabama’s men’s prisons likely violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, citing “reasonable cause to believe” that the system was unconstitutional under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA). The Department’s 2017 investigative findings reported a homicide rate within Alabama’s prisons that was eight times higher than the national average within prisons nationwide. Within this context, work release assignments offer a measure of safety—but at a high cost. Within this system, Hyundai/Kia’s suppliers rely on incarcerated workers who are far less likely to quit over low pay due to coercive prison conditions, which gives the company leverage to lower wages and working conditions for all of their employees. Read the full report [here](https://laborlabcu.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Labor-Lab-Incarcerated-Labor-2.pdf). [Here](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5698743) is a link to a longer academic study cited in the report. \### **About Jobs to Move America Jobs to Move America (JMA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that conducts rigorous and independent research to develop the ideas, practices, and policies necessary for building a just new economy. For more than a decade, federal, state, and local policymakers have relied on JMA’s research to inform their decision-making at the intersection of public procurement and emerging industries. JMA has recently produced leading insights into industries such as electric school bus manufacturing, microchip manufacturing, and lithium extraction.** **About the Columbia Labor Lab The Columbia Labor Lab conducts interdisciplinary research on work, power, and inequality, building partnerships between scholars, workers, and communities to reimagine the future of labor in America.** **Categories:** Labor --- ### [Jobs to Move America Files Lawsuit Against Hyundai and Kia for Using Prison and Child Labor in U.S. Supply Chain](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/jobs-to-move-america-files-lawsuit-against-hyundai-and-kia-for-using-prison-and-child-labor-in-u-s-supply-chain/) **Published:** November 13, 2025 **Author:** Hailey Allen **Content:** Contact: Manny Rivera, manny@riveracomms.com *Complaint Alleges Companies Misled California by Certifying Compliance with “High-Road” Labor Standards While Benefiting from Exploitative Practices* Pasadena, CA — November 13, 2025 — Jobs to Move America (JMA), a national nonprofit advocating for good jobs and responsible public investment, today announced the [filing of a major lawsuit against Hyundai and Kia ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Complaint-for-Declaratory-and-Injunctive-Relief.11-13-25.pdf)for engaging in unconscionable labor practices while falsely certifying to California state and local governments that their vehicles are manufactured in compliance with state and federal law. The lawsuit alleges violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law and is filed against Hyundai Motor America, Inc. (“HMA”), Hyundai Motor Company (“HMC”), Kia America, Inc. (“Kia”), Kia Corporation (“KC”), Hyundai Mobis Co. Ltd. (“Hyundai Mobis”), and Glovis America, LLC (“Glovis”) (collectively described here as Hyundai and Kia). The complaint, filed in Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, describes a pattern of abuse and deception that runs contrary to California’s “high-road” labor policies, public purchasing standards, and public values. It details extensive evidence that Hyundai and Kia, despite marketing themselves as socially responsible to California public agencies to secure public contracts, rely on a Southern supply chain that has engaged in illegal and unethical labor practices—including prison labor, coerced migrant labor, and the documented use of child labor—in violation of California law and values. These suppliers, the complaint alleges, operate unsafe workplaces that have led to repeated citations, injuries, and preventable deaths. “No company should be rewarded with public contracts while violating public values,” said Madeline Janis, Executive Director at Jobs to Move America. “Hyundai and Kia cannot claim to uphold labor standards in California while building their cars using unlawful and abusive practices in the South.” “No company is above the law— especially companies, like Hyundai and Kia, that are benefitting from public money,” said Meredith Stewart, Litigation Director at Jobs to Move America. “This case says enough is enough to Hyundai and Kia’s persistent refusal to take responsibility for the abhorrent labor practices in their Southern supply chain. Californians— and American workers— deserve better.” California’s “high-road” labor standards prohibit goods produced with the benefit of sweatshop, forced, prison, or child labor from being purchased with public money. By certifying compliance with those standards, Hyundai and Kia are misleading California public agencies and consumers, and giving themselves an unfair competitive advantage over responsible companies. “California public agencies and California cities and counties are major consumers of Hyundai and Kia vehicles. Hyundai and Kia market their vehicles as consistent with California values, but this could not be further from the truth,” said Paul More of McCracken, Stemerman & Holsberry. “Hyundai and Kia falsely present themselves as high-road employers while selling vehicles built by forced prison labor, workers subjected to human trafficking, and children as young as 13-years-old,” said Brian Olney, a partner with Hadsell Stormer Renick & Dai. “These corporations’ abhorrent and despicable practices must end.” The lawsuit argues that Hyundai and Kia cannot evade responsibility for their suppliers’ conduct even as they exercise significant control over how they operate. In Alabama, for example, the use of oppressive incarcerated labor within Hyundai’s supply chain was found to depress wages and worsen working conditions for nonincarcerated workers. That information was documented by nationally renowned academics in [The Impact of Incarcerated Labor in Hyundai’s Supply Chain](https://laborlabcu.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/CLL_IncarceratedLabor.pdf), released by Columbia Labor Lab last week. “The State of California and many of its cities and counties have enacted high-road purchasing standards, to ensure that public funds are used responsibly and do not flow to employers who abuse workers and deny their basic rights,” said Margo Feinberg of Schwartz, Steinsapir, Dohrmann & Sommers, LLP. “The Defendants’ conduct we are challenging in this case flagrantly violates those standards.” JMA’s complaint also outlines a broader pattern of denial and deflection, noting that when labor abuses have been exposed, the Hyundai Companies have repeatedly, and falsely, sought to distance themselves from the unlawful and unfair labor practices of their suppliers. The lawsuit contends that the violations are widespread and the companies have the power to stop them. JMA became aware of these labor practices through its work in the South and redirected significant organizational resources to investigate and address the abuses, consistent with its mission to protect working people, public dollars, and democratic values. Under California’s Unfair Competition Law, public interest organizations that must divert resources to combat unlawful conduct have standing to enforce the law in court. The lawsuit seeks a declaratory judgment that Hyundai and Kia’s conduct violates California law and a permanent injunction requiring independent audits, monitoring, and compliance verification. [**READ JMA’S FULL COMPLAINT HERE.**](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Complaint-for-Declaratory-and-Injunctive-Relief.11-13-25.pdf) \### **About Jobs to Move America Jobs to Move America (JMA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that conducts rigorous, independent research to develop the ideas, practices, and policies necessary to build a just new economy. For more than a decade, federal, state, and local policymakers have relied on JMA’s research to inform their decision-making at the intersection of public procurement and emerging industries. JMA has recently produced leading insights into industries such as electric school bus manufacturing, microchip manufacturing, and lithium extraction. **Categories:** Economy, Health & Safety, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [New Report: Inequality, Insecurity, and Unsafe Conditions at Kawasaki's U.S. Manufacturing Facilities in New York and Nebraska](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/community-and-labor-groups-release-report-on-working-conditions-call-for-community-benefits-agreement-with-major-mta-contractor/) **Published:** September 30, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** **Contact: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE** Troy Newsome tnewsome@jobstomoveamerica.org (832) 451-9489 *Community and labor groups release report on Kawasaki, call for Community Benefits Agreement* NEW YORK, September 30, 2025–A newly released report from Jobs to Move America (JMA) and Cornell University’s Climate Jobs Institute reveals troubling findings about working conditions at MTA contractor Kawasaki’s railcar manufacturing facilities in New York and Nebraska. Citing low pay, hazardous conditions, and widespread experience of discrimination reported by workers, a coalition of NY and Nebraska groups held a press conference calling on Kawasaki to begin negotiating a legally binding Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) that would ensure the public monies the company receives are matched by fair treatment for its workers and neighbors. Kawasaki has received billions of dollars over the past four decades to manufacture railcars for the MTA. In 2018, the NY MTA awarded the company a $4.5 billion railcar contract – the largest in its history. Although Kawasaki committed to providing good jobs for the duration of the contract, specific details about wages and benefits have been withheld from the public by the MTA, citing the company’s concerns that such information may “unnecessarily agitate” its workforce. In the absence of this data, report authors spent a year surveying 180 Kawasaki workers and conducted in-depth interviews with current and former workers to independently assess working conditions at the company’s manufacturing facilities in Nebraska and New York. Many described a culture that prioritizes speed and profit over safety and well-being, contributing to low morale and serious injuries. **Quotes from labor and community leaders** “Kawasaki has benefited from billions in public contracts while the very workers who build the trains for our transit systems struggle with low wages, dangerous conditions, and disrespect on the job. Our union stands with these community leaders to demand accountability. If the MTA changed course and became a positive force in this equation, workers in New York and Nebraska could win the safe, stable, and family-supporting jobs they deserve.” – John Samuelsen, International President, Transport Workers Union “From the Empire State to the Cornhusker state, public spending can help rebuild US manufacturing as a vehicle to the middle class. From low wages to disrespect on the job and reliance on temp labor, the report from our partners at Jobs to Move America shows that Kawasaki’s plants fall far short. Nebraska labor and community leaders believe Kawasaki, benefiting from billions in public dollars, can and should provide the kind of dignified, equitable jobs our communities deserve.” ***Sue Martin, President/Secretary-Treasurer, Nebraska State AFL-CIO*** “Railcar manufacturing should be a source of pride and stability for workers and their families. The findings in this report underscore why it’s so important to raise standards in both New York and Nebraska. SMART supports efforts to ensure these jobs are safe, fair, and sustainable.” **“ *John McCloskey, Directing General Chairperson of Rail Mechanical Division, Sheet Metal Air Rail and Transportation (SMART)*** “We applaud investments to keep New York’s world class transit system at 21st century standards, but only if those standards include dignified, safe, family-sustaining jobs for working families. We urge the MTA to do everything in its power to hold the companies building our rail cars – Kawasaki and any others awarded contracts in the coming years – accountable to values of respect, transparency and fair wages in treatment of their workers.” ***Theodore A. Moore, ALIGN Executive Director****.* “Our research shows that Kawasaki’s U.S. manufacturing jobs fall significantly short of what most would call ‘good jobs.’ Workers reported pay below industry standards, unsafe environments, and widespread experience of discrimination. When taxpayer dollars fund these contracts, we must ensure they create equitable, high-quality jobs that strengthen communities rather than undermine them.” *Reyna Cohen, Research and Policy Development Associate, Climate Jobs Institute at Cornell University*** “Our congregation and community are proud to host the makers of New York’s famous subway cars, but we’re also shocked by Kawasaki workers sharing their experiences with below-average wages, temp labor, race and gender discrimination, and injuries on the job. Yonkers residents insist on good, career-track jobs for our people, and we’re eager to partner with Kawasaki to turn it into a model, high-road employer.” – ***Rev. Margaret Coleman, Messiah Baptist Church of Yonkers*** **“**From my years working at a manufacturer here in Lincoln, I know manufacturing can be a win-win when employers partner with organized workers to create the kind of jobs we can be proud of. But the Jobs to Move America’s report – based directly on the experience of workers at Kawasaki’s Lincoln plant – tells a very different story: low wages, workers told not to talk about those wages, women earning less than men, workplace injuries rampant. Nebraskans are excited to join arms with New Yorkers to create a new story of Kawasaki as a high–road employer that the community embraces.” ***–* Diana O’Brien, IBEW Local 2366 Business Manager, Lincoln, Nebraska** **Key findings from the report** *Pay Inequities* - Surveyed women earned **$3.49 less** per hour on average than surveyed men. - Temporary workers hired through staffing agencies represented over half of survey respondents and earned **$4.66 less** per hour on average than workers directly hired through Kawasaki. *Unsafe Working Conditions* - Workers reported **witnessing a coworker get injured** (40%) or being **injured themselves** (17%) at their worksite. *Widespread Experience of Discrimination* - Half of workers reported **witnessing unfair treatment based on race** (24%), **gender** (24%), **immigration status** (10%), and other protected categories. *Toxic Workplace Culture* - Workers reported witnessing supervisors use **slurs or derogatory language about a group of people** (16%) and **make offensive comments or jokes** (27%) in the workplace. #### **Read our full report** [**here**](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/kawasaki-report/)**.** **About Jobs To Move America** ([jobstomoveamerica.org](http://jobstomoveamerica.org/)) Jobs to Move America is a strategic policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior using a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justice and community organizing. We seek to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. **Categories:** Health & Safety, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [New Report Reveals Harsh Trade-Offs for Local Workers and Communities in Tallassee Behind Neptune’s Smart Water Meter Success](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/new-report-reveals-harsh-trade-offs-for-local-workers-and-communities-in-tallassee-behind-neptunes-smart-water-meter-success/) **Published:** September 18, 2025 **Author:** Hailey Allen **Content:** Contact: Hailey Allen Jobs to Move America (205) 844-7021 | [hallen@jobstomoveamerica.org](mailto:kahmad@jobstomoveamerica.org) **FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE** ![](https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXe0k4GGYQ-jUObzU5PX4XBjkM8273vY0gypWPb4FeJZ7YFdnpsnrV5_N_RouzfWuY13_GfpFRgZNf7vUxwqExB8bFqrFuE_kFS6OVOSc8JBPYS9evV1UL2pSaFFFGSoa3A5NkXOlg?key=hUSkuNm3EXPF-yOPGy2IXQ)### Community Coalition Releases Report on Neptune Technology Group, Calls for Community Benefits Agreement **TALLASSEE, Ala., September 15, 2025 –** A newly released report from Jobs to Move America (JMA) reveals troubling findings about workplace practices and environmental impacts at Neptune Technology Group, a major manufacturer of smart water meters based in Tallassee, Alabama. Citing 55- to 75-hour workweeks, wage disparities, unfair treatment reported by workers, questionable waste disposal practices and more, [Good Neighbors Alabama (GNA)](https://goodneighborsalabama.org/), a coalition of community, advocacy and labor organizations, is calling on Neptune to begin negotiating a legally binding Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) that would ensure the public monies the company receives are matched by fair treatment for its workers and neighbors. Neptune plays a key role in helping cities across North America conserve water and modernize infrastructure. But according to the report, the benefits it creates for distant communities often come at a high cost to its own workforce and hometown. “We believe in good jobs, safe workplaces, and clean communities, and this report shows that Neptune has a long way to go in meeting that standard,” said Luis Robledo at Jobs to Move America. “Our coalition isn’t just calling out problems. We’re inviting Neptune to be part of the solution by negotiating an agreement that protects workers, promotes racial and gender equity, and the local environment, and ensures real accountability to the people of Tallassee.” [The report,](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/JMA_REPORT_091125_FINAL_WEB-1.pdf) based on a two-year mixed-methods research study, includes interviews with workers, a survey representing nearly a quarter of Neptune’s production workforce, and analysis of public labor and environmental records. Key findings include: - **55- to 75-hour workweeks**. Some workers described stretches of 21 work days straight without a day off. Some also described a pattern of long hours, including some reporting 55- to 75-hour workweeks, that leaves little time for family, rest, or other responsibilities. - **Flat wage growth for long-tenured workers.** The majority of production workers reported sharp gains their first few years, but by ten years some reported earnings that are mostly flat. - **Unfair treatment. Workers reported** favoritism, inconsistent discipline, and reported experiencing of racial and sexual discrimination. Reports of unfair treatment were systemic and the majority of workers surveyed reported being impacted. - **Significant wage disparities** driven primarily by occupational segregation rather than direct pay differences by race or gender. Among the workers surveyed, women – regardless of race – reported earning $5.91 less per hour than white men surveyed, on average. Black men surveyed reported earning $6.59 less per hour than white men surveyed. Access to higher-wage positions among those surveyed was not equal. - **Serious injuries on the job**. More than two-thirds (78.46%) of workers reported having witnessed or experienced at least one serious injury on the job. - **Neptune’s industrial waste disposal practices**. Two landfills where Neptune sends its waste—Emelle and Stone’s Throw—have been the focus of environmental justice investigations and litigation. “We believe companies can be good neighbors – but that starts with listening to the community and taking action,” said Adam Keller, a spokesperson for *Good Neighbors Alabama*. “We are calling on Neptune to sit down with us, in good faith, and negotiate a Community Benefits Agreement that protects workers, supports families, and ensures a safer future for everyone in Tallassee.” Good Neighbors Alabama has formally invited Neptune Technology Group to begin negotiations toward a CBA that would address wage equity, working conditions, training and promotion access, and environmental safeguards. The coalition has successfully helped negotiate similar agreements in Alabama and across the country. JMA and Good Neighbors Alabama have requested that Neptune meet with the coalition to discuss a negotiation timetable within 48 hours of receiving the report. --- **About Good Neighbors Alabama Good Neighbors Alabama is a coalition of Alabama-based community leaders, workers, and organizations committed to building safer, more equitable workplaces and communities across the state. **About Jobs to Move America Jobs to Move America is a strategic policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior using a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justice and community organizing. We seek to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. [JMA\_REPORT\_091125\_FINAL\_WEB](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/JMA_REPORT_091125_FINAL_WEB-1.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/JMA_REPORT_091125_FINAL_WEB-1.pdf) --- ### [Over 600 Comments Submitted to Federal, Local Agencies on Micron’s Environmental Impact](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/over-600-comments-submitted-to-federal-local-agencies-on-microns-environmental-impact/) **Published:** August 13, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Contact: Khadeejah Ahmad Jobs to Move America (315) 383-6602 | **FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE** ![](https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXe0k4GGYQ-jUObzU5PX4XBjkM8273vY0gypWPb4FeJZ7YFdnpsnrV5_N_RouzfWuY13_GfpFRgZNf7vUxwqExB8bFqrFuE_kFS6OVOSc8JBPYS9evV1UL2pSaFFFGSoa3A5NkXOlg?key=hUSkuNm3EXPF-yOPGy2IXQ)**Over 600 Comments Submitted to Federal, Local Agencies on Micron’s Environmental Impact** *Community members call on Micron to protect the environment, workers* Syracuse, NY — The public comment period on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Micron Technology’s proposed semiconductor megafacility in Clay, New York closed yesterday, August 11, with over 600 comments submitted by residents, community leaders and organizations from Central New York and around the country. The comments, submitted to the U.S. CHIPS Program Office and the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency (OCIDA), came from community organizations—including environmental advocates, labor unions and neighborhood groups—as well as hundreds of individual community members. Many of the comments call for enforceable commitments from Micron to protect the region’s environment, public health and workforce. “This level of engagement shows that Central New Yorkers are paying attention, and they expect this historic investment to deliver real benefits—not just for industry, but for people and the community,” said Khadeejah Ahmad, a Syracuse-based organizer at Jobs to Move America (JMA). “Our community has seen what happens when big promises aren’t kept. We want this project to be different.” In the over 600 comments submitted through JMA’s portal alone, members of the public raised concerns about: - **Toxic and Forever Chemicals Contaminating Air, Water and Communities:** A long list of [toxic and “forever” chemicals](https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/news/2025/07/30/a-look-at-how--forever-chemicals--are-used-in-the-semiconductor-industry) and toxic materials will be transported, stored, used, and disposed of by Micron in large quantities, with the high risk of contaminating CNY’s regional water supply, air and soil through improper disposal, incineration, accidents, and floods. - **Energy and Water Consumption**: The project [will consume more energy than the states of Vermont and New Hampshire combined and use 48 million gallons per day](https://www.syracuse.com/micron/2025/08/utilities-moving-ahead-to-meet-microns-huge-water-and-electrical-demands.html). In the DEIS, Micron does not provide a meaningful plan for how it will tangibly reduce greenhouse gas emissions or meet its commitment to generate renewable energy. It also provides no guarantees that the burden of Micron’s enormous consumption of resources and the enormous infrastructure upgrades required to meet them will not end up falling on utility ratepayers and New York tax payers. - **Workforce and Housing Impacts:** Residents called for commitments to ensure family-sustaining wages for manufacturing workers, and guarantee equitable access to jobs for marginalized communities while also raising concerns about the project’s impact on housing affordability across the region View JMA’s 100-page technical comment [here](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Jobs-to-Move-America_Micron-DEIS-Comment_Final-Version.docx.pdf). The DEIS—a [20,000-page document](https://www.localsyr.com/news/micron-comes-to-clay/20000-page-report-details-impact-of-micron-project-and-planned-countermeasures/) released in late June—analyzes the potential environmental and socioeconomic impacts of the [largest private investment](https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/25/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-up-to-6-1-billion-preliminary-agreement-with-micron-under-the-chips-and-science-act/) in New York State history. Jobs to Move America and its partners, including Sustain CNY, Urban Jobs Task Force, Citizen Action of New York, CNY Solidarity Coalition, CHIPS Communities United, the Sierra Club, and the labor union IUE-CWA, submitted comments and organized residents to submit comments and share their vision for a project that truly benefits the community. “Over 600 comments send a powerful message,” said Ahmad. “Our community is not against economic development, but we insist on development that safeguards our environment, respects our workers, and creates lasting opportunities for everyone in Central New York.” **About Jobs to Move America (jobstomoveamerica.org)** Jobs to Move America is a strategic policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior in manufacturing to benefit workers and communities. JMA uses a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justice and community organizing. We seek to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. --- ### [LA Metro and JMA Settlement Resolves $730 Million Contract Dispute, Protecting U.S. Workers in the Face of Mounting Olympic Pressures](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/la-metro-and-jma-settlement-resolves-730-million-contract-dispute-protecting-u-s-workers-in-the-face-of-mounting-olympic-pressures/) **Published:** July 30, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** **FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE** **Contact:** JMA: Aesha Mahmoud (562) 269 – 9193 amahmoud@jobstomoveamerica.org ![](https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdGfpCir7d5chw10xmeqx3rQKwFqqgIIVLxgEleHJdmu_D5UUqWcw4g3TDomXWudNo9qwVslYwbjHYRXqyar_YSKq8m93pRR6XYWTZH0ze_DWfnFWaUVFJVvCIa2nUXmUB_z2-lXA?key=6d80MD_Mf0WrqnMvkOpiIg)**LA Metro and JMA Settlement Resolves $730 Million Contract Dispute, Protecting U.S. Workers in the Face of Mounting Olympic Pressures** *LA Metro commits to strengthening its practices to promote transparency around job quality and pay at Hyundai Rotem* *Los Angeles, CA, DATE* – The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Authority and Jobs to Move America reached a legal settlement concerning a [$730 million](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/jobs-to-move-america-files-lawsuit-against-la-metro-alleging-violations-of-state-and-federal-contracting-law/) railcar contract awarded in 2024 to Hyundai Rotem, a subsidiary of the Hyundai Motor Company. The lawsuit was originally filed in September 2024, when LA Metro awarded Hyundai Rotem a contract despite their proposal not complying with the agency’s 2022 Manufacturing Careers Policy – a framework designed to promote good job creation for local workers. Following a year of advocacy, the settlement brings the contract into alignment with that policy, requiring Hyundai Rotem to improve conditions for workers that will be preparing the railcars needed for the 2028 Olympics. “On behalf of all Angelenos, JMA congratulates Metro for showing that public dollars invested in LA’s infrastructure ahead of the Olympics can and will benefit Angelenos. This settlement is a major victory for working people across Los Angeles and the country. This settlement ensures that taxpayer funds will support American manufacturing jobs, local workers, and the equitable economic future we deserve,” said Madeline Janis. “Working families in Los Angeles have been facing the fallout of fire disaster, rising cost of living and rent, along with the brutal militarized assault on our immigrant communities. This is why we thank Metro for ensuring that the public purchases they make improve conditions for our region. That means securing strong commitments to high quality employment and hiring practices from the companies they contract from,” said Aesha Mahmoud, Senior Researcher with Jobs to Move America. Below is a summary of the major provisions that were agreed upon in the settlement: 1. LA Metro agreed to amend their contract with Hyundai Rotem to bring it into full compliance with the agency’s [Manufacturing Careers Policy](https://media.metro.net/uploads/MCP.pdf). 2. LA Metro will hire a consultant to assess and strengthen all future procurements covered by the Manufacturing Careers Policy compliance across all agency contracts. JMA has submitted suggested criteria for consultant selection. 3. LA Metro will update all of its Request for Proposals to clarify that the U.S. Employment Plan and Local Employment Plan submissions are public records, not trade secrets, and are subject to the California Public Records Act. This provision is key to increase transparency and accountability in future contracts. 4. Metro has agreed to refer formal complaints regarding potential violations of the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act to the appropriate authorities. Metro added the Act’s requirements to the Hyundai contract after JMA complained that Hyundai Motor Company’s suppliers in Alabama were found to be using child labor. The settlement further strengthens enforcement of the Act’s requirements. LA Metro will pay Jobs to Move America $250,000, which JMA will use to offset legal costs associated with the lawsuit. As public agencies across North America prepare for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, cities, counties, and states are poised to spend millions on public infrastructure projects and manufactured equipment. Metro’s commitment will provide a roadmap for ensuring that taxpayer funded purchases create good American jobs and real benefits for the residents of the host cities. It will also provide workers and public interest groups with tools to ensure that vendors and contractors are creating family-sustaining jobs for working families across the country, free from labor abuses and under high standards for safety and training. **About Jobs to Move America (**jobstomoveamerica.org) Jobs to Move America is a strategic policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior in manufacturing to benefit workers and communities. JMA uses a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justice and community organizing. We seek to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. \### **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Transparency --- ### [Labor, Environmental, and Social Justice Groups Call on Micron to Protect Workers and Communities](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/labor-environmental-and-social-justice-groups-call-on-micron-to-protect-workers-and-communities/) **Published:** June 26, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** *Following Draft Environmental Impact Statement Release, CNY Advocates Push for 120-Day Public Comment Period and Launch “Community Vision” for Micron* SYRACUSE, N.Y. (June 26, 2025) – At a press conference today, 16 community groups delivered a petition with over 1,600 signatories to the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency (OCIDA) requesting a longer and more inclusive public input process on Micron Technology’s plan in Central New York (CNY). These groups also announced their concerns in a new [*Community Vision for Strong Environmental, Resident, and Worker Protections*](https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/community-vision-for-strong-environmental-resident-worker-protections-micron-environmental-review?source=direct_link&), which they are encouraging community members to endorse. The press conference followed yesterday’s release of the [Micron Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)](https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-marks-major-progress-microns-100-billion-investment-new-york-public-release) by the U.S. Department of Commerce and OCIDA. CNY organizations came together to call on the Department of Commerce and OCIDA to mandate conditions on Micron to minimize health, safety and environmental harms; protect workers; and maximize equitable quality-of-life and socioeconomic benefits to communities impacted by Micron’s development in CNY. Speakers emphasized the need for everyone impacted to have an opportunity to review and provide input on Micron’s $100 billion plan — the largest industrial development project in New York state history and the largest microchip fabrication facility in U.S. history. Micron is receiving $5.5 billion in New York’s Green CHIPS Act subsidies and [up to $20 billion in total public ](https://www.syracuse.com/business/2024/05/micron-is-getting-billions-more-in-taxpayer-money-than-anyone-is-talking-about.html)subsidies. With this historic investment, Micron has promised investments and thousands of good jobs for CNY, but Micron has not made any enforceable commitments to workers or communities. The groups address this gap in the [*Community Vision for Strong Environmental, Resident, and Worker Protections*](https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/community-vision-for-strong-environmental-resident-worker-protections-micron-environmental-review?source=direct_link&), developed with local community organizations and leaders with expertise in public policy, environmental law, workforce development and safety, environmental and chemical science, energy technology and infrastructure, and housing and transportation equity. The DEIS document released yesterday aims to assess Micron’s impacts across numerous areas including environmental health, public health and safety, socioeconomic needs, and air and water quality. However, officials have stated that [they only intend to give the federal minimum of 45 days ](https://www.syracuse.com/micron/2025/06/release-of-micron-impact-report-delayed-further-crunching-construction-timeline.html)for public comment. Press conference speakers encouraged people to submit comments to the lead agencies right away to request a 120-day public comment period on the Micron DEIS. They also asked supporters to look soon for more guidance on making more substantive comments from local leaders who are closely reviewing the DEIS. Featured speakers at the press conference included: - Catherine Landis, plant ecologist, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry - Don Hughes, chemistry professor at Le Moyne College and member of Sierra Club Central and Northern New York - Madeline Nyblade, assistant professor of Earth and Environmental Science, SUNY-College of Environmental Science and Forestry - Mbonimpa Banabas, IUE-CWA Union Local 320 - Tim Judson, Board Chair and Co-Founder, Alliance for a Green Economy **Community members raised their concerns:** “Given the massive scope of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, with 10,000 pages of appendices, 45 days is grossly inadequate for community members to participate in the public review process. Enough time must be provided for the public to not only review and understand these impacts, but to submit comments that public officials will use to inform project permitting decisions. To fast-track this environmental review process is to risk massive pollution from forever chemicals like PFAS and other harms that cannot be undone. We do not want another toxic pollution disaster that even comes close to or exceeds the damage done to Onondaga Lake by industrial manufacturers.” – Hilary-Anne Coppola, Community Organizer, SustainCNY “GreeningUSA encourages everyone in Central New York to voice their concerns to the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency about any of the many issues contained in the Micron Draft Environmental Impact Statement, including water quality, energy, pollution, natural resource impacts, housing, transportation and environmental justice. These are the issues that affect our short-term quality of life and ultimately the long-term ability of Central New York to thrive.” – John Prezpiora, President and Director, GreeningUSA “It’s called an “industrial park”, but in fact, it is 1000 plus acres of wetlands, forest, and grassland comparable to natural areas on protected State lands. Any wetland mitigation plan must take this larger context into account. These are high quality wetlands that harbor endangered species such as bats. Dozens of other kinds of native plants and animals live here, from monarch and viceroy butterflies, to amphibians, reptiles, and over 100 different kinds of birds. Northern Harrier (Threatened, NYS) and Short Eared Owl (Endangered, NYS) have been sighted here. This is the biggest single industrial development in New York State history, and at least a quarter of its funding is public money. Therefore, the agencies need to hold Micron to the highest possible standards, for example requiring a much higher wetland replacement ratio—somewhere between 5-10 to 1.” – Catherine Landis, Science Advisor, Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry “Micron’s semiconductor plant to be built in Clay represents a major opportunity to boost the region’s economy, and to create a world-class facility that does not endanger workers, or burden the community with toxic air and water pollution — and it should be run with clean, renewable power. We call on Micron and the sponsoring agencies that are showering the project with billions in subsidies, to create a project that advances cutting-edge technologies to eliminate toxic chemicals, safeguard the health of workers and the environment, and avoid reliance on expensive, toxic nuclear energy.” – Don Hughes, Sierra Club Central and Northern New York “Jobs to Move America is working alongside Central New York partners like Urban Jobs Task Force to ensure the jobs created by the Micron project meet the standard of ‘good job’ this community deserves — especially those who have been historically left out of these types of economic opportunities.Central New Yorkers deserve high-paying, family-sustaining jobs where workers have a voice in the job. They deserve equitable investments in workforce development and a commitment to hire locally and create high-quality training opportunities, especially for historically disadvantaged people. And they deserve solid protections for the community and the environment.” – Khadeejah Ahmad, Syracuse Organizing Manager, Jobs to Move America “Micron’s projected energy usage — equal to the state of Vermont and New Hampshire combined — is unprecedented in the history of Onondaga County. Given the dangers presented by runaway climate change, it is imperative that Micron live up to its commitment of 100% renewable energy for electricity and use as little fossil fuel as possible. The technologies of wind and solar farms, hydro, electric heat pumps for heating and cooling are all currently in operation. It is a question of political will by county, state and Micron officials. We hope that, along with good paying jobs, Micron will commit to providing a safe environment for future generations.” – Peter Wirth, Vice President, Climate Change Awareness & Action “The Micron development will be massive, about twice the size of the Syracuse University main campus. The soon-to-be developed land is currently wetlands, forests and fields. These cover types allow water to seep into the ground, as well as return to the air through plants. With Micron, this area will be developed into industrial facilities, parking lots, buildings, offices and warehouses. While restoration is planned elsewhere to make up for the wetlands lost on the Micron site, these restored wetlands will not mitigate flooding directly downstream of Micron. To help reduce the impact of Micron on our water: Micron could limit runoff and increase recharge areas and natural habitats on their site; release little to no PFAS into the downstream water; and increase the acres of wetlands protected and restored.” – Maddy Nyblade, Assistant Professor, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry “Micron will have major impacts on the costs and reliability of electricity in CNY. It will be the largest energy consumer in New York State and will require CNY to import electricity for the first time in nearly a century. Micron’s draft EIS states that it will force New York to miss our climate emissions goals because it is not planning to develop enough renewable energy. This is unacceptable. New York State law requires Micron to use 100% renewable energy, in exchange for billions of dollars in subsidies. If Micron does not do that, energy costs and air pollution in CNY could skyrocket as a direct result. On the other hand, Micron could spur the renewable energy industry in CNY, creating thousands more jobs and spreading economic development to communities throughout the region. If Micron wants to be a good neighbor, then it needs to obey the law, avoid polluting our air and water, and take responsibility for its energy needs.” – Tim Judson, Board Chair and Co-Founder, Alliance for a Green Economy --- ### [Stronger Accountability and Transparency Measures Included in State Semiconductor Tax Incentives](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/stronger-accountability-and-transparency-measures-included-in-state-semiconductor-tax-incentives/) **Published:** May 13, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** *Finalized executive budget includes more robust jobs reporting for Semiconductor Manufacturing Workforce Training Incentive Program, Semiconductor Research & Development Project Program Tax Incentives* *SYRACUSE, NY, May 13, 2025 –* Jobs to Move America (JMA) and its allies commend Governor Kathy Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and Speaker Carl Heastie for strengthening transparency and accountability in new tax incentives to grow New York’s semiconductor industry by including robust reporting requirements in the state budget, finalized last week. The state’s Green CHIPS Act has already attracted Micron Technology, which is building a facility in Central New York that stands to create [over 50,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs by 2055](https://esd.ny.gov/sites/default/files/Micron-Economic-and-Fiscal-Impact-Report_0.pdf) across the state. By including a more robust reporting requirement in the Semiconductor Manufacturing Workforce Training Incentive Program and Semiconductor Research & Development Project Program tax credits, communities will see the benefit of other major semiconductor projects in the state. “We thank Governor Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Heastie for their recognition that growing the semiconductor industry needs to be done the right way–through improved transparency and accountability for how these tax incentives can contribute to good jobs in New York. With ongoing leadership from Governor Hochul and state leaders, New York can ensure that semiconductor companies receiving public funds deliver good jobs and community benefits for New Yorkers,” **said Eric Romann, Northeast Director at Jobs to Move America**. These amendments, initially proposed by Senator Chris Ryan and Assemblymember Harry Bronson, aimed at improving transparency and accountability in the Semiconductor Manufacturing Workforce Training Incentive and Semiconductor Research and Development Project Program. JMA appreciates the support of these amendments by several key committee chairs, including Senate Labor Chair Jessica Ramos, Senate Economic Development Chair Sean Ryan, Assembly Science and Technology Chair Steven Otis and Assembly Chair of the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Taskforce Karines Reyes, as well as members in both houses. **Read more about the amendments** [**here**](https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQvOBCOCdk11EZt8A_VXMvsHyiz6-BU3yIknktAAmcHjLPv3PbOUvpGWl86y7AJzop3NdPtxmP_MY5E/pub)**.** In the final budget, awardees of the Manufacturing Workforce Training Incentive Program are obligated to provide a report on the breadth of their program, including wrap-around services like transportation and child care, as well as the usage of a registered apprenticeship programs. As part of the transparency process, Empire State Development will submit and post on its website an annual report providing such details as the number of business participants in the program as well as the number of workers being trained and completed the training. For the Research and Development Project Program, Empire State Development will be required to annually share on its website the total jobs created at each project location, as well as the median wage paid to employees and types of jobs created. Through this detailed reporting and improved transparency, stakeholders will be able to know more about the quality of the jobs resulting from these tax incentives. JMA was joined by Communications Workers of America District 1, Central New York Solidarity Coalition, Urban Jobs Taskforce of Syracuse, and the Greater Syracuse Labor Council AFL-CIO in supporting these amendments. “This is an exciting moment for New York State as it leads the development of a robust semiconductor industry,” **said Dennis Trainor, Vice President CWA District 1,** “and we thank Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, and Governor Hochul for ensuring working families are centered in the industry’s growth. Including transparency and accountability mechanisms for these tax credit programs is an important step to ensure these investments deliver good jobs and address the affordability crisis impacting New Yorkers. These amendments, proposed by Senator Chris Ryan along with Assemblymember Harry Bronson, show that when we elect working people, working people win.” We welcome working with the Governor’s office to further strengthen transparency and accountability for semiconductor companies committed to developing in New York through the state’s Green CHIPS Act and Excelsior Jobs Program. “In particular, we urge the Empire State Development Corporation to clarify the reporting section of the Excelsior Jobs Program to include a robust evaluation and public reporting process to ensure these investments result in good jobs. This clarification will ensure that our investments in semiconductor manufacturing produce successful outcomes for New York’s workforce,” **Romann said.** **About Jobs To Move America** ([jobstomoveamerica.org](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/)) Jobs to Move America is a strategic policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior using a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justice and community organizing. We seek to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. More information here: [Semiconductor Tax Credit Amendments ](https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQvOBCOCdk11EZt8A_VXMvsHyiz6-BU3yIknktAAmcHjLPv3PbOUvpGWl86y7AJzop3NdPtxmP_MY5E/pub) **\###** --- ### [Celebrating Women in Manufacturing: Honoring the Past, Empowering the Future](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/celebrating-women-in-manufacturing-honoring-the-past-empowering-the-future/) **Published:** April 6, 2025 **Author:** Troyla Washington **Content:** This Women’s History Month, I celebrate the resilience and strength of women in manufacturing—those who have broken barriers, driven innovation, and shaped our workforce. From [Rosie the Riveter](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/e-sreussjobstomoveamerica-org-/2q3lmv/1586255923/h/GvIFH1Cyly25k8nn4OZM4z43-xtIp4-b--tDR7f3TGQ) to today’s factory floor leaders, our contributions have strengthened communities and transformed industries. As we honor this legacy, I also recognize the need to ensure continued progress for women in the workplace through justice, equality, dignity, and solidarity. There are ongoing discussions about potential changes to policies and programs that have long supported women’s workplace rights. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau, established over a century ago, has played a critical role in advocating for equal pay, safe working conditions, and greater access to quality jobs for women in manufacturing. Any shifts in the Bureau’s role or scope could impact workplace equity initiatives that have helped countless women enter and advance in this field. At JMA, we have long partnered with the Women’s Bureau, and they have even attended our Alabama Learning Trip. They have been strong supporters of our work, just as we support their critical research in advancing equity and opportunity for women in the workforce. Women make up nearly half of the total workforce but still hold less than a third of manufacturing jobs. Programs like the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) grant have provided essential pathways for women into high-quality careers. The future of such programs depends on continued support for policies that promote inclusive workforce development and uphold dignity and fairness in the workplace. As the [Organizing Director](https://info.jobstomoveamerica.org/e/968783/watch-v-iJHpiSv0eD8/2q3lmy/1586255923/h/GvIFH1Cyly25k8nn4OZM4z43-xtIp4-b--tDR7f3TGQ) at Jobs to Move America (JMA), I am committed to expanding opportunities for marginalized communities—including women, people of color, and veterans—by working with manufacturers like New Flyer to ensure access to training, apprenticeships, and stable, well-paying jobs. Through Community Benefits Agreements, we work collectively to secure strong workplace standards that guarantee fair wages, safe conditions, and equitable access to career growth for all workers. Organizing is deeply personal to me—I have been dedicated to labor rights since childhood, learning from my father in Birmingham, AL. I was proud to be part of the efforts that led to securing the New Flyer Community Benefits Agreement under the Trump administration, and I continue to work closely with workers seeking to improve their quality of life and working conditions. Research has consistently shown that gender equity in the workplace strengthens businesses and communities. As we navigate potential changes in workforce policies, it is important to stay informed and engaged in discussions that impact women’s access to good jobs and fair working conditions. Solidarity among workers, advocates, and policymakers is crucial in ensuring that manufacturing remains a field where justice and opportunity thrive. As we mark Women’s History Month, I invite you to join me in celebrating the achievements of women in manufacturing and advocating for a future where all workers have equal opportunities to thrive. Let’s continue to uplift women’s voices, support equitable policies, and work together to ensure that manufacturing remains a field of opportunity for everyone. In solidarity, ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Erica-headshot-2-2-866x1024.jpeg "Erica-headshot-2-2 - Jobs to Move America")Erica Iheme Organizing Director **Categories:** JMA National, Manufacturing --- ### [Coalition Calls for Stronger Accountability in NY’s Semiconductor Tax Credits to Ensure Good Jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/coalition-calls-for-stronger-accountability-in-nys-semiconductor-tax-credits-to-ensure-good-jobs/) **Published:** March 26, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** *Labor and Community Groups Fight for the Inclusion of Semiconductor Manufacturing Workforce Training Incentive Program and Semiconductor Research & Development Project Program tax credits in Executive Budget* SYRACUSE, NY – Jobs to Move America (JMA) and its union partners are pledging their support for amendments to strengthen Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposed tax credits to grow New York’s semiconductor industry. Under Governor Hochul’s leadership, the State’s Green CHIPS Act has already attracted Micron to Central New York, and combined with other projects, state investments will create tens of thousands of new direct and indirect jobs in the Finger Lakes, Western, Central New York and across the state. In order for taxpayers to fully see the benefit, the coalition is urging Albany to include in the final budget key amendments proposed by Senator Chris Ryan and Assemblymember Harry Bronson aimed at improving transparency and accountability in the Semiconductor Workforce Training Incentive and Semiconductor Manufacturing Project Program. These amendments are intended to build on the Workforce Training and Research & Development tax credit programs for the semiconductor industry proposed in Governor Hochul’s FY2026 budget. The amendments were included in the Senate’s One-House Budget and backed by a handful of key committee chairs, including Senate Labor Chair Jessica Ramos and Assembly Labor Chair Harry Bronson, and members in both houses. The amendments propose: - Including a **Workforce Training Plan** in the proposed **Semiconductor Manufacturing Workforce Training Incentive Program** to provide stronger enforcement mechanisms and encourage participation in registered apprenticeship programs and strengthen long-term workforce development. - Amending the proposed **Semiconductor** **Research and Development Project Program** to require companies to submit a **Jobs Plan** detailing the number of full-time jobs (FTE) created, wages and benefits, including opportunities for marginalized communities and registered apprenticeships. Read more about the amendments [here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQvOBCOCdk11EZt8A_VXMvsHyiz6-BU3yIknktAAmcHjLPv3PbOUvpGWl86y7AJzop3NdPtxmP_MY5E/pub). “We thank Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris for their recognition that this needs to be done the right way–through improved transparency and accountability for how the Semiconductor Manufacturing Workforce Training Incentive Program and Semiconductor Research and Development Project Program can contribute to good jobs in New York,” said Eric Romann, Northeast Director at Jobs to Move America. “With these amendments, Governor Hochul and our legislative leaders have an opportunity to strengthen these tax credits and help ensure investments in the semiconductor industry will deliver meaningful outcomes to NY’s workforce. We also continue to encourage the clarifying of the jobs reporting process in the entire E**xcelsior Jobs Program in order to motivate all manufacturers to be high road ones.**” “I commend Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris for their leadership in championing our proposal to strengthen the standards tied to semiconductor tax credits proposed in the Executive Budget. By reinforcing transparency and accountability in the new Workforce Training and Research & Development tax credits, we ensure that this booming industry delivers high-quality, community-sustaining jobs for New Yorkers,” **said Senator Chris Ryan.** “These amendments are essential to securing New York’s leadership in the semiconductor sector and maximizing its economic impact. I look forward to working alongside Senate leadership to ensure these critical reforms are included in the final budget—solidifying our state’s authority as a powerhouse in innovation and job creation.” “Workforce Development is economic development. Micron will bring incredible benefits to our region, but the true impact will be in the creation of middle-class jobs in the semiconductor industry, which is critical to New York’s long-term economic vitality. As Assembly Labor Chair, I am fighting to secure these amendments in the final budget to ensure we are increasing opportunity and delivering family-sustaining jobs alongside the proposed semiconductor tax credits so that New Yorkers may truly experience this benefit,” said **Assembly member Harry B. Bronson, Chair – Assembly Labor Committee.** “For economic development projects like Micron to live up to their full potential, we need clear guarantees that our taxpayer dollars are subsidizing family-sustaining jobs,” **said Senate Labor Chair Jessica Ramos.** “I have Senator Chris Ryan’s back, and we will keep working to make sure the final budget has semiconductor tax credit language that gets it right on behalf of the Jobs to Move America and our partner looks forward to working with Senate and Assembly leadership to include the proposed amendments in the final budget as a means to ensure a smart growth strategy to protect New York’s economic vitality by creating well-positioned middle class jobs. **About Jobs To Move America** ([jobstomoveamerica.org](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/)) Jobs to Move America is a strategic policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior using a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justice and community organizing. We seek to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. More information here: [Semiconductor Tax Credit Amendments ](https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQvOBCOCdk11EZt8A_VXMvsHyiz6-BU3yIknktAAmcHjLPv3PbOUvpGWl86y7AJzop3NdPtxmP_MY5E/pub) --- ### [Maria Svart, New Deputy Executive Director on the Choice Before Us](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/maria-svart-new-deputy-executive-director-on-the-choice-before-us/) **Published:** March 20, 2025 **Author:** Troyla Washington **Content:** My name is Maria Svart and I recently joined JMA’s staff because I want a better and safer world for my family. We all deserve clean air and water and a fair chance to support those we love. We all, regardless of our background, deserve dignity and freedom, and that’s the work of JMA. I’ve felt for many years that the country was going in the wrong direction, expanding important freedoms while still leaving fundamental economic and community needs unmet. Corporate profits were mushrooming, while the benefits from public investment seemed to be concentrated in the hands of the powerful. This began to change recently, but not fast enough. I feared there would be a terrible reckoning. That moment is now. Certain politicians are framing our choice as one between the return of jobs to certain Americans and continued pain for others, but is that promise, that choice, real? What attracted me to JMA was the concrete attention to the *quality* of jobs, the *nature* of the revival of U.S. manufacturing and the health and prosperity of communities around those factories. We know it is not a zero-sum game, where any job will do if it pays poverty wages, where workers and their communities are sacrificed or given mere crumbs and their collective voice is silenced as the cost of doing business. It seems to me that our actual choice is between *good* jobs and a new kind of pain for my generation, a pain that ironically harkens back to our country’s past, when child labor, forced prison labor, and workplace discrimination were imposed with violence and economic chaos and instability was the norm. The real choice is between democracy and a doubling down on corporate profits at the expense of everyone else. In this dark time, JMA is using innovative strategies to partner with high-road industrial and clean tech employers and take us toward a stronger, more democratic future. We can make America produce again, and we can do it in a way that addresses the all-too-real threat of climate disaster with a skilled, stable, and diverse workforce. Most importantly, we know the key is community power. Community members and workers must have a direct voice in negotiating win-win agreements rather than being used as pawns between wealthy politicians and companies. I’m no stranger to the importance of the grassroots in winning changes for the many. As the former National Director of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), I saw regularly that policy changes imposed from above don’t take root and often don’t address the needs of real people. During my time at DSA, we built a national organization based in local chapters because that’s how we knew what resonated and because that was the source of our power. It’s one reason I appreciate that JMA’s offices and staff are all over the country. We create the tools and build the coalitions for communities to negotiate directly with factory owners based on local needs. My choice to join JMA is in line with my choice to lead DSA, and my choice before that to join the labor movement at the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Those choices were perhaps bred into me. My maternal grandmother was an undocumented Mexican housewife raising seven children on her copper miner husband’s income. My grandfather was a union member but couldn’t access the positions Anglos routinely filled at the Arizona mine. I deeply understand the problems with employers exploiting people based on their immigration status and race – a widespread practice in U.S. manufacturing as in other industries. My paternal grandmother went on strike for a year at her Oregon department store position during the Great Depression. Later, after World War II, she watched my firefighter grandfather depart for each shift to potentially never come home – and still demand, through his union, more safety equipment and greater racial diversity in hiring at the fire department. I see JMA’s Community Benefits Agreements and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) workplace safety trainings as a direct continuation of his vision. I grew up hearing my family’s stories of the precarity of life before labor, voting rights, and other legal protections. It’s what I think of when I see stories of Selma sixty years ago this week, and I’m glad to be working alongside people like our Southern team, who participated in the Jubilee Bridge Crossing. Our movements have won before, and we refuse to go back. Instead, we continue the fight for a future where our families and communities can thrive. I would love to meet with you as I travel around the country and visit our campaigns this year, to share what inspires me about JMA’s work. Maria Svart Deputy Executive Director ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/MariaHeadshot-edited.jpeg "MariaHeadshot - Jobs to Move America") **Categories:** JMA National --- ### [Building Birmingham’s Workforce: A Milestone for Economic Empowerment in the City of Birmingham](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/building-birminghams-workforce-a-milestone-for-economic-empowerment-in-the-city-of-birmingham/) **Published:** February 13, 2025 **Author:** Hailey Allen **Content:** *How a Local Hire Ordinance Will Create Jobs and Strengthen Birmingham’s Economy* BIRMINGHAM, AL – In a historic move to promote local economic empowerment and equity, the Birmingham City Council unanimously passed a Local Hire Ordinance, which will leverage funding from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to create transformative opportunities for local residents of Birmingham. In addition to prioritizing the hiring of local workers, the ordinance also incentivizes contractors to employ apprentices enrolled in state- and federally-approved training programs for city-funded construction projects. This innovative initiative is a major step forward in Birmingham’s commitment to fostering economic stability, building a skilled workforce, and advancing equity by removing systemic barriers to good jobs. “Prioritizing local hiring for construction jobs funded by federal infrastructure dollars is a powerful step toward community upliftment,” said **Patricia Todd,** Policy Director of Jobs to Move America. “By ensuring residents benefit directly from these opportunities, the city can address unemployment, equip workers with valuable skills, and create a more equitable path to long-term economic stability.” The ordinance establishes clear goals for contractors working on projects exceeding $3 million, including: - **Local Hiring Requirement:** Contractors must ensure at least 30% of labor hours are performed by local workers who reside in the Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Statistical Area. - **Apprenticeship Opportunities:** A minimum of 15% of all labor hours must be completed by apprentices in approved training programs, providing invaluable skill development and pathways to long-term employment. - **Equity Advancement:** Contractors are encouraged to collaborate with workforce programs that target historically disadvantaged groups, ensuring that opportunities reach underrepresented communities. The ordinance also incorporates accountability measures to ensure compliance and good faith efforts from contractors, reinforcing Birmingham’s dedication to delivering meaningful results. “This ordinance is more than just a policy—it’s a roadmap for economic empowerment,” said **Larry Hodge,** Senior Community Organizer for Jobs to Move America. “It ensures that the people of Birmingham, especially those from underserved communities, have access to the jobs and skills that build better futures.” **Economic Empowerment and Community Engagement** By keeping infrastructure dollars circulating within the local economy, Birmingham strengthens its workforce and provides direct support to residents. Contractors will now create written Local Hiring Plans, recruit from the Birmingham area, and actively engage with community stakeholders to meet hiring goals. **Skill Development and Long-Term Sustainability** Through its apprenticeship incentives, the ordinance offers workers opportunities to develop valuable skills while earning wages. These measures equip local residents for long-term careers in construction and related fields, building a pipeline of skilled workers who can sustain Birmingham’s growth. **Equity at the Forefront** The Priority Hire Ordinance is a significant step toward addressing disparities in access to good-paying jobs. By encouraging outreach to historically underrepresented groups, the policy promotes a workforce that reflects the diversity of the Birmingham community. Jobs to Move America celebrates this milestone as a model for cities nationwide looking to align economic development with community empowerment. **Categories:** Economy --- ### [Transportation Unions and Jobs to Move America Demand Transparency on MTA’s Multi-Billion Dollar Kawasaki Rail Car Contract](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/transportation-unions-and-jobs-to-move-america-demand-transparency-on-mtas-multi-billion-dollar-kawasaki-rail-car-contract/) **Published:** December 18, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** *Labor groups denounce MTA’s refusal to disclose job quality commitments; Jobs to Move America files lawsuit following years of stonewalling* NEW YORK – Today, labor unions and advocacy organizations, including the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART), Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100, and Jobs to Move America (JMA), are calling on the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to immediately release unredacted information related to Kawasaki Rail Car’s (KRC) multi-billion dollar contract to manufacture New York subway cars. The request was made during public commentary at the MTA board meeting, as the MTA Board moved to exercise a $1.3 billion option on the contract for the next batch of subway cars. This follows JMA’s December 2023 lawsuit to obtain the withheld documents. For six years, Jobs to Move America has sought transparency on commitments Kawasaki made regarding wages, benefits, and training programs for the workers manufacturing subway cars in Yonkers, NY, and Lincoln, NE. Despite multiple Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests, the MTA has refused to release this critical information. Of the 36 records provided, 29 were so heavily redacted they were rendered unusable. One of the MTA’s leading justifications? That Kawasaki claims the information constitutes “confidential commercial information” and that sharing wage and benefit data could “unnecessarily agitate KRC’s workforce.” In addition, the MTA Board is being presented today with letters from the New York State Legislators, labor leaders, environmental and government watchdog organizations echoing the request for full transparency on this issue. The letter signatories include Labor, Transportation, and Corporations and Authorities Committee Chairs and/or members in the State Legislature. **Labor Leaders Demand Accountability** “To ensure good jobs actually result from public spending on U.S. manufacturing, public transparency is essential. We applaud the MTA for requiring Kawasaki to make concrete commitments and transparency on the front end of its huge contract to make New York subway cars,” said **Dave Goodspeed, Director of Production Workers at SMART International Union**. “But even as the MTA Board votes today to spend another $1.3 billion on this contract, we still don’t know anything about KRC’s contractual commitments related to workers. MTA’s position is absurd, protecting the company from public scrutiny by refusing to reveal any information about hundreds of workers at their plants in Yonkers and Lincoln, Nebraska. It’s time MTA stop protecting a union-busting company.” **Richard Davis, President of TWU Local 100**, which represents 43,000 transit workers, emphasized the need for full transparency. “Transparency is fundamental to accountability. The MTA’s persistent refusal to fully disclose the Kawasaki Rail Car contract details is unacceptable. We demand the immediate release of all unredacted documents to verify that commitments regarding job quality, wages, and benefits are in fact being honored.” **Eric Romann, Northeast Director for Jobs to Move America**, highlighted the audacity of Kawasaki’s claims and the MTA’s complicity: “Secrecy has no place at the MTA, especially related to the jobs created on a $4 billion contract. Years ago, the MTA partnered with us and MTA unions to encourage high-road employment in the manufacture of these railcars, as recommended by the U.S. DOT. Kawasaki was simply required to complete a worksheet on the number of jobs created and the wages and benefits for those jobs, and then regularly report on those commitments. “It’s outrageous that the company now claims this information amounts to trade secrets that they can legally keep from the public, even their own workers. And it’s appalling that MTA would protect this union-buster and continue to stonewall our efforts to hold Kawasaki accountable. The MTA should do the right thing and turn over fully unredacted versions of the documents we’ve requested.” **Public Spending Must Create Good Jobs** The MTA’s $4 billion contract with Kawasaki is one of its largest partnerships with a private vendor. Both SMART and TWU Local 100, unions representing MTA workers who operate and service subway and commuter rail cars, are calling for transparency to ensure that job quality commitments are met and that workers—union or not—are treated fairly. As public agencies continue to invest billions of taxpayer dollars into infrastructure, ensuring these funds support high-quality jobs and equitable outcomes is paramount. Transparency from both MTA and Kawasaki is the first step to holding corporations accountable for their promises to workers and communities. **About Jobs to Move America (**jobstomoveamerica.org) Jobs to Move America is a strategic policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior using a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justice and community organizing. We seek to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. \### **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Manufacturing, Transparency --- ### [Labor and Community Groups Call On Micron to Adopt Good Jobs Platform Amid Company’s $6.1 Billion Award in Federal Funding](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/labor-and-community-groups-call-on-micron-to-adopt-good-jobs-platform-amid-companys-6-1-billion-award-in-federal-funding/) **Published:** December 12, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** ***Groups call for community benefits agreement to protect workers and community*** Following the Department of Commerce’s announced [award of $6.1 billion to Micron Technology](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/12/microns-6b-chips-funding-should-have-more-strings-attached-critics-say/), a coalition of Central New York groups is calling on the microchip company to make strong, enforceable commitments to the community. CNY Good Jobs for Equitable Access, made up of labor unions, workforce development organizations, and community groups, has put forth a [Good Jobs Platform](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hV4Lfkw-HoyrXF_BDofyYp-E-l96D6Sy54LbPts4hDY/edit?tab=t.0) signed by over 40 organizations that outlines enforceable commitments the company should make. It is also calling on Micron to negotiate a community benefits agreement (CBA) with local residents and labor groups to ensure the project benefits and protects workers, neighbors, and the environment. “While Micron has been awarded over $6.1 billion in federal funds, this historic investment is only as good as the jobs it creates. Rather than engage in meaningful dialogue in good faith with the goal of bringing thousands of permanent good-paying, community sustaining jobs to New York, Micron continues to drag its feet, failing to make any enforceable commitments to its future workforce,” said Carl Kennebrew, President of IUE-CWA, the industrial division of the Communications Workers of America. “Workers considering careers at Micron should have the guarantee of family-sustaining wages and comprehensive benefits, safe working conditions, and a fair and clear process to organize a union without opposition. Micron not only has an opportunity to be a model employer in the semiconductor industry that will attract and retain the workforce needed to keep the company competitive, but an obligation. Micron owes it to New York, and its future workforce, to step up to the plate and make a commitment that it will prioritize the creation of good jobs.” “After decades of disinvestment and false promises, Micron’s project was touted as an economic boon for Central New York, urging us to welcome it with open arms. However, today’s announcement of Micron securing billions in federal funds without any concrete, enforceable commitments related to equitable job access and quality jobs is far from reassuring,” said Tylah Worrell of Urban Jobs Task Force. “Nearly 50 community, civic, and faith organizations in our region have offered a vision to Micron and our political leaders: Firstly, implement concrete measures to ensure that those who need these jobs most—Black, Indigenous, people of color, women workers, and others facing barriers to family-supporting jobs—can access them, particularly current local residents. Secondly, ensure these jobs support families, respect worker rights, and protect health. The responsibility now falls to our state leaders who have also promised Micron billions in public funds. They should collaborate with us to make Micron’s big promises a reality through enforceable commitments, setting reasonable workforce equity goals for our residents.” “With billions in federal and state tax dollars, Micron will no doubt drive economic development in Central New York. But will the project create the kinds of union jobs that working families here need and deserve?” asked Mark Spadafore, the President of the Greater Syracuse Labor Council, AFL-CIO. “We applaud Micron’s commitment earlier in the year to ensure that unionized construction workers will build this enormous facility and the engagement of the New York State United Teachers on STEM curriculum. But the CHIPS contract signed today does nothing to guarantee that they will respect the right of their permanent workers to organize a union, a basic precondition to ensuring good wages and working conditions. Nor has the company made any *enforceable* commitment to ensure genuinely equitable hiring and workforce development. For too long, our region has seen good jobs disappear or never materialize in the first place, and we have some of the highest poverty in the country for communities of color. Now we need elected officials in New York state to deliver commitments that make Micron a long-term boon for our working families.” [Jobs to Move America](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/), a partner in the coalition with extensive experience negotiating successful CBAs, is working alongside the Central New York partners organizing for a CBA. “The people of CNY deserve to know how public funds are being spent, and workers deserve to know what commitments Micron has made about their jobs.” said JMA’s Syracuse Organizing Manager Khadeejah Ahmad. “That transparency will allow us to hold Micron accountable to worker health and safety, wage and benefit standards, workforce development, and community investments commitments. Micron has the choice to take the high road, and make enforceable commitments to deliver community benefits. Now that the federal government has signed off, leaders in the State of New York can and should help lead Micron down that road.” CNY Solidarity, a member organization of the coalition, reiterates the need for Micron to make strong and enforceable commitments. “The CNY Solidarity Coalition appreciates Micron’s support for education and job training in preparation for the construction and operation of its manufacturing facility. However, for Micron to receive the $5.5 billion Excelsior Jobs Tax Credits from New York State and $6.1 billion in federal CHIPS funding, it must commit to setting goals and hiring from diverse and disadvantaged communities. Micron’s response is to “make a good faith effort” to meet these goals. Effort is not commitment. Micron must sign a legally enforceable Community Benefits Agreement to ensure that this commitment will be achieved so that the Central New York communities that have been most negatively affected by the decline of good-paying, family-sustaining manufacturing jobs will reap the benefits of Micron’s presence.” Micron’s commitment to comply with federal and state transparency and disclosure laws is woefully insufficient, which is why [Members of Congress](https://laborcaucus-pocan.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressional-labor-caucus-urges-commerce-to-prioritize-labor-standards-for-chips-implementation), unions, and environmental advocates have been calling on the Commerce Department to include stronger public transparency and accountability requirements in final CHIPS contracts. Micron must be held to these standards, and be transparent and accountable to its workforce development, equity, labor, occupational health and safety, and community commitments. Without public disclosure guarantees, the CNY community will be left in the dark on how Micron spends their public funds. --- ### [Valle Unido Coalition Charts a Pathway Forward to a  Community-Centered Lithium Valley](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/valle-unido-coalition-charts-a-pathway-forward-to-a-community-centered-lithium-valley/) **Published:** December 5, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** *Community, labor, and environmental groups call on Lithium companies to commit to good jobs and a healthy environment for Imperial Valley residents* CALIPATRIA, CA.–*Valle Unido Por Beneficios Comunitarios* (Valle Unido), a new coalition of community, labor, and environmental groups, calls on companies pursuing lithium extraction to make binding commitments for a Lithium Valley that guarantees good local jobs, protections against environmental harms, and respect for Indigenous rights. Valle Unido will introduce their platform at a press conference on Monday, December 2 at 4:00pm, at Imperial Valley Equity & Justice’s office, at 150 W. Main Street, Calipatria. “Time and time again, from mining, to commercial developments, to solar projects, we roll out the red carpet for investors to cultivate our labor and land with public subsidies and tax breaks, to see only low wage jobs and profits from these developments leave our community,” said Daniela Flores, Executive Organizer of Imperial Valley Equity & Justice (IVEJ). “With Lithium Valley, we want to break the century long cycle of extractive economic development that has impoverished our families, sickened our bodies, and polluted our air and water.” Valle Unido includes IVEJ, Comite Civico del Valle (CCV), Jobs to Move America (JMA), United Auto Workers Region 6 (UAW), Earthworks, the Becoming Project, and the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties. The coalition came together around the vision of a community-centered model for an equitable green energy transition benefiting residents while minimizing environmental harm. “Companies that want to extract lithium with our public funds must commit to creating local, high road jobs,” said Mike Miller, Director of UAW Region 6. “The transition to electric vehicles is an opportunity to raise standards for workers throughout the supply chain. Without commitments from companies to invest in their workers, this opportunity will be squandered.” Demand for lithium, used in electric vehicle batteries, is rising as part of the growing transition away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy. To boost lithium extraction, state and federal agencies have awarded a combined $390.5M in tax credits and subsidies to companies in Imperial County. Meanwhile, lithium development in the Imperial Valley occurs in the backdrop of chronic unemployment rate near 20% and environmental crises, such as degraded air quality. “The country needs the resources that lie beneath our Salton Sea to power an energy transition,” Christian Torres, Director of Climate Equity and Resilience at CCV, explained; “But as our community plays this central role, we cannot be left behind. Our long-term problems of unemployment, poor air quality, disinvestment in public health, and carelessness with tribal resources, must be addressed. We cannot be a sacrificial zone to the green economy’s need for lithium.” Valle Unido calls for legally-binding commitments like Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs) to center community needs, ensuring they are not left behind by the lithium industry. CBAs are legally enforceable agreements between private companies and coalitions of community groups. These agreements can ensure a wide range of high-road job standards, environmental mitigations, and equity measures. “With CBAs, we can work together to strike the right balance for community prosperity and environmental protection,” says Jacob Rodriguez, a native of Imperial County and an organizer with JMA. “Without legally binding commitments and protections, new developments can fail to improve and even worsen the Valley’s chronic economic and environmental issues. We call on the lithium industry to commit to legally-binding agreements with our coalition.” Find out more on [ValleUnido.org ](http://valleunido.org) **About Imperial Valley Equity & Justice Coalition** Imperial Valley Equity and Justice, based out of Calexico and Calipatria, is a progressive, community power-building organization formed to advocate and organize for health equity, economic, social, and environmental justice, and civic engagement. IVEJ’s vision is for an Imperial Valley where families can live, work, dream, and thrive. IVEJ has spent the past few years spreading information to residents about the lithium developments in the region and is actively working to secure community benefits. **About Comite Civico del Valle** “Informed people build healthy communities”, Comite Civico del Valle (CCV) was founded on this principle and continues to incorporate this mission statement in all partnerships, research studies, and civic engagements initiated or comprised by our organization. CCV’s extensive background and accomplishments date back to our grassroots origins in 1987. In over three decades of serving the communities of Imperial Valley, CCV now serves various California communities through collaborative efforts with other established Environmental Justice organizations and in partnership with researchers, academia, and government agencies. **About Earthworks** Since 1988, Earthworks has helped communities secure protections of their health, land, water, and air from extractive industries. Earthworks is the only national organization in the U.S. to focus exclusively on preventing the destructive impacts of the extraction of oil, gas, and minerals. **About the UAW Region 6** United Auto Workers (UAW) Region 6 is the region of over 120,000 active and retired UAW members in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawai’i, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington, organizing for a just and sustainable future for all. Nationally, UAW represents over 1,000,000 active and retired members and is the union for the American automotive electric vehicle industries. **About Jobs to Move America** Jobs to Move America is a strategic organizing and policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior using a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justice. We seek to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. **About the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties** The American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego & Imperial Counties (ACLU-SDIC) is a nonpartisan, not for-profit civil rights organization working to advance equity, freedom and justice through community engagement, policy advocacy and impact litigation. With offices in San Diego and El Centro, the ACLU SDIC is one of 54 ACLU affiliates in the United States, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico that works to defend and preserve the individual rights and freedoms guaranteed by the United States Constitution and U.S. laws. **About the Becoming Project** The Becoming Project, founded in 2019, is dedicated to removing barriers to success for homeless and low-income communities through direct services in housing, hygiene, financial resources, education, and social justice. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Jobs to Move America Launches Community Benefits Agreement Resource Center ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/jobs-to-move-america-launches-community-benefits-agreement-resource-center/) **Published:** October 24, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** **Contact:** Jobs to Move America, Lauren LaBorde llaborde@jobstomoveamerica.org ![](https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfkIhFf8O_ghjeWbV1bY-bk_0fOotJEojhdTJIxK5NzWrHapzBizw1y-g9Rmfzp6on29nF7bIna7V1StmsFqElrErn09a37Ms2Z0P8zmtWi4dBgaedG0W0N6BZHGnEkr6IG5L9Kj-SgYPuF-nxTBilGwHz5?key=iKbYk-I0dusyksfXJY0ddw) **Jobs to Move America Launches Community Benefits Agreement Resource Center** *CBARC will partner with communities and employers to develop strong, equitable agreements.* Jobs to Move America (JMA), a national nonprofit organization, is launching its Community Benefits Agreement Resource Center (CBARC), a unique initiative designed to support, guide and expand the development of robust and equitable community benefits agreements (CBAs) in the manufacturing sector. Previously, Jobs to Move America has won CBAs with major greentech manufacturers including [New Flyer](https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/05/26/new-flyer-benefits-bus-equity/) and [BYD](https://www.intelligenttransport.com/transport-news/75174/women-equality-gender-balance-byd/), both of which have resulted in equitable hiring initiatives and, in the case of BYD, the country’s first electric bus manufacturing apprenticeship program. CBARC will draw from JMA’s expertise in negotiating and implementing these agreements across the country. CBARC will serve as a central hub of resources aimed at helping community leaders and employers work together to craft CBAs that prioritize workers’ rights, community well-being, and the creation of a diverse, skilled workforce in the booming clean energy sector. “Through CBARC, we hope to foster open dialogue between communities and employers,” said Jay Mehta, manager of the Community Benefits Agreement Resource Center. “Our goal is to build strong, beneficial agreements that center workers and their communities while helping industry leaders meet the challenges of building a diverse and skilled workforce for the future.” CBARC will offer a variety of tools to support the development of community benefits frameworks that directly benefit those most impacted by the shift to advanced and green technologies. JMA plans to continually expand its resource library over the coming months to provide stakeholders with more comprehensive support in crafting equitable CBAs. “Authentic community benefits agreements are a powerful tool for workers and businesses in the communities where clean energy manufacturing is taking root,” said Madeline Janis, Co-Executive Director and founder of Jobs to Move America, who is credited with negotiating the country’s first CBA at the Staples Center development in Los Angeles. “CBARC builds on Jobs to Move America’s success in negotiating agreements between labor, community and high road employers that share the vision of a win-win-win for all.” Since its inception, CBARC staff have actively participated in public forums and events to share their expertise and vision for equitable CBAs. Some of the key engagements include: - The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine - The Center for Economic Workforce Development (CEWD), Jobs for the Future, and What Works+ - The Center for Community Change - Netroots Nation - “America is All-In” and The Bullard Center for Environmental Justice - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) - The Economic Policy Institute’s Economic Analysis and Research Network (EARN) - The Aspen Institute’s “Community Benefits Agreements: A Tool for Creating Good Jobs” webinar As CBARC continues to grow, JMA hopes to foster meaningful conversations with community and industry stakeholders to explore how equitable CBAs can benefit workers, communities and businesses in the green technology space. “We encourage everyone—workers, communities, and businesses alike—to reach out and collaborate with us,” said Mehta. “Together, we can ensure that all of us have the opportunity to thrive as we move toward a more sustainable and inclusive future.” Find more information about CBARC at [CBARC.org](http://cbarc.org). **About Jobs To Move America (jobstomoveamerica.org)** Jobs to Move America is a strategic organizing and policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior using a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justice. We seek to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. **About CBARC (CBARC.org)** The Community Benefits Agreement Resource Center (CBARC) is a unique program of Jobs to Move America (JMA) that seeks to meet this critical moment and advance the negotiation of effective and equitable CBAs. **Categories:** Climate Change, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Jobs to Move America Files Lawsuit Against LA Metro Alleging Violations of State and Federal Contracting Law](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/jobs-to-move-america-files-lawsuit-against-la-metro-alleging-violations-of-state-and-federal-contracting-law/) **Published:** September 16, 2024 **Author:** Hailey Allen **Content:** JMA: Aesha Mahmoud (562) 269-9193 [amahmoud@jobstomoveamerica.org](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/?page_id=37361) **LOS ANGELES,** September 16, 2024 – Jobs to Move America (JMA), a national public interest organization, [has filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (“LA Metro”) for violating state and federal open bidding laws.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Will-lawsuit-over-contract-for-subway-cars-hurt-Olympic-planning_-Los-Angeles-Times-1.pdf) JMA seeks a court order requiring LA Metro to rebid a $730 million railcar contract awarded in 2024 to Hyundai Rotem, a subsidiary of the Hyundai Motor Company, in compliance with state and federal competitive bidding laws and LA Metro’s [Manufacturing Careers Policy](http://media.metro.net/uploads/MCP.pdf) (MCP). At the center of the lawsuit is LA Metro’s actions to permit Hyundai Rotem to alter its proposal in a closed-door process after failing to require Hyundai to respond to the original RFP properly and to follow the MCP during its evaluation and award process. In the contract, Hyundai Rotem committed to manufacture and deliver new railcars to meet the LA transportation system’s expanded needs before the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Hyundai Rotem was awarded the contract despite submitting incomplete and non-compliant documents required under the Request for Proposals (RFP) and the MCP, which sets clear standards for contractors regarding workforce composition, wages, benefits, and outreach to disadvantaged workers. “The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has an obligation to ensure that public dollars are spent in ways that benefit workers and communities,” said Madeline Janis, Co-Executive Director of Jobs to Move America. “LA Metro has undermined public trust by failing to allow all bidders to properly compete over the public benefits they can provide, and rewarded a company that failed to meet the standards intended to create good American manufacturing jobs.” **Violations of Competitive Bidding Laws** State and federal competitive bidding laws are designed to ensure fair and open competition in the award of public contracts. Public agencies must advertise all criteria and explain the award process in advance, and give all bidders an equal chance to respond. In addition, LA Metro’s MCP, adopted on December 1, 2022, applies to all transit bus and railcar purchases over $50 million and requires bidders to provide detailed workforce commitments, including the number of employees, minimum wage, benefits, and training commitments if the bidder is successful in winning the contract. Through a California Public Records Request, JMA uncovered that Hyundai Rotem’s original proposal–which resulted in the contract award– failed to provide the necessary documentation required by the Request for Proposals (RFP), such as specific commitments to new jobs, specific wages, benefits, training, and commitments to hiring disadvantaged workers in the manufacturing of the new railcars. Additionally, the RFP did not properly include all MCP requirements. When JMA apprised LA Metro of these failures, LA Metro improperly allowed Hyundai–and only Hyundai– to resubmit portions of their proposal to comply with the RFP and the MCP—an opportunity not extended to the two other bidders. JMA contends that these revisions allowed Hyundai to unfairly alter its bid and gain an illegal competitive advantage over other bidders, Stadler and Hitachi, who were not given similar opportunities. Hyundai Rotem was able to substantially redo their proposal and indicated that it would seek a future increase in the contract price, which was already higher than the prices Stadler and Hitachi proposed. Moreover, Hyundai Rotem’s revised proposal included a caveat indicating that it did not believe that it was required to comply with any of the specific job, wage, and hiring commitments in the new documents. JMA contends that these revisions were simply a sham, intended to retain the lucrative contract without committing to any of the requirements in the MCP. **U.S. Department of Labor Investigating Allegations of Child Labor at Hyundai** The lawsuit comes on the heels of a lawsuit filed in May 2024 by the U.S. Department of Labor against [Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama (HMMA)](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/30/business/hyundai-child-labor-lawsuit.html), another Hyundai Motor Corporation subsidiary. The complaint alleges illegal employment of minors at a Hyundai supplier which put Hyundai in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s “hot goods” provision. Despite initially pledging to cut ties with suppliers found employing minors, Hyundai later resumed partnerships with suppliers that claimed to have taken corrective actions. Additionally, Hyundai Motor America and Kia America, two subsidiaries of Hyundai Motor Corporation, faced a class action lawsuit due to the absence of anti-theft devices in roughly 9 million Hyundai and Kia vehicles from 2011-2022. The companies reached a [settlement](https://www.hyundainews.com/en-us/releases/3838) that included up to $200 million in relief payments to Hyundai and Kia owners. **Call for Accountability** Jobs to Move America’s lawsuit does not seek monetary damages. Rather, as a public interest organization, JMA seeks a court order requiring LA Metro to rebid the railcar contract in compliance with state and federal law requiring fair and open bidding procedures and with the MCP. “The Manufacturing Careers Policy was designed to ensure that public contracts create jobs that uplift communities, not runaway corporate profits without benefits to the communities paying for them,” said Janis. “We are taking legal action to ensure that LA Metro upholds its commitments and sets a higher standard for both ethical and labor practices in public procurement.” **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Transparency --- ### [A Power Surge in the Deep South: New Flyer's Alabama Plant Electrifies Labor Rights Movement](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/a-power-surge-in-the-deep-south-new-flyers-alabama-plant-electrifies-labor-rights-movement/) **Published:** May 16, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Excerpt:** In a pace-setting victory for workers' rights and the advancement of a new, stronger, clean-energy economy, workers at New Flyer of America Inc. – the country’s largest manufacturer of electric transit buses – have announced the ratification of a life-changing union contract at the company’s plant in Anniston, Ala. **Content:** **Contact: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE** JMA: Hailey Allen (919) 323-7895 hallen@jobstomoveamerica.org ##### *Workers at Major Alabama EV Manufacturing Plant Secure Historic Collective Bargaining Agreement Amidst Growing Labor Momentum in the South* ANNISTON, Ala. – In a pace-setting victory for workers’ rights and the advancement of a new, stronger, clean-energy economy, workers at New Flyer of America Inc. – the country’s largest manufacturer of electric transit buses – have announced the ratification of a life-changing union contract at the company’s plant in Anniston, Ala. This ratification comes on the heels of the Company’s voluntary recognition of the union chosen by a majority of the workers on January 31, 2024. The workers overwhelmingly voted to ratify the contract under the representation of the International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine, and Furniture Workers-Communications Workers of America (IUE-CWA). The move comes after years of organizing in Alabama by IUE-CWA, Jobs to Move America (JMA), Greater Birmingham Ministries (GBM), and other groups comprising the Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits. Together with the union, the coalition negotiated a groundbreaking Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) in 2022, advancing racial and gender equity while ensuring a more inclusive workforce in Anniston. Three other New Flyer plants have also recently organized and ratified life-changing union contracts. These facilities are in Anniston, AL (Carfair), Shepherdsville, Kentucky, and Jamestown, New York. Now, more than 1200 workers will be covered by the Alabama contract and union contracts recently ratified by New Flyer workers at plants in Kentucky and New York. These contracts include life-changing wage increases and other improvements to working conditions. The jobs are largely supported by the bipartisan infrastructure law which invested $5 billion into electric buses. This decision to unionize and to ratify the new contract comes amidst a groundswell of labor wins in the historically anti-union South. Earlier this month, workers at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tenn., overwhelmingly voted to unionize with the United Auto Workers (UAW). The New Flyer Kentucky plant workers opted to unionize in 2023, and workers at Mercedes plants in Vance, Alabama, are voting on unionization this week. “It’s a very interesting job,” said DeAndré Brown, who started working at New Flyer in November 2023. “I’d never heard of this company before until my dad started working up here, but it’s pretty cool to me getting to make the modes of transportation for people. I used to ride buses like these when I lived in Memphis, Tennessee, and it’s pretty cool to be a part of building them from the ground up.” In addition to provisions aimed at promoting measurable hiring and promotion goals to ensure people from historically disadvantaged groups are offered jobs and opportunities for promotion, New Flyer is also committed to creating a pre-apprenticeship program that will provide necessary training and support for applicants striving toward apprenticeship opportunities. This initiative underscores the company’s dedication to investing in its workforce’s growth and professional development, ensuring that all employees have access to pathways for upward mobility and success. “I think everybody should dream a little bigger and want a little more themselves,” said Shannon Franks, who started working at New Flyer in June 2023 after completing a year-long addiction recovery program in Anniston. Franks has been in recovery for two years now. “When you work hard, you want nice things because you work hard for what you’ve got. Just because we live in Alabama doesn’t mean we don’t have the same dreams and ambitions that they do everywhere else in the United States. I felt defeated over addiction for 27 years and I know God doesn’t want me to feel defeated anymore.” As a uniquely positioned nonprofit organization and strategic policy center with deep roots in Alabama, Jobs to Move America (JMA) has been instrumental in helping workers achieve this outcome. Through its innovative approach to negotiating community benefits agreements, JMA diligently protects worker rights while advocating for racial and economic justice in the region and across the country. Community benefits agreements are private agreements between community groups and employers to create new job standards and equity measures. Paired with strong union organizing agreements, CBAs can clear the path for Southerners to organize Southerners and win strong union contracts with little resistance. In the Deep South, workers will rightfully demand higher wages, safer workplaces, and all the benefits a union can bring to their community. “For once, finally, there’s an energy in the South where people are realizing that we are worth more. They’re willing to stand together to build that power that’s necessary, and it’s really exciting to watch,” said Larry Hodge, community engagement coordinator for JMA’s Southern Program. “In Alabama, as a right-to-work state, it’s so heavy on these workers; but now, the beauty of it is they can see that even though we’re a right-to-work state you still have these rights — these federal rights, protective rights — where you can do this and organize a union in the workplace. Their labor’s not worth any less than any other region in this country.” Overall, the years of collaboration between community groups, labor and industry at New Flyer’s Alabama facility serves as a model for fostering mutually beneficial partnerships in key growth sectors of the renewable energy and electric vehicle manufacturing economy. By prioritizing the needs and aspirations of workers, New Flyer and its employees are setting a new standard for responsible corporate citizenship and inclusive economic development. “The workers in Anniston have just sent a powerful message to the South and the rest of the country: Alabama workers can win, too, and they can win it all,” said Will Tucker, Southern Director for Jobs to Move America. **About Jobs to Move America (**jobstomoveamerica.org) Jobs to Move America is a strategic policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior using a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justice and community organizing. We seek to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. \### **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Chicago Leaders Celebrate Pro-Worker Changes to Federal Guidelines](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/36952/) **Published:** May 9, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** **Contact:** Jobs to Move America: Lauren LaBorde **FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE** ![](https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/vmzY5RuCwm9txLCMJUYLhVbkOOz6UBVAoeLM8nTUYcfYKpcUylTIHMXi96Tu4WCla2_BdLVRt20azbLzan8ytvwXMvoOCO3bRK_BXEqDSKUEahtNbDcgELLb04hEz4qxSWou2xzj84ZKfM02S6YArKE)![](https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/fVZhFLsEBCY9aJipSFVhTcXbTnpJU8pseafzzknhHdEsIwxewDdRKR5KDCDmce2T7hOqEXe5mq-Edm4PPSg5_ArSHtHb_USET797sHXBywqnaDpdQzJERTzDjq-TYq1jE4Pj6ZQ1gmBGSpRIxvsLLJg)![](https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/yKhkH5UO53x8zWvKsT4fWpDUCnzEwEa_OMgqHonRyL5BRUb5dWyT_Z7h9Rbf2KSKkO2Q7i2IpHVPUo0FthyilYRZPoD413u9a88lbEfa0NMzT6PMViAAxlCqhnN1YRh3ONhZmureyXOJXqxhO6Fepl4)**Chicago Leaders Celebrate Pro-Worker Changes to Federal Guidelines** *White House updates to Uniform Grants Guidance include lifting 40-year ban on local hire.* CHICAGO, IL – Today, Chicago Ald. Mike Rodriguez (22nd) and leaders from the Local Opportunities Coalition celebrated the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB)’s release of the 2024 updated Uniform Grants Guidance, which includes many provisions poised to uplift local workers and communities. “It’s a good day in the city of Chicago,” Rodriguez said. “These updated guidelines will make it clear that when Chicago uses federal funds, we can incorporate promoting equity and increasing opportunities for Black and Brown workers and promote local hiring. This greater flexibility in our ability to use funds is a win for Chicago and a win for Chicago’s working families.” “The Uniform Guidance released by the Biden-Harris Administration reflects the tireless advocacy of community groups, labor unions, and small businesses who came together to push for this vital change,” said Mayor Brandon Johnson. “By restoring control over federal funds to the local level, we can prioritize local hiring, uplift disinvested communities, and promote equity in our public projects. From upgrading our infrastructure to making our city more climate-resilient, there is much work to be done across the city and this new guidance ensures that funds that come to Chicago will now be invested into Chicagoans.” Following advocacy led by a national coalition of community and civil rights groups, cities and states—including organizations and elected officials in Chicago—the OMB released the updated guidance that included many of coalition’s recommendations: - Returning decisions about local contracting criteria to state and local governments receiving federal funds - Allowing for targeted hiring in disadvantaged communities, including workers who have been historically left out of higher-wage infrastructure, service and other jobs created by public contracting - Lifting the ban on geographic preference so states and localities can prioritize workers and small businesses in their communities - Promoting job quality and equity by allowing recipients of federal funds to reward bidders for job quality metrics such as wages and benefits, including using scoring mechanisms like Jobs to Move America’s U.S. Employment Plan framework “Our constituents kept saying, ‘I’m tired of seeing really cool projects next door and I can’t apply.’ There’s something wrong with that,” said Leone Jose Bicchieri, Executive Director of Working Family Solidarity, a member of the Local Opportunities Coalition. “With local hire and targeted hire and the new federal guidelines from the OMB, we can help make sure that a lot more folks in the West, Southwest and South sides and everywhere can get good jobs,” In the 2022 fiscal year alone, the city of Chicago and Cook County received more than $6.3 billion in federal grant money that is governed by the Uniform Guidance. “This is an historic step to maximize the benefits of federal dollars for local workers and their communities,” said Basil Salem, Senior Policy Advisor at Jobs to Move America, the convener of the Local Opportunities Coalition. “The procurement process is a powerful tool to address historic inequities and uplift thousands of struggling people in Chicago.” Recent legislation including the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), CHIPS & Science Act, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the American Rescue Plan Act, is sending billions in federal funds to states and localities to build and update infrastructure and to produce technology geared at addressing climate issues. With local and state governments now able to attach strong worker and community benefits to their federally funded projects, the new guidance is poised to uplift workers and local communities by providing access to quality jobs that are intended to aid the transition to a green economy and address urgent climate issues. **About Jobs To Move America (jobstomoveamerica.org)** Jobs to Move America is a strategic organizing and policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior using a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justice. We seek to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. **About Working Family Solidarity** Working Family Solidarity is a nonprofit that strives to educate and unify working families in Chicago and Illinois to create a culture of labor rights education and inter-racial solidarity among low-wage and contingent workers, including unemployed and under-employed workers. **About the Local Opportunities Coalition** The Local Opportunities Coalition is a group of national and regional advocacy groups, labor unions and community organizations that are unified in maximizing the benefits of federal dollars for local communities and workers. The Local Opportunities Coalition has led the charge to transform government spending by advocating for several changes to the OMB Uniform Guidance as a way to ensure cities and states have the tools to create good-paying, family-sustaining jobs and ensure community benefits when they receive federal funding. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice, Workforce Development --- ### [White House Empowers Local Economies with Update to Federal Guidelines](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/white-house-empowers-local-economies-with-update-to-federal-guidelines/) **Published:** April 5, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** *Coalition-driven updates to Uniform Grants Guidance include lifting 40-year ban on local hire.* **Contact:** Jobs to Move America: Lauren LaBorde (504) 289-1626 ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/miranda-at-omb-1024x768.jpg "miranda at omb - Jobs to Move America")JMA Deputy Director Miranda Nelson spoke at the White House event announcing the updated Uniform Grants Guidance Following advocacy led by a national coalition of community and civil rights groups, small businesses, cities and states, the White House today has taken a significant step in transforming how communities can use the trillions in federal funds flowing to states and cities. Today the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released the final [2024 updated Uniform Grants Guidance](https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/briefing-room/2024/04/04/the-biden-harris-administration-finalizes-guidance-to-make-grants-more-accessible-and-transparent-for-families-communities-and-small-businesses/), which determines how states, cities, tribal governments and other federal grantees can spend federal money. This new guidance includes many of the [Local Opportunities Coalition’](https://localopportunities.org/)s (LOC) recommendations: - Returning decisions about local contracting criteria to state and local governments receiving federal funds - Allowing for targeted hiring in disadvantaged communities, including workers who have been historically left out of higher-wage infrastructure, service and other jobs created by public contracting - Lifting the ban on geographic preference so states and localities can prioritize workers and small businesses in their communities - Promoting job quality and equity by allowing recipients of federal funds to reward bidders for job quality metrics such as wages and benefits, including using scoring mechanisms like Jobs to Move America’s [U.S. Employment Plan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/u-s-employment-plan-2/) framework “The Local Opportunities Coalition believes the updated Uniform Grants Guidance represents a historic step in maximizing the benefits of federal dollars for local workers, small businesses and communities,” says Miranda Nelson, Deputy Director of Jobs to Move America and Local Opportunities Coalition coordinator. “For too long, local governments have been held back from implementing the kind of innovative policies that we know are effective in building good jobs and equity into the public procurement process for federally-funded projects. Now, cities and states will be able to do so much more with these unprecedented federal investments.” Since the 1980s, the Uniform Guidance has limited states’ and cities’ ability to use their own policies, including attaching labor and equity standards to federally funded contracts. It has particularly limited them in creating local hire policies because of a [legal interpretation](https://lpeproject.org/blog/reclaiming-the-progressive-potential-of-local-procurement/) that doing so might impede fair and open competition. A [2021 study from Jobs to Move America](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/analysis-of-usdot-local-labor-hiring-pilot-local-hire-increases-opportunities-for-disadvantaged-workers-strengthens-local-economies/) of the U.S. Department of Transit’s Local Labor Hiring Pilot showed that local hire policies positively impact workers and regional economies. “Here in Chicago, many of our constituents—low-income workers of color, especially Black and Latinx—are unable to find jobs with good pay and benefits near them,” says Leone Jose Bicchieri, Executive Director of Working Family Solidarity based in Chicago, IL, and a member of the Local Opportunities Coalition. “This updated guidance would allow for programs that give these workers access to jobs that can lift them out of poverty.” The Biden-Harris Administration’s landmark legislative agenda, including the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), CHIPS & Science Act, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the American Rescue Plan Act, is sending billions in federal funds to states and localities to build and update infrastructure and to produce technology geared at addressing climate issues. With local and state governments now able to attach strong worker and community benefits to their federally funded projects, the new guidance is poised to uplift workers and local communities by providing access to quality jobs that aid the transition to a green economy and address urgent climate issues. “Local hire benefits entire communities. By prioritizing workers within the very communities where construction projects are located, we can open up doors for historically marginalized people,” says Jim Williams, Jr., General President of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, another LOC member. “Additionally, it is in all of our interests to promote fair wages and good jobs. By ensuring that contracts are awarded to responsible employers, we can limit wage theft, misclassification and other abuses of workers. The IUPAT applauds the OMB’s guidance that gives workers, communities and advocates new paths towards prosperity.” [In 2022](https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/briefing-room/2023/09/22/dollars-delivering-results-biden-harris-administration-publishes-proposed-updates-to-the-uniform-grants-guidance-to-improve-impact-of-federal-grants-and-other-financial-assistance/), the federal government provided over $1.2 trillion in grants, which make up to a third of state budgets in a typical year. *Below are more quotes from LOC coalition members:* “President Biden continues his historic pro-labor streak. Ending the Regan-era ban on local hire means state and local governments no longer face legal hurdles to attaching labor and equity standards to federal money. As a result, we’ll see more opportunities for IBEW members across our industries, from construction to manufacturing and more. The IBEW applauds the Biden-Harris administration for this historic new guidance, which will ensure that local workers, including those from historically marginalized communities, benefit from President Biden’s unprecedented investments in energy and infrastructure.” – **Kenneth Cooper, President, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers** “Through these updates, both opportunities for job creation and economic growth will be increased, providing much-needed access to those who have historically faced barriers to economic opportunity and stability. By ensuring streamlined, fair, and transparent processes for procurement and grant funding, the Uniform Guidance fosters a level playing field for all individuals and organizations seeking to participate in federally funded projects. We’ve seen this success in practice through our work in partnership with the Local Opportunities Coalition on the I-81 project in Syracuse, which is currently exceeding its unprecedented local hire goals and creating life-changing careers for disadvantaged individuals who have been historically excluded from the construction field. Expanding the potential for this success to be replicated in additional industries will strengthen the economy as a whole, but also create a more inclusive and equitable society where all have the opportunity to thrive.” **–** **Tylah Worrell, Executive Director, The Urban Jobs Task Force of Syracuse, New York** “Dream.Org is committed to realizing a future where economic stability and societal progress are accessible to all. We are proud to see an update to the Uniform Guidance empowering states and localities to create job opportunities for their constituents when contracting with federal dollars. At the core of our vision lies the belief that meaningful employment is a linchpin for economic empowerment and social advancement.” **–** **Alana Lewis, Federal Policy Manager, Dream.org** “By allowing states and cities more flexibility to attach labor and equity standards to federally funded contracts, this update to the OMB Uniform Guidance will help build a stronger economy that works for all of us. These changes are long overdue, but making these updates now is more important than ever, with massive new federal funds in the pipeline for infrastructure and climate projects. Public funds are precious, and we all have an interest in ensuring that the benefits of these investments are equitably shared.” **– Sarah Anderson, Global Economy Director and Inequality.org Co-editor, The Institute for Policy Studies** “This is a great victory for working people and their communities. Enabling local hire policies and good jobs standards on manufacturing will result in so many jobs that are safe and have good pay for so many low to moderate income people.” – **Lew Finfer, Director and Community Organizer, Massachusetts Action for Justice** **About the Local Opportunities Coalition** The Local Opportunities Coalition is a group of national and regional advocacy groups, labor unions and community organizations that are unified in maximizing the benefits of federal dollars for local communities and workers. The Local Opportunities Coalition has led the charge to transform government spending by advocating for several changes to the OMB Uniform Guidance as a way to ensure cities and states have the tools to create good-paying, family-sustaining jobs and ensure community benefits when they receive federal funding. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [United Auto Workers and Community Groups Demand Accountability From Hyundai Ahead of Major Transit Contract Approval](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/united-auto-workers-and-community-groups-demand-accountability-from-hyundai-ahead-of-major-transit-contract-approval/) **Published:** January 29, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** #### Following historic contract negotiations with the “Big 3” U.S. automakers, UAW members across multiple states are demanding accountability from Hyundai over a proposed $730 million rail car purchase by L.A. Metro. **WHEN:** Thursday, January 25, 2024 at 10:00am PST **WHERE:** Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) Headquarters One Gateway Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90012 3rd Floor, Metro Board Room **WHAT:** On Thursday, January 25, a national coalition led by the United Auto Workers (UAW) and Jobs to Move America (JMA) will demand that Hyundai commit to a national community benefits agreement to address outstanding complaints about the use of child labor by direct suppliers, as the Los Angeles Metro Board of Directors is set to approve a major contract to a Hyundai subsidiary. Building on the success of the United Auto Workers’ (UAW) Stand Up Strike victory at Stellantis, Ford and General Motors, the UAW, in partnership with community organizations like Jobs to Move America (JMA), is demanding that vehicle purchases with public money ANYWHERE result in good jobs and community benefits EVERYWHERE. At Thursday’s meeting, Metro will be approving the award of a $730 million contract for the purchase of 182 heavy rail vehicles (HRVs) to Hyundai Rotem, a subsidiary of the Hyundai Motor Group. In 2022, [a Reuters investigation](https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-immigration-hyundai/) found that four major suppliers of Hyundai Motor Company and sister Kia Corporation, had employed child labor at Alabama factories in recent years, with up to ten additional suppliers being investigated for child labor by various state and federal law enforcement or regulatory agencies. Given Hyundai’s history of benefiting from the use of child labor, the coalition is demanding that Hyundai commit to a national community benefits agreement that would ensure improved working conditions, guard against child labor, and create inclusive training and hiring programs for women, workers of color and formerly incarcerated individuals at all Hyundai-Kia facilities and their suppliers. Community benefits agreements have been used by Jobs to Move America and multiple labor, environmental and community based organizations to negotiate commitments from companies to create good jobs, cutting edge training and hiring initiatives and ensure that the transition to electric vehicles doesn’t leave working families in the dust. Many of L.A. Metro’s existing vehicle suppliers already have community benefits agreements that have helped create high quality jobs and highly skilled workforces at companies like BYD, New Flyer and Kinkisharyo. L.A. Metro has been a national leader in good job creation as one of only a handful of public agencies that utilizes job quality standards for manufactured equipment called the Manufacturing Careers Policy. Modeled after the U.S. Employment Plan that was co-developed with Jobs to Move America nearly a decade ago, policies like this help ensure that companies that seek public contracts are evaluated on their commitment to investments in training, community hiring programs, and family sustaining wages and benefits. **Contacts: UAW: Patrick Dexter (310) 221-2126 pdexter@uaw.net JMA: Hector Huezo (562) 485-7329 hhuezo@jobstomoveamerica.org **About UAW (**[**uaw.org**](https://uaw.org/)**)** The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) is one of the largest and most diverse unions in North America, with members in virtually every sector of the economy. UAW-represented workplaces range from multinational corporations, small manufacturers and state and local governments to colleges and universities, hospitals and private non-profit organizations. **About Jobs To Move America** ([jobstomoveamerica.org](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/)) Jobs to Move America is a strategic organizing and policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior using a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justiceWe seek to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. \### **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [EV Bus Manufacturer Proterra Closes Unionized LA Factory to move to Anti-Union South](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/ev-bus-manufacturer-proterra-closes-unionized-la-factory-to-move-to-anti-union-south/) **Published:** October 5, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** **Contact:** Rob Yen ***Major EV company breaks agreement with community, showing the importance* *of the fight to win good jobs everywhere*** **Los Angeles, CA, October 3, 2023** – In a press conference hosted by Jobs to Move America, the Office of LA County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, and United Steelworkers Local 675 (USW), community leaders, workers, and advocates denounced EV Bus Manufacturer Proterra’s closure of their manufacturing facilities in the City of Industry. The group also called on federal and state agencies to require stronger worker and community commitments in public spending utilizing tools like the [US Employment Plan](https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-12-01/metro-infrastructure-dollars-deliver-good-jobs#:~:text=The%20manufacturing%20careers%20policy%20will,with%20felony%20records%20and%20young) and [community benefits agreements](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/community-benefits-agreements/) to support high quality job creation everywhere. In 2020, Silicon Valley-based Proterra signed a Community Benefits Agreement with a Community-Labor-Environmental coalition for a new unionized EV factory in the City of Industry. Proterra closed this factory September 29th, and is moving all operations to non-union South Carolina, breaking their agreement with Los Angeles workers and community members. **Hilda L. Solis, LA County Board of Supervisors, First District** “When I first learned about Proterra’s decision to leave its City of Industry electric bus production facility, I became extremely concerned for the hundreds of workers and their families who would be stressed by the impending loss of economic security,” said Supervisor Solis. “I am grateful for the leadership and partnership of the United Steelworkers Local 675 and Jobs to Move America who have been working closely with my office and the Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity to proactively connect workers affected by the closure with opportunities for employment and other resources.” **Paul Krekorian, Los Angeles City Council President; Councilmember, Second District** “Proterra has received generous assistance from the State of California to promote the production of electric vehicles here in California. They’ve enjoyed the enthusiastic support of local communities, from groups like Jobs to Move America, and not least from the United Steelworkers. To accept this support and then move its plant and the jobs that go with it to another state is unacceptable, especially moving our jobs to a state that doesn’t respect the rights of its workers as we do in California. Proterra needs to rethink this decision and work with our state and local authorities, to work with Jobs That Move America and the United Steelworkers and come up with a solution that honors the faith we placed in them. We’re ready to help if they’re willing to honor their commitments and stay in Southern California.” **Hector Huezo, California Director, Jobs to Move America** “Proterra breaking its promise to communities and working families in California and moving to the South where legislatures have been openly hostile to workers’ rights, are exactly why we need federal agencies who are financing clean tech companies across the country to require firm job commitments, training, family sustaining wages and benefits and bona fide commitments to workers and communities. This will help ensure that working people aren’t left in the dust as companies profit from new green investments.” **Kelly LoBianco, Director of LA County’s Department of Economic Opportunity** “The shutdown and departure of Proterra’s operations, one of the very few green battery manufacturing businesses in LA County, is tremendously discouraging to our local workers, their families and the community at large especially following the collective economic hardships endured during the pandemic. We’re here to help guide our local workers and businesses through this time of uncertainty.” **Blanchard Pinto, USW Local 675 member / ex-Proterra Worker** “I was coached and manipulated to move to California with the idea of having a better future and long career with Proterra. I moved here with my wife and kids. Now I have to find a different job to try to provide a quality way of living.” **Gary Holloway, Field Director, United Steelworkers (USW) Local 675** “In 2022, Proterra was booking record sales, running at capacity, and opening a new plant in South Carolina. Then earlier this year, management informed workers in the City of Industry facility that their work was being moved to the new Greer, South Carolina plant. These workers have been abandoned by Proterra. It’s an insult to these workers who made them profits and California taxpayers who helped the company get established in the state. The EV sector is a significant part of the future green economy, but it also must have good wages and working conditions, and not built on companies ‘taking their money and running.’” **Candice Youngblood, Associate Attorney, Earthjustice** “Earthjustice stands in solidarity with the community and the United Steelworkers in ensuring that electric buses not only provide climate and clean air benefits, but also are made with good job standards and community benefits.” **About Jobs to Move America (**jobstomoveamerica.org) Jobs to Move America is a strategic policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior using a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justice and community organizing. We seek to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. \### **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Transparency, Worker Stories, Workforce Development --- ### [Civil Rights Leaders, Labor Unions and Community Coalitions Demand Hyundai Raise Standards in Wake of Child Labor Scandals and Construction Worker Death](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/civil-rights-leaders-labor-unions-and-community-coalitions-demand-hyundai-raise-standards-in-wake-of-child-labor-scandals-and-construction-worker-death/) **Published:** August 30, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** **Contact:** JMA: Rob Yen ![](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/aQttTr_L1Hduv0s-SYgFcQox5rc-ZOLMEYAUokx2V8Npnxk2fi-fxfGkj7WxsiGdHpwsDUgGdIMsap3EuAgCjSQNdtIO9D2xxbOkpDb36gW_uqyOPHT7nNxmdGk3ku7nB4R81qPI582S7O8zD1fbqII)**Civil Rights Leaders, Labor Unions and Community Coalitions Demand Hyundai Raise Standards in Wake of Child Labor Scandals and Construction Worker Death** *Coalition of Alabama, Georgia Groups Calls on Hyundai to Commit to High-Road Jobs and Community Benefits in their U.S. Supply Chain* Alabama, August 27, 2023 – In response to growing concerns about Hyundai’s impact on local communities, labor and community leaders joined across Alabama and Georgia to call on Hyundai Motor America CEO José Muñoz to negotiate a binding Community Benefits Agreement that ensures good jobs while addressing local community needs at Hyundai, Kia and their supply chains. The groups said in a [letter](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Coalition-Letter-to-Hyundai_Aug-27-2023.pdf) to Muñoz that the agreement would help build lasting prosperity for local communities by creating high-road commitments to workers and ensuring accountability measures are in place to uphold safety and labor standards. The letter comes in the wake of [alarming reports of child labor](https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-immigration-hyundai/), including at a Hyundai subsidiary in Alabama that employed children as young as 12 years old, as well as the death of a construction worker at the Metaplant site in Georgia. The U.S. Department of Labor is currently conducting investigations into two Hyundai suppliers for child labor exploitation. Of further concern, Hyundai is accepting billions of dollars in state and federal tax incentives to expand U.S. operations without providing any binding commitment on adhering to workers’ basic rights. The letter states: “Hyundai will ultimately employ more than 30,000 workers in the US, directly or through joint venture partners with its plants in Alabama and Georgia. Hyundai also has a vast supply chain that includes more than 60 plants and many more workers in both states. These facilities will transform our communities, and we are faced with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ensure that this transformation is for the best. We are deeply concerned about Hyundai’s recent track record with child labor in the supply chain in the US; allegations of immigrant rights abuses and racial discrimination against suppliers; use of prison labor by suppliers, and retention of an irresponsible contractor in the building of the metaplant.” “Taking advantage of children and placing them in harm’s way must stop, and as a coalition partner, we will continue to fight until this practice ends. A Community Benefits Agreement can be the structure for real solutions to the problem,” says Scott Douglas, Director of Greater Birmingham Ministries, and member of the Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits. Fellow coalition member Jobs to Move America’s co-executive director Erica Iheme adds, “In Alabama, we have seen a boom in companies coming in and setting up manufacturing facilities due to the generous tax incentives. What we don’t see enough of is these same companies working with the communities to ensure their presence will benefit workers and the local economy. This has to change and the Community Benefits Agreement is a good start.” The letter, which calls for Hyundai CEO Muñoz to meet with the coalition in the next few weeks to discuss a Community Benefits Agreement that would ultimately boost the company and the communities it serves, closes by asking that the company work with community groups to ensure a commitment to high-road jobs that will benefit the states of Alabama and Georgia for years to come. **About the Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits** The [Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/alabama-coalition-for-community-benefits/) is a coalition of labor, community, civil rights, faith, and environmental justice groups working to hold corporations that do business in the South accountable to workers and communities. **Categories:** Health & Safety, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Coalition Calls for Community Benefits Agreement With Lion Electric ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/coalition-calls-for-community-benefits-agreement-with-lion-electric/) **Published:** July 28, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Excerpt:** As Lion Electric officially opens its new manufacturing facility in Joliet, Illinois, a growing coalition of community members is calling on the electric vehicle company to negotiate a community benefits agreement (CBA) and commit to creating good jobs and investing in the community.  **Content:** **Contact:** JMA: Lauren LaBorde **Ahead of Grand Opening, Coalition Calls for Community Benefits Agreement With Lion Electric** *The Good Jobs Joliet (GJJ) coalition calls on Lion to commit to creating quality jobs at its new facility.* **JOLIET, IL –** As Lion Electric officially opens its new manufacturing facility in Joliet, Illinois, a growing coalition of community members is calling on the electric vehicle company to negotiate a community benefits agreement (CBA) and commit to creating good jobs and investing in the community. The Canadian manufacturer of electric school buses and other heavy-duty vehicles already stands to benefit from over $85 million in public funding—$31.4 million in approved purchase orders under the U.S. EPA Clean School Bus Program; $46.1 million in California HVIP voucher requests; and more than $8 million in approved tax breaks from Illinois and municipalities\*, with even more on the way. Since starting production in Joliet, Lion has been hiring workers through a temporary staff agency, not providing tool training for new hires, and offering starting hourly wages of $18-$21, comparable to wages at Amazon’s Joliet warehouses\*\*. “We’ve seen other big companies like Amazon come into our community, get millions in our tax money, and in return clog our roads, pollute our air, and give us temp jobs and low wages,” said Betsy Satcher, President of the Eastside Neighborhood Council. “We hope Lion can be different by making real commitments to good jobs, training and a healthier community, especially for Joliet’s Black and brown residents.” “United Auto Workers (UAW) is committed to making all auto manufacturing jobs good jobs. As the EV transition ramps up, it’s unacceptable to see these new companies like Lion Electric come in, receive millions in tax breaks, and fail to do the right thing for communities and workers,” said Brandon W. Campbell, director of UAW Region 4. “UAW is proud to stand with our partners calling for a community benefits agreement that makes sure these are good jobs, accessible to everyone, where workers’ right to organize is respected.” The Good Jobs Joliet Coalition calls on Lion to negotiate a CBA that ensures: - A community hiring program targets groups that face barriers to good manufacturing jobs including people of color, women and formerly incarcerated people - High-quality training that allows workers to do their jobs safely and earn an industry-recognized credential - A fair process for workers to choose a union to solidify quality pay, benefits and workplace safety Jobs Move America, part of the coalition, has negotiated agreements at electric vehicle manufacturers including [BYD](https://www.avpress.com/news/jobs-firm-byd-extend-benefits-agreement/article_f2649000-f4a5-11ea-b779-236d0e32b7a2.html) and most recently, [New Flyer](https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/05/26/new-flyer-benefits-bus-equity/). The CBA at BYD created a first-of-its-kind [training program](https://www.thefourth-revolution.com/news/20-graduate-from-byd-and-smarts-manufacturing-apprenticeship-program/) to prepare workers for the electric vehicle industry. **About Good Jobs Joliet (**[facebook.com/GoodJobsJoliet](https://www.facebook.com/GoodJobsJoliet/)**)** Good Jobs Joliet is a growing coalition of community members and groups working to win good jobs in Will County, Illinois. **About Jobs to Move America (**[jobstomoveamerica.org](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/)) Jobs to Move America is a strategic policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior using a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justice and community organizing. We seek to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. \### \* *$31.4 million in approved purchase orders under the EPA Clean School Bus Program (6/14/23); $8 million in approved tax breaks from Illinois and municipalities (IL Edge Tax Credit Agreement, 4/29/21; June-July 2021 Property Tax Abatement Agreements with Will County, City of Joliet, Troy and Minooka school districts); $46.1 million in CA HVIP voucher funding requests, including redeemed and unredeemed vouchers, as of 6/30/23.* \*\* *Information about temporary agency hiring, lack of tools training, and wage rates stated to GJJ representatives during visit to Lion facility on 7/11/23; from Proman Staffing Automotive Assembler Job Ad, 7/20/2023; and from Amazon Joliet, IL Fulfillment Center Warehouse Associate Job Ad, 7/20/2023.* **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Report: Job Quality and Community Challenges Persist in Alabama and Mississippi Manufacturing Facilities](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/report-job-quality-and-community-challenges-persist-in-alabama-and-mississippi-manufacturing-facilities/) **Published:** February 24, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** **Contact: JMA: Rob Yen ryen@jobstomoveamerica.org **Report: Job Quality and Community Challenges Persist in Alabama and Mississippi Manufacturing Facilities** Jackson, MS, February 24, 2023 – A new report finds that job quality is low and work-life balance is virtually nonexistent for many employees of manufacturing facilities in Alabama and Mississippi. Job quality was assessed by analyzing data from over 1,300 employee survey responses across the two-state region’s manufacturing sector. These findings are included in *Job Quality and Community Well-being in Mississippi and Alabama’s Manufacturing Facilities* released today from Alabama A&M University. It is available at . “As demonstrated in the various case studies that are portrayed in this report, key indicators of job quality all point to the low-quality jobs held by many Southern manufacturing workers,” said Berneece S. Herbert, PhD, Jackson State University, who co-authored the report with Emily Erickson, PhD, University of Warwick. “These dimensions \[of job quality\] included pay and benefits, terms of employment, work-life balance, health and safety, representation and voice, and intrinsic characteristics,” Herbert adds. “The data behind the report analysis shows the need to improve job quality in Southern manufacturing facilities. We need to create a path forward in bettering these conditions and opportunities in the South by building coalitions composed of residents, workers, and community leaders to help influence policy makers to enact transformative changes,” said Jobs to Move America Co-Executive Director Erica Iheme. “One solution for these coalitions is to call for the adoption of Community Benefits Agreements, like the one with New Flyer,” added Iheme. *Job Quality and Community Well-being in Mississippi and Alabama’s Manufacturing Facilities* is an analysis of manufacturing work in the heart of the manufacturing sector’s new economic geography of production in the American South. Key takeaways include: - Average reported pay is decent, and these jobs are often some of the best paid in the region. However, significant racial wage gaps are reported, and averages still do not meet what is considered needed to support a family. - Although most jobs are permanent positions, very few respondents reported opportunities for upward career mobility. - Work-life balance is virtually nonexistent for many respondents who put in long shifts with highly variable and difficulty to predict schedules. - High rates of serious injury and reports of racially hostile and sexually harassing work environments are reported. - Fear of retaliation from employers prevents workers from using their voice and speaking up to improve practices or report workplace issues. - Many workers express pride in their work but this pride is tempered by stories of unfair or mistreatment by their employers. “During the 20th century, high quality manufacturing jobs uplifted workers, families, and entire communities. If residents and public officials intentionally support policies that upgrade job quality and overall community economic development and prosperity, this can happen in the 21st century as well,” added Erickson. The report was commissioned with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the nonprofit jobs policy advocacy organization, Jobs to Move America. Jobs to Move America encourages Mississippi residents to reach out if they want to learn more about improving jobs and the community. **About Jobs to Move America (**jobstomoveamerica.org) Jobs to Move America is a strategic policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior using a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justice and community organizing. We seek to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. **Categories:** Health & Safety, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Alabama groups issue request for proposals from organizations to handle worker discrimination, harassment complaints](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/alabama-groups-issue-request-for-proposals-from-organizations-to-handle-worker-discrimination-harassment-complaints/) **Published:** September 29, 2022 **Author:** Web **Content:** **CONTACT:** Shechel Williams (404) 484-7067‬ **Alabama groups issue request for proposals from organizations to handle worker discrimination, harassment complaints** *Nonprofits, law school clinics, and legal services in Alabama, southern Tennessee, or central-to-western Georgia are encouraged to apply by November 11* BIRMINGHAM, September 29, 2022 — Jobs to Move America (JMA) and Greater Birmingham Ministries (GBM) released a [request for proposals](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/EXTENDED_Final-Request-for-Proposal-RFP-Seeking-DCO_9272022-3.pdf) (RFP) today from nonprofits, law school clinics, legal service organizations, and other applicable organizations to provide services to New Flyer workers in Anniston, Ala. who wish to file confidential internal complaints alleging discrimination, sexual harassment, and/or racism in the workplace. Proposals are due on November 11. In May, JMA and GBM signed a [community benefits agreement](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/major-electric-vehicle-manufacturer-signs-first-multi-state-agreement-with-community-and-civil-rights-group-for-equitable-hiring-and-good-jobs/) with New Flyer, the largest bus manufacturer in North America and leader in electric buses, to create a robust jobs program for low-income and historically disadvantaged workers in Anniston and in Ontario, Calif. One component of the agreement is to designate a community organization to assist employees in making and resolving complaints about perceived harassment or discrimination. The selected organization will serve as an independent advocate for employees and help establish an innovative system for addressing claims of discrimination and harassment that supplements New Flyer’s existing employee complaint and hotline system. New Flyer’s Anniston facility employs around 700 employees. Details on the scope of work, pricing, qualifications, evaluation, and more can be found in the [RFP on Jobs to Move America’s website](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Final-Request-for-Proposal-RFP-Seeking-DCO_9272022.pdf). Questions about the RFP can be directed to JMA’s Strategic Campaign Manager Will Tucker at . **About Jobs to Move America** Jobs to Move America is a strategic policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior using a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justice and community organizing. We seek to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. \### **Categories:** Manufacturing, Workforce Development --- ### [Gov. Gavin Newsom Signs SB 674, California’s High Road Jobs Program, Into Law](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/gov-gavin-newsom-signs-sb-674-californias-high-road-jobs-program-into-law/) **Published:** September 30, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** **CONTACT:** Lauren LaBorde (504) 289-1626 llaborde@jobstomoveamerica.org ##### **Gov. Gavin Newsom Signs SB 674, California’s High Road Jobs Program, Into Law** *Law will support creation and retention of quality jobs in green transit manufacturing* SACRAMENTO, CA –Today, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law SB 674, California’s High Road Jobs Program, which supports the creation and retention of quality, non-temporary, full-time jobs in green transit manufacturing. The law requires state contracts for zero-emission transit vehicles or electric vehicle supply equipment valued at over $10 million to incorporate minimum high-road job standards into their contracts. These high-road standards include requiring contractors to certify that they aren’t misclassifying workers and are complying with health and safety regulations, sick leave, and ADA requirements and allows public agencies to incorporate additional high road job factors, such as job creation, wages, and benefits, into their scoring criteria for bids on contracts. SB 674 also safeguards against work stoppages that could impede production. “California has just seized a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve our air quality, reduce our carbon footprint, and, critically, support quality jobs while doing so. The High Road Jobs Program will help us achieve good jobs in the green transit sector while also cutting emissions as quickly as possible to mitigate the long-term effects of climate change,” says Sen. María Elena Durazo, the bill’s author. “Without accountability to good jobs, billionaire corporations will benefit while workers are marginalized to the sidelines of the emerging green sector economy. With the High Road Jobs Program, we can ensure that workers are at the center of our transition to zero-emission transit.” “All Californians deserve clean air and strong communities. With this bill now law, we’re closer than ever to making this a reality,” said Melanie J. Prasad, Legal Director of Jobs to Move America, which sponsored the bill. “Transitioning to zero-emission transportation is a vital step in reducing California’s emissions. The High Road Jobs Program supports the creation of high-quality manufacturing jobs that fuel the shift to zero-emission transit, while also protecting the state’s interest in rolling out zero-emission vehicles as quickly and efficiently as possible.” Transportation accounts for the [largest single source of greenhouse gasses](https://www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news/decarbonizing-california-transportation-by-2045) in California. In 2018, Governor Newsom issued an executive order requiring California to reach carbon neutrality by 2045. To reach this goal, the state will need to make major investments in green energy. However, a [University of Massachusetts study](https://peri.umass.edu/publication/item/1466-a-program-for-economic-recovery-and-clean-energy-transition-in-california) shows that the average quality of clean energy jobs lags significantly behind those in the fossil fuel industry when it comes to factors like wages and benefits. SB 674 aims to support the creation of higher-quality jobs as California works to meet its climate commitments. “Without policy intervention, it could take decades for clean energy jobs to reach the same level of quality as fossil fuel jobs. And without secured, high quality jobs for fossil fuel workers to transition into, the economic cost of the transition to clean energy will be significantly higher,” said Emily Gartenberg, Jobs to Move America’s Senior Policy Coordinator. “That’s why the High Road Jobs Program is such an important win for California’s workers.” **About Jobs to Move America (jobstomoveamerica.org)** Jobs to Move America is a strategic policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior using a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justice and community organizing. We seek to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [More than 20 Alabama community groups call on Hyundai to stop alleged use of child labor at suppliers; groups say recent reports of violations show need for community benefits agreement](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/more-than-20-alabama-community-groups-call-on-hyundai-to-stop-alleged-use-of-child-labor-at-suppliers/) **Published:** September 22, 2022 **Author:** Web **Content:** **FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE** Paola Rodelas Communications Director, Jobs to Move America (808) 333-4782 Robyn Hyden Executive Director, Alabama Arise (334) 832-9060 ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ACCB-LOGO_4C-1024x261.jpg "ACCB LOGO_4C - Jobs to Move America")### **More than 20 Alabama community groups call on Hyundai to stop alleged use of child labor at suppliers** *Groups say recent reports of violations show need for community benefits agreement* September 22, 2022 – The Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits issued an open letter on Thursday to Hyundai Motor of North America calling on the company to stop any use of child labor and to negotiate a community benefits agreement. [The letter from community leaders in Alabama](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2022.09.22-Alabama-Coalition-sign-on-letter-Hyundai.docx.pdf) comes as the U.S. Department of Labor continues to investigate widely reported alleged use of child labor by SMART, a Hyundai-owned parts supplier to the Korean company’s large assembly facility in Montgomery. A Reuters writer initially reported evidence suggesting that as many as 50 underaged workers – as young as 12 years old – had worked at the stamping plant that also has a long history of health and safety violations, including amputation hazards. At the same time, another Hyundai supplier, SL Alabama, was [sued by the Department of Labor last month over allegations that the supplier employed children under age 16](https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/2022/08/23/hyundai-child-labor-alabama-alexander-city-factory/7877342001/). SL Alabama manufactures headlights and mirrors for Hyundai. Also last month, Hyundai was [sued by Mexican workers](https://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-news/lawsuit-filed-over-treatment-of-mexican-professionals-in-factories/NIJ2YBMOPJHAHAR6IGH5QVLLFM/) who allege that Hyundai discriminated against them, paying them less than white workers at the same plant. “When our state incentivizes employers to locate here, Alabamians have a right to expect a high level of accountability and transparency,” Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden said. “Alabama has given up tax dollars to help support the Hyundai manufacturing plant and suppliers. We are asking for more accountability for all employers who receive subsidies and profit from state investments.” “These allegations of child labor at multiple Hyundai subsidiaries suggest a potentially systemic problem with labor practices across the company’s U.S. supply chain,” United Auto Workers President Ray Curry said. “Accordingly, we urge the Biden Administration to use all available tools – administrative, criminal and civil – to investigate the alleged abuses and hold the company, its subsidiaries and suppliers, and any third-party labor recruitment firms accountable to the fullest extent of the law.” “The working people of Alabama welcomed Hyundai into our community with open arms and generous financial support, with the expectation that the company would be a good corporate community partner,” said Carmen Paschal, a production worker at the Hyundai assembly plant in Montgomery. “The company needs to take responsibility, take action to prevent this kind of terrible exploitation and ensure that Hyundai provides quality jobs and workplace rights across its supply chain. We deserve nothing less.” The Coalition works toward improving working conditions in Alabama manufacturing plants, including those in the state’s large auto industry. The Coalition includes civil rights groups, faith leaders, labor unions, Latinx organizations and environmental groups. Scott Douglas, director of Greater Birmingham Ministries, said: “Taking advantage of children and placing them in harm’s way must stop, and as a coalition partner, we will continue to fight until this practice ends.” Community benefits agreements are legally enforceable agreements between private companies and coalitions of community and labor groups that ensure a wide range of high-road job standards and equity measures. [The Coalition recently negotiated such an agreement with New Flyer](https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/05/26/new-flyer-benefits-bus-equity), the largest bus manufacturer in North America, for its assembly facilities in Anniston, Alabama, and Ontario, California. Hyundai and its suppliers employ thousands of workers in Alabama and are one of the largest employers in the greater Montgomery area. The region also has a disproportionately high rate of poverty for Black and Latino people‒often two to three times that of white people. Hyundai has received hundreds of millions of public dollars in subsidies and tax credits to create good jobs in our state. It is time for Hyundai to be truly accountable to our community and the workforce that makes its products. **About the Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits** The [Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/alabama-coalition-for-community-benefits/) is a coalition of labor, community, civil rights, faith, and environmental justice groups working to hold corporations that do business in the South accountable to workers and communities. \### **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau, Jobs to Move America Announce New Pathways into Good Jobs in Manufacturing](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/u-s-department-of-labor-womens-bureau-jobs-to-move-america-announce-new-pathways-into-good-jobs-in-manufacturing/) **Published:** July 29, 2022 **Author:** Web **Content:** [![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/IMG_0613-Large-1-1024x768.jpeg "IMG_0613-Large-1 - Jobs to Move America")](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/IMG_0613-Large-1.jpeg)[![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/IMG_1941-1024x576.jpg "IMG_1941 - Jobs to Move America")](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/IMG_1941-scaled.jpg)[![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/IMG_0560-Large-1024x768.jpeg "IMG_0560-Large - Jobs to Move America")](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/IMG_0560-Large.jpeg)BIRMINGHAM, July 27, 2022 – Jobs to Move America (JMA) and the Department of Labor (DOL) hosted an event with the DOL Women’s Bureau National Director Wendy Chun-Hoon who explored upcoming opportunities and benefits for women to make inroads into manufacturing. Women make up about 47% of the total workforce, but only make up less than a third of the 15.8 million people employed in manufacturing industries. JMA and New Flyer, an electric bus manufacturer with a factory in Anniston, have partnered on a [Community Benefits Agreement](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/major-electric-vehicle-manufacturer-signs-first-multi-state-agreement-with-community-and-civil-rights-group-for-equitable-hiring-and-good-jobs/) that will bring better jobs and benefits to the community by increasing hiring, training, and access to good jobs in American manufacturing for historically disadvantaged people.This includes women, people of color, veterans, and people who’ve been impacted by the justice system. “The Women’s Bureau is a 100 year old agency, within the DOL, a really historic agency. All to say, that for the past 100 years we have been fighting for rights for women in the workplace,” shared keynote speaker Wendy Chun-Hoon. The Women’s Bureau has a grant program called the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) which helps to expand pathways for women to enter and lead in all industries. The Women’s Bureau keeps focused on what is happening in the broader economy for women, like this opportunity to partner with JMA, The Alabama Coalition, and New Flyer to announce upcoming pre-apprenticeship programs for manufacturing targeting those in historically disadvantaged groups. JMA and New Flyer are working together to develop more robust training programs, focused on increasing access to employment and career advancement for these historically disadvantaged groups. The CBA establishes goals of 45% of new hires and 20% of promotions at each facility of individuals from groups who have historically been underrepresented or underserved and have had limited access to good jobs in American manufacturing. **“**Many don’t have the skills or know how to get to those positions that pay more. We are on the precipice of something big; JMA & New Flyer’s community benefits agreement should be the blueprint for manufacturers in communities across the country,” expressed Tony Christon-Walker, JMA Alabama Workforce Equity Coordinator. The CWA meeting hall was full of women and community leaders who came to hear about the upcoming training and apprenticeship programs to either personally join or take information back to their communities. Sandy, a woman manufacturing worker on the panel, asserted, “I got into automotive manufacturing at 49 years old, and I worked with a bunch of 20 year olds. I felt I had to prove myself. But what I learned is that through the union I have had many opportunities and no fear of discrimination”. JMA, New Flyer and our coalition partners are starting a pre-apprenticeship program that gets people ready for the workforce who may have deficits in math, reading, and other skills has kept them out of manufacturing jobs. Upon completion, they can move into the apprentice program that focuses on skilled labor like painting, welding and numerous other opportunities in manufacturing. **About Jobs To Move America** ([jobstomoveamerica.org](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/)) Jobs to Move America is a strategic policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior using a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justice and community organizing. We seek to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. \### For more information on this event, go [here](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/goodjobsevent/). **Categories:** Feminism, Labor, Manufacturing, Workforce Development --- ### [New report details the impact of transitioning the nation’s 500,000 school buses to electric vehicles](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/electric-school-bus-report/) **Published:** May 23, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** *Report provides roadmap for how to transition fairly so all communities benefit* NEW YORK, MAY 24, 2022 — Today, Jobs to Move America (JMA) unveiled a new report that details the impact of transitioning the nation’s 500,000 school buses to electric vehicles. Switching to green school buses is badly needed, but there are many questions about how to transition in a way that keeps costs low and centers the needs of students, workers, and communities. The [report](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/driving-the-future-how-to-electrify-our-school-buses-and-center-kids-communities-and-workers-in-the-transition/) contains extensive research and statistics on electric school bus technology, the costs of transition, the impact on existing workers and students, the ecological and social impacts of lithium-ion batteries and other crucial topics. The research is grounded by insights gained from over two dozen interviews with 10 school districts, fleet operators, utilities, unions and more. The report provides a roadmap for advocates, school district officials, policymakers, and other stakeholders to drive a transition to ESBs that benefits all workers and students. This report provides numerous recommendations, including: - **Prioritizing funding for disadvantaged communities**. Funding programs should create explicit, well-defined, and accountable preferences for communities who have historically been blocked from accessing new technologies. - **Promoting equitable employment practices and good jobs for school bus drivers, attendants, and operators** through workforce impact assessments, in which fleet operators evaluate the expected impact of ESBs on school bus drivers, attendants, and technicians, and provide their plan to ensure that workers retain their positions, receive the training they need, and maintain wage and benefit levels. - **Incorporating the U.S. Jobs Plan in funding streams and solicitations**. ESB funding programs should promote the development of a high-road ESB supply chain. One of the best ways to do this is through the [U.S. Jobs Plan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/u-s-employment-plan-2/), where manufacturers make enforceable commitments on the creation of good jobs and the use of equitable hiring and training practices. - Ensuring safe and proper installation of charging infrastructure and promoting recycling and responsible mining **Ian Elder, senior national researcher at Jobs to Move America** and the report’s author said, “Now is the time to transition to electric school buses: to protect kids’ health, to provide clean air in communities overburdened by pollution, and to create the jobs of the future. But as this research shows, these outcomes are not a given. We need to invest in this technology wisely and fairly in a way that centers kids, communities, and workers.” “Switching to electric school buses is an opportunity to clean up the air our children breathe and put our communities to work, and we are proud to see a report that lays out how we can complete this transition in a way that benefits both students and transportation workers. Chispa is proud to work with partners like JMA to protect workers and create good jobs in electric school bus manufacturing, installing and servicing. We need solutions that will center the health and economic needs of communities of color historically excluded from these sectors.” – **Johana Vicente, Senior National Director of Chispa** “More than 1,000 UAW members work at two of the largest school bus manufacturers in the U.S., where, through collective bargaining, workers have secured family-sustaining wages and safe, healthy, and respectful workplaces. JMA’s report shows how electric school buses are going to clean up the air our kids breathe every day on their way to school–and it shows how the investment in electric school buses can help build up a high-road EV bus and truck industry that keeps on providing the good jobs our communities need.” **– Cindy Estrada, VP, United Auto Workers** “VEIC has been providing hands-on support to pilot and deploy electric school buses across the country. Our experience in the field has highlighted the many benefits of electrifying school buses from health to environment to equity. This report by JMA echoes our experience and is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in transitioning to electric school buses.” – **Jennifer Wallace-Brodeur, Director of Consulting, VEIC** “Children are among the most vulnerable to harm from air pollution caused by diesel emissions because of their higher respiration rates and the long bus rides that many take daily. Our kids deserve a clean ride to school, and so do the bus drivers taking them each day**.** Jobs to Move America’s new report is essential reading for anyone working to transition the nation to 100% electric school buses in a way that uplifts communities and creates good union jobs while tackling the climate crisis and cleaning the air.” – **Katherine García, director of Sierra Club’s Clean Transportation for All campaign** “With millions of schoolchildren breathing toxic air each day, we can’t afford to wait to electrify our nation’s school buses. This new JMA report lays the foundation for a just transition that ensures communities most impacted by pollution will get the attention and resources they need, while focusing on the workforce that will power it. Electric school buses are an investment in our kids’ health, a tool of job creation, and a climate solution that will set us on the path to zero emissions and a clean energy future.” – **Athena Motavvef**, **Earthjustice Legislative Representative** “JMA continues its leadership in shaping well-designed policy on electric school buses that promotes the interests of children, workers, and frontline communities. JMA’s analysis demonstrates that investment in electric school buses that sets job quality standards and prioritizes communities with high pollution burdens will maximize improvements in children’s health and learning, create high quality jobs, and promote environmental justice.” – **Shannon Baker-Branstetter, Director of Domestic Climate Policy, Center for American Progress** **Categories:** Climate Change, Infrastructure/Transportation, Manufacturing --- ### [Major electric vehicle manufacturer signs first multi-state agreement with community and civil rights group for equitable hiring and good jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/major-electric-vehicle-manufacturer-signs-first-multi-state-agreement-with-community-and-civil-rights-group-for-equitable-hiring-and-good-jobs/) **Published:** May 26, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** **FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE** **Contacts:** *JMA:* Paola Rodelas (808) 333-4782 *Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP*: Michael Troncoso (619) 338-3821 LOS ANGELES AND BIRMINGHAM, May 26, 2022 – Jobs to Move America (“JMA”), Greater Birmingham Ministries (“GBM”), and New Flyer of America Inc. (“New Flyer”) – the largest bus manufacturer in North America and leader in electric buses – have announced a multi-state agreement to support workers and local communities surrounding certain New Flyer manufacturing facilities. The agreement is part of a proposed comprehensive settlement package that was approved today by the Board of Directors for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (“LA Metro”). The community benefits agreement (“CBA”) covers New Flyer’s manufacturing facilities in Anniston, Alabama and Ontario, California. The CBA outlines the parties’ commitment to work collaboratively to invest in and support the local communities in which the facilities are located as well as New Flyer employees who live there. The Agreements will enhance New Flyer’s existing community outreach efforts. **“Our communities spoke out strongly and New Flyer listened to us. This CBA gives us an opportunity to work together to build a bright future for an untold number of workers in Anniston and around the region. This agreement should serve as a model for employers all around the South who want to do the right thing and invest in our communities and our potential,” says Erica Iheme, former Southern Director and current Deputy Director of Jobs to Move America.** **“As a former worker at New Flyer’s Ontario, CA plant, I can see how important an agreement like this CBA will be for job recruitment, hiring and job advancement at the company.” said Debbie Pitts, an Acceptance and Delivery Specialist employed from 2012-2017, “Working with communities and organizations to remove systemic barriers to hiring and promotion is an important commitment, and I am proud of New Flyer’s decision to launch this partnership in multiple states.”** The CBA establishes goals of 45% of new hires and 20% of promotions at each facility of individuals from groups who have historically been underrepresented or underserved and have had limited access to good jobs in American manufacturing. This includes people of color, women, and veterans. New Flyer and JMA and GBM (JMA and GBM together, the “Coalition Partners”) will work together to develop more robust training programs, focused on increasing access to employment and career advancement for these historically disadvantaged groups. The CBA has additional components, including: - A designated community organization to assist employees in making and resolving complaints through New Flyer’s internal complaint process about perceived harassment or discrimination; - Participation by the Coalition Partners in identifying employees to participate on New Flyer’s environmental health committee in Anniston which regularly discusses employee safety matters, - Independent safety training by an external expert; - New Flyer will extend the hiring protections for systems-impacted people (so-called ‘ban the box’ rules) that it already follows in California and Minnesota to applicants in Anniston, Alabama; - A commitment to increase Spanish bilingual capacity in New Flyer’s outreach, recruitment, human resources, training materials, and workplace communications; and - Provisions to allow employees to attend a semi-annual debt clinic hosted by a Coalition Partner at the New Flyer Anniston facility during non-work time. The parties have committed to work cooperatively and positively with each other in their efforts to increase business and employment opportunities at these facilities. **“We proudly stand with workers across America, lifting up families and communities with access to quality manufacturing jobs,” said Rachel Jensen, JMA’s co-lead trial counsel and Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP partner. “We applaud New Flyer for recognizing that what’s good for workers is good for business.” Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP is one of the world’s leading class-action firms representing plaintiffs in securities fraud, antitrust, fiduciary duty, consumer fraud, and privacy cases. Visit** [**www.rgrdlaw.com**](http://www.rgrdlaw.com)**.** **“The Community Benefits Agreement goes a long way in improving the quality of life for New Flyer workers in California. Apprenticeship programs, job training, targeted recruitment and promotion of historically marginalized groups – these are just a few of the life-changing programs that are contained in the Agreement,” said Metro CEO Stephanie N. Wiggins, “Metro applauds both Jobs to Move America and New Flyer for coming together to create this unique and socially uplifting Agreement.”** The CBA is part of a proposed comprehensive settlement agreement between JMA and New Flyer in a California False Claims Act lawsuit. In November 2018, JMA filed a “*qui tam”* complaint on behalf of the State of California and LA Metro against New Flyer relating to its reporting of wages and benefits with respect to a “U.S. Employment Plan” in a 2013 LA Metro bus procurement contract. New Flyer denies the claims in the lawsuit and any wrongdoing. In addition to the CBA, the proposed settlement includes a settlement fund and five years of enhanced reporting for any contracts with LA Metro containing an employment plan. If the Court approves the settlement agreement, JMA plans to use the settlement funds to create programs to further benefit individuals and local communities in Alabama, California and elsewhere. *Below are a series of statements from public officials and advocates:* “Good jobs are the bedrock of a strong community, and the Biden-Harris Administration has made clear that investments in clean energy and transportation are also opportunities to create good jobs in communities across America. Workers across the country are demanding more from their work, and Community Benefits Agreements between community leaders representing business and workers advance not just our climate goals but economic security and equity for working people. That is why we are so encouraged by today’s announcement.” – **Julie Su, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Labor** “This is a landmark community benefit agreement that will improve the lives of workers in the South, and we are proud to have supported it. Working people, together with the communities they are a part of, must have a voice in shaping regional investments that impact their lives at work and at home. With this agreement, New Flyer commits to high-road practices that the working people who build our buses and transportation systems deserve.” – **Liz Shuler, President, AFL-CIO** “Los Angeles and Alabama are showing America how we can come together to act boldly to advance racial justice, create economic opportunity, and move urgently on climate action. Today, we celebrate a huge win for Los Angeles: new, good-paying jobs for folks who have faced barriers to opportunity and now have a path to a better quality of life, and future, for themselves and their children.” – **Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles** “With this agreement, LA Metro has demonstrated its strength and impact when it stands up for workers. I’d like to commend LA Metro leadership, Jobs to Move America, and New Flyer on a partnership that reflects a monumental step toward racial and economic justice in Los Angeles and across the Country.**” – Holly J. Mitchell, Chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors** “This settlement is a win for all of us, and a signal that Metro, New Flyer, and Jobs to Move America remain incredibly committed to creating good jobs for the workers that need them the most,” said Metro Board Chair and Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, First District and former Labor Secretary under President Obama. “As Metro rolls out its multi-billion dollar capital program over the next few years, it is imperative that we devote as much of our infrastructure funding as possible to serving historically underrepresented communities. That is how we bring equitable transportation to every resident.” – **Hilda Solis, Los Angeles County First District Supervisor** “This historic agreement shows just how much can be accomplished through the combination of good jobs policies and high road partnerships. As we prepare to make an unprecedented investment in our clean energy future, we must look towards this as a model–showing that when businesses make real, enforceable commitments to high quality jobs, advancing racial and worker justice, and investing in local communities, we all win. Congratulations to JMA, New Flyer, LA Metro for making this historic agreement happen, and thank you for standing up for workers and our communities.” **– Maria Elena Durazo, California Senator** “This historic agreement lays the groundwork for a transformational partnership between New Flyer and its workers, and their communities. New Flyer has shown that it understands that offering good jobs and a career path to a diverse workforce will make the company even stronger. Together we are setting a new standard for the revitalization of manufacturing in North America. The Community Benefits Agreement between JMA and New Flyer is truly transformational, and I’m proud to stand alongside JMA in their work to support good jobs and thriving communities.” – **Carl Kennebrew, President, IUE-CWA** “Hometown Action is committed to helping Alabamians build local movements to support thriving, sustainable communities, and we see community benefits agreements as an important strategy in our grassroots community organizing. We’re pleased to be an active partner organization in the Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits and look forward to working with New Flyer and other businesses and community leaders to achieve our vision for a better Alabama where workers have an integral voice in shaping our state’s future.” – **Kathleen Kirkpatrick, Climate & Strategic Initiatives Director, Hometown Action** “I feel that a groundbreaking agreement has been reached between New Flyer and Jobs to Move America and GBM. The Community Benefits Agreement with New Flyer is a first step in partnering with corporations coming to Alabama and other southern states to create good jobs in our communities. For the first time in Alabama, there is a legally enforced agreement with a corporation that will be on record agreeing to principles of worker fairness and community benefits including definable goals in racial and ethnic hiring equity, training inclusion, inclusive access to supervisory tracks and especially, pre-apprenticeships to help end the pattern of no on-ramps for worker progress in oppressed communities. The agreement is a milestone for working families in Alabama. It’s a first, but it won’t be the last.” – **Scott Douglas, Executive Director, Greater Birmingham Ministries** *Below is New Flyer’s statement*: “Workforce development and diversity, equity, and inclusion have always been important to New Flyer. We and JMA are aligned in wanting to provide equal opportunity for people and communities to thrive – and more so – to continue investing in workforce development that fosters scalable adoption of clean transportation across America, in an industry where every person can participate meaningfully,” said Janice Harper, Executive Vice President of People and Culture, New Flyer. **About Jobs to Move America (**jobstomoveamerica.org) Jobs to Move America is a strategic policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior using a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justice and community organizing. We seek to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. **About the Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits** The Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits is a coalition of labor, community, civil rights, faith, and environmental justice groups working to hold corporations that do business in the South accountable to workers and communities **About Robbins Geller Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP is one of the world’s leading complex litigation firms, representing plaintiffs in securities fraud, shareholder derivative, antitrust, corporate takeover, and consumer fraud and privacy cases. With 200 lawyers in 9 offices, Robbins Geller is one of the world’s largest plaintiffs’ firms and the Firm’s attorneys have obtained many of the largest securities, antitrust, and consumer class action recoveries in history. The Firm represents many of the largest public and private pension funds in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Europe in precedent-setting cases to hold corporations accountable, including a U.S. Supreme Court case against Goldman Sachs and a high-profile corruption case in Ohio involving First Energy Corporation. The Firm is ranked #1 on the 2021 ISS Securities Class Action Services Top 50 Report for recovering nearly $2 billion for investors last year alone – more than triple the amount recovered by any other plaintiffs’ firm. The Firm secured the largest-ever securities fraud class action settlement — $7.2 billion — in In re Enron Corp. Securities Litigation. For media inquiries, please contact or call (619) 338-3821. \### View our press conference here: **Categories:** Health & Safety, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice, Transparency, Workforce Development --- ### [Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits Supports Amazon Workers’ Unionization Drive](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/alabama-coalition-for-community-benefits-supports-amazon-workers-unionization-drive/) **Published:** February 10, 2022 **Author:** Web **Content:** BIRMINGHAM, February 10, 2022 – The Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits is pleased that Amazon workers in Bessemer will get another chance to choose whether to unionize. The Coalition–made of labor, community, civil rights, faith, and environmental justice groups–encourages Amazon workers to vote yes to unionize and continue to build the Southern worker movement. The [Coalition has continuously supported the unionization drive](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/alabama-coalition-for-community-benefits-releases-solidarity-video-in-support-of-amazon-workers-in-bessemer/) that began last winter when workers in Amazon’s Bessemer facility led one of the biggest union efforts in the company’s history. The union election is being rerun because [a federal ruling](https://www.rwdsu.info/nlrb_directs_mail_in_ballot_election_at_amazon_in_bessemer_alabama) found that Amazon’s misconduct tainted the outcome of the first election. “Bessemer and Birmingham will benefit if Amazon workers vote to unionize because when workers’ quality of life improves, the communities they live in will thrive. A union will give these workers a voice and the power to improve their workplaces,” says Erica Iheme, Deputy Director of Jobs to Move America (JMA), a member of the Coalition. “We released a [report](https://www.aamu.edu/academics/colleges/agricultural-life-natural-sciences/departments/community-regional-planning/_documents/are-good-jobs-possible-in-the-deep-south-erickson-march-2021.pdf) last year that found that between 1993 and 2020, Alabama gave away $4 billion in tax incentives to corporations like Amazon to incentivize job creation. But the [stories of these Amazon workers](https://youtu.be/uYx8xcR3oy4) show that the jobs that Amazon has created [aren’t safe](https://bamazonunion.org/amazons-working-conditions-are-not-safe) and don’t make ends meet. We encourage Amazon workers to vote yes to unionize because they are paving the way for a workers’ movement in Alabama, in the South, and nationwide. Alabama ranks 49th best state to work, or alternatively: Alabama is the 2nd worst state to work. The Alabama Coalition and Amazon workers in Bessemer are working hard to change this,” says Patricia Todd, Southern Policy Manager at JMA. Union election ballots went out to Amazon workers on February 4, 2022 and will be due back to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) before March 25, 2022. The Alabama Coalition will be showing their support for workers over the next several weeks through [community rallies](https://www.jobswithrespect.com/community-rally-registration), letters of support, and more. **About the Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits** The [Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/alabama-coalition-for-community-benefits/) is a coalition of labor, community, civil rights, faith, and environmental justice groups working to hold corporations that do business in the South accountable to workers and communities. \### For more information, go [here](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/alabama-coalition-for-community-benefits/). **Categories:** Economy, Health & Safety, Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [ElectrifyNY Press Statement on 2022 New York State Budget](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/electrifyny-press-statement-on-2022-new-york-state-budget/) **Published:** April 9, 2022 **Author:** Web **Content:** **We are encouraged by the adoption of a 2035 zero-emissions school bus fleet mandate in the state budget, but are concerned that transit and paratransit vehicle fleets are not yet addressed.** Transportation accounts for 28% of New York State’s greenhouse emissions, and pollution from fossil fuel combustion in this sector has grown worse during the COVID-19 pandemic. Much of this increase is attributable to diesel-fueled trucks and buses. To meet our climate emissions goals, improve air quality in disadvantaged communities, and invest in a green jobs economy it is urgent that our state begin an immediate and rapid transition to zero-emissions vehicles and that we lead the way with public vehicle fleets. **We strongly support New York’s mandate for an all-zero-emissions school bus fleet by 2035 and the provision that all new school bus purchases be zero-emissions by 2027.** Every day, almost 50,000 diesel and gasoline school buses crisscross our state, exposing school children, workers, and environmental justice communities to unhealthy air and greenhouse gas emissions. Electric school bus technology is here, is viable, and will rapidly become more affordable as fleet operators combine their purchasing power and as manufacturing and retrofitting scale up. Due to their lower maintenance costs and cost savings from using electricity as a fuel, each new electric school bus will save money for our school districts and our state. **We strongly support enabling the Office of General Services and NYSERDA to immediately begin supporting school districts in centralizing vehicle procurement, developing charging infrastructure, and providing financial and technical support – especially to districts serving disadvantaged communities struggling with multiple crises during the ongoing COVID pandemic.** Any new diesel and gasoline bus purchases will make it harder for our state to meet the 2035 deadline, and our state and municipal governments must do everything possible to ensure that all new bus purchases are zero-emissions vehicles within the next few years. Moreover, the latest IPCC climate report makes clear that we need to phase out fossil fuels across the economy as fast as possible. **We are concerned that New York’s $220 billion budget does not include any guaranteed funding for electric school bus purchases.** We however strongly support the designation of $500 million in the Environmental Bond Act for electric school bus procurement and supporting infrastructure. **While we support the inclusion of public transportation systems in the “zero-emission bus roadmap” mandated in the budget, we are disappointed that Governor Hochul and legislative leaders failed to take concrete action to electrify the State’s more than 15,000 transit and paratransit vehicles in this year’s budget and in the Environmental Bond Act.** Experts agree that transit buses are primed for electrification today. Jumpstarting the transition to zero-emission transit would bring immediate relief to communities disproportionately burdened by toxic air pollution, would catalyze an industry that could support good jobs in New York State, and would allow millions of transit and paratransit riders the experience of clean, modern zero-emissions vehicle technology that is essential to achieving our climate and public health goals. We will continue to advocate for legislation to enact this sensible policy, which is a core component of achieving greenhouse emission reductions mandated by the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. **It is now critical that our legislators work together with community leaders and organizations throughout the state to secure the passage of the Environmental Bond Act in November,** which will now be essential to funding zero-emissions, healthy transportation for our kids, our communities, and our workforce. ***\###*** [*ElectrifyNY* ](https://electrifyny.org/)*is a statewide coalition of advocates for environmental justice, public transportation, social justice, and good jobs fighting for a clean, equitable electric transportation future for New York. Our work aims to improve the environment and public health outcomes for the communities most affected by the negative impacts of the transportation sector’s dependency on fossil fuel.* **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation --- ### [Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits Believes Strong Community Support Gave Amazon Bessemer Unionization Drive a Boost](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/alabama-coalition-for-community-benefits-believes-strong-community-support-gave-amazon-bessemer-unionization-drive-a-boost/) **Published:** April 1, 2022 **Author:** Web **Content:** BIRMINGHAM, April 1, 2022 – *The Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits released the following statement on the Amazon unionization drive in Bessemer:* Alongside the Amazon Bessemer workers, we are eagerly waiting for the [result of their union election](https://www.rwdsu.info/bessemer_alabama_amazon_union_vote_hangs_on_416_challenged_ballots_workers_await_outcome_in_bid_to_become_america_s_first_unionized_amazon_warehouse_workers) which hinges on 416 ballots challenged by the union and the employer. We feel victorious already because 54 churches and groups joined our growing Coalition, advocating for union rights and civil rights in greater Birmingham. The Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits played a key role in the unionization campaign by driving a [community education strategy](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/alabama-coalition-for-community-benefits-drives-successful-community-education-program-on-workers-rights-amazon-unionization/)–canvassing over 3,000 people and 500 communal institutions such as barber shops, hair salons, and churches. They were overwhelmingly supportive: thousands of community members put signs in their yards and on their windows in support of the Amazon workers unionizing. We passed out over 10,000 flyers to Amazon workers and community members about the union vote and had meaningful conversations with them about unions. “For too long, workers and working conditions have taken the back seat to big business. The Amazon campaign is so inspiring because those workers had the courage to stand up to find their voice against the largest employers in the world right here in Alabama. We are proud of them for taking that step, and as a community, we fully have their backs,” says Erica Iheme, Deputy Director of Jobs to Move America. Workers in Bessemer stood up for respect, safety, and equity and came up against one of the world’s richest men. They faced [Amazon’s aggressive, illegal anti-union campaign](https://bamazonunion.org/updates/bamazon-union-update-2222022) for two years. This is only the beginning. Our Coalition has grown in numbers and in spirit because of the Amazon workers who courageously fought for their rights. We will continue to support workers and communities in the urgent struggle for economic and racial justice in the South. **About the Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits** The [Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/alabama-coalition-for-community-benefits/) is a coalition of labor, community, civil rights, faith, and environmental justice groups working to hold corporations that do business in the South accountable to workers and communities. \### For more information, go [here](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/alabama-coalition-for-community-benefits/). **Categories:** Labor --- ### [Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits Drives Successful Community Education Program on Workers’ Rights, Amazon Unionization](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/alabama-coalition-for-community-benefits-drives-successful-community-education-program-on-workers-rights-amazon-unionization/) **Published:** March 31, 2022 **Author:** Web **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/1-1024x576.jpg "- Jobs to Move America")Our community canvassers like the volunteers pictured above from the National Black Worker Center initiated conversations about workers rights and the Amazon workers unionizingBIRMINGHAM, March 31, 2022 – The Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits just wrapped up an intensive community education program to initiate conversations about workers’ rights and the Amazon workers’ unionization drive in Bessemer, Alabama–canvassing over 3,000 individuals and 500 communal institutions such as barber shops, hair salons, and churches, like the “kitchen table” conversations that started the Civil Rights movement. The Alabama Coalition–with members like Jobs to Move America, Alabama NAACP, Greater Birmingham Ministries, Black Lives Matter Birmingham, and more–has played a key role in the Amazon workers’ unionization drive [since last year](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/alabama-coalition-for-community-benefits-releases-solidarity-video-in-support-of-amazon-workers-in-bessemer/). This year, the Coalition’s community leaders began canvassing community spaces in mid February, soon after the Amazon workers began their [union election on February 4](https://www.alreporter.com/2022/02/15/alabama-coalition-for-community-benefits-supports-amazon-workers-unionization-drive/)–a rerun of last year’s election due to [Amazon’s illegal misconduct](https://bamazonunion.org/updates/bamazon-union-update-1112022-nlrb-directs-mail-in-ballot-election-at-amazon-in-bessemer-alabama). This resulted in 54 churches and groups in Alabama joining the Coalition and supporting the Amazon workers’ campaign. “The Amazon Bessemer workers and their families are members of our community. We attend church, mosque, and temple together. We’re neighbors. We eat at the same restaurants and go to the same local businesses. As a person of faith, I’m proud of the Amazon workers for standing up for their sacred dignity, for speaking truth to power about their right to safe, respectful workplaces. We want them to succeed and want them to unionize because it strengthens all of us,” says Pastor K.O. Williams of The Great I Am Ministries. Thousands of community members put signs in their yards and on their windows in support of the Amazon workers unionizing. Over 10,000 flyers were passed out to Amazon workers and community members with voter education. Hundreds attended [rallies](https://www.facebook.com/JobstoMoveAmerica/posts/4963345523752775) that were organized by the community and Amazon workers. Amazon workers spoke about voting yes to unionize so that they can have safer, respectful workplaces. Days earlier, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) filed unfair labor practice charges (ULPs), alleging that [Amazon is illegally interfering with their workers’ right to organize](https://bamazonunion.org/updates/bamazon-union-update-2222022) again. Community leaders–like [Erica Iheme, Deputy Director of Jobs to Move America](https://www.facebook.com/JobstoMoveAmerica/videos/440139394578349/)–encouraged Amazon workers to vote yes to unionize, “because when Amazon workers are successful, all of Alabama’s gonna be successful.” The Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits will continue to do justice work in the South, coordinating with other organizations working locally to address issues like worker justice and civil rights. ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Amazon-community-rally-Bessemer-1024x1024.jpg "Amazon-community-rally-Bessemer - Jobs to Move America")Jobs to Move America and other members of the Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits attended a community rally in support of Amazon workers in Bessemer on February 26 2022**About the Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits** The [Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/alabama-coalition-for-community-benefits/) is a coalition of labor, community, civil rights, faith, and environmental justice groups working to hold corporations that do business in the South accountable to workers and communities. \### For more information, go [here](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/alabama-coalition-for-community-benefits/). **Categories:** Labor --- ### [ITLC and JMA release report on providing training to workers for zero emission buses](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/itlc-and-jma-release-report-on-providing-training-to-workers-for-zero-emission-buses/) **Published:** February 16, 2022 **Author:** Web **Content:** For Immediate Release Silver Spring, Md. – February 16, 2022: The International Transportation Learning Center (ITLC) and Jobs to Move America (JMA) announced today the release of their report to assist public transit agencies in meeting the requirements in the bipartisan infrastructure bill to train workers in the operations and maintenance of zero emissions buses (ZEBs). In the report, “Providing Training for Zero Emission Buses: Recommended Expanded RFP Language,” agencies are provided language to adopt in workforce training that may be included in their ZEB Request for Proposals (RFPs). The bipartisan infrastructure bill allocates $2.5 billion for ZEB transition procurement, requiring that 5% must be spent on workforce training and development. “Investment in human capital through front-line worker training in ZEB transition is the best way to ensure dependable and well-maintained buses,” said ITLC Executive Director Jack Clark. “We understand that developing training to maintain these new buses will not be one-size-fits-all, which is why in this report, no matter the size or expertise of staff, any agency will be able to tailor training procurement to meet their specific needs.” —MORE— Recognizing that every agency has different needs, the report’s recommendations are templates based on a variety of RFPs containing strong language on procuring and drawn from conducting multiple interviews with leadership and staff from transit agencies, independent procurement trainers, and representatives from transit labor unions. The templates also cover a list of training requirements, as well as training on special tools and diagnostic equipment. “With the infrastructure bill providing significant support for transit agencies to transition to zero-emission buses, we must ensure incumbent operations and maintenance workers have the skills they need to properly maintain the buses,” said JMA Executive Director Madeline Janis. “This language ensures that transit agencies will not need to rely on extended warranties from manufacturers to repair zero emission buses, but can instead procure training from them for their current workforce. Transit workers can be an important part of our green energy future if they are given the tools to succeed.” The report is released here in [PDF form](https://www.transportcenter.org/images/uploads/publications/ITLC_ZEB_Report_Final_2-11-2022.pdf). The accompanying [Word version](https://www.transportcenter.org/images/uploads/publications/ZEB_Procurement_Report_2-9-2022.docx) is provided for easy copying and pasting by agency procurement personnel. \### ***About the ITLC:*** The International Transportation Learning Center (ITLC) is the only national organization that focuses on workforce development of the frontline workforce in public transportation. The ITLC is a nonprofit organization that works with its partners to develop and support technical training partnerships for today’s and tomorrow’s front-line work force. The ITLC is dedicated to improving public transportation by committed investment at the national and local levels in frontline technical workers. ***About JMA:*** Jobs to Move America (JMA) is a strategic policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior using a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justice and community organizing. JMA seeks to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. **Categories:** Climate Change, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Workforce Development --- ### [JMA Southern Director Erica Iheme Wins Prestigious Game Changer Award](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/jma-southern-director-erica-iheme-wins-prestigious-game-changer-award/) **Published:** October 11, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Erica Iheme, Southern Director at Jobs to Move America (JMA), has won the inaugural Game Changer Award by Women Innovating Labor Leadership (WILL) Empower, a group dedicated to training and nurturing the next generation of women labor leaders.  **Content:** Birmingham, October 8 – Erica Iheme, Southern Director at Jobs to Move America (JMA), has won the inaugural [Game Changer Award](https://smlr.rutgers.edu/faculty-research-engagement/center-innovation-worker-organization-ciwo/women-innovating-labor) by Women Innovating Labor Leadership (WILL) Empower, a group dedicated to training and nurturing the next generation of women labor leaders. The ceremony was held on Zoom and the award recognized Iheme for her transformative work in the South, where she is leading a coalition of community, faith and labor groups and fighting with workers on the ground, giving a voice to communities who are pivotal to ongoing conversations about economic transformation in the country. Born and raised in Alabama, Erica spent 17 years building unions as an organizer all over the United States. She worked in several industries including hospitals, the public sector, higher education, and homecare. She is a graduate of Alabama A&M receiving both her Masters and Undergraduate degrees in Urban Planning from the university. In June 2020, Erica moved back to Birmingham to join JMA and build out the Southern program. Since starting, Erica’s team has led the creation of the Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits and a series of Alabama Worker Bill of Rights trainings. They are now organizing to win the first-ever national Community Benefits Agreement with bus maker New Flyer. In her speech, Erica expressed her gratitude to her family and community. “I’m just a Black girl from North Birmingham. To be recognized by the larger labor community, my peers, is a blessing. My mother and father raised us to build and take care of our community. To me, the work that I’ve done through my career empowering and mobilizing workers all across America has been a sacrifice that I was more than happy to make.” If you are interested in learning more about Erica’s work with Jobs to Move America and the Southern Program, please attend the [virtual Friendraising Event on November 4, 2021 at 6pm Central. ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update/virtual-event-is-a-new-southern-worker-movement-possible/) \### CONTACT: Alaa Milbes amilbes@jobstomoveamerica.org **About Jobs to Move America** Jobs to Move America is a strategic policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior using a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justice and community organizing. We seek to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. **About the 2021 Womxn’s Labor Leadership Symposium** The inaugural WILL Empower Womxn’s Labor Leadership Symposium was held virtually on September 30 and October 1. The symposium amplified the groundbreaking work that womxn leaders in the WILL Empower network and across worker justice movements are engaged in. Participants had the opportunity to connect and discuss important topics such as transformational leadership, leading in complex times, and innovative organizing strategies. **About the WILL Empower Program** The Will Empower Program is a national program, jointly housed at Georgetown University’s [Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor](http://lwp.georgetown.edu/) in Washington, DC and Rutgers University’s [Center for Innovation in Worker Organization](https://smlr.rutgers.edu/content/center-innovation-worker-organization-ciwo) in the School of Management and Labor Relations in New Jersey. It is the legacy project of the [Berger-Marks Foundation](http://www.bergermarks.org/). **Categories:** Feminism, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Toward a New Procurement Law: Reclaiming Competition for the Common Good](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/toward-a-new-procurement-law-reclaiming-competition-for-the-common-good/) **Published:** August 2, 2021 **Author:** Web **Content:** Jobs to Move America and the UCLA Law School David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law & Policy are excited to invite you to our upcoming panel: **Toward a New Procurement Law:** Reclaiming Competition for the Common Good **When:** August 9, 2021 at 11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET **Speakers** Scott Cummings, Robert Henigson Professor of Legal Ethics and Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law Nestor M. Davidson, Albert A. Walsh Chair in Real Estate, Land Use, and Property Law, Fordham University School of Law Felice Segura, National Legal Director, Jobs to Move America **Moderator** Madeline Janis, Esq. Executive Director, Jobs to Move America **About the panel** Panelists will present a groundbreaking new analysis of federal procurement law to reveal how regulatory changes can transform the U.S. economy by directing federal resources for physical, social and climate-related infrastructure to rebuild high-road American businesses and create good jobs for all. Panelists will trace the history of procurement law to expose how the Reagan administration and its free market ideology constrained federal contracting considerations and limited state and local innovation. Speakers will also present the legal analysis that clarifies that procurement law can be a tool to rebuild the American middle class by creating good jobs, advancing climate justice, and breaking down barriers to racial equity. **Background** Every year, federal, state, and local governments spend nearly $2 trillion of our public dollars to purchase services, infrastructure and manufactured equipment—everything from school buses to wind turbines and garbage trucks. This cash can go towards building up our economy with jobs for workers across the country. But that’s not the case because legal interpretations made decades ago by the Reagan administration put federal restrictions on hiring from local communities and including social justice considerations when cities and states use federal dollars for infrastructure projects. The restrictions were established on the unfounded basis that local hiring and economic development policies would increase the price of public works projects and reduce the number of companies willing to bid on those projects, i.e. reducing “competition.” The “competition rule” was made without any evidence, and the local hire ban was adopted [without consulting Congress](https://capitalandmain.com/bidens-jobs-plan-could-build-racial-equity-with-one-simple-fix-0428). Instead, this rule supports business interests over the health, safety and economic well-being of communities across the country. [**Register**](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_5P_FkXjSQUCZhuxRzubIog) **in advance for this webinar.** After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. --- ### [Jobs to Move America and the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union announce the signing of the organization’s first staff contract](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/jobs-to-move-america-and-the-nonprofit-professional-employees-union-announce-the-signing-of-the-organizations-first-staff-contract/) **Published:** July 27, 2021 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** **Media contacts:** Alaa Milbes, Jobs to Move America amilbes@jobstomoveamerica.org Katie Barrows, Nonprofit Professional Employees Union kbarrows@npeu.org LOS ANGELES, July 26, 2021 – Jobs to Move America (JMA) and the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union, IFPTE Local 70 (NPEU), are excited to announce the signing of the organization’s first collective bargaining agreement. This first three-year contract formalizes and expands the rights and protections of JMA employees in the workplace, provides increases in compensation and other job benefits, and establishes a shared vision for a healthy, productive, and effective organization. The contract went into effect over a year after JMA voluntarily recognized NPEU as the bargaining representative for eligible employees. “JMA is proud of the work we do across the country to ensure workers have a voice,” said Madeline Janis, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Jobs to Move America. “We see the new contract as part of walking our talk. It’s important for us to put our values into action and believe that this agreement does just that.” “We are excited our first contract had every single member—from current to former staffers—contributing their insights to ensure that JMA has a thorough onboarding process, a supportive probationary period, and a strong work-life balance to help all JMA staffers achieve our mission for the long term,” said Mo-Yain Tham, union bargaining representative and shop steward. Highlights of the contract include: - $2,000-$3,000 salary increases for all staff - Two weeks guaranteed leave at the end of the year - Formalization of pathways for career advancement with uniform salary bands - A robust grievance procedure and a just cause provision with a progressive discipline process - The addition of a non-voting union observer role for all JMA Board of Directors meetings - The establishment of a Labor Management Committee, which will advance goals related to diversity and equity in hiring and retention, and building a healthy workplace environment and culture **Jobs to Move America** is a strategic policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior using a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justice and community organizing. We seek to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. **The Nonprofit Professional Employees Union**, a local of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, represents professionals employed at more than 30 nonprofit organizations (and counting), including employees at Economic Policy Institute, the Center for American Progress, and Community Change. NPEU gives nonprofit workers a voice to strengthen their workplaces and continue to do work that makes a difference in people’s lives. **Categories:** Labor --- ### [As school systems recover, new research reveals how New York can speed up equitable transition to electric school buses](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/as-school-systems-recover-new-research-reveals-how-new-york-can-speed-up-equitable-transition-to-electric-school-buses/) **Published:** March 22, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Policy recommendations outline path for equitable, swift transition to curb toxic air pollution and create good manufacturing jobs for workers. **Content:** ***Report suggests that swift transition will curb toxic air pollution and create good manufacturing jobs for workers*** NEW YORK, March 22, 2021 — Today, Jobs to Move America (JMA) unveiled a new report about electric school bus technology and deployment, including policy recommendations for how New York can use a transition to electric school bus fleets to improve air quality for children while building a just recovery for working families. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, more than two million New York students relied on the state’s 46,000 school buses — the vast majority of which are major producers of toxic emissions and greenhouse gasses. The report argues that by transitioning swiftly to electric school buses, New York can reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, create cleaner air for kids and communities, and support good job creation. “From the climate crisis to the pandemic, New Yorkers need ambitious solutions that will create good, green jobs; invest in communities of color; and build a clean economy. If our city and state leaders get the policy right, New York can use the transition to electric school buses to create healthier rides for kids while supporting a just recovery for New York’s working families,” says **Ian Elder, author of the report and senior national researcher at Jobs to Move America.** The report recommends: - The creation of a major pilot program and the implementation of an electrification policy for New York City’s new school bus nonprofit, NYCSBUS. So far, New York City has purchased two ESBs. - At the city level, passing a citywide electric school bus mandate. As of January 2021, there was a proposal before the City Council to mandate a transition to electric school buses; this report suggests that an even faster transition may be possible. - At the state level, the report recommends that New York State follow the model of the Jobs to Move America’s [U.S. Employment Plan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/u-s-employment-plan-2/) to create a New York Jobs Plan (NYJP) policy that would improve jobs in school bus manufacturing. Such a plan should also include best-value procurement for school bus contractors. Best-value procurement for school bus services will allow fleet operators to compete on quality and community benefits, not just price, and will improve job quality and stability for school bus drivers, attendants, and technicians. - At the state level, creating a large and stable funding stream for electric school buses. One promising avenue is the NY Climate and Community Investment Act (CCIA), under consideration in the 2021 legislative session. “Electric school buses could really change things for the better for school bus workers, students, and the neighborhoods where our buses are parked. Right now, when we’re on the lot and dozens of buses are warming up, we’re working in a big cloud of pollution. As this report shows, we should use this transition as an opportunity to improve school bus jobs by using best value contracting, creating worker protections, and providing training for the new technology,” **says Michael Cordiello President ATU Local 1181-1061, a major union that represents school bus drivers, mechanics, and attendants.** “Dirty diesel has no place near children. The science shows that childhood exposure to air pollution leads to asthma and other illnesses that can have a negative health impact throughout their lifespan. That is why it is critical to protect the health of children by replacing their toxic diesel school buses, which can give them a twice-daily dose of deadly carbon monoxide, with clean electric buses,” **explains Sonal Jessel, director of policy at WE ACT for Environmental Justice.** “But we must not forget that children in low-income communities and communities of color are at the greatest risk. They are disproportionately exposed to the cumulative effects of toxic bus exhaust and other air pollution because of the environmentally racist practice of locating bus depots and other sources of harmful emissions in their neighborhoods.” “The time is now to invest in a clean-air, green jobs future for our children. Our most vulnerable populations continue to be affected by environmental harms in their communities. Whether it is children riding on school buses, workers spending hours operating buses, or neighbors living near idling buses at schools and depots, the inhalation of diesel fumes is a detriment to long-term health and well-being. Electric school buses are a great step toward lessening air pollutants in our schools and our communities right now,” **says Jenny Veloz, community organizer for New York Lawyers for the Public Interest.** “When parents place their children on school buses, they place trust in the safe transport of their most precious cargo. Unfortunately the pollutants emitted from school bus tailpipes places children directly into harm’s way. The problem of polluting school buses is well overdue for a solution, and the answer is clear,” **says Renae Reynolds, transportation planner for New York City Environmental Justice Alliance.** “We must deploy electric school buses to eliminate their harmful impacts. As our city takes on the task of recovering from the coronavirus pandemic and schools begin to reopen, the electrification of school buses must take the highest priority. The technology is there and there is no excuse for doing nothing when we know what must be done.” “This report offers a path forward for making electric school buses a reality in New York in the short term and not at some far off point in the future. A combination of funding, infrastructure and regulation can transform the state’s school bus fleet, create good jobs, and dramatically improve air quality in the next few years. We need our leaders to make the right choice,” **says Anthony Buissereth, executive director of North Brooklyn Neighbors.** **Julie Tighe, president of the New York League of Conservation Voters**, said, “This report shows that electrifying our school buses will improve air quality for children and drivers, as well as create green jobs while prioritizing environmental justice communities and combating climate change. That’s why we started our Clean Buses for Healthy Niños campaign and the NYC Clean School Bus Coalition. We urge the State and City to take advantage of the funding and procurement opportunities that can make electrification a reality. Thank you to Jobs to Move America for releasing this report and joining the call for zero-emission school buses.” “Investing in electric school buses means taking necessary climate action to clean up transportation pollution while protecting the health of children, bus drivers, and communities across the state. Jobs to Move America’s report lays out a roadmap to get us there in an equitable way,” says **Jessica Enzmann, Long Island organizing representative with the Sierra Club.** “After this year of frequent school closures and weeks with no classroom learning, we should be doing everything we can to support our kids’ learning and health, starting with protecting the air they breathe. New York City’s fleet of diesel school buses spew toxins into our neighborhoods causing cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, like asthma, the leading cause of school absences, and the emissions also contribute to climate change. Investing in electric school buses is a commitment to do better for our children. It is also a commitment to equity, as most of the school bus depots are located in low income neighborhoods, exposing those communities to higher levels of air pollution and disrupting their lives and education in many ways. My children, and all New York City children deserve better,” **says Lauren Kesner O’Brien, public school parent and volunteer at 350 Brooklyn Families.** “Why are today’s kids riding buses that look just as awful as the ones I took to school? Motors burning diesel noisily grinding away, exhaust fumes smelling terrible, poisonous toxins hitting the kids’ developing lungs! Since diesels create such heavy emissions, every old bus we take off the road is worth hundreds of cars. Electric school buses are just made for today’s moment,” **says Joanne Boger, Brooklyn grandparent and volunteer for 350 Brooklyn.** **Categories:** Climate Change, Health & Safety, Infrastructure/Transportation --- ### [Coalition of 160+ local officials, organizations, and academics calls on Biden administration to overturn ban on local hire, create local jobs and fix economy](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/coalition-of-160-local-officials-organizations-and-academics-call-on-biden-administration-to-overturn-ban-on-local-hire-create-local-jobs-and-fix-economy/) **Published:** March 2, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Demand comes as a report reveals that local hire creates opportunities for marginalized workers. **Content:** Demand comes as a report reveals that local hire creates opportunities for marginalized workers **Media contact:** Alaa Milbes, March 2, 2021—Elected officials, community groups, advocates, and academics from 24 states have signed a letter calling on the Biden administration to swiftly remove the ban on local hire, which forbids cities and states from using local hire policies to specify geographic preference for job creation in any procurement process funded with federal dollars. For years, local officials, labor unions, and community groups have made the case for overturning the ban: arguing that connecting infrastructure projects with good jobs for local workers is not only something that communities desperately want, but something that would bolster regional economies. The coalition’s letter to the Biden administration urges the president to overturn the ban on local hire, arguing that local hire is a critical policy to create good jobs, strengthen local economies, and build back better from the pandemic. Along with its letter, the coalition is highlighting a new report that evaluates data from the Local Labor Hiring Pilot, a program to evaluate the impact of local hire on cost and competition launched during the Obama-Biden administration. The data conclusively shows that local hire can be used on infrastructure projects without decreasing competition or increasing bid prices. The report also reveals extensive societal and economic benefits of local hire in creating jobs for local residents, especially for marginalized workers. Signers of the letter include the cities of Alexandria, VA, Birmingham, AL, Chicago, Los Angeles, Madison, WI, Seattle, Syracuse, NY, King County (WA), Miami-Dade County, the National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties, the AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department, North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU), and numerous others. ***Below are a series of statements from public officials and advocates who support the removal of the ban:*** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/1200px-Chuck_Schumer_official_photo-819x1024.jpg "1200px-Chuck_Schumer_official_photo - Jobs to Move America") “Local hire programs are a powerful tool to bring together states, localities, community groups, and labor organizations to expand access to high-quality infrastructure jobs for underrepresented, struggling workers,” said **Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.** “Investing in infrastructure will be key to rebuilding our local economies coming out of this pandemic, and use of local hire on those infrastructure projects will ensure even wider benefits to communities, especially communities of color and low-income communities that have been hardest-hit by job loss during this crisis and historically left behind and disadvantaged. I have worked closely with local leaders in places like Syracuse and with labor to advocate for local hire with the Biden Administration and will continue to join efforts with Senator Gillibrand, Representative Bass, and the wide coalition of support for local hire to push for key policy changes that make local hire a priority in federal infrastructure spending.” ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Karen-Bass-2012-683x1024.jpg "Karen-Bass-2012 - Jobs to Move America") “When a new infrastructure project is started in South Los Angeles, it should be our community who gets the first shot at the new jobs associated with completing the project. We need to be doing everything we can to embrace job-growth in our neighborhoods, especially as we fight against COVID-19. This is a common-sense step for our government to make it easier for companies to generate jobs in the very counties and states where their transportation projects are located. Communities shouldn’t have to wait for infrastructure projects to be finished to benefit from the investment,” said **Karen Bass, U.S. Representative for California’s 37th congressional district.** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Kirsten_Gillibrand_official_photo_116th_Congress.jpg "Kirsten_Gillibrand_official_photo_116th_Congress - Jobs to Move America") “As we work to recover from the COVID-19 crisis, investing in infrastructure projects to rebuild communities and create high-quality local jobs will be key,” **said U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.** “Enacting a federal policy to ensure that jobs go to people in the community where the project is located will not only improve equity for workers, it will help rebuild local economies better and stronger. This is especially true for communities of color that have suffered from harmful infrastructure projects and disinvestment. I applaud Jobs to Move America for their leadership on this issue and I will keep working in Congress to repair our nation’s infrastructure while raising wages and labor standards, strengthening unions, investing in American manufacturing, and creating new opportunities for hard working Americans.” ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/duckworth-1-819x1024.jpg "duckworth-1 - Jobs to Move America") “This new Jobs to Move America report is yet more evidence that empowering state and local governments to optimize their procurement strategies to include local hiring incentives can not only create jobs for residents, but also results in projects that attract widespread competition from contractors,” said **U.S. Senator Duckworth**. “The time has come to eliminate an outdated, burdensome, one-size-fits-all federal regulation that dictates to state and local governments how they should run contracting competitions in their local communities.” ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Eric_Garcetti_in_Suit_and_Tie-822x1024.jpg "Eric_Garcetti_in_Suit_and_Tie - Jobs to Move America") “Investing in our transportation networks is about more than creating a sustainable way to get around—it’s a down payment on a new generation of prosperity in our own communities,” **said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.** “Expanding local hire would ensure our taxpayer dollars translate into good-paying jobs for Angelenos, lift up our most vulnerable residents, and build an economy that works for everyone.” ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/walsh-1256-EE-819x1024.jpg "walsh-1256-EE - Jobs to Move America") “Creating local hiring on major public infrastructure projects will be transformational for the City of Syracuse. Our community is bisected by an aging highway viaduct that has robbed people in its path of opportunity and negatively impacted the City,” said **Syracuse** **Mayor Ben Walsh**. “With work on this $2 billion-plus project about to begin, having the ability to put local people on the job will help right wrongs done decades ago and put people and families in Syracuse on more solid footing for the future.” ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/2020.Mayor-Randall-L.-Woodfin.Official-Headshot-683x1024.jpg "2020.Mayor-Randall-L.-Woodfin.Official-Headshot - Jobs to Move America") “We need every tool available in the toolbox to provide good-paying jobs for the residents of Birmingham. Research shows us that removing the prohibition on local hire will end bureaucratic hurdles and enable investment that will create jobs in our city to strengthen our workers, our families and our tax base,” said **Mayor Randall L. Woodfin of Birmingham, Alabama.** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/biography-ceo-washington.jpg "biography-ceo-washington - Jobs to Move America") “Across the United States, infrastructure projects are being designed, built and managed in underserved communities by people who live outside of those communities or who aren’t reflective of a community’s demographics,” said **LA Metro CEO Phillip A. Washington**. “This is why Metro is steadfast in its support of local hiring provisions on federally funded transportation projects. We want to give residents who live in the community where projects are being built an opportunity to design and build their own infrastructure.” ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/DRC_at_Podium1.jpg "Sun Link Modern Streetcar - Jobs to Move America") “I am extremely happy to join with my colleagues to urge the Biden administration to remove the federal restrictions on local hiring and make sure that we continue to experience and celebrate the kinds of success stories that will result in much needed economic opportunity and growth in those disadvantaged communities that we all serve,” said **Chicago Transit Authority President Dorval R. Carter, Jr.** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Dekadancilheadshot-816x1024.jpg "Dekadancilheadshot - Jobs to Move America") “Jobs to Move America’s study and calling for the elimination of local hire restrictions on federal infrastructure projects both validate and strengthen the mission of Syracuse’s I-81 big table. That’s why we are here today in support of this national effort. It is time that we acknowledge the historical harm caused by infrastructure projects in our nation, and to also in turn use future projects to repair the immense damage caused by said harm,” said **Deka Dancil, President of the Urban Jobs Task Force.** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Elizabeth-Shuler.jpg "Elizabeth-Shuler - Jobs to Move America") “Local hire programs can open doors, change lives and uplift communities. Union apprenticeship programs are some of the most effective training programs connected to career pipelines with well paying jobs in high-demand sectors. Together, local hire and the labor movement can strengthen communities and right historical wrongs by increasing access to the highest quality job training and family-sustaining, union jobs,” said **Liz Shuler, Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO.** **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits releases solidarity video in support of Amazon workers in Bessemer](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/alabama-coalition-for-community-benefits-releases-solidarity-video-in-support-of-amazon-workers-in-bessemer/) **Published:** February 18, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits released a video in solidarity with the workers organizing a union at the Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama. **Content:** BIRMINGHAM, Alabama, February 18, 2021 – Yesterday, the Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits released a video in solidarity with the workers organizing a union at the Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama. For several weeks, the Coalition has supported the unionization drive, organizing a public [sign-on letter](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f63606ef5b63c6b47e12349/t/60202932fb20424c24cb239a/1612720434610/Screen+Shot+2021-02-07+at+12.52.37+PM.png), mobilizing community members to turn out to rally at the Bessemer warehouse, and posting supportive signs around Birmingham. Erica Iheme, Southern Program Director at Jobs to Move America, a member group in the Coalition, also [spoke](https://www.wbrc.com/2021/02/07/amazon-workers-hold-rally-effort-unionize/) at a pro-union rally at the warehouse on February 6. “We want you to know that we support your efforts to unionize with the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union,” said **Gina Malasham, Marketing Director at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute**. “Workers who have a union have a voice and real power in their workplaces,” said **Jessica Carter, Strategic Researcher at Jobs to Move America**. **About the Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits** The Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits is a coalition of labor, community, civil, rights, faith, and environmental justice groups working to hold corporations accountable to workers and their communities by fighting for Community Benefits Agreements. Current coalition partners include: A Better Balance; Alabama Arise; the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP; Adelante Alabama Worker Center; Communications Workers of America (CWA); Jobs to Move America; Greater-Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution; Greater Birmingham Ministries; Hometown Action; United Steelworkers (USW); and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). **Categories:** Health & Safety, Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [Labor and community groups sign landmark Community Benefits Agreement with Proterra](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/labor-and-community-groups-sign-landmark-community-benefits-agreement-with-proterra/) **Published:** December 23, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The agreement with JMA and USW 675 commits Proterra to goal of hiring 50% of its workers from communities facing significant barriers to employment, such as veterans, women, and people of color. **Content:** *The agreement commits* *EV bus manufacturer to goal of hiring 50% of its workers from communities facing significant barriers to employment, such as veterans, women, and people of color.* LOS ANGELES, December 23, 2020 – Jobs to Move America’s community-labor coalition in California along with Proterra, a leading innovator in heavy duty electric transportation, and the United Steelworkers Local 675 (USW 675) today announced the groups have entered into a historic community benefits agreement (CBA) in Los Angeles County. The CBA will lead to transformative investments in Los Angeles communities to train, support, and hire workers for skilled union jobs in zero-emissions bus manufacturing at Proterra’s City of Industry facility. Under the legally enforceable agreement, Proterra commits to a goal of 50 percent of new hires to be from communities facing significant barriers to employment, including people of color, veterans, and returning citizens. “To tackle the converging crises of our time — skyrocketing unemployment, systemic racism, and climate change — we need to invest in the communities hardest hit by the pandemic. Our community benefits agreement with Proterra and USW 675 will lay the foundation for a just recovery in Los Angeles by creating pathways into high paying, unionized jobs for working families and communities of color. At a time when the entire country desperately needs a recovery plan, our CBA with Proterra is a model for how community, labor, and private partners can work together to create good jobs and healthy communities,” **said Melanie Jamileh Prasad, JMA’s California Director.** “Electric vehicle production presents an opportunity to strengthen American manufacturing, create good paying, skilled jobs, and build a more diverse and inclusive workforce. Proterra is excited to partner with Jobs to Move America and USW 675 as we grow our manufacturing presence in Los Angeles County and work toward our collective goal of healthy communities driven by zero-emission transportation,” **said Kelly Scheib, Proterra’s Vice President of Human Resources.** The CBA includes commitments to: - Allow for the creation of worker-led groups, such as the Latinx Group and Veterans Groups. JMA, USW 675, and Proterra will be able to jointly review feedback from the groups to identify resources for ongoing worker-identified needs. - Develop a pre-hire training program. This objective was realized earlier this year with the launch of a first-of-its-kind Electric Bus Manufacturing technology training program at Proterra. - Develop an apprenticeship program. - Expand Proterra’s Spanish-English language capacity beginning with the translation of key documents to ensure ESL workers are set up for success. - Allow JMA coalition partners to provide ongoing supportive services, such as case management, for workers with employee approval. Proterra’s City of Industry facility employs over 75 union workers. USW 675 was officially recognized as the exclusive bargaining representative for Proterra employees when workers voted for union representation in November 2019. Earlier this year, Proterra and USW 675 entered into their first Collective Bargaining Agreement, ensuring worker voice and representation remain central to the long-term health and success of the company. In October, Proterra along with the Los Angeles County Department of Workforce Development, Aging, and Community Services (WDACS), Proterra, United Steelworkers (USW) Local 675, Jobs to Move America, and Citrus College launched a first-of-its-kind Electric Bus Manufacturing technology training program, which was developed to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and job quality in the green manufacturing sector by targeting historically underrepresented groups with barriers to employment. The customized, nine-week training program taught by Citrus College was designed in partnership with production and assembly management at Proterra, a leading innovator in heavy-duty electric transportation, and will help fill union jobs manufacturing battery-electric buses at Proterra’s City of Industry facility. This CBA marks the second CBA Jobs to Move America has signed this year. [In July](https://www.masstransitmag.com/management/press-release/21153767/byd-motors-llc-byd-renews-community-benefits-agreement-with-jobs-to-move-america-california-coalition?utm_source=MASS+NewsViews+Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS200910048&o_eid=0663D7160645J3E&rdx.ident%5Bpull%5D=omeda%7C0663D7160645J3E), JMA renewed their CBA with BYD, another electric bus manufacturer in Antelope Valley, and SMART Local 105. **Categories:** Climate Change, Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [Electric bus manufacturer BYD Motors renews landmark community benefits agreement](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/electric-bus-manufacturer-byd-motors-renews-landmark-community-benefits-agreement/) **Published:** September 10, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** One of the world’s largest manufacturers of electric vehicles, BYD, renewed its commitment to hiring 40% of its workers from populations facing significant barriers to employment, such as veterans, women, and African Americans. **Content:** *BYD, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of electric vehicles, renewed its commitment hiring 40% of its workers from populations facing significant barriers to employment, such as veterans, women, and African Americans.* Los Angeles, September 10—Jobs to Move America’s coalition in California announced the renewal of their community benefits agreement (CBA) with electric bus manufacturer BYD, reaffirming the manufacturer’s commitment to creating pathways into good manufacturing jobs for underrepresented and underserved populations in Los Angeles County. In 2017, BYD Motors became the first electric bus manufacturer to enter into a CBA when the company signed an agreement with JMA’s coalition and SMART Local 105 covering the manufacturer’s Lancaster plant. The CBA is a legally enforceable agreement that committed BYD to making deep investments in pre-apprenticeship and training programs and set out a goal of recruiting and hiring 40 percent of its workforce from populations facing significant barriers to employment, including people of color, veterans, and returning citizens. The CBA also included a commitment from BYD to work with the JMA coalition to provide other support for workers, such as providing transportation for those without access to a car. “Through our CBA, we are reaching out to people who have a hard time getting a job,” said **Steve McCauley, who works as a material specialist at BYD**. “This gives people a chance to move forward, giving them self-esteem and a sense of accomplishment. \[…\] People have turned themselves around here,” McCauley said of second-chance citizens hired by BYD. “We’re seeing people move up. It’s a beautiful thing, and we can really thank the CBA.” The Lancaster plant employs over 400 union workers. Since 2017, BYD has surpassed its 40 percent commitment. As a result of this targeted hiring program, workers of color comprise 90 percent of BYD’s workforce, with African American workers representing 30 percent of the total workforce. In [comparison](https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat18.htm), workers of color make up just 32.6 percent of the national transportation equipment manufacturing workforce, with African American representation at just 14.1 percent. “Over the past three years, BYD has created hundreds of local jobs, and worked with community and labor partners to tackle barriers to employment, such as language access and transportation so all workers have an equal shot at a good manufacturing career,” said **Melanie Jamileh Prasad, JMA’s California Director**. “In this time of staggering unemployment, it has become very easy for companies to try to justify reneging on their commitments to workers and communities. We commend BYD for instead standing with workers and the Lancaster community and renewing the company’s commitment to creating pathways to high-quality jobs for people facing barriers to employment.” JMA, SMART, and BYD were set to launch a 13-week pre-hire program for job seekers earlier this year, until COVID caused the kickoff to be delayed. This program will complement the 18-month Industrial Manufacturing Technician [apprenticeship](https://en.byd.com/news-posts/byd-launches-apprenticeship-program/) program, SMART, BYD, and Antelope Valley College launched in 2019. “We are incredibly proud of what we have accomplished for our members over the past three years with BYD and JMA, including the creation of the new state certified BYD/SMART Apprenticeship Program” said Luther Medina, **President/Business Manager of SMART Local 105**. “While workers everywhere are suffering from opportunistic, low-road employers using this economic crisis to lower wages and benefits, we know that our members have the security of high-quality jobs at BYD. As we look towards economic recovery, we must lift up employers who took the high road and instead used this time to invest in the health and well-being of our communities.” **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing, Workforce Development --- ### [Jobs to Move America joins growing trend of U.S. non-profits unionizing](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/jobs-to-move-america-joins-growing-trend-of-u-s-non-profits-unionizing/) **Published:** January 15, 2020 **Author:** Web **Content:** ![](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/unnamed.png "unnamed - Jobs to Move America") LOS ANGELES, January 15, 2020 — Reflecting a growing trend of unionization among the nation’s over twelve million non-profit employees, Jobs to Move America (JMA) employees and management announced today that they have signed a voluntary agreement recognizing the formation of a staff union at the organization. JMA staff is joining the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (NPEU), IFPTE Local 70. JMA is a national strategic policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior throughout the U.S., with offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City, and Birmingham, Alabama. JMA uses a comprehensive approach to social change that is rooted in racial and economic justice and community organizing. JMA seeks to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. “We, the JMA staff members, are motivated by love and respect for JMA’s mission and history, as well as our own commitment to advancing democracy in every workplace. We’re proud to be part of a wave of advocacy and non-profit employees across the country who are strengthening their workplaces by forming unions,” said JMA staff member Mo-Yain Tham. “We’re glad that JMA is setting a strong example for the kind of equitable workplace that we advocate for in the private sector and look forward to working with JMA leadership on a first contract that reflects those values. “We are proud that our staff is joining NPEU and hope that our action will catalyze other nonprofits to unionize to build strong and inclusive workforces. At JMA, we believe in practicing what we preach and showing that we deeply value our employees. A healthy workforce is a healthy organization, and this reflects JMA’s vision of a clean, and worker-centered economy and environment,” said JMA Executive Director Madeline Janis. “We are so excited to have the staff of JMA join our union,” said NPEU President Kayla Blado. “As unionized staff, JMA employees will more formally participate in decisions that affect their organization and create a work environment that celebrates workers. We welcome them!” The union was unanimously supported by eligible staff as demonstrated by the request for voluntary recognition. JMA and NPEU members will now work to collectively bargain a union contract. About Nonprofit Professional Employees Union: *The [Nonprofit Professional Employees Union](https://npeu.org/) (NPEU) represents professionals employed at over a dozen nonprofit organizations, including employees at the Economic Policy Institute, the Center for American Progress, and Community Change. With several hundred members, NPEU gives nonprofit workers a voice to strengthen their workplaces and continue to do work that makes a difference in people’s lives.* *For more information about NPEU, visit .* About Jobs to Move America: *[Jobs to Move America](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/) works to transform public spending and corporate behavior using a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justice and community organizing. We seek to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all.* **Categories:** Labor --- ### [World’s biggest railcar manufacturers learn about U.S. workforce development, prepare bids for Amtrak and California high-speed trains](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/worlds-biggest-railcar-manufacturers-learn-about-u-s-workforce-development-prepare-bids-for-amtrak-and-california-high-speed-trains/) **Published:** April 8, 2014 **Author:** Web **Content:** On April 7, representatives of the world’s largest railcar manufacturing companies learned about best-practices in American workforce development, diversity, and outreach to disadvantaged workers via an informational webinar hosted by the [Jobs to Move America](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/) coalition. The companies are preparing to submit proposals to **[Amtrak](http://www.masstransitmag.com/company/10382078) and the [California High Speed Rail Authority](http://www.hsr.ca.gov/)** by May 17, competing for a multi-billion dollar contract to manufacture 43 state-of-the-art high speed “train sets” to operate between Boston and Washington, D.C., and between San Francisco and Los Angeles. To support manufacturers’ efforts to recruit and develop a skilled American workforce to build America’s new high speed trains, the Jobs to Move America coalition — a national coalition uniting more than 30 community, civil rights, faith-based, philanthropic, labor, academic and environmental groups — launched its new website and hosted the webinar on Monday. “We want to inspire the companies bidding to build high-speed trains for Amtrak and California – some of the largest manufacturing companies in the world – to create thousands of U.S. jobs and exciting opportunities for disadvantaged Americans,” said **Madeline Janis, director of the Jobs to Move America campaign**. “It’s vital to put billions of our taxpayer dollars to good use, reviving America’s manufacturing sector and reducing devastatingly high unemployment.” The April 7 webinar featured real-world snapshots of workforce development programs that have created the most innovative and successful efforts to get more women, people of color and disadvantaged people into manufacturing jobs. Roll-up-your-sleeve experts from top non-profit, community college, and union programs in Chicago, Wisconsin and Los Angeles explained models for recruiting, hiring and training disadvantaged workers into skilled railcar manufacturing jobs. The Jobs to Move America coalition also launched its new public website, featuring a workforce development resource bank, and a range of other information and tools to make America’s transit dollars go the distance. The glossy, engaging website also includes a pledge asking transit officials to use dollars wisely, personal stories of transportation manufacturing workers, and testimonials from prominent leaders of the Jobs to Move America coalition. Both the website and webinar were tailored by the Jobs to Move America coalition to help manufacturing companies meet the requirements of Amtrak’s Request for Proposals (RFP) for its new high-speed trains. Issued Jan. 24, Amtrak’s RFP asked bidding manufacturers to divulge comprehensive information about their plans to create American jobs, locate manufacturing facilities in the United States, recruit disadvantaged workers such as veterans, and invest in workforce development, in connection with the contract. To help inform bidding proposals to Amtrak, **Dan Swinney, executive director of Manufacturing Renaissance**, shared success stories of Chicago area training programs that imbue manufacturing workers with standardized skills, saying, “let’s make our programs a stepping stone not just to a job, but to a career. Successful education and training programs linked to manufacturing must align with national skill standards and formal industry credentials that are portable. Everyone benefits — companies, employees and our education and training system.” The Amtrak RFP also asks bidding manufacturers to detail their relationships with workforce development and training organizations. To this end, webinar presenters **Leticia Barajas, vice president for academic affairs and workforce development of [Los Angeles Trade Technical College (LATTC)](http://college.lattc.edu/), Earl Buford, president and CEO of the [Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership and Building Industry Group Skilled Trades Employment Program (WRTP/BIG STEP)](http://www.wrtp.org/), and José Osuna, employment services director of Homeboy Industries**, shared their expert perspectives. “As companies look to grow globally competitive advanced rail and component manufacturing capabilities, their commitment to workforce training and diversity will be critical,” **Zoe Lipman, senior policy advisor for the [BlueGreen Alliance](http://www.masstransitmag.com/company/10277779)**. “Today on the webinar, we heard examples of how companies can stand above the rest through partnerships with community, labor, and educational organizations. We hope those competing to manufacture America’s high-speed trains will tap into Jobs to Move America’s resources to build these essential relationships and grow the 21st century manufacturing workforce in America.” Many of the railcar manufacturing companies expected to bid for the high-speed trains contract have existing “final assembly” facilities or factories in the United States; such as **[Siemens Industries](http://www.masstransitmag.com/company/10065926/) in Sacramento, Calif., [Bombardier](http://www.masstransitmag.com/company/10065308) in Plattsburgh, N.Y. and West Mifflin, Penn., [Nippon Sharyo](http://www.masstransitmag.com/company/10066466) in Rochelle, Ill.,[CAF-USA](http://www.masstransitmag.com/company/10066211) in Elmira, N.Y., and [Kawasaki](http://www.masstransitmag.com/company/10065305) in Lincoln, Neb., and Yonkers, N.Y.** After the May 17 deadline for proposals, Amtrak will evaluate and score each bidder’s American jobs plans in deciding which company to award, and eventually incorporate these plans into its contract with the winning bidder. University of Massachusetts, Amherst economists estimate that Amtrak’s approach could incentivize manufacturing companies to create nearly 28,000 American jobs. “The Jobs to Move America coalition hopes our webinar will spark the beginning of a national resource center for public transit agencies and rolling stock manufacturers to connect with and develop workforce development programs, as we all work to create more good manufacturing jobs and more opportunity for people struggling to lift their families out of poverty,” Janis said. The webinar was offered free of charge for railcar manufacturing company staff and executives, government officials, and interested experts in the field. More than 60 stakeholders participated. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Workforce Development --- ### [Chicago Transit Authority restarts $2 billion railcar procurement with strong manufacturing job-creating approach](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/chicago-transit-authority-restarts-2-billion-rail-car-procurement-with-strong-manufacturing-job-creating-approach/) **Published:** July 12, 2014 **Author:** Web **Content:** CHICAGO, IL – On July 24, [Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced that the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) will restart its procurement of up to 846 railcars worth up to $2 billion with a new approach](http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/mayor/press_room/press_releases/2014/jul/mayor-emanuel--chicago-transit-authority-and-chicago-federation-.html) that can create thousands of good jobs manufacturing the trains. CTA’s new solicitation for bids will include a “U.S. Employment Plan” that asks manufacturing companies to disclose plans to create American jobs and opportunities for disadvantaged American workers, and evaluates the quality of their responses with a system of price credits. With the U.S. Employment Plan, the purchase could support up to 20,000 good American jobs. The [Chicago Federation of Labor (CFL)](http://www.chicagolabor.org/) partnered with Mayor Emanuel’s office to sponsor this new job-creating initiative. “The jobs disclosure and evaluation tools used in this purchase can improve Chicago’s transit system, create good jobs, and revive Illinois’ manufacturing economy, all at the same time,” said **Jorge Ramirez, President of the Chicago Federation of Labor**. “This approach to transit procurement, as outlined by the Jobs to Move America coalition, creates more competition between companies vying to create good American jobs.” The CTA anticipates seeking bids for the new 7000-series rail cars later this year. For the first time, the agency will require bidders to provide the number and type of jobs related to the production of the new rail cars, and to outline their job recruitment and workforce training plans. Additionally, the CTA will use a “Best Value Request for Proposals” (RFP) instead of an “Invitation for Bids” (IFB), allowing the agency to evaluate competing bids on a number of criteria, including the plans for job creation. The CTA will use price credits to reward global manufacturing companies that train and hire disadvantaged workers such as veterans, women, and residents of low-income neighborhoods, and those that create U.S. jobs, and build American factories. The CTA will submit its plan to the Federal Transit Administration to ensure compliance with federal requirements. “This is an exciting opportunity to make sure our public dollars are spent to create good jobs in our communities,” said Susan Hurley, **Executive Director of Chicago Jobs with Justice**. “We intend to work diligently with other community partners to make sure this bid and subsequent bids are leveraged to create new manufacturing plants in Chicago, in areas where they are most needed. Let’s put our public transit dollars to good use, addressing unemployment and poverty.” In October 2013, the CTA issued an Invitation for Bids to manufacture up to 854 new rapid transit cars, including an addendum which asked companies vying for the $2 billion contract to voluntarily provide specific information on how many jobs they plan to create in America and how they will generate opportunities for American workers. In May 2014, the [Chicago Tribune reported](http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-05-20/news/chi-cta-tosses-out-rail-car-bids-will-start-over-on-new-fleet-contract-20140520_1_bombardier-transit-corp-nippon-sharyo-u-s-a-base-order) that the CTA decided to throw out the two bids it received from the IFB, submitted by Bombardier and Sumitomo Corp./Nippon Sharyo U.S.A., and “restart the procurement process by the summer in an effort to drum up more competition and lower pricing.” The [Jobs to Move America coalition](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/about/) cheered the news, encouraging the CTA to leverage the railcar purchase with even stronger bid language to promote good-paying, American manufacturing jobs. Advocates say the expansion and improvement of Chicago’s transit system is a tremendous opportunity to address the city’s unemployment crisis with an influx of good American jobs. Illinois’ manufacturing sector has declined by 20 percent over the last decade. “By including incentives for job creation and workforce development in its procurement, CTA is using its purchasing power for community benefit,” said **Edwin Hill, President of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). “**IBEW applauds Mayor Emanuel and the CTA for using the power of this $2 billion purse to spur job creation and opportunities for Chicago working families.” The CTA joins other public transit agencies like the [Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-nguyenperez/la-bus-buy_b_2729336.html) and [Amtrak, who have recently included U.S. Employment provisions in their purchases of buses and trains](http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/197443-amtrak-wins-praise-for-american-jobs-request-in). The Jobs to Move America coalition developed the [U.S. Employment Plan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/jobs-to-move-america-policies-resources/#employment) model policy to help transit agencies maximize publicly-funded bus and train purchases by requiring American jobs plans from each bidding company, and including job creation and workforce training in the criteria for evaluating bids. Every year, United States transit agencies spend about $5.4 billion on bus and rail car purchases; totaling an estimated $50 billion investment over the past decade. The national Jobs to Move America coalition – uniting more than 40 community, labor, civil rights, philanthropic, academic and environmental organizations — advocates for cities to maximize these investments. --- Jobs figures are based in Job Years and calculated by Jobs to Move America, based on a [methodology](p://www.peri.umass.edu/236/hash/bdac0705b2d1465573f23a05995a9b02/publication/592/) developed by the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Telebriefing: city and state leaders harness $4.4 billion transportation spending for quality jobs, leading national shift](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/telebriefing-city-and-state-leaders-harness-4-4-billion-transportation-spending-for-quality-jobs-leading-national-shift/) **Published:** September 26, 2014 **Author:** Web **Content:** On September 30, experts in economics, sociology, and urban planning will convene a media telebriefing to discuss a new nationwide trend toward cities creating good manufacturing jobs through transportation spending. Since July, three major U.S. transit purchases by **Amtrak, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago Transit Authority, and the Maryland Transit Administration** – collectively worth an estimated $4.4 billion – have included innovative U.S. jobs incentives. Los Angeles adopted similar job-creating policies in 2012 on two rail car and bus manufacturing contracts. In the past, many U.S. transit agencies awarded multi-million dollar contracts to manufacture city buses and trains to the lowest-priced bidder among global corporations, without considering long-term economic impacts. On the briefing, experts will analyze the new transit jobs incentives gaining momentum across the U.S., and look ahead to upcoming transit purchases affecting cities across the nation, such as Houston, New York, Las Vegas, Cleveland, Seattle, Baltimore, and more. As more public transportation agencies use their purchasing power to boost job creation, the Jobs to Move America coalition estimates they could support up to 53,000 good American jobs with decent wages and career pathways. In conjunction with the telebriefing, the Jobs to Move America coalition will also release a new interactive online map detailing 34 current and upcoming purchases of buses and trains in 25 states, as well as locations of bus and train factories, a powerful research tool. **Who:** - Madeline Janis, Director, Jobs to Move America - George Wentworth, Senior Staff Attorney, National Employment Law Project - Jorge Ramirez, President, Chicago Federation of Labor - Jacquelyne Grimshaw, Vice President, Center for Neighborhood Technology and Vice Chairman, Chicago Transit Authority Board - Ed Wytkind, President, Transportation Trades Dept., AFL-CIO - Dr. Manuel Pastor, Director, University of Southern California Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) - Pastor Norma Patterson, UCC, Gamaliel Foundation **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [OSHA complaints reveal dangerous, unhealthy working conditions at Nippon Sharyo railcar factory in Illinois](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/nippon-sharyo-railcar-manufacturing-workers-ask-osha-to-investigate-dangerous-plant-conditions-2/) **Published:** November 10, 2014 **Author:** Web **Content:** On Monday, November 10, members of the Illinois Jobs to Move America coalition spoke out against dangerous and unhealthy working conditions at a passenger train (railcar) factory in Rochelle, Illinois owned by Nippon Sharyo. The coalition held a press conference outside the Ogilvie Transportation Center and Metra station in downtown Chicago to announce the filing of U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) complaint. The complaint details reports from Nippon workers of broken scaffolding that has caused worker falls and injuries, poor ventilation for those working with flammable chemicals and unsafe moving procedures for railcars. Workers also raised serious concerns about exposure to hexavalent chromium, a known cancer causing agent. The coalition requested that OSHA conduct a wall-to-wall site inspection, while asking the agency to keep names and identifying information of current employees confidential to prevent retaliation by Nippon Sharyo. “I’ve seen my coworker’s injuries after they’ve fallen from scaffolding and then seen Nippon discipline them for their injury, instead of fixing the scaffolding,” said one of the current Nippon Sharyo employees who signed the OSHA complaint. Nippon Sharyo is a large global company that employs about 400 workers in its railcar assembly plant in Rochelle, a town in rural western Illinois, manufacturing passenger trains for Metra and other U.S. public transit agencies. Nippon Sharyo received $4.7 Million in grants, tax credits and training money from the State of Illinois to open the Rochelle factory, and the company has been awarded $1.3 billion worth of contracts with U.S. public transit agencies in the past six years. “We are proud to support the current and former workers who filed this OSHA complaint against Nippon Sharyo, and our community stands behind them 100 percent” said **Susan Hurley, Executive Director of Chicago Jobs with Justice**. “We ask the public who rides these Metra cars to support the workers who are blowing the whistle on unsafe conditions. It’s time to make this Nippon Sharyo factory safe before more people are hurt.” “I decided to file this OSHA complaint because I don’t want to witness another coworker get hurt and because the next one to get hurt could be me,” said another Nippon Sharyo employee. Several current and former Nippon Sharyo employees filed the OSHA complaint on October 22, 2014 and OSHA has since opened an investigation at the plant, but it was made public on Monday for the first time. Several whistleblowers who signed the complaint and are speaking with OSHA investigators declined to speak publicly because of fear of retaliation. Nippon Sharyo recently held mandatory meetings at the Rochelle factory and warned workers that if they talked to a government official, they could be liable for perjury if they misrepresented anything. The OSHA complaint details several instances of Nippon Sharyo’s retaliation against workers who were vocal about dangerous conditions or injured on the job. “All workers are entitled to fair wages, safe working conditions, and dignity and respect in the workplace,” said **Bob Reiter, Secretary-Treasurer, Chicago Federation of Labor**. “When a company is subsidized by tax dollars, it makes these rights that much more important. Today we call on Nippon Sharyo to make its Illinois factory safe for its more than 400 employees by providing the proper equipment and protective clothing workers need to complete their jobs safely and efficiently.” At the press conference, Jobs to Move America coalition members wore dust masks and respirators and showed pictures of lungs effected by chromium poisoning, underscoring Nippon Sharyo workers’ concerns about inadequate safety equipment and ventilation. Nippon Sharyo welders are told to wear the same respirators for three days, but can sense inhalation of toxic particulates after several hours of wearing one. In the past few months, several welders have been given blood tests to measure exposure to Hexavalent Chromium and seen elevated levels. Hexavalent Chromium is the same carcinogenic, toxic chemical Erin Brockovich famously blew the whistle on. In March 2014, [OSHA cited Nippon Sharyo for failing to provide proper ventilation for workers using an extremely flammable chemical](https://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/establishment.inspection_detail?id=960129.015), a Serious Violation that could have resulted in death or serious physical harm. The OSHA complaints also detail lack of fall protection when working atop Nippon Sharyo’s railcars. Workers report broken and unsafe scaffolding and catwalks above the railcars, ladders and planks. “Last November an employee fell through a hole in the planks of scaffolding, and was injured so badly that they needed emergency medical care. The employee suffered broken fingers and extensive bruising,” reads the complaint. Another unsafe working condition reported by workers involves train-moving procedures inside the Nippon Sharyo factory. “Some of the cars are on dollies and have no brakes, so when workers have to stop them they use a piece of wood cut in a wedge shaped like a large doorstop to stop the car, and a worker has to run out on the track and place the wood by hand on the track to try and stop the car. Workers are worried that this practice, when combined with insufficient staffing for a move, could result in a worker losing a hand in this process,” reads an excerpt from the complaint. “The numerous concerns raised by the workers in this OSHA complaint appear quite serious,” said **Marsha Love, an instructor at the Department of Occupational & Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health**. “There is a well-established protocol from OSHA about how employers must protect workers from hazards.” **Categories:** Health & Safety, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [National transportation expert and labor leader Ed Wytkind to receive LAANE City of Justice award](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/national-transportation-expert-and-labor-leader-ed-wytkind-to-receive-laane-city-of-justice-award/) **Published:** December 9, 2014 **Author:** Web **Content:** On Thursday, December 11, 2014, Los Angeles native Edward Wytkind will receive a [City of Justice Award from the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE)](http://www.laane.org/event/). Mr. Wytkind is being recognized for his more than two decades of work as a national expert and advocate for bipartisan public policy solutions for America’s transportation system and infrastructure needs. As president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), Mr. Wytkind represents 32 affiliate unions who in turn represent several million aviation, rail, transit, motor carrier, highway, and maritime and longshore workers. Joining such past honorees as NAACP President Ben Jealous and the actor Sean Penn, Mr. Wytkind will receive the City of Justice Award at LAANE’s sold-out dinner event at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on Thursday. “The failure to invest in and modernize our transportation systems has not only jeopardized our economic health, it has contributed to a larger crisis of faith in what this nation once was known for: getting things done,” Mr. Wytkind said. “Cities of the Future must be about creating not just jobs but careers. They must be about lifting people from poverty by insisting on the living wages that reflect the values of a good nation. They must be about getting back to a time when America builds things and uses smart, strategic investments to create grand and modern infrastructure, symbols of a thriving and powerful economy. And they must be about more than creating individual wealth – they must be about prosperity shared by all.” TTD is a primary leader and member of the Steering Committee of the [Jobs to Move America coalition](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/). Jobs to Move America unites more than 40 community, labor, civil rights, academic, philanthropic, and environmental organizations, advocating for cities to make our transit dollars go the distance – to build better, cleaner public transit systems, to create and retain good manufacturing jobs, and to generate opportunities for unemployed Americans like veterans, single parents, and residents of low-income neighborhoods. Every year, United States transit agencies spend about $5.4 billion on bus and rail car purchases. Much of this money goes to global companies that manufacture significant portions of our buses and trains overseas, bypassing millions of unemployed Americans and struggling communities. “LAANE and JMA came forward with a plan that rewards high-road employers who pay living wages, train their workers, invest in plants here in America, and target hiring to disadvantaged Americans including the men and women who fight our wars and then struggle to find meaningful employment when they return,” Mr. Wytkind said. As a leader of the Jobs to Move America coalition, Mr. Wytkind has been interviewed and quoted on issues related to good jobs and transportation in media outlets including [Al Jazeera America](http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/10/21/jobs-to-move-americacoalitiontransportationcontracts.html), [Huffington Post](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/edward-wytkind/rejecting-scroogelike-tra_b_4505151.html), [National Journal](http://www.nationaljournal.com/policy/insiders/transportation/sidestepping-the-lowest-bidder-20141006), [The Hill](http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/217411-house-rail-bill-cuts-amtrak-funding-40-percent), [Metro magazine](http://www.metro-magazine.com/news/story/2014/10/experts-say-good-jobs-are-no-longer-an-afterthought-in-transportation-spending.aspx), the [Campaign for America’s Future](http://ourfuture.org/20141112/afl-cios-ed-wytkind-talks-transportation), the [Revolution Radio Network](http://www.revolutionradionetwork.com/jeff-santos-show-10214), the [Rick Smith Radio Show](http://ricksmithshow.com/september-30%2C-2014-show), and more. On Veterans Day in 2013, Mr. Wytkind spoke out for [public transportation purchasing to put veterans to work in good manufacturing jobs](http://nhlabornews.com/2013/11/new-transportation-manufacturing-coalition-targets-job-creation-for-veterans/), saying, “One of the greatest ways we can thank our veterans, the men and women who put their lives on the line for us every day, is to make sure they have jobs when they come home and have the training they need to compete for those jobs.” Recently, Mr. Wytkind has [called on Congress to address long-term solutions to America’s infrastructure deficit](http://capitalandmain.com/trains-planes-and-politics-a-talk-with-transportation-advocate-ed-wytkind/). He has also championed investment and job-creating policies attached to transportation projects like California High Speed Rail. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Statement: California high-speed rail](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/statement-california-high-speed-rail/) **Published:** February 25, 2015 **Author:** Web **Content:** Jobs to Move America urges all companies that are bidding for the contract to build America’s first modern high-speed trains to commit to creating good U.S. jobs and providing opportunities for disadvantaged Americans. With high-speed rail, California recently broke ground on one of the largest infrastructure projects in state history. It promises to connect the state’s two largest metropolitan areas with passenger trains that will propel the state into a new era of modern transportation. High-speed rail in California also has the potential to spark a return to manufacturing in the United States. The California High Speed Rail Authority is well positioned to harness the spending power of billions of United States taxpayer dollars to create lasting, quality American manufacturing jobs. American cities spend about $5.4 billion each year on the purchase of buses and rail cars for public transportation, with much of the production occurring outside the country. For too long, we’ve purchased buses and passenger trains without thinking about creating quality jobs, generating opportunities for unemployed Americans or reviving struggling communities. Global manufacturing companies that seek contracts to build high-speed trains need to step up to create good jobs for workers in the United States. This approach has worked in the past, and it can work in California. High-speed rail could become one of the greatest economic development programs in the state’s history, providing both a train system that will benefit Californians for generations and support up to 20,000 good U.S. and California jobs. We urge companies to build the trains in the United States. And they should spell out their plans for creating good U.S. jobs and for reaching out to workers that have been historically under-represented in manufacturing jobs such as veterans, residents of low-income communities, women and people of color. We urge California to remain focused on keeping job creation as a principal goal of the high-speed rail program and we urge the global manufacturing companies vying for this contract to lay the groundwork for good U.S. jobs, outreach to disadvantaged communities, and training opportunities to cultivate a skilled U.S. workforce. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation --- ### [Delegation of 15 Illinois community, faith, labor leaders visits Nippon Sharyo railcar factory to express severe concerns over workplace hazards](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/delegation-of-15-illinois-community-faith-labor-leaders-visits-nippon-sharyo-railcar-factory-to-express-severe-concerns-over-workplace-hazards/) **Published:** March 12, 2015 **Author:** Web **Content:** On Monday, March 9, a delegation representing eight Chicago-area community, faith and labor organizations traveled to the Nippon Sharyo rail car factory in Rochelle, Illinois, to express in-person their grave concerns over alleged unhealthy and dangerous working conditions inside the factory. The delegation was organized by the Illinois Jobs to Move America coalition, and included 15 people representing Chicago and Northern Illinois Jobs with Justice, the Sierra Club Illinois Chapter, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, the Developing Communities Project, Alliance for American Manufacturing, International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART – Transportation Division), International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), United Auto Workers Region 4, and the AFL-CIO. “We are deeply concerned that workers at Nippon-Sharyo are exposed to toxic chemicals and treated with indignity,” said Antonio Lopez with the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization. “It is of the utmost importance that the management at Nippon-Sharyo respond to our repeated requests to address the health and working conditions at their Rochelle plant.” “As a faith based organization, we take very seriously any actions that on their face may contribute to the detriment of our environment as we are called to be good stewards. Developing Communities Project also stands shoulder to shoulder with laborers for good workers rights. We believe that happy and healthy work places contribute to economic growth for all stakeholders — employers, employees and the general good for community,” said Reverend Mitchell Johnson. On October 22, 2014, Nippon Sharyo workers filed a complaint with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) raising serious health and safety hazards inside the plant. The complain detailed reports of broken and unsafe scaffolding, catwalks, ladders and planks and lack of fall protection around Nippon Sharyo’s rail cars, that have caused worker falls and injuries. Workers also raised serious concerns about poor ventilation for those working with flammable chemicals, and lack of protective equipment for welders and other workers. The complaint prompted OSHA to launch an investigation, which is ongoing. Nippon previously received a serious OSHA citation in March 2014 [ for failing to provide proper ventilation for workers using an extremely flammable chemical](https://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/establishment.inspection_detail?id=960129.015), a Serious Violation that could have resulted in death or serious physical harm. In response to OSHA’s investigation, community groups in the Chicago area and throughout Illinois are raising the alarm for Nippon Sharyo workers who may be in danger at work. On Monday, the delegation organized a caravan to the Rochelle plant and requested a meeting with the plant manager at the entrance gate. Nippon Sharyo did not allow the delegation to enter the factory to talk to managers, or provide any information on how the company plans to address safety and health concerns. The community leaders hand-delivered a letter expressing the safety and health concerns, which was also mailed last week. Afterwards, the community leaders met directly with Nippon workers over dinner to listen to their concerns. “We’re glad that investments in mass transit and high-speed rail are creating jobs in Illinois, but we need to make sure these are good jobs in a safe environment,” said Jack Darin, Director of the Sierra Club, Illinois Chapter. “It is critical that all workers have a safe and healthy workplace, and the right to address their concerns about environmental and health threats without fearing the loss of their jobs.” Prior to Monday’s delegation, Illinois Jobs to Move America coalition members have sent 15 letters of concern to Nippon Sharyo Chief Executive Officer Akira Koyasu – all unanswered. The Chicago & Cook County Building & Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Gamaliel of Illinois, and Teamsters Local 777 have sent letters, in addition to the eight groups who participated in Monday’s delegation. Nippon Sharyo is a major corporation in the global railcar manufacturing industry that contracts with cities and their public transportation agencies to build passenger rail system equipment. Nippon Sharyo employs more than 500 workers in its railcar assembly plant in Rochelle. Nippon Sharyo has been awarded $1.3 billion worth of contracts with U.S. public transit agencies including Metra, in the past six years. The company received $4.7 million in grants, tax credits and training money from the State of Illinois to open the Rochelle factory. The Jobs to Move America coalition unites community, labor, civil rights, academic, philanthropic, and environmental organizations advocating for cities to make our transit dollars go the distance — to build better, cleaner public transit systems, to create and retain good manufacturing jobs, and to generate opportunities for unemployed Americans like veterans and residents of low-income neighborhoods. Every year, United States transit agencies spend about $5.4 billion on bus and rail car purchases. **Categories:** Health & Safety, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Experts from Jobs to Move America coalition submit input in Department of Transportation comment period for local job creation initiative](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/experts-from-jobs-to-move-america-coalition-submit-input-in-department-of-transportation-comment-period-for-local-job-creation-initiative/) **Published:** April 26, 2015 **Author:** Web **Content:** On April 6, 39 member-organizations of the Jobs to Move America coalition – including community, labor, civil rights, academic, philanthropic, and environmental groups – [submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/comments-on-u-s-department-of-transportation-notice-of-proposed-rulemaking-dot-ost-2015-0013-0002/) in favor of allowing job-creation incentives connected to federal transportation contracts, at the scheduled conclusion of a 30-day public comment period. [The DOT then announced it would extend the comment period to May 6](http://www.dot.gov/policy-initiatives/nprm-comment-period-extended-may-6). “The Jobs to Move America coalition supports the DOT’s historic efforts to make it easier for local transit agencies to put people to work on transportation projects,” said **Madeline Janis, Director of Jobs to Move America**. “But we must be thoughtful in shaping local hiring and other targeted jobs programs tied to our nation’s transportation spending. We offer our comments to the DOT to help develop jobs initiatives that truly maximize the impact of federal investment for local working families.” Monday marks the end of the comment period for a major change in federal policy, opening transit contracts to local job creation for the first time. On March 4, the DOT [proposed to change “common grant rules” governing federal funding for transportation projects](http://www.dot.gov/regulations/nprm-geographic-based-hiring-preferences). The change would allow local and state transit agencies to include geographic and other targeted hiring programs in federally-funded construction, rolling stock manufacturing, and other transportation projects. Previously, federal regulations prohibited incentives for ‘local hiring’ in these contracts. United States Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx also launched a related [1-year experimental program](http://www.dot.gov/regulations/notice-contracting-initiative) for public transit agencies receiving federal grants in 2015 to create special programs to hire local workers and economically-disadvantaged workers. Taken together, the two DOT initiatives could potentially create tens of thousands of new jobs and give local workers greater opportunity from transportation projects. The Jobs to Move America coalition’s comments applauded DOT’s initiatives for this reason, and also offered suggestions for crafting the final rule with more specific guidance to transit agencies administering federally-funded contracts with geographic and targeted hiring language. The Jobs to Move America coalition is dedicated to making our public transit dollars go the distance — creating jobs for disadvantaged and low-income communities through large purchases of transportation equipment like buses and trains. Every year, U.S. transit agencies spend about $5.4 billion on bus and rail car purchases, alone. “There’s a stubborn unemployment gap in America — in March it was 5.5 percent overall, but 10.4 percent for African Americans and 6.6 percent for Latinos. Based on the industry standard that every billion dollars spent on transportation infrastructure creates some 13,000 jobs, there’s potentially a lot of work here. We look forward to working with Secretary Foxx and the administration to take advantage of this opportunity,” said **Laura Barrett, Campaign Director of Gamaliel and the Transportation Equity Network (TEN**). The Jobs to Move America coalition’s comments provided specific recommendations to strengthen the DOT’s final rule, drawing on member-organizations’ extensive experience creating geographic and targeted-based hiring preferences in public contracting. The coalition urged the DOT to include a direct reference to “targeted hiring” programs in the final rule. The coalition also expressed its belief that grantee agencies should be able to use geographic preferences in rolling stock procurement with certain limitations. The coalition also offered past examples to illustrate how targeted hiring policy will increase community and economic benefits of publicly-funded contracts without inhibiting open competition in the bidding process. “It is fiscally prudent to create mechanisms of inclusion for our local citizenry unable to participate in the economic upturn,” said **Ernest Roberts, Executive Director of PV Jobs**. “In Los Angeles, we’ve partnered with LA Metro on targeted hire programs putting people of color, women, people returning home from incarceration, and veterans to work on the Crenshaw Line and local manufacturing projects. Having the leeway to create provisions that provide meaningful career pathways for left-behind people is a critical and necessary step for the health of our communities.” “Over the past decade, targeted and local hire policies have proven to create real and effective pathways for disadvantaged workers into good construction careers. Together with innovative policy tools like Construction Careers Policies and U.S. Employment Plans local hire programs have directed billion of dollars in infrastructure investment to the people who need it most. We now have an incredible opportunity to build on these successes and ensure that US DOT funded projects create good job opportunities for local residents as well,” said **Kathleen Mulligan-Hansel, Deputy Director of the Partnership for Working Families**. The DOT changes come on the heels of four major American transportation agencies – Los Angeles Metro, Chicago Transit Authority, Maryland Department of Transportation and Amtrak — adopting the U.S. Employment Plan, the policy framework developed by the Jobs to Move America coalition. The U.S. Employment Plan heralds a growing demand from transit agencies and city leaders like Mayors, for new ways to create jobs through publicly-funded investments. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation --- ### [U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration hits Nippon Sharyo with 11 violations in Illinois factory](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/u-s-occupational-safety-health-administration-hits-nippon-sharyo-with-11-violations-in-illinois-factory/) **Published:** April 27, 2015 **Author:** Web **Content:** On Tuesday, April 28, the Illinois Jobs to Move America coalition – including dozens of Illinois community, faith, environmental and labor groups – will observe ​the 45th annual ​Workers Memorial Day and thank the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for protecting workers on the job. OSHA recently cited railcar manufacturer Nippon Sharyo for one serious health violation, six serious safety violations, and four other safety violations, and levied $34,500 fines on the company, for hazards inside its factory in Rochelle, Illinois. One OSHA violation was levied because Nippon Sharyo “failed to put into place welding shields/screens to protect workers…from health hazards such as arc eye and welder’s flash.” Another citation reads: “Employees were exposed to fall hazards up to 17 feet while walking on plywood boards that were not scaffold grade or intended for the use.” The observance of Workers Memorial Day will also include a commemoration of the 45th anniversary of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Act and a remembrance of workers across Illinois and the United States who have been injured and killed on the job. Members of the coalition will demand that employers like Nippon Sharyo make workplaces safe and support workers who speak out. Nippon Sharyo manufactures passenger railcars for public transit agencies, including Metra, and has received $1.3 billion worth of U.S. public transit contracts in the past six years,\[1\] and $4.7 million in grants, tax credits and training money from the State of Illinois.\[2\] Nippon Sharyo employs about 600 workers in its railcar assembly plant in Rochelle. WHAT: Workers Memorial Day observance, celebrating the 45th anniversary of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Act and raising alarm over OSHA violations in Nippon Sharyo railcar factory WHEN: Tuesday, April 28, 10 a.m. WHERE: Outside OSHA Region 5 Office, 230 S Dearborn St., Chicago, IL WHO: Illinois Jobs to Move America coalition, community, faith, environmental and labor groups. Speakers include: - Nora Cay Ryan, Chicago Federation of Labor - Rev. David Bigsby, Gamaliel - Nancy Hauter, OSHA Region 5 - Susan Hurley, Chicago Jobs with Justice - Tim Bell, Chicago’s Worker Collaborative - Dr. Linda Forst, University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health - Tony Garcia, UAW Region 4 **Categories:** Health & Safety, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Illinois Jobs to Move America coalition offers workforce development expertise to railcar manufacturers vying for $2 billion Chicago Transit Authority contract](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/illinois-jobs-to-move-america-coalition-offers-workforce-development-expertise-to-railcar-manufacturers-vying-for-2-billion-chicago-transit-authority-contract/) **Published:** June 5, 2015 **Author:** Web **Content:** Chicago, IL **—** On Friday, June 5, the Illinois Jobs to Move America coalition will host an informational webinar with a panel of experts, to help major global railcar manufacturing companies demonstrate their commitment to good jobs, career tracks, training and community investment in their proposals to Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), competing for an estimated [$2 billion contract to manufacture up to 846 new railcars](http://www.transitchicago.com/news/default.aspx?Month=&Year=&Category=2&ArticleId=3355). The Illinois Jobs to Move America coalition — a national coalition uniting community, civil rights, faith-based, philanthropic, labor, academic and environmental groups – seeks to support manufacturers’ efforts to recruit and develop a skilled workforce and invest in the Chicago community, as they compete for the CTA contract for the 7000 series railcars. CTA’s [Request for Proposals ](https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0nUvS4Ma2deNEk4dFlGYTNFM0E/view?usp=sharinghttps://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0nUvS4Ma2deNEk4dFlGYTNFM0E/view?usp=sharing)includes an innovative policy called the “[U.S. Employment Plan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/jobs-to-move-america-policies-resources/#employment)” requiring all bidders to provide the number and type of jobs related to the production of the new rail cars, and to outline to outline commitments to jobs, recruitment and workforce training. The CTA will score the responses and evaluate competing bids on a number of criteria, including U.S. jobs. [University of Massachusetts, Amherst economists](http://www.peri.umass.edu/fileadmin/pdf/research_brief/PERI_transit_domestic_content.pdf) estimate that the U.S. Employment Plan policy’s use in Chicago could support up to 20,000 good American jobs. Manufacturers’ must submit proposals to CTA by July 28. Friday’s webinar, titled “[Tracks to Success: Adding Competitive Value through the CTA RFP](https://jobstomoveamerica.webex.com/mw0401lsp13/mywebex/default.do?nomenu=true&siteurl=jobstomoveamerica&service=6&rnd=0.8360670522751935&main_url=https%3A%2F%2Fjobstomoveamerica.webex.com%2Fec0701lsp13%2Feventcenter%2Fevent%2FeventAction.do%3FtheAction%3Ddetail%26confViewID%3D1752637814%26%26EMK%3D4832534b00000002dc09a1931a07a477f711fb72efcbf48a8bea31c403eaec7ba72c2f07d0885b5e%26%26encryptTicket%3DSDJTSwAAAALmKu9MUZXHdNUx_IrRVBCbW5UbmtpcTYM406V6SvuQ4Q2%26%26siteurl%3Djobstomoveamerica)” will feature top Chicago-area workforce development experts will discuss best practices in workforce development and share success stories that will provide valuable insight into the development and implementation of competitive U.S. Employment Plan proposals. Manufacturers will learn about real-world examples of successful workforce development programs in Chicago and across the country, and model approaches to hiring, training, and development of career pathways. Frontline experts from non-profit and union programs will share successful models such as advanced manufacturing training, custom apprenticeships, training continuums and training committees, and explain how they help develop manufacturers add value to their businesses, improve product quality and safety, and overcome the skills gap. Advocates say the expansion and improvement of Chicago’s transit system is a tremendous opportunity to address the city’s unemployment crisis with an influx of good jobs. Illinois’ manufacturing sector has declined by 20 percent over the last decade. An announcement made in July 2014 by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the CTA made American manufacturing jobs a criterion in the competitive bidding process for the railcar contract, for the very first time. The CTA joins other public transit agencies like [Amtrak](http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/197443-amtrak-wins-praise-for-american-jobs-request-in) and the [Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-nguyenperez/la-bus-buy_b_2729336.html), that have previously included U.S. Employment Plan provisions in their purchases of buses and trains. This is the second time the CTA has solicited bids for the procurement of new 7000-series rail cars. In May 2014, CTA withdrew an Invitation for Bids (IFB) to manufacture the new rapid transit cars, along with two bids from Bombardier and Sumitomo Corp./Nippon Sharyo U.S.A., in order to attract more competition and lower pricing for the rail cars. WHAT: Webinar bringing workforce development expertise to Railcar Manufacturers competing for Chicago Transit Authority contract worth $2 Billion WHO: Top workforce development experts from the Chicago area, including Jake Williams with Jobs to Move America; Mollie Dowling, Executive Director, OAI, Inc.; Guy Loudon, Executive Director, Jane Addams Resource Corporation; Stuart Bass, Executive Director, Keystone Development Partnership; James Page, Administrator, International Training Institute; Danielle King, CNC Machinist, Nortrak; and Carl Ollerer, Operations Manager, Trelleborg Sealing Solutions Streamwood WHEN: Friday, June 5, 2015, 9am Pacific/10am Mountain/11am Central/noon Eastern WHERE: Webinar offered free of charge for railcar manufacturing company staff and executives, government officials, and interested experts in the field. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Workforce Development --- ### [Live from APTA: Dept. of Transportation promotes second chances through manufacturing job training opportunities](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/live-from-apta-dept-of-transportation-promotes-second-chances-through-manufacturing-job-training-opportunities/) **Published:** October 6, 2015 **Author:** Web **Content:** This week the Jobs to Move America team is at [APTA’s Annual Meeting 2015](http://www.apta.com/mc/annual/Pages/default.aspx) in San Francisco to learn the latest in transportation trends and investing in our transit future, from workforce development to sustainability to high-speed rail. Yesterday we heard a very inspiring speech from [U.S. Department of Transportation](https://www.transportation.gov/) [Secretary Anthony Foxx](http://www.transportation.gov/secretary), who began by saying that “transportation is the driver of opportunity.” He spoke of an opportunity gap that exists everywhere in America, and shared his vision for transportation to close that gap by connecting people to jobs – people like [LeDaya Epps of Compton, California](http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-0121-african-american-employment-20150121-story.html), who is working to build light rail in her own neighborhood on the Crenshaw/LAX [Metro Los Angeles](http://www.metro.net/) line. He spoke of supporting workforce development opportunities and on-the-job training, since “the most successful model is working in conjunction with community colleges, trade schools, and the private sector to train the workforce.” To learn more about how workers are benefiting from opportunities to learn the manufacturing trade and contribute to our transit infrastructure, check out this [article](http://goo.gl/l0zKzJ) from [AFL-CIO](http://www.aflcio.org/). Secretary Foxx talked specifically about giving people second chances to re-enter the workforce, and this post highlights the story of Vincent Louque, who worked with [Los Angeles Black Worker Center](http://lablackworkercenter.org/) to receive job training. He now works as a wire technician at [Kinkisharyo International, LLC](http://www.kinkisharyo-usa.com/successstories-los_angeles.html), which recently formed their own union with [IBEW Local 11](http://www.ibew11.org/) and is manufacturing rail cars for [Metro Los Angeles](http://www.metro.net/). [‪](https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/aptaannual15?source=feed_text&story_id=916016868485681) **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing, Workforce Development --- ### [Protest denounces broken promises by BYD Motors, Inc., Chinese electric bus manufacturer to taxpayers of LA](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/protest-denounces-broken-promises-by-byd-motors-inc-chinese-electric-bus-manufacturer-to-taxpayers-of-la/) **Published:** December 1, 2015 **Author:** Web **Content:** On Tuesday, December 1, 2015, Jobs to Move America protested outside the headquarters of BYD Motors, Inc., a Chinese electric bus company (1800 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90015) to denounce the failure of BYD to create promised living wage jobs for local residents in exchange for over $39 million in city and state tax dollars. Public agencies have awarded BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, over $39 million in public money and tax credits since 2010, with the promise that it would create electric buses, good jobs, and economic opportunity for low-income Angelenos. Since that time, BYD has broken its promises to taxpayers and workers with its lack of accountability. Wage issues, health and safety concerns, and information that buses are actually being made in China call for public officials to examine each contract to hold BYD accountable. Exactly what public funds did BYD receive from Los Angeles, California, and LA Metro? - A $1.6 million grant from the City of Los Angeles in 2010 to build BYD’s headquarters in the U.S. by refurbishing a downtown LA office; creating 58 full-time jobs by August 2015, 51% of which would be Los Angeles residents, and targeting 24 jobs low-income persons. - A $4.2 million subsidy package from the Los Angeles City Council in 2010 to create real economic development and good jobs. - A $20.7 million contract with the Los Angeles Metro Transportation Authority in 2013 to buy five zero-emission buses, with the option to purchase up to 20 more, with a provision about creating local jobs. - A $3 million tax credit from the State of California in 2014 to expand BYD’s operations in Los Angeles and Lancaster and increase its workforce to 625 by 2018. After being awarded multi-millions in public funds, BYD faced criticism for breaking its promises. First, there was confusion on how to pay its workers in U.S. dollars, which drew widespread attention to how BYD treats both its U.S. and Chinese national workers. In 2014, CA labor officials ordered BYD to pay nearly $38,000 in penalties after a hearing officer found that BYD failed to provide workers with proper rest periods or itemized paychecks. Most recently, BYD workers have told Jobs to Move America that the company has been paying its workers at or just above minimum wage, without access to affordable benefits. Workers have also shared information about health and safety problems in the Lancaster electric bus factory. These allegations increase concerns that BYD has not been creating good U.S. jobs according to its contract timeline, potentially violating its agreements with public agencies including the City of Los Angeles, State of California, and LA Metro. Despite BYD’s contracts and the promises the company has made, the outcome has been poverty jobs with complaints of serious worker health and safety problems. Additionally, the BYD contract with LA Metro, obtained through a public records act request, shows that BYD and LA Metro made a deal after a contract was finalized, changing the terms. BYD originally proposed to create assembly, maintenance, and operations jobs in Los Angeles and Lancaster. LA Metro subsequently gave this job plan high marks. However, after LA Metro approved the contract, BYD reversed its commitment to create U.S. jobs and insisted that to keep the negotiated price, the buses needed to be made in BYD’s facility in Changsha, China. Public tax dollars that were designated to create jobs in the U.S. were then directed to China. Tax dollars were awarded to BYD to build buses in Los Angeles and create local jobs; yet the buses were made in China. “We demand accountability. We want our money back,” says Madeline Janis, Director of Jobs to Move America. “Our organization represents taxpaying organizations and individuals from the Los Angeles region. BYD is a company built by American tax dollars and its promise is to create good jobs in the U.S., and we must hold BYD accountable to its promise to create good jobs.” The protest outside of BYD’s headquarters called on public agencies to scrutinize each contract made with BYD in order to review whether BYD is keeping its promises, including compliance with the City’s Living Wage Ordinance. Speakers from the Jobs to Move America Coalition included: Madeline Janis of Jobs to Move America, Chloe Osmer (Organizer at AFL-CIO), Manuel Gonzalez (Organizer at SMART, International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers), Gabriella Landeros (Press Secretary at the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor), and Rev. William Smart (President and CEO at Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Southern California). “On this sacred day, the 60th anniversary of when Rosa Parks sat down and refused to get up, ironically, from a bus, we are here today saying that BYD workers deserve respect and good jobs,” says Rev. William Smart, President and CEO at Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Southern California. See story from the *Los Angeles Times*: **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Manufacturing, Transparency --- ### [New study examines real impact of “Buy America” and other public procurement initiatives](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/new-study-examines-real-impact-of-buy-america-and-other-public-procurement-initiatives/) **Published:** December 8, 2015 **Author:** Web **Content:** Washington, D.C. – The Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) and Jobs to Move America, a national coalition uniting more than 50 community, faith, labor, and civil rights organizations, released a new report about opportunities for American job creation through transportation procurement policies, called “Strengthening U.S. Manufacturing Through Public Procurement Policies.” The report comes after Congress approved the first long-term transportation bill in 10 years, Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, on Friday, December 4. The FAST Act included the Buy America provision, which sets domestic content standards for the transportation purchases by Department of Transportation grantees to ensure that American tax dollars support U.S. manufacturing jobs. The report was unveiled at a briefing on Capitol Hill Tuesday, December 8, at the Rayburn House Office Building’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Hearing Room. Reps. Dave Joyce (OH-14) and Dan Lipinski (IL-3), co-chairs of the Congressional Buy American Caucus, provided introductory remarks. Robert Pollin, Distinguished Professor of Economics, Co-Director, Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), and co-author of the study, discussed key findings including how significant reforms of the “Buy America” program of the Department of Transportation can strengthen domestic railcar manufacturers and workers in this sector. “Promoting manufacturing is a way to build jobs; we have lost five million manufacturing jobs in recent years,” said Pollin. “Strengthening monitoring and enforcement of Buy America provisions is crucial to ensure the creation of more manufacturing jobs.” “Buying American is one of the fastest and most effective ways to create jobs and give the overall economy a boost. This legislation will help ensure that we are supporting American workers, especially the hard-working middle class,” said Rep. Lipinski ([see statement](http://joyce.house.gov/press-releases/reps-joyce-and-lipinski-lead-effort-to-strengthen-buy-america-laws/)). To connect policy implications to personal impact for American workers, 11 workers from six states shared testimonies of their experiences working in transportation manufacturing. These included: - Renee Brand, a Decal Technician at the New Flyer bus factory in St. Cloud, Minnesota. - Eric Braun, a Welder at the New Flyer bus factory in Anniston, Alabama. - Donna Comp-Penwarden, a Quality Assurance Inspector with Nippon Sharyo railcar manufacturing facility in Rochelle, Illinois. - Stacey Corcoran, an Electrician at the Nippon Sharyo railcar manufacturing facility in Rochelle, Illinois. - Gabriel Harrell, an Assembler at the New Flyer bus factory in Anniston, Alabama. - Anne Latham, a Manufacturing Specialist at Alstom Transportation Inc. in Hornell, New York. - Songsinh Matmanivong, a Cold Welder at the New Flyer bus factory in St. Cloud, Minnesota. - Jennifer Narrod, a Specialist at Alstom Signaling Inc. in Rochester, New York. - Elizabeth Perry, an Electrical Workleader at Alstom Transportation Inc. in Hornell, New York. - Debra Pitts, a Driver at the New Flyer bus factory in Ontario, California. - Nicholas South, a Quality Inspector at the Siemens factory in Norwood, Ohio. [Read policy highlights and summary](http://www.peri.umass.edu/fileadmin/pdf/published_study/PERI_Procurement_Summary_web.pdf). [Read full study](http://www.peri.umass.edu/fileadmin/pdf/published_study/PERI_Procurement_FullStudy_web.pdf). **About The Political Economy Research Institute** Established in 1998, [The Political Economy Research Institute (PERI](http://www.peri.umass.edu/)) is an independent unit of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with close ties to the Department of Economics. PERI promotes human and ecological well-being through our original research. Our approach is to translate what we learn into workable policy proposals that are capable of improving life on our planet today and in the future. In the words of the late Professor Robert Heilbroner, we at PERI “strive to make a workable science out of morality.” **Categories:** Economy, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [JMA to LA Metro on $1 billion purchase of heavy railcars: hold manufacturers accountable to creating good manufacturing jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/jma-to-la-metro-on-1-billion-purchase-of-heavy-railcars/) **Published:** January 11, 2016 **Author:** Web **Content:** LOS ANGELES — On May 29, 2015, Los Angeles Metro (LA Metro) released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the purchase of up to 282 heavy-rail vehicles—a contract worth an estimated $1 billion. On Monday, January 11 2016, companies interested in competing for this contract must submit their proposals. LA Metro included a [Local Employment Plan (LEP)](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/RFP-No-HR4000-Amendment-No-11.pdf) in its RFP that asks global manufacturing firms interested in building publicly funded railcars to disclose comprehensive plans to create California manufacturing jobs; invest in local facilities; create job entry points for people who have been historically disenfranchised or excluded from the transit manufacturing industry; and will score companies’ employment plans for additional points in the overall evaluation. Some of the largest rail manufacturing companies in the world expressed interest in competing for the contract. Jobs to Move America (JMA)–a coalition of community, faith, academic, labor and environmental groups—applauds LA Metro for including innovative language that will incentivize American job creation, which is a factor that has historically been an afterthought for transit agencies buying new transit vehicles. This is especially exciting given that a purchase of this magnitude has the potential to support up to 6,300 U.S. manufacturing-related jobs and 4,000 induced jobs. “LA Metro’s procurement is a great example of a transit agency taking an important step toward harnessing the spending power of billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to create lasting, quality American manufacturing jobs,” said Rudy Gonzalves, Director of California JMA. He continued, “For too long, American transit agencies have purchased buses and passenger trains for our cities without considering the ability to use these dollars to create quality jobs and generate opportunities for struggling communities.” However, the push to create good jobs cannot stop here–JMA expects LA Metro to follow through and hold companies bidding for this contract to a high standard when evaluating their jobs plans to ensure the jobs commitments result in long-term, high-quality jobs that are accompanied by training and apprenticeship opportunities, as well as entry points for people facing barriers to employment. The California JMA coalition is watching this process closely and strongly urges LA Metro to reward high-road companies that meet this standard. JMA wants to see this contract result in a win for rail users, our communities, and taxpayers. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Jobs to Move America holds “Know Your Rights” action in front of BYD headquarters](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/jobs-to-move-america-holds-know-your-rights-action-in-front-of-byd-headquarters/) **Published:** January 27, 2016 **Author:** Web **Content:** On Wednesday, January 27, the Jobs to Move America (JMA) coalition organized a “Know Your Rights” action in front of the Build Your Dreams Motor Company (BYD) headquarters in Los Angeles. The event sought to inform employees of their rights under the Los Angeles Living Wage Ordinance (LWO). BYD has a public contract with the City of Los Angeles, making it subject to the LWO. The City of LA recently found BYD to be in violation of this law. Two large banners were displayed to encourage workers to learn about their rights at the workplace. The banners were in English and Mandarin. “BYD has received $39 million in public tax dollars, and they promised to create good jobs in Los Angeles. BYD doesn’t think that the Living Wage law applies to them, so we want to make sure their workers know that the law protects them, whether they are from Los Angeles or China,” said JMA’s California Organizer Diego Janacua. Among their rights under the LWO, employees are expected to receive $12.42/hour if they have no health insurance and $11.17/hour if they are provided with health benefits. Employees are also entitled to 12 paid days for sick leave, vacation or personal necessity, as well as an additional 10 non-paid days off for family or personal illness. Perhaps one of the most important provisions of the LWO is the “No Employer Retaliation” section, which prohibits a company from retaliating against an employee by reducing pay, firing or discriminating against them if they make a complaint against the company, opposing any practice prohibited by the LWO, asserting their rights under the LWO or a host of other issues. BYD came under fire in 2013 for a number of work-related violations. The California Department of Industrial Relations fined them for failing to provide some of their workers brought from China with the mandated California minimum wage, workers’ compensation insurance, sufficient pay documentations and rest breaks. **Categories:** Health & Safety, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Dept. of Transportation Secretary Foxx to transit officials: Maximize impact of $305 Billion FAST Act to create U.S. jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/dept-of-transportation-secretary-foxx-to-transit-officials-maximize-impact-of-305-billion-fast-act-to-create-u-s-jobs/) **Published:** February 26, 2016 **Author:** Web **Content:** Late last year, President Barack Obama signed the [Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act](https://www.transportation.gov/fastact) (Fast Act) approving $305 billion in transportation spending. The Act includes a number of provisions, including a 10 percent increase in Buy America transit requirements meant to boost domestic American manufacturing. On February 19, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx sent a [letter](https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/procurement/letter-us-transportation-secretary-anthony-foxx-%E2%80%93-us-employment-plan) to transportation stakeholders encouraging the use of innovative ideas to maximize the impact of the Fast Act. The letter also highlighted a new contracting tool developed by [Jobs to Move America](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/) (JMA), the [U.S. Employment Plan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resources/u-s-employment-plan-resources-2/) (USEP), as an example of an innovative approach to using public transportation funds to create good jobs and ladders of opportunity in the United States. Leaders across the country hailed the letter as an important step forward for domestic manufacturing. “This letter shows transit industry decision makers that there is a path toward truly making our transit dollars go the distance,” said Madeline Janis, JMA’s executive director. “Secretary Foxx has once again demonstrated the Obama Administration’s commitment to leveraging every opportunity to create good, middle-class jobs for all Americans,” said Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD). A commitment to U.S-made products is a commitment to creating U.S. jobs and improving the economy for some of America’s most excluded communities. According to a[ study](http://www.peri.umass.edu/fileadmin/pdf/published_study/PERI_Procurement_FullStudy_web.pdf) released by JMA and the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst), the mandatory minimum official domestic content requirements for buses and railcars purchased with taxpayer funds is only 40 percent of the value of a vehicle. The USEP was developed by a team of lawyers, researchers, business and labor leaders, in partnership with transit agencies such as LA Metro and the Chicago Transit Authority to help transit agencies maximize the jobs and economic impact of publicly funded train and bus purchases above the mandatory minimum. To date, the USEP has been included in requests for proposals issued by five major transportation agencies: Los Angeles Metro, Chicago Transit Authority, Maryland Transportation authority, the Metropolitan Council of Minneapolis-St Paul and Amtrak. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [CTA chooses manufacturer for newest-generation rail cars](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/cta-chooses-manufacturer-for-newest-generation-rail-cars/) **Published:** March 9, 2016 **Author:** Web **Content:** *CSR Sifang America proposal will create 170 jobs; Company will build new, $40 million assembly facility in Chicago* Chicago— The Chicago Transit Board today awarded a contract for the newest generation of CTA rail cars—the 7000-series—continuing the unprecedented modernization of the CTA under Mayor Rahm Emanuel while fostering economic development and job creation in Chicago. The new 7000-series rail cars—the largest rail car order in CTA history—will be built by CSR Sifang America JV, which as part of its winning bid has pledged to build a brand-new rail car assembly facility in Chicago – the first of its kind in 35 years. The facility is expected to generate 170 jobs, and represents an investment of $40 million. “With this agreement, CTA riders will get state-of-the-art rail cars and Chicago returns to our roots as the place where the next generation of rail cars are built, providing good jobs for our residents. That is a classic win-win for Chicago,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “This historic agreement was the result of strong collaboration between the City, our federal partners, the Chicago Federation of Labor, and Jobs to Move America, and I cannot thank them enough for their partnership in making it possible. Working together we will continue to bring more 21st century manufacturing jobs to Chicago while also building a modern CTA to help power our 21st century economy.” “Providing modern trains and buses is a critical part of having a world-class transit system,” said CTA President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. “This rail car purchase—the largest in CTA history—will give CTA one of the newest fleets in the United States and provide our customers with state-of-the-art trains providing comfortable, reliable rides.” In July 2014, Mayor Emanuel and the Chicago Federation of Labor announced a partnership to encourage the creation of U.S. manufacturing jobs, by working with CTA to include a “U.S. Employment” provision in the bids for the new 7000-series cars. The bid solicitation asked bidders to provide the number and type of new jobs they planned to create related to the production of the new rail cars, as well as an outline of their job recruitment and workforce training plans. CSR submitted the lowest bid of $1.309 billion for 846 railcars. CTA will purchase a base order of 400 cars first, with options to purchase the remainder in coming years. Prototype models are expected to be complete in 2019; following testing, the cars will go into service in 2020. The cars will be assembled in a new facility CSR plans to build in Chicago. CSR is one of the world’s largest rail-car manufacturers, and since 1962 has built more than 30,000 rail cars for more than 20 countries in Asia, South America and the Middle East. In the United States, CSR is building rail cars for Boston’s transit system. “It has been over 30 years since the last rail car rolled off the Pullman assembly line on Chicago’s Southside,” said Chicago Federation of Labor President Jorge Ramirez. “Today’s announcement is the culmination of nearly two years of collaboration with Mayor Emanuel to bring rail car manufacturing back to Chicago where it belongs. We commend the CTA for including the U.S. Employment Plan in this bid process, leading the way to high road manufacturing jobs, and thank Mayor Emanuel for his ongoing commitment to build a world class transit system.” “Chicago is a shining model for the rest of the nation, providing a blueprint for leveraging the billions of public transit dollars spent each year to bring back manufacturing, encourage investments in workforce training, and jobs for U.S. workers. We look forward to partnering with CSR to deliver a high road program that prioritizes the creation of career paths for Chicago’s low income and communities of color,” said Jobs to Move America National Policy Director Linda Nguyen Perez. The new rails cars will feature of mix of forward-facing and aisle-facing seats, a seating configuration designed to ensure customer comfort while maximizing passenger flow and capacity. The design was based on studies CTA conducted to solicit feedback from CTA riders on preferences related to seating and design— the first time the CTA has sought rider input on seating layout. The cars’ design will resemble the 5000-series, the CTA’s newest rail cars, with stainless steel bodies, LED lighting and signage, and AC power propulsion for a smoother, quieter ride. The cars will replace the oldest cars on the CTA system, some of which are more than 30 years old. Once delivery of the new rail cars is complete, the CTA will have its youngest rail fleet in decades—reducing the average age of CTA rail cars from 26 years in 2011 to 11 years when the 7000-series are delivered. The new rail cars are projected to save the CTA about $7M annually in reduced maintenance costs and reduced use of power. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Manufacturing --- ### [JMA statement on USDOT Ladders of Opportunity initiatives](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/jma-statement-on-usdot-ladders-of-opportunity-initiatives/) **Published:** March 31, 2016 **Author:** Web **Content:** Transportation is essential to every American’s life. Each day, millions of Americans rely on it to participate in society. For years, inequitable transportation infrastructure has separated communities along racial and economic lines. Transportation investment has historically resulted in few good manufacturing jobs for low-income communities, preventing them from accessing key economic opportunities. In an extraordinary move this month, US Department of Transportation (USDOT) Secretary Anthony Foxx began a national dialogue focused on the USDOT’s [Ladders of Opportunity](https://www.transportation.gov/opportunity) initiatives aimed at making our infrastructure more inclusive. The initiative empowers government officials and communities to “revitalize, connect, and create workforce opportunities that move more people into the middle class.” Jobs to Move America (JMA) applauds Secretary Foxx on this timely initiative to improve the economic opportunities of communities historically unable to improve their livelihoods due to among other things, lack of transportation options in their neighborhoods. Since its inception in 2013, JMA has pushed for expanding opportunities for people historically excluded from manufacturing in the transportation industry. JMA is doing this by using the [U.S. Employment Plan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resources/u-s-employment-plan-resources-2/) (USEP), a toolbox of policy resources transit agencies can include as part of their Request for Proposals to encourage bus and rail manufacturers to include the number of U.S. jobs they will create. Last month, Secretary Foxx sent a [letter](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/update-us-dept-of-transportation-secretary-foxx-to-transit-officials/) to transportation stakeholders that recognized the USEP as an innovative approach to using public transportation funds to create good jobs in the United States. To date, the U.S. Department of Transportation has approved requests by five large transit agencies using USEP: LA Metro, Chicago Transit Authority, Amtrak, Maryland Transportation Authority and the Metropolitan Council of Minneapolis, St Paul. In the latest success, the Chicago Transit Authority awarded a $1.3 billion contract to CSR America Incorporated, a company that adopted the USEP and committed to creating 169 jobs in Chicago’s South Side, as well as building a brand-new rail car assembly facility, the first of its kind in over three decades. The USEP has resulted in the building of new factories and job creation in several other neighborhoods across the country. A study by University of Massachusetts Amherst economists entitled *[“](http://www.peri.umass.edu/fileadmin/pdf/published_study/PERI_Procurement_FullStudy_web.pdf)*[Strengthening U.S. Manufacturing Through Public Procurement Policies”](http://www.peri.umass.edu/fileadmin/pdf/published_study/PERI_Procurement_FullStudy_web.pdf) supports this. The study recommends that transit agencies adopt innovative language in their contracts with bus and rail car manufacturers, such as the U.S. Employment Plan, to ensure that bidding on significant transit contracts creates more US jobs, training and apprenticeship opportunities and hires a diverse workforce. “JMA commends the Department of Transportation and the President for their leadership and commitment to creating a pathway that leads to better jobs and economic opportunities for underserved communities. The choices we make today affect future generations. Let’s work together to create a stronger, more connected community,” said JMA spokesperson Alaa Milbes. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation --- ### [Coalition to transit companies: create jobs with taxpayer-funded transit projects](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/coalition-to-transit-companies-create-jobs-with-taxpayer-funded-transit-projects/) **Published:** April 18, 2016 **Author:** Web **Content:** Los Angeles – On Tax Day, April 18, the Jobs to Move America (JMA) coalition – including community, labor, civil rights, academic, philanthropic and environmental groups – held an action in front of the offices of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority calling on companies bidding for LA Metro’s $1 billion contract for heavy railcars to commit to creating good U.S. jobs for taxpayers, who are fully funding the project. “With nearly 23 percent of Angelenos living in poverty, we need to utilize every opportunity to create jobs in the region. That’s why we’re working hard to ensure the billions of dollars being invested in transportation are creating jobs for our communities and improving livelihoods for workers across the country,” said JMA’s LA organizer Diego Janacua. The coalition called on all companies submitting a bid on the project, including the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation and Hyundai Rotem, both of which have demonstrated interest in the bid, to commit to creating good long-term jobs for U.S. workers. The group also called on the companies to commit to creating economic opportunities for workers historically excluded from manufacturing, including women, people of color and formerly incarcerated individuals. LA Metro is one of the first transit agencies whose Request for Proposals included innovative language developed by Jobs to Move America, called the U.S. Employment Plan, that incentivizes companies proposing to build taxpayer-funded transit vehicles to create U.S. jobs. The first contract was won by Kinkisharyo International and resulted in the creation of a new manufacturing facility for LA County and 235 jobs for people facing barriers to employment. **“Creating local good-paying jobs in Lancaster has had an important impact on our community. The majority of workers who were hired by the Kinkisharyo agreement reside in Lancaster. They now have good jobs close to home, spend their money locally and reinvest in our community,” said Lancaster Mayor Rex Parris.** To date, some of the largest transit agencies, including the Chicago Transit Agency and Amtrak, have adopted the U.S. Employment Plan and created hundreds of good jobs for U.S. workers. “I was having trouble finding a job because of past mistakes. The Jobs to Move America coalition gives people like me a second chance. I have now been working at Kinkisharyo for 1 and a half years and have a good job with affordable benefits,” said Vincent Louque, one of hundreds of workers who has benefited from Jobs to Move America’s U.S. Employment Plan **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Workforce Development --- ### [MTA commits to U.S. jobs with new $3.2 billion subway car purchase](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/mta-commits-to-u-s-jobs-with-new-3-2-billion-subway-car-purchase/) **Published:** July 26, 2016 **Author:** Web **Content:** New York – The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the upcoming purchase of 1025 subway cars, worth an estimated $3.2 billion, that prioritizes the creation and retention of good manufacturing jobs for U.S. workers. The bid will include a U.S. Employment Plan, developed by Jobs to Move America (JMA), which provides a broad range of incentives to encourage railcar and bus manufacturers to include a robust U.S. jobs program. According to research from the University of Massachusetts–Amherst, the MTA’s inclusion of the U.S. Employment Plan in its latest purchase could help support up to 33,165 U.S. jobs. It also means opportunities for communities that have long missed out on the benefits of transit investments, such as women and people of color. “Adopting this plan, which includes a jobs disclosure and evaluation tool for the purchase of these trains will not only improve New York’s transit system, it will also create good jobs and revive manufacturing in our communities that need it the most. JMA congratulates Governor Andrew Cuomo and the MTA on their commitment to economic development and job access for historically excluded communities,” said Linda Nguyen, deputy director at Jobs to Move America. A strong supporter of creating well-paying middle-class jobs in the transit sector, Senator Charles Schumer of New York said, “Creating good family-supporting jobs and improving our transit system is key to boosting livelihoods in New York. I commend the MTA, the Jobs to Move America coalition and others on their important work making this happen.” Jobs to Move America’s New York coalition, which includes the Transport Workers Union Local 100, Community Service Society, and Community Voices Heard, came together to encourage the MTA to adopt the U.S. Employment Plan. “The Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York is a massive economic engine that should be creating as many jobs as possible for American families,” said **John Samuelsen, executive vice president of Transport Workers Union of America and president of TWU Local 100.** “The inclusion of the U.S. Employment Plan in this railcar RFP is an extremely positive step in the right direction.” John Samuelsen has long advocated for the need to create good jobs for New Yorkers through initiatives like the U.S. Employment Plan. In an [opinion piece](http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/diaz-samuelsen-mta-rescue-suffering-workers-article-1.2710253) for the Daily News, President Samuelsen and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz encouraged the MTA to get on board with the JMA campaign. President Samuelsen’s involvement in campaign has been integral to JMA’s success in New York. Mario Cilento, president of the New York State AFL-CIO said, “This is a much-needed decision, as New York alone has lost roughly 320,000 manufacturing jobs over the last 15 years. And, 16 percent of New Yorkers are currently living in poverty. We applaud the MTA for recognizing the importance of solid middle-class job creation and retention while ensuring those job opportunities will be available to those who need them most.” **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Transit and labor leaders address the power of transportation investment to transform lives and communities](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/transit-and-labor-leaders-address-the-power-of-transportation-investment-to-transform-lives-and-communities/) **Published:** September 15, 2016 **Author:** Web **Content:** As transit agencies across the country aim to build and rebuild infrastructure, among the issues they face is finding qualified workers to fill positions produced by projects, said prominent transit officials and stakeholders at an industry forum on Monday. Good workers, in turn, can get the jobs and wages needed to boost local economies and neighborhoods. “We have, I think, a national emergency,” said Metro CEO Phillip Washington. “We need a qualified workforce to construct, maintain and operate the transportation infrastructure that we must build.” This and other related issues were discussed at the symposium “Transforming Lives and Communities: The Power of Transportation Investment” at the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) annual meeting at the JW Marriott in downtown Los Angeles. The event was organized by LA Metro, Jobs to Move America and APTA. Washington was joined by other leaders from public transit agencies, labor, business, philanthropy and community based organizations, as they shared their perspectives on how transportation investment can be a catalyst for growth, access and transformation for the 21st century and beyond. The panel was moderated by Dr. Beverly A. Scott, CEO, Beverly A. Scott Associates, Albany, Calif. Panelists included Dorval R. Cater, Jr., President, Chicago Transit Authority (CTA); Patrick J. Scully, Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Motor Coach Industries, Des Plaines, Ill.; Stephanie J. Jones, Senior Counselor to the Secretary and Chief Opportunities Officer, U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington D.C.; Amy Kenyon, Program Officer, Equitable Development of the Ford Foundation, New York; Elizabeth Bunn, Organizing Director, AFL-CIO, Washington D.C. and Kristian Mendoza, Kinkisharyo Palmdale facility. Again and again, officials pointed to the challenges involved in finding workers who could do the job – and way that agencies are dealing with it. In Chicago, for example, a program allows Chicago public school graduates who hold at least a B average to attend community college for two years for free. And CTA, like many other transit agencies, including Metro, offers internships and entry-level positions for promising young students. Among the goals is to expose inexperienced workers to the skills they will need to move forward with their lives. “The U.S. was hemorrhaging jobs, as the economy became more global,” said CTA’s Dorval Carter, Jr. “How do we bring those jobs back? How do we do it and provide inclusion? We need to provide pathways to long-term sustainable jobs. And we don’t want to have jobs in neighborhoods where people don’t see their neighbors. Our responsibility is to give back to the neighborhoods we serve.” Panelists agreed that the benefits of creating a qualified workforce goes well beyond just building new projects. Good jobs and pay flow can flow back to communities nationwide and help more people obtain property and the experience they need to compete in a global economy. “By doing this, we can help create a new middle class,” said Metro CEO Phil Washington. “This is not a social program. This is an economic development plan.” In 2012, Metro awarded a contract to light-rail car producer Kinkisharyo International after it committed to building a new manufacturing facility in L.A. County and creating 235 jobs that would be accessible to people facing barriers to employment. Kinkisharyo is producing four rail cars a month with that number rising to five cars per month later this year. Those rail cars are being added to the new Metro Gold Line and Expo Line extensions to make room for the influx of passengers. Kristian Mendoza, a panelist and employee of Kinkisharyo, explained how the U.S. Employment Plan has affected him and his co-workers at the Palmdale facility. “I’m a Marine vet and I had been out of work for two years. I was one of the first three people hired there,” Mendoza said. It was hard at first but Mendoza said the effort was worth it. “People working in the plant are now able to get affordable housing and take care of their families.” **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Workforce Development --- ### [Workforce development webinar educates bus manufacturers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/workforce-development-webinar-educates-bus-manufacturers/) **Published:** November 4, 2016 **Author:** Web **Content:** Los Angeles — Representatives of bus manufacturing companies joined community and labor groups on Thursday to learn about best practices in workforce development, achieving workforce diversity, and outreach to underserved workers in a webinar hosted by Jobs to Move America and its partners. Companies are preparing to submit proposals to LA Metro by November 18 for the compressed natural gas component of the Request for Proposals (RFP) and January 6th for the zero emission bus portion of the RFP. Five manufacturers are, competing for a multi-million dollar contract to manufacture up to 1000 CNG buses and up to 200 zero-emission buses to serve Los Angeles County. The agency’s RFP includes a local employment plan component that asks bidders to outline commitments to California jobs, diverse hiring, local facilities, and workforce training investments in California. If adopted, the plan has the potential to create or retain thousands of jobs for U.S. workers. The JMA webinar was designed to help manufacturers develop a competitive local employment plan proposals to respond to LA Metro’s RFP. The webinar featured local and national workforce development programs with presentations from the [Los Angeles Black Worker Center](http://lablackworkercenter.org/) and [PV Jobs](http://www.pvjobs.org/), the [California Labor Federation Workforce](http://calaborfed.org/workforce-and-economic-development-wed/) and Economic Development Program, [Transportation Learning Center](http://www.transportcenter.org/), and the [Keystone Development Partnership](http://www.kdpworks.org/). Their presentations shed light on the innovative ways to recruit more women, people of color and underrepresented groups to manufacturing while building career pathways and industry apprenticeship programs to ensure these workers are successful in building high-quality vehicles. “At a time when Los Angeles is prioritizing public transportation, we want to inspire companies competing to make LA’s buses commit to creating U.S. jobs and opportunities for underrepresented communities, including women and people of color,” said Jake Williams, Senior Workforce Development Coordinator at JMA. “Labor management training partnerships, like the Keystone Transit Career Ladder Partnership, have been a win-win for both workers and companies and I can’t say enough about the value of the labor management process to produce quality programs,” said Stuart Bass of the Keystone Development Partnership. **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing, Workforce Development --- ### [Chicago Federation of Labor and JMA receive $4 million award for workforce development in Chicago](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/chicago-federation-of-labor-and-jma-receive-4-million-award-for-workforce-development-in-chicago/) **Published:** December 20, 2016 **Author:** Web **Content:** The Chicago Federation of Labor Workforce and Community Initiative and Jobs to Move America (JMA) are excited to announce they were part of a team that has received a $4 million award to focus on manufacturing workforce development in Chicago. The America’s Promise Grant from the U.S. Department of Labor presents a unique opportunity to further the goals of JMA and the CFL Initiative by investing in recruitment and training in manufacturing for communities who need it the most. The grant will open the door to training for workers historically underrepresented in the manufacturing sector, including women, African-Americans, Latinos, veterans, formerly incarcerated and long-term unemployed individuals. The grant will serve over 700 people, helping approximately 75 percent of them receive training and good jobs at regional companies. The remaining 25 percent will be able to upgrade their skills on the job for a chance to advance in their careers. “We are doing more than simply administering job training. We are empowering workers that are traditionally undervalued by providing the 21st-century skills that are required for a sustainable, productive career in manufacturing. Moreover, through the America’s Promise Grant, Chicago is setting the precedent for collaborative and mutually beneficial partnerships between workers, employers and communities.” Jorge Ramirez, President of the CFL Initiative. The Calumet Manufacturing Initiative, which was awarded the grant, includes the Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center, the Calumet Area Industrial Commission, Daley College, Prairie State College, IBEW and SMART among others. JMA’s role in this grant includes sector strategy development, employer engagement, and career pathway development. “We are excited to be a partner of the Calumet Manufacturing Initiative and look forward to seeing this four-year investment result in a long-term change for the community,” said Jake Williams, Senior Workforce Development Coordinator for JMA. **Categories:** Labor, Workforce Development --- ### [‘Women Can Build’ photography exhibit highlights working women in U.S. manufacturing and transportation](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/women-can-build-photography-exhibit-highlighs-working-women-in-u-s-manufacturing-and-transportation/) **Published:** March 8, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** New York — In honor of Women’s History Month, [Jobs to Move America](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/) and the New York City Department of Transportation announced today the launch of the [*Women Can Build*](http://www.womencanbuild.org/) photography exhibit revealing the overlooked contributions of the skilled and hard-working women building our 21st Century transportation — including trams, rail, buses, bridges and roads. Making a strong visual statement, the *Women Can Build* photography exhibit will be running from March 8 – May 15 in the Financial District in two outdoor locations: 1) on DOT Art’s art display cases at Water Street and Gouveneur Lane and 2) at the corner of Water Street and Pearl Street. The exhibit features 16 “Modern Rosies,” taken by Pulitzer-Prize-winning photographer Deanne Fitzmaurice, in addition to historic photographs of WWII-era “Rosie the Riveter” manufacturing workers from the Library of Congress. Jobs to Move America started the project in 2015. “It is more important than ever for us to ensure women have good jobs and supportive work environments. Our aim with this show is to influence manufacturers to hire, train and retain more women in their factories, said **Madeline Janis, Executive Director of Jobs to Move America**. “DOT Art’s Art Display Case and the Jobs to Move America program together provide ideal ‘canvases’ to showcase the critical work that women in transportation do,” said **NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg**. “From Emily Roebling’s management of the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge to here at DOT, where three successive women Commissioners have led the agency since 1999, New York’s women have played a significant role in advancing our transportation. I am excited that New Yorkers will learn even more about the invaluable contribution women make to transportation — in a fun, engaging and compelling way.” “Women have helped shape our city’s infrastructure, and I am thrilled that this exhibit highlights these contributions in transportation, manufacturing and beyond,” **said New York State Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou**. “It is critical that we both continue to expose young women to diverse careers and industries, and stand for equal opportunities in the workplace. I commend DOT and Jobs to Move America for helping organize this photography exhibit in lower Manhattan.” “Celebrating Women’s History Month means fully valuing women workers. The *Women Can Build* photography exhibit re-envisions our historic image of Rosie the Riveter, working on 21st century infrastructure projects. These stunning images tell incredible stories of women in the labor movement, and demonstrate the critical, dynamic roles that women play in our workforce. Congratulations to the NYC Department of Transportation and Jobs to Move America on launching this wonderful exhibit,” said **NYC Council Member Helen Rosenthal, co-Chair of the NYC Council Women’s Caucus.** “The hard working woman of the transportation industry exemplifies what it means to help our City run. Without the contributions of these workers, the public transportation system that millions of people rely on today would not be available, and I hope this exhibits helps to inspire a new generation of transportation advocates, drivers and other professionals so we can continue to improve on what these great woman have built. I would like to thank Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, and all the organizations who supported this effort, to help us celebrate these woman during Women’s History Month,” said **NYC Council Member I. Daneek Miller, Chair of the Committee on Civil Service and Labor.** While significant progress has been made in the fight for gender equity, the exhibit calls attention to the great distance we still have to go. Advancing women’s economic empowerment requires a long-term commitment and broad approach to policies and programs that uplift women and remove barriers to opportunity. Although women serve as the primary or co-breadwinner in half of American families, they represent the majority of full-time workers earning poverty wages. For instance, one in four Latina women and nearly one in five Black women work full-time and earn less than $20,000 per year, below the federal poverty line for a family of four. The manufacturing industry is facing a severe skills gap, a problem compounded by an aging workforce. The *Women Can Build* project calls on companies to provide opportunities for women, especially women of color, by expanding their labor pool and opening up access to jobs by working with labor unions and community organizations specialized in workforce development, pre-apprenticeship, and apprenticeship training. Some of the women featured in the photo exhibit: **Elisangela Oliveira,** a bridge painter for the New York City Department of Transportation. “I’ve been doing this for 18 years, since I was 19-years-old. I started out in an apprenticeship program with the Bridge Painters Union, Local 806. After three years as an apprentice, I became a journeywoman, and then a forewoman. After that, I worked as a supervisor and in quality control. I did a lot of big jobs for many years. I believe that women can do anything. Whatever men can do, women can do. Women can build, and do things like paint bridges because we have the strength and the patience.” **Elizabeth Perry**, an electrical work leader at Alstom Transportation Inc., in Hornell, New York. Originally from Almond, New York, Elizabeth started out as a “cleaning lady” in 1986 and rose up the ranks to become an electrical work leader, focusing primarily on electrical work. Workers at the Hornell factory are members of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local Lodge 2471. **Anne Latham**, a manufacturing specialist at Alstom Transportation Inc., in Hornell, New York. Anne followed in her mother’s footsteps after graduating high school and began working at Alstom in 1988. She started out as a “cleaning lady” at the railcar manufacturing facility where she stripped down old rail cars. After a decade, Anne moved into the electrical field. “I am now in the retention warehouse and responsible for all the parts that are removed from the car in a rebuilding contract. I make sure they are ready to go back to the car when it’s time to rebuild.” **Categories:** Feminism, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Reagan vs. Cities: The 20th century battle over South African apartheid and lessons for the Trump era](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/reagan-vs-cities-the-20th-century-battle-over-south-african-apartheid-lessons-for-the-trump-era/) **Published:** June 27, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** On June 27, Jobs to Move America released a [report](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/research/reagan-vs-cities-20th-century-battle-south-african-apartheid-lessons-trump-era/) that pieces together the story of how cities and states joined the fight against apartheid in South Africa and how the Reagan administration sought to suppress those efforts. Between December 2016 and June 2017, JMA researchers combed through thousands of pages of documents—legal memos, policy guides, court briefings, and correspondence between corporations and the Reagan administration. JMA also investigated parallels between the Reagan era battles and current tensions between the federal government and cities and states. Finally, JMA examined the long-term effects of the Reagan era apartheid policies. The report details the [four tactics](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Reagan-vs.-Cities-Report_FINAL.pdf#page=24) used by the Reagan administration to stop anti-apartheid sanctions laws, including: 1. Adopting national policy to deter independent actions by Congress, cities and states. 2. Collaborating with the business lobby to oppose sanctions. 3. Interpreting federal law to justify withholding federal funding from cities and states adopting sanctions and divestment policies. 4. Actively organizing support for litigation to challenge city divestment and sanctions laws. **Categories:** Economy, Labor --- ### [JMA provides public comment on draft DOT strategic plan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/jma-provides-public-comment-on-draft-dot-strategic-plan/) **Published:** December 7, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** Jobs to Move America (JMA) respectfully submits the following comments to the US Department of Transportation (DOT) regarding the DOT’s strategic plan for FY 2018-2022 and Request for Public Comment, Docket Number DOT-OST-2009-0092. Jobs to Move America is a non-profit committed to harnessing government procurement to realize equity; to promote environmental sustainability; to further open, democratic government; and to achieve an inclusive, diverse workforce that lifts people into middle-class jobs. JMA applauds the DOT’s recognition of the importance of infrastructure investment and repair as part of its FY 2018-2022 Strategic Plan. In working to meet its strategic plan goals, JMA urges the DOT to ensure that local transportation agencies have maximum flexibility in using procurement as a strategic policy tool in local communities. The principle of federalism was a motivating factor in the creation and formulation of the Common Grant Rule (53 FR 8034-01), which is incorporated into the DOT’s own regulations, and promotes good policy through local experimentation and innovation. The DOT should promote innovative tools that help local transportation agencies fulfill their missions. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Manufacturing --- ### [Labor and community groups sign landmark agreement with electric bus manufacturer BYD in Los Angeles](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/labor-and-community-groups-sign-landmark-agreement-with-electric-bus-manufacturer-byd-in-los-angeles/) **Published:** July 17, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** *BYD, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of electric vehicles, commits to hiring 40 percent of its workers from populations facing significant barriers to employment, such as veterans, women, and African Americans*. Los Angeles – Jobs to Move America (JMA), a coalition of community-based groups and electric bus manufacturer BYD Motors, announced the signing of a landmark community benefits agreement (CBA) that will create pathways into the manufacturing industry for underrepresented and underserved populations in Los Angeles County. CBA’s are commonly associated with real estate projects, but through JMA’s work, are becoming a gold standard for communities seeking returns on their investment in new infrastructure projects. The CBA between JMA and BYD is a legally enforceable agreement that will support the creation of a robust U.S. jobs program through deep investments in pre-apprenticeship and training programs. BYD has committed to a goal of recruiting and hiring 40 percent of its workers from populations facing significant barriers to employment, such as veterans and returning citizens. In addition, populations that have historically been excluded from the manufacturing industry, such as women and African Americans will be also be recruited and placed. The agreement also includes commitments from BYD to work with the JMA coalition to provide support systems for these workers to strengthen retention efforts, such as providing transportation for workers who may not have access to a car. “Jobs to Move America commends BYD on its commitment to high-quality U.S. manufacturing jobs with support and access to women, communities of color and people with barriers to employment. For more than three years, we have worked with SMART and other coalition partners to develop a comprehensive agreement with BYD that ensures we maximize returns on our public transportation investments in the form of good living wage jobs for Angelenos and access for all. The electric bus industry is new to the U.S., so it is important that communities, unions, public officials and businesses work together to grow the industry responsibly and effectively. This agreement is one of many first steps to showing that we can embrace new technology and create good jobs for people in our region” said **Madeline Janis, Executive Director of Jobs to Move America**. “At BYD, our core values are about cleaning the air and creating great jobs in California,” added **Macy Neshati, Senior Vice President of BYD Heavy Industries**. “This commitment is the result of a collaborative process that brought community and business leaders together, and we’re proud to sign this important commitment to the BYD community. BYD is proud to be investing in good jobs, apprenticeship and training programs for the community, and continued growth. We look forward to working closely with the community to make it happen.” This agreement is critical to addressing long-standing inequities in the manufacturing industry, given that women and African Americans are underrepresented in the industry, and that returning citizens frequently face harmful stigmas when trying to find employment. Most of the jobs will be created in the City of Lancaster, where one of BYD’s facilities is located. “Lancaster has one of the largest re-entry populations in Los Angeles County. Ensuring returning citizens have a stable job with benefits is the best way to keep them from returning to the system. The City of Lancaster is looking forward to improving our community’s economy with quality manufacturing jobs. This important agreement between Jobs to Move America, SMART and BYD is proof that communities and businesses can work together to create better outcomes for our society,” said **Pastor Darrell Dorris, Deputy Mayor of Lancaster**. The agreement comes weeks after a successful “card-check” vote at the BYD factory in Lancaster, California, at which the employees voted to recognize SMART Local 105 as their official bargaining unit. “BYD is the only electric bus manufacturer with a workforce represented by a union, meaning workers will have a seat at the negotiating table around their wages, benefits, and working conditions. Now, as the only electric bus manufacturer with a bona fide Community Benefits Agreement, community will also have a seat at the table to make sure the county’s most struggling populations have a pathway into the middle class,” said **Luther Medina, President/Business Manager of SMART Local 105**. Some of the highlights of the agreement are: - BYD, the JMA coalition, SMART International, and SMART Local 105 will jointly create training and apprenticeship programs for frontline workers in the electric bus manufacturing and assembly industry. Technical training will consist of classroom and hands-on training in basic skills, precision metal work, electrical wiring and assembly of complex mechanical and electrical systems, among other skills. - BYD, the JMA coalition and SMART Local 105 will collaborate to develop a customized, pre-apprenticeship program that will help ensure the success of all workers, particularly disadvantaged workers, gearing them towards preparation of employment at BYD. The training will include life skills, language and mathematical literacy, and soft skills. - BYD will collaborate with the JMA coalition and SMART Local 105 to recruit and place workers that have historically not had access to the manufacturing industry, including women, African Americans, returning citizens, and veterans. BYD has committed to a goal of at least 40 percent of the eventual workforce being composed of workers in one or more of these groups. - BYD will collaborate with the JMA coalition and SMART Local 105 to identify and overcome barriers for workers to site access, such as providing shuttles, ride-sharing programs, or other services to overcome gaps in public transportation. **Categories:** Climate Change, Labor, Workforce Development --- ### [Trump administration drops local hire program that would have employed hundreds of thousands of workers in their own communities](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/trump-administration-drops-local-hire-program-that-would-have-employed-hundreds-of-thousands-of-workers-in-their-own-communities/) **Published:** August 24, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Transportation announced that effective tomorrow it will no longer support local hire programs in cities that receive federal grants. The DOT announced [this week](https://cms.dot.gov/regulations/august-2017-significant-rulemaking-report) that it is withdrawing a [proposed revision of a rule](https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-03-06/pdf/2015-05215.pdf#page=1) that – since 1988 – has prohibited the use of geographic preferences in the expenditure of federal grant funds. This change will go into effect on August 25. The proposed rule and accompanying local hire pilot program, originally drafted by the Obama administration in 2015, has allowed [cities receiving federal grant funds](https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/construction/cqit/sep14local_projects.cfm) to apply local hire policies to federally funded construction projects, so long as that language did not violate federal law. With this week’s announcement, the Trump DOT is officially signalling that it will no longer pursue that rule change. Madeline Janis, Executive Director of Jobs to Move America, said: “This administration’s withdrawal of support for local job creation directly contradicts President Trump’s stated commitment to creating good jobs for people in this country. Many Americans continue to suffer from poverty and inequality and desperately need the opportunities that are created by our federal infrastructure and transportation investments. Why not give local communities the opportunity to benefit from taxpayer investment?” “Local hire has allowed municipalities to use their own money to help employ people directly from their communities. It has been strategic for our elected leaders to say that they’re not going to raise our tax dollars for investments in capital projects without ensuring that persons facing significant barriers to employment get expanded access to good jobs and training opportunities,” said Erik Miller, Executive Director of Playa Vista Job Opportunities and Business Services (PVJOBS). PVJOBS was founded as a response to major developments in Playa Vista and, since its founding, has helped over 4,000 disadvantaged, local workers get into middle-class construction jobs on local projects funded in part through federal grants. Marvin Kropke, Business Manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 11 said that “IBEW Local 11 has created the largest certified electrician’s apprenticeship program in the country, opening up career-path construction jobs to 1,700 new workers from South Los Angeles to Long Beach. We have been able to do this in large part because of local hire programs that push contractors to recruit new workers from low-income communities. For an administration that talks about creating good infrastructure jobs, this move will have the opposite effect. LA workers may lose out on construction jobs they would have otherwise had access to.” This week’s withdrawal of support for the creation of local jobs in federally funded projects signals that the Trump administration is reverting to prior interpretations of federal rules, [forged under the Reagan administration](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/research/reagan-vs-cities-20th-century-battle-south-african-apartheid-lessons-trump-era/), that have found almost any effort to attach local jobs to construction contracts as a “burden” on competition and thus illegal. This interpretation arose out of the Reagan administration’s efforts to curtail local sanctions and divestment laws passed during the anti-apartheid era. Congress also recently signaled its opposition to the creation of good local jobs by dropping part of the 2017 appropriations bill that had been included in the federal budget since 2014, allowing federal DOT grant recipients to attach local hire to federally funded construction contracts. That provision, created in 2014 by Representative Karen Bass had been included as an [amendment](https://bass.house.gov/press-release/house-adopts-bass-amendment-allow-%E2%80%9Clocal-hire%E2%80%9D-policies-transit-agencies) to a Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill, that enabled local transit agencies to pursue local hire. That amendment was dropped from the [2017 continuing resolution](http://www.crfb.org/blogs/appropriations-watch-fy-2017) that funds the federal government through September 2017. **Categories:** Economy, Labor --- ### [After rally, LA Metro committee supports permanent jobs and equity policy, creating a pathway to 22,000 jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/after-rally-la-metro-committee-supports-permanent-jobs-and-equity-policy-creating-a-pathway-to-22000-jobs/) **Published:** January 18, 2018 **Author:** Web **Content:** Los Angeles – Following a rally with California Jobs to Move America in support of Metro Director and Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis’ motion to adopt a Permanent U.S. Employment Plan Policy for Metro bus and rail car purchase projects above $100 million, the motion was unanimously passed by the Metro Systems, Safety, Security, and Operations Committee. The Policy will now head to the full Metro Board for final adoption on January 25, 2018. “As the Secretary of Labor under President Obama, I have a deep and steadfast commitment to maximizing job creation and career development, with a special emphasis on providing employment to low-income residents and those facing barriers to employment,” said Supervisor Solis. “It is exciting to kick start this new year with new jobs for County residents. This policy helps achieve equitable outcomes throughout the region. Thank you to all of our partners for their tireless efforts to advance the quality of life for all Angelenos.” The policy will incentivize manufacturers seeking Metro contracts to prioritize job creation, partner with community organizations to implement workforce development and apprenticeship programs, and create pathways for historically underrepresented and excluded populations in the manufacturing industry. Individuals reintegrating into society after incarceration, veterans, single parents, low-income residents, recipients of public assistance, and individuals lacking a high school diploma or GED are among targeted groups the policy is expected to benefit. Motion co-author, Director Sheila Kuehl said, “Metro’s utilization of the USEP has put more than 400 people to work in the Antelope Valley, many of whom were struggling for various reasons to find a good job. A Permanent USEP policy is one of many strategies Metro can use to create pathways into the middle-class for single parents (most of whom are women), people being released from prison or jail, foster youth who are aging out of the County’s care, and others who face significant barriers to employment. I look forward to a lot more LA County success stories under this policy.” California Jobs to Move America is a coalition of labor, environmental, community, faith, and workforce development organizations. The speakers at today’s rally included Supervisor Solis; the Alliance for Community Transit LA; the Los Angeles Black Worker Center; the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 11; the Sierra Club; and a worker from the Kinkisahryo facility in Palmdale. The U.S. Employment Plan was co-developed by Metro, Jobs to Move America, the Brookings Institution, the University of Southern California, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. According to research from the University of Massachusetts–Amherst, Metro’s adoption of the U.S. Employment Plan on future bus and rail purchases along could support up to 22,051 jobs for its current fleet of 3,299 vehicles. “This policy offers a new vision for our economy and communities, one that has broad reaching benefits for our neighbors across the county. As other speakers have noted today, the U.S. Employment Plan works, and through strong, consistent implementation, can serve as a national model for creating a more inclusive economy with the tax dollars we already spend. We commend Supervisor Solis’ leadership on this important effort, as well as her co-authors’,” said Erika Thi Patterson, National Policy Director of Jobs to Move America. Terri Green, a member of the Black Worker Center, described the hardships that people who have barriers to employment often face: “Metro adopting a permanent U.S. Employment Plan policy could ensure that our transit investments generate good jobs and increased recruitment for workers of color, women, formerly incarcerated, veterans and other underrepresented communities.” **Categories:** Economy, Labor, Workforce Development --- ### [Gov. Cuomo and the New York MTA announce major victory for local communities and U.S. workers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/gov-cuomo-and-the-new-york-mta-announce-major-victory-for-local-communities-and-u-s-workers/) **Published:** January 24, 2018 **Author:** Web **Content:** New York – U.S. workers scored a major victory today. This victory was made possible by New York Metropolitan Authority’s (MTA’s) adoption of the U.S. Employment Plan (USEP), a nationwide initiative designed by Jobs to Move America (JMA) to drive up American manufacturing jobs. Today, Governor Cuomo and the New York Metropolitan Authority (MTA) approved a long-awaited award for the manufacturing of up to 1,000 new trains for New York City’s subway fleet. These trains will be built by U.S. workers and will support thousands of jobs for New Yorkers. The USEP used by MTA in its competitive bid process was crafted by JMA to provide a broad range of incentives for rail car manufacturers willing to create jobs in the United States. Kawasaki’s comprehensive plans to create quality, career paths and American jobs will be made public. The MTA approved a contract award to Kawasaki Heavy Industries valued at nearly $4 billion for the manufacture of subway cars. According to research from the University of Massachusetts–Amherst, the MTA’s inclusion of the U.S. Employment Plan for this purchase could help support up to 32,000 U.S. jobs across the economy. If done right, this could also mean opportunities for communities that have long missed out on the benefits of transit investments, such as women and people of color. **Jobs to Move America** “JMA congratulates Governor Cuomo and MTA staff on leading the country with the most robust adoption of the U.S. Employment Plan program in the nation. We expect commitments to include a plan to create good manufacturing jobs and hiring U.S. workers including those who are often left on the margins such as communities of color, women and people formerly incarcerated” said Jobs to Move America Deputy Director Linda Nguyen. **Transport Workers Union** “We’re thrilled.,” John Samuelsen, International President of the Transport Workers Union, said of the award. “The billions of dollars that transit agencies spend every year on new railcars and equipment should to every extent possible be used to create jobs for American families, not jobs overseas”. **Community Voices Heard** “We are very excited for a partnership where taxpayer investments bring family sustaining jobs to Yonkers. Our members look forward to partnering with Kawasaki to recruit and train a diverse workforce throughout Westchester, particularly in Black and Latinx communities. This is a great example of how labor, community and government can work together to provide vital opportunities for New Yorkers” said Afua Atta-Mensah, Esq., Executive Director of Community Voices Heard. **ALIGN: The Alliance for a Greater New York** “This is a historic moment for our City and State. This public contract for over 1,500 new subway cars is a really important investment in our crumbling infrastructure — one that provides crucial improvements to our subway system and creates good jobs for New York communities.” Maritza Silva-Farrell, Executive Director of ALIGN. **Categories:** Economy, Labor --- ### [A pathway to 22,000 jobs: LA County Metro Board unanimously approves first-of-its-kind good jobs policy](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/a-pathway-to-22000-jobs-la-county-metro-board-unanimously-approves-first-of-its-kind-good-jobs-policy/) **Published:** January 25, 2018 **Author:** Web **Content:** The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) Board of Directors unanimously adopted a motion to establish an agency-wide Good Jobs and Equity Policy that will cover billions of dollars of taxpayer-purchased trains, buses, and equipment today. The motion was introduced by Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis and included five co-authors from the Board: Los Angeles City Los Angeles City Mayor and Metro Chair Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, Councilmember Paul Krekorian, Duarte Mayor John Fasana, and Metro Director Jacqueline Dupont-Walker. Under this new policy, for future train, bus, and related equipment purchases, Metro will apply the U.S. Employment Plan to all projects above $100 million to incentivize companies bidding on Metro contracts to create and retain high-quality jobs, partner with community and labor organizations to apprenticeship programs, and hire individuals facing barriers to employment. “As the Secretary of Labor under President Obama, I have a deep and steadfast commitment to maximizing job creation and career development, with a special emphasis on providing employment to low-income residents and those facing barriers to employment said Los Angeles County Supervisor and Metro Board Member Hilda L. Solis. “It is exciting to kick start this new year with new jobs for County residents. This policy helps achieve equitable outcomes throughout the region. Thank you to our partners and the Metro Board for making this policy a reality.” Motion co-author and Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said, “I was very happy to see this motion pass unanimously today, as it builds on Metro’s work and takes our tax dollars even further by operating a robust transit system while creating middle-class jobs targeted specifically at our communities in greatest need.” When Metro piloted the USEP for a 2013 railcar contract with Kinkisharyo Ltd., the company committed to create 250 jobs — since then the company has since created 400 jobs in the City of Palmdale. The workforce is represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 11 and workers earn $21 an hour on average. According to research from the University of Massachusetts–Amherst, considering the value of Metro’s vehicle fleet and other manufactured equipment, this policy could generate tens of thousands of local jobs for years to come. “We can duplicate the successes we’ve seen in the Antelope Valley for workers around Los Angeles County and the rest of the country. Together we can make Los Angeles County a transit manufacturing hub, while providing pathways to good, family-sustaining jobs,” said Moises Hernandez of United Steelworkers Local 675. Remarking on the USEP’s emphasis on opportunities for returning citizens, veterans, single parents, and other groups facing challenges to obtaining gainful employment, Pastor Amos Young, Director of Community and Government Affairs for Project Caring and Sharing Family Services said, “This Good Jobs and Equity policy prioritizes workers who are facing multiple, significant barriers to employment. We look forward to continuing to work with Metro, and our coalition, to ensure that clients of PCS Family Services and job seekers who have difficulty securing employment, can benefit from these opportunities.” **Categories:** Economy, Labor --- ### [California Air Resources Board commits to zero emission buses and job creation in new rule](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/california-air-resources-board-commits-to-zero-emission-buses-and-job-creation-in-new-rule/) **Published:** December 17, 2018 **Author:** Web **Content:** Los Angeles – The California Air Resources Board voted on Friday to mandate that all transit agencies in California operate 100 percent zero emission transit buses by 2040, and to use this transition to invest in workforce development training programs in manufacturing, infrastructure installation, and maintenance. The [rule](https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/news/california-transitioning-all-electric-public-bus-fleet-2040), which includes language calling for good jobs and resolving to develop further workforce policies, was passed after years of advocacy from a broad coalition of labor, environmental and economic justice organizations including the United Steelworkers, Sierra Club, Earthjustice, Union of Concerned Scientists, American Lung Association, BlueGreen Alliance, Coalition for Clean Air, Jobs to Move America, CWA District 9, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 11, IBEW Local 569, and IBEW LMCC. According to research from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, if all of the buses purchased under this mandate were built in the U.S., this mandate could support up to 41,380 U.S. jobs. With policies such as the U.S. Employment Plan, California transit agencies will be able to incentivize bus companies to hire local workers as they transition to zero emission fleets. Such policies can also ensure historically excluded populations, including women and communities of color, have access to these jobs. “The passing of this rule is a huge win for many in our communities who, despite working hard for years, have been unable to benefit from the Silicon Valley tech boom and infrastructure investment. Not only will this rule reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but it also has the potential to create and support tens of thousands of jobs in our state,” said Abhilasha Bhola, Senior Policy Coordinator at Jobs to Move America. “We’re proud to be part of this effort to move California to 100 percent clean buses that includes smart policies to help spur the manufacturing of these buses and the technology that goes into them here in the United States,” said JB Tengco, West Coast Director for the BlueGreen Alliance. “This is another example of how we can achieve our goals tackling climate change and secure and create good-paying jobs for American workers at the same time.” **Categories:** Climate Change, Labor --- ### [ElectrifyNY coalition launches to fight for equitable electric transportation future](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/electrifyny-coalition-launches-to-fight-for-equitable-electric-transportation-future/) **Published:** April 30, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** New York – On April 25, ElectrifyNY, a new coalition of environmental justice, public transportation, public health, and good jobs advocates, launched its campaign for a clean, equitable electric transportation future for the state of New York. ElectrifyNY is calling on New York State to commit to a swift, just transition to a zero emissions transportation future for New York by 2040 – one that creates good jobs, centers environmental justice communities, and expands access to public transportation in underserved communities. ElectrifyNY is calling on the MTA to release a detailed plan and timeline for a 2040 all-electric fleet. The coalition will unveil a “municipal toolkit” to help transit agencies and officials harness electrification to create good jobs, bring environmental justice communities and frontline workers into the decision-making process, determine the principles of a just transition, shape key equity metrics, and meaningfully integrate community feedback to ensure transparency and public accountability. Transportation emissions comprise 34 percent of New York’s total greenhouse gas emissions. And yet, our state still lacks a coherent long-term plan to reduce transportation emissions in a manner consistent with the state’s broader climate goals. New York State is home to over 100 transportation agencies, including the largest in the nation, the Metropolitan Transit Authority. The MTA alone purchases 30 percent of all transportation vehicles in the country and emits more than half a million metric tons of greenhouse gases annually. In New York City, bus riders from low-income communities and communities of color account for 75 percent of total ridership. With nearly half of the MTA’s buses still burning diesel fuel, these riders are disproportionately impacted by the poor air quality and noxious emissions from diesel burning buses. After [a recent investigation](https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-metro-brooklyn-buses-old-rts-map-20190316-story.html) revealed that 75 percent of the MTA’s bus depots are located in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color and that neighborhoods like East New York and Brownsville are disproportionately serviced by the oldest buses, the MTA announced it would retire those buses by May. Earlier this year, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) mandated that all transit agencies in the state electrify public bus fleets by 2040. As the largest city in the U.S. with the largest public bus fleet, New York can follow suit and become a national leader, not only for electrifying transit, but for doing it the right way: centering environmental justice and good job creation to ensure a truly just transition for all New Yorkers. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Labor --- ### [New report: Clean air and good jobs are achievable if cities and states plan for it](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/new-report-clean-air-and-good-jobs-are-achievable-if-cities-and-states-plan-for-it/) **Published:** July 24, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** As policymakers and communities struggle with questions about how to clean our air and protect and create new jobs, a respected scientist from Jobs to Move America released a new report today, *“Transforming Transit, Realizing Opportunity”* that shows how those goals can be achieved. The report takes a comprehensive look at how cities can electrify public bus fleets to maximize benefits for the environment, public health, riders, workers, and communities. Through economic modeling and dozens of interviews with workers, leaders from public transit agencies, environmental and community-based organizations, the report offers a suite of policy recommendations that will enable agencies to center community health, climate solutions, and good job creation in their adoption of battery-electric bus technology and infrastructure. Notably, the report finds that full-scale electrification of public bus fleets in the U.S. could create at least 20,000 good American manufacturing jobs. “In pursuing the transition to BEBs and supporting the creation of direct and indirect green jobs, transit agencies can serve as a template for other government vehicle fleets to go electric,” writes Anand R. Gopal, Program Officer of the Environment Program at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, in the report’s preface. With zero tailpipe emissions and electric engines that are expected to require less maintenance over time, battery-electric bus technology is estimated to save cities and states costs over the course of their electrification programs. “At Jobs to Move America, we are committed to developing policies that work towards a healthier, cleaner environment without leaving frontline workers behind. This report is one example of how we can accomplish that goal,” says **Dr. Christy Veeder, National Program Director at Jobs to Move America and author of the report.** The report’s comprehensive policy recommendations will allow U.S. transit agencies to not only surmount the technical and financial hurdles that accompany a large-scale transition but to realize even greater health and economic benefits through bus electrification. Taken together, these recommendations will boost the capacity of cities and states to build clean, climate-safe infrastructure while safeguarding the livelihoods of all workers. “Bus mechanics and operators across America recognize the environmental benefits of expanding our transit systems’ electric bus fleets. Protecting and expanding job opportunities during this transition is essential to ensure that electric bus services reach their full potential. That is why we support proposals that ensure transit workers and their unions become partners with the agencies in identifying the new skills and training programs necessary to safely operate and maintain the new equipment,” said **Amalgamated Transit Union International President John Costa**. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Labor --- ### [JMA and Caltech celebrate International Women’s Day](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/jma-and-caltech-celebrate-international-womens-day/) **Published:** March 9, 2016 **Author:** Web **Content:** Pasadena—Jobs to Move America (JMA) teamed up with the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), to celebrate International Women’s Day. The event showcased the “Women Can Build” photography exhibit, which reveals the overlooked contributions of skilled and hard-working women who are building our buses and trains. In attendance were Caltech students, faculty, staff, and community members. The participants heard from two Caltech Professors, Azita Emami and Simona Bordoni, who commented on how women around the world are fighting for and achieving equal rights, equal pay and opportunity in the workplace. “It was hard to find female role models in engineering when I was growing up in Iran. In the United States, it has gotten better, but we still have a long way to go,” said Azita Emami, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Deputy Chair of Engineering and Applied Science at Caltech. “Most women don’t start with high salaries and are less likely to negotiate later in their careers. To truly address inequalities such as these, women and men need to work together,” she continued. The “Women Can Build” exhibit at the Caltech Student Services Building features 10 photos of modern “Rosies,” women across the nation who build trains and buses, taken by Pulitzer Prize-winner Deanne Fitzmaurice. “Rosie” comes from the term “Rosie the Riveter,” a cultural icon of the United States, representing women who worked manufacturing jobs in WWII, replacing men who were in the military. The photos tell positive stories of women’s aspirations and strength. They are set in the transportation and industrial contexts, with images of buses or railcars, factory assembly lines, train tracks, and transit stations or depots. JMA coalition first created this project in 2015 with funding from [several groups](http://www.womencanbuild.org/learn-more/sponsors/). The goal is to encourage manufacturers of buses and trains to increase opportunities for women and other workers historically excluded from this industry. “This project seeks to bring awareness to those women who work hard every day to ensure we are building U.S. buses and trains for future generations,” said Executive Director of JMA Madeline Janis. She continued, “We are thrilled to be working with Caltech.” “Connecting the Caltech community with a conversation about modern Rosie the Riveter and the broader implications of women’s equity around the world is an excellent way to kick off Women’s History Month, a celebration of the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women,” said Assistant Director of the Center for Diversity Erin-Kate Escobar The exhibit is set to run from Tuesday March 8, 2016 to Friday April 1, 2016. The sponsors of this event include the Caltech Center for Diversity and Caltech’s International Student Programs. For more information about “Women Can Build,” click [here](http://www.womencanbuild.org/). For more information about Caltech, click [here](http://www.caltech.edu/). **Categories:** Feminism, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Jobs to Move America launches as new national organization focused on economic opportunity in transportation](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/jobs-to-move-america-launches-as-new-national-organization-focused-on-economic-opportunity-in-transportation/) **Published:** March 3, 2016 **Author:** Web **Content:** Los Angeles — Jobs to Move America (JMA), an organization dedicated to advocating for good jobs in transit manufacturing announced its launch as an independent national non-profit organization. JMA, originally a national campaign nurtured at the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE), was created in 2013 to re-envision the potential for reviving U.S. manufacturing jobs for underserved communities via public transit. JMA piloted the U.S. Employment Plan, a policy tool, in LA and Chicago so transit agencies could enhance jobs and economic development related to public transportation investment. The success in both cities rapidly expanded into campaigns at other cities’ agencies across the nation. U.S. DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx recently released a [letter](http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/S10-160211-003_F.pdf) encouraging transportation stakeholders to use innovative contracting approaches – like the one developed by JMA – to leverage public funds to create jobs and opportunities for disadvantaged communities. “When we started JMA, we quickly realized that this was a movement that had national and global reach,” said Madeline Janis, Executive Director of Jobs to Move America. Janis, also a co-founder of LAANE, spoke admirably about LAANE. “LAANE fostered our growth and we are thrilled to be now coming into our own.” LAANE Executive Director Roxana Tynan commented, “We’re incredibly proud to have incubated JMA, whose grand vision and strategic work in L.A. will set a new national standard of good jobs for those building the rail cars and buses of our future.” “Our public transportation dollars really should ‘go the distance.’ The Federal Surface Transportation Act of 2015 provides more than $300 billion that can help regions around the country build cleaner public transit systems while creating a large number of good jobs. That’s the kind of forward-thinking approach local governments like Los Angeles County want to put in place,” said LA County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl. An opening reception will be held at JMA’s new national office based at the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI). “The LA Cleantech Incubator is thrilled to have JMA join us at the new La Kretz Innovation Campus as part of our growing Transportation Cluster. We look forward to working together to connect the expansion of public transit to economic development here in LA,” said Ben Stapleton, LACI’s Vice President of Facilities and Operations. --- ### [Nippon Sharyo Railcar Manufacturing Workers Ask OSHA to Investigate Dangerous Plant Conditions](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/press-release/nippon-sharyo-railcar-manufacturing-workers-ask-osha-to-investigate-dangerous-plant-conditions/) **Published:** November 10, 2014 **Author:** Web **Content:** On Monday, November 10, workers will speak out against dangerous and unhealthy conditions in the Nippon Sharyo passenger train factory in Rochelle, IL, and announce the filing of U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) complaint. Workers at the plant build railcars for Metra and other public transit agencies around the country. The workers will be joined by members of the Illinois Jobs to Move America coalition. The complaints show that Illinois workers building railcars for Nippon Sharyo are exposed to serious, unsafe conditions on an ongoing basis; including broken scaffolding that has caused worker falls and injuries, poor ventilation while working with chemicals, and unsafe train moving procedures. Welders in Nippon Sharyo’s Illinois factory are also worried about exposure to the same toxic chemical Erin Brockovich blew the whistle on – hexavalent chromium. Nippon Sharyo workers report they sometimes lack basic safety equipment like respirators, and that if they speak out about dangerous conditions or are injured on the job, they are disciplined or even fired. Nippon Sharyo received $4.7 million in grants, tax credits and training money from the State of Illinois to open the Rochelle factory, and the company has been awarded $1.3 billion worth of contracts with U.S. public transit agencies in the past six years. WHAT: Illinois Jobs to Move America coalition press conference to support Nippon Sharyo railcar manufacturing workers filing complaints of unhealthy and dangerous conditions WHEN: Monday, November 10, 2014, at 1:00 pm Central Time WHERE: Richard B. Ogilvie Transportation Center and Metra station, corner of W. Madison St. and N. Clinton St., Chicago, IL 60661 **WHO:** - Workers at the Nippon Sharyo factory in Rochelle, IL - Bob Reiter, Secretary -Treasurer, Chicago Federation of Labor - Susan Hurley, Executive Director, Chicago Jobs with Justice - Marsha Love, Program Development Manager, Occupational & Environmental Health & Safety Education & Research Center, University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health - Community members from the Illinois Jobs to Move America coalition **Categories:** Health & Safety --- ## In the News ### [Oral arguments end in Clay Micron environmental review lawsuit in New York State Court](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/oral-arguments-end-in-clay-micron-environmental-review-lawsuit-in-new-york-state-court/) **Published:** August 25, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Petitioners Jobs to Move America and Neighbors for a Better Micron argued that not enough is being done to address potentially harmful effects from Micron construction at White Pines Commerce Park in the Town of Clay, N.Y. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Health & Safety, Labor, Manufacturing, Transparency --- ### [Micron project neighbors ask judge for new environmental review](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/micron-project-neighbors-ask-judge-for-new-environmental-review/) **Published:** August 26, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The group Neighbors for a Better Micron believes Onondaga County and the state rushed its legally required environmental review of the project to ensure Micron didn’t take the project to another state. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Health & Safety, Labor, Manufacturing, Transparency --- ### [As Micron’s semiconductor project accelerates, community pushback persists](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/as-microns-semiconductor-project-accelerates-community-pushback-persists/) **Published:** August 19, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Just hours before January’s groundbreaking, Neighbors for a Better Micron, a coalition of local residents opposed to the plant, filed a lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court arguing the project’s final environmental impact statement failed to comply with the New York State Environmental Quality Review [Act](https://dec.ny.gov/regulatory/permits-licenses/seqr). --- ### [Micron's Memory Squeeze: When Physics Becomes the Business Plan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/microns-memory-squeeze-when-physics-becomes-the-business-plan/) **Published:** August 11, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Neighbors for a Better Micron and Jobs to Move America filed suit in Albany County Supreme Court seeking to overturn air and wastewater permits for the company’s planned $100 billion megafab in Clay, New York. The opposition is a reminder that industrial policy meets local politics at some point. --- ### [Micron's $100 Billion Safety Net Faces Its First Real Market Test](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/microns-100-billion-safety-net-faces-its-first-real-market-test/) **Published:** August 11, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The legal challenge underscores that the company’s growth ambitions face real-world obstacles. **Categories:** Economy --- ### [Lawsuit challenges air, water permits for Micron’s $100B Central NY project](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/lawsuit-challenges-air-water-permits-for-microns-100b-central-ny-project/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The lawsuit filed by Neighbors for a Better Micron asks an Albany Supreme Court judge to rescind an [air permit](https://idahobusinessreview.com/tag/air-permit/) issued by the state Department of Environmental Conservation to Micron as well as a [water permit](https://idahobusinessreview.com/tag/water-permit/) for [Onondaga County](https://idahobusinessreview.com/tag/onondaga-county/)‘s Oak Orchard Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant. **Categories:** Climate Change, Health & Safety, Manufacturing, Transparency --- ### [Commentary: Let's build the Micron plant right](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/commentary-lets-build-the-micron-plant-right/) **Published:** August 9, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Neighbors for a Better Micron member Timothy Roulan says the community deserves more accountability from Micron. [Commentary\_ Let’s build the Micron plant right](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Commentary_-Lets-build-the-Micron-plant-right.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Commentary_-Lets-build-the-Micron-plant-right.pdf) **Categories:** Economy, Health & Safety, Manufacturing, Transparency --- ### [Lawsuit claims Micron's $100 billion New York chip fab could discharge "forever chemicals" into the Oneida River](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/lawsuit-claims-microns-100-billion-new-york-chip-fab-could-discharge-forever-chemicals-into-the-oneida-river/) **Published:** August 4, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** PFAS exposure has been linked to cancer, reproductive problems, and weakened immune response --- ### [Lawsuit challenges Micron’s air, wastewater permits granted by NY](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/lawsuit-challenges-microns-air-wastewater-permits-granted-by-ny/) **Published:** August 1, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** A new lawsuit alleges that the permits issued for the sprawling [Micron Technology](https://www.syracuse.com/micron/) chipmaking complex in the town of Clay will allow Micron to pollute the air and water with toxic chemicals. **Categories:** Climate Change, Manufacturing, Transparency --- ### [Neighbors for a Better Micron calls for community benefits agreement](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/neighbors-for-a-better-micron-calls-for-community-benefits-agreement/) **Published:** July 30, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Micron’s planned development in Central New York has been promoted as a major economic boost expected to bring thousands of jobs. But a growing group of nearby residents says the project also needs safeguards for the people who already call the area home. **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing, Transparency --- ### [New York $100B project puts ‘forever chemicals’ on residents’ radar after lawsuit](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/new-york-100b-project-puts-forever-chemicals-on-residents-radar-after-lawsuit/) **Published:** August 7, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** A major legal challenge has emerged against the largest semiconductor manufacturing project in the United States over environmental safety concerns. --- ### [Some critics in LA say FIFA sponsors 'sportswashed' the World Cup and betrayed the city’s values](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/some-critics-in-la-say-fifa-sponsors-sportswashed-the-world-cup-and-betrayed-the-citys-values/) **Published:** July 15, 2026 **Author:** Troyla Washington **Content:** This summer’s [World Cup](https://laist.com/news/los-angeles-activities/world-cup-2026-your-la-guide) has been a bonanza for corporate sponsors. Hydration breaks are “powered by Powerade.” Each game crowns a Michelob Ultra “superior player of the match.” --- ### [“Hyundai Motor Underage Labor” Sparks Another Controversy…Protest Rally in Downtown on the 9th](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/hyundai-motor-underage-labor-sparks-another-controversyprotest-rally-in-downtown-on-the-9th/) **Published:** July 14, 2026 **Author:** Troyla Washington **Content:** Hyundai Motor Company, an official sponsor of the CONCACAF World Cup, has once again become embroiled in a controversy regarding the exploration of underage labor. --- ### [City & State NY First Read: New poll of Onondaga County voters on Micron](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/city-state-ny-first-read-new-poll-of-onondaga-county-voters-on-micron/) **Published:** July 13, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Seventy percent of registered Onondaga County voters support the forthcoming Micron chipmaking complex, but also want the company to be held legally accountable for the environmental consequences of its $100 billion megafab, a new survey commissioned by Jobs to Move America shows. [city and state micron poll](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/city-and-state-micron-poll.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/city-and-state-micron-poll.pdf) **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Health & Safety, Labor, Manufacturing, Transparency, Workforce Development --- ### [Guadalajara protesters accuse Hyundai of using World Cup to hide ‘dirty supply chain’](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/guadalajara-protesters-accuse-hyundai-of-using-world-cup-to-hide-dirty-supply-chain/) **Published:** July 2, 2026 **Author:** Troyla Washington **Content:** Communities, climate activists and workers took to the streets in Guadalajara to protest what they describe as ‘greenwashing through sports’ --- ### [Canadian lawyers urge crackdown over Alabama prison labour imports](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/canadian-lawyers-urge-crackdown-over-alabama-prison-labour-imports/) **Published:** June 29, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Excerpt:** "Those conditions amount to coercion that essentially pushes people into work release jobs and forces them to remain there," Meredith Stewart, litigation director with Jobs to Move America, told CBC News. **Content:** “Those conditions amount to coercion that essentially pushes people into work release jobs and forces them to remain there,” Meredith Stewart, litigation director with Jobs to Move America, told CBC News. The organization launched a lawsuit over prison labour goods getting into California. --- ### [Hyundai-Kia U.S. Supply Chain Named Among ‘Dirty Dozen’ Workplaces](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/hyundai-kia-u-s-supply-chain-named-among-dirty-dozen-workplaces/) **Published:** May 6, 2026 **Author:** Troyla Washington **Content:** **Hyundai-Kia U.S. Supply Chain** suppliers have been named among the nation’s worst workplaces, according to a labor safety report released Tuesday, highlighting concerns over worker safety, labor practices, and oversight within the automakers’ supplier network. --- ### [National COSH Reveals Dirty Dozen 2026: The Companies Putting Workers Most at Risk](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/national-cosh-reveals-dirty-dozen-2026-the-companies-putting-workers-most-at-risk/) **Published:** May 6, 2026 **Author:** Troyla Washington **Content:** On April 22, 2026, marking the beginning of Workers’ [Memorial Week](https://www.ishn.com/articles/115274-osha-honors-fallen-workers-with-2026-workers-memorial-day-events) the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) has released its 2026 Dirty Dozen report, identifying twelve companies that have put workers’ lives at risk through unsafe practices, inadequate protections, and systemic neglect. --- ### [OSHA has the rules to protect workers’ safety. Alabama needs enforcement: op-ed](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/osha-has-the-rules-to-protect-workers-safety-alabama-needs-enforcement-op-ed/) **Published:** May 6, 2026 **Author:** Troyla Washington **Content:** All workers, regardless of their job or workplace, should have the same basic expectation: they should be able to return home each day in the same condition as when they arrived at work. --- ### [Hyundai-Kia supply chain included in “Dirty Dozen” list of dangerous employers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/hyundai-kia-supply-chain-included-in-dirty-dozen-list-of-dangerous-employers/) **Published:** May 6, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** “I reported my injuries, but I was still required to work in pain for months before getting proper medical attention,” Hyundai employee Kissy Cox said in a statement released by Jobs to Move America alongside the report. “I have witnessed many of my coworkers are going through the same thing. The company says it’s a safe place to work, but the reality does not match what we experience.” **Categories:** Health & Safety, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [National COSH Names Annual Dirty Dozen Employers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/national-cosh-names-annual-dirty-dozen-employers/) **Published:** May 6, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Hyundai-Kia’s U.S. supply chain is featured in the organization’s 2026 “Dirty Dozen” findings, released during Workers’ Memorial Week, emphasizing the impact of reduced inspections and declining financial penalties on laborer safety. **Categories:** Health & Safety, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Hyundai US Supply Chain Workers Subject To 'Systemic Labor Exploitation': Report](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/hyundai-us-supply-chain-workers-subject-to-systemic-labor-exploitation-report/) **Published:** May 6, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Advocacy groups like the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health and Jobs to Move America, pointing to assorted allegations of labor abuses at these suppliers, argue Hyundai Motor ought to be responsible for the abuses within its supply chain. --- ### [Concerns grow over PFAS, water impact tied to Micron project](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/concerns-grow-over-pfas-water-impact-tied-to-micron-project/) **Published:** April 27, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Excerpt:** As Micron’s chip plant project moves forward in Clay, some neighbors are raising concerns about potential health and environmental risks. --- ### [Promises, not guarantees: Locals press Micron for legal commitment to green goals, new jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/promises-not-guarantees-locals-press-micron-for-legal-commitment-to-green-goals-new-jobs/) **Published:** March 23, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** As a child growing up in central New York, Bonita Siegel watched a major infrastructure project reshape the region in the 1960s. Most people cheered the Rust Belt city’s development. Decades later, Siegel wasn’t so sure. --- ### [Micron’s $100 billion New York semiconductor manufacturing project is facing local pushback](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/microns-100-billion-new-york-semiconductor-manufacturing-project-is-facing-local-pushback/) **Published:** March 16, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Lawsuit over Micron’s massive Syracuse project raises concerns about toxic risks and alleges a rushed environmental review. --- ### [Effort to Fast-Track Semiconductor Manufacturing Faces Community Pushback](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/effort-to-fast-track-semiconductor-manufacturing-faces-community-pushback/) **Published:** March 16, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Lawsuit over Micron’s massive Syracuse project raises concerns about toxic risks and alleges a rushed environmental review. --- ### [New coalition wants to hold Micron to their promises to CNY region](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/new-coalition-wants-to-hold-micron-to-their-promises-to-cny-region/) **Published:** February 4, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Excerpt:** A new coalition launched just days after Micron's groundbreaking in Clay, New York to ensure the company is held accountable to their commitments. **Content:** Micron’s arrival in upstate New York brings with it the promise of tens of thousands of jobs and economic growth throughout the region. Some community members, however, are wary of the massive chipmaker’s commitment to those promises. That’s why a new coalition launched just days after the groundbreaking to ensure Micron is held accountable to their commitments. **Categories:** Climate Change, Health & Safety, Labor, Manufacturing, Transparency --- ### [New coalition seeks stronger environmental and workforce commitments from Micron](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/new-coalition-seeks-stronger-environmental-and-workforce-commitments-from-micron/) **Published:** January 22, 2026 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Excerpt:** A new coalition of community organizations and environmental experts is calling on Micron to ensure Central New Yorkers see a return on the 20 billion dollars in taxpayer subsidies for the project. **Categories:** Climate Change, Health & Safety, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice, Transparency --- ### [Advocacy group sues Micron, planning boards, NYS DEC over Clay site environmental concerns](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/advocacy-group-sues-micron-planning-boards-nys-dec-over-clay-site-environmental-concerns/) **Published:** January 16, 2026 **Author:** Alaa Milbes **Content:** An advocacy group known as Jobs to Move America and a group of local residents have filed a lawsuit in New York State Court to try to block the construction of Micron Technology’s Facility in Clay, New York. --- ### [As officials celebrate Micron's groundbreaking, a new lawsuit says environmental review was rushed](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/as-officials-celebrate-microns-groundbreaking-a-new-lawsuit-says-environmental-review-was-rushed/) **Published:** January 19, 2026 **Author:** Alaa Milbes **Content:** Micron broke ground last week on its massive semiconductor chip-making facility in Onondaga County. But as work gets underway to clear trees from hundreds of acres of land in the Town of Clay, a lawsuit says the environmental review was rushed. --- ### [Micron Megafab Project Faces a New Hurdle as Activists Seek a Benefits Deal](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/micron-megafab-project-faces-a-new-hurdle-as-activists-seek-a-benefits-deal/) **Published:** January 21, 2026 **Author:** Alaa Milbes **Content:** **Activists are demanding a way to hold the memory-chip maker accountable to its promises to protect the environment and embrace communities of color in central New York.** --- ### [Hyundai Motor's Alabama suppliers use prison labor, affecting wages, worker safety: report](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/hyundai-motors-alabama-suppliers-use-prison-labor-affecting-wages-worker-safety-report/) **Published:** November 12, 2025 **Author:** Hailey Allen **Content:** [Hyundai Motor’s Alabama suppliers use prison labor, affecting wages, worker safety\_ report – The Korea Times](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Hyundai-Motors-Alabama-suppliers-use-prison-labor-affecting-wages-worker-safety_-report-The-Korea-Times.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Hyundai-Motors-Alabama-suppliers-use-prison-labor-affecting-wages-worker-safety_-report-The-Korea-Times.pdf) --- ### [Automotive giants sued over ‘unlawful and abusive’ Alabama labor practices](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/automotive-giants-sued-over-unlawful-and-abusive-alabama-labor-practices/) **Published:** November 13, 2025 **Author:** Hailey Allen **Content:** A California-based non-profit is filing a lawsuit against Hyundai and Kia over labor practices by auto suppliers in Alabama they say violate Golden State laws. Jobs to Move America (JMA), a progressive labor group, alleges that Hyundai and Kia are violating California’s Unfair Competition Law through “unconscionable labor practices.” --- ### [Nonprofit Sues Hyundai, Kia Over Allege Unfair Labor Practices](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/nonprofit-sues-hyundai-kia-over-allege-unfair-labor-practices/) **Published:** November 14, 2025 **Author:** Hailey Allen **Content:** A nonprofit organization Thursday sued Orange County-based carmakers Hyundai and Kia, alleging the companies have been violating state law against unfair competition with the use of exploited labor from children, immigrants and inmates. --- ### [Lawsuit filed against Hyundai and Kia over alleged “severe labor exploitation”](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/lawsuit-filed-against-hyundai-and-kia-over-alleged-severe-labor-exploitation-2/) **Published:** November 14, 2025 **Author:** Hailey Allen **Content:** [Lawsuit filed against Hyundai and Kia over alleged “severe labor exploitation”](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Lawsuit-filed-against-Hyundai-and-Kia-over-alleged-severe-labor-exploitation.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Lawsuit-filed-against-Hyundai-and-Kia-over-alleged-severe-labor-exploitation.pdf) --- ### [Hyundai, Kia Accused Of Employing Children As Young As 13](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/hyundai-kia-accused-of-employing-children-as-young-as-13/) **Published:** November 14, 2025 **Author:** Hailey Allen **Content:** PASADENA, CA — A nonprofit organization Thursday sued Orange County-based carmakers Hyundai and Kia, alleging the companies have been violating state law against unfair competition with the use of exploited labor from children, immigrants and inmates. --- ### [Hyundai and Kia Just Got Sued Over Allegations of Child Labor in Their U.S. Supply Chain](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/hyundai-and-kia-just-got-sued-over-allegations-of-child-labor-in-their-u-s-supply-chain/) **Published:** November 18, 2025 **Author:** Hailey Allen **Content:** [Hyundai and Kia Just Got Sued Over Allegations of Child Labor in Their U.S. Supply Chain – Autoblog](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Hyundai-and-Kia-Just-Got-Sued-Over-Allegations-of-Child-Labor-in-Their-U.S.-Supply-Chain-Autoblog.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Hyundai-and-Kia-Just-Got-Sued-Over-Allegations-of-Child-Labor-in-Their-U.S.-Supply-Chain-Autoblog.pdf) --- ### [Study: Prison labor could be suppressing Montgomery-area automotive wages](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/study-prison-labor-could-be-suppressing-montgomery-area-automotive-wages/) **Published:** November 20, 2025 **Author:** Hailey Allen **Content:** Mark Miller worked a dangerous job for more than four decades, but he said he’d never gotten hurt at work until his employment with an automotive supplier in Montgomery. In two years with the company, he broke his hand and four ribs in two separate accidents. Miller said he received no safety training before being charged with running production lines for vehicle consoles and dash components, and employees were constantly dodging forklifts whizzing by at full speed, carrying parts from trucks to assembly lines. --- ### [Behind Rising U.S. Sales, Hyundai and Kia Face Child Labor Allegations](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/behind-rising-u-s-sales-hyundai-and-kia-face-child-labor-allegations/) **Published:** November 14, 2025 **Author:** Hailey Allen **Content:** Hyundai Motor and Kia have been sued for allegedly certifying to California and other government agencies that their vehicles met federal labor standards despite illegal labor practices in their U.S. supply chain, including child labor and prison labor. --- ### [OFF THE RAILS: A report from Jobs to Move America and Cornell University’s Climate Jobs Institute calls out working conditions at MTA contractor Kawasaki’s railcar manufacturing facilities. ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/off-the-rails-a-report-from-jobs-to-move-america-and-cornell-universitys-climate-jobs-institute-calls-out-working-conditions-at-mta-contractor-kawasakis-railcar-manufacturing-f/) **Published:** September 30, 2025 **Author:** Hailey Allen **Content:** [Politico](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Politico-.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Politico-.pdf) --- ### [Workers who build NYC's subway cars face low pay, anti-union bosses, report alleges](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/workers-who-build-nycs-subway-cars-face-low-pay-anti-union-bosses-report-alleges/) **Published:** September 30, 2025 **Author:** Hailey Allen **Content:** [Workers who manufacture New York City’s new subway cars are paid less than the industry standard and face poor working conditions, contributing to rampant delays in the production of modern subway cars desperately needed by the MTA, according to report published Tuesday.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Workers-who-build-NYCs-subway-cars-face-low-pay-anti-union-bosses-report-alleges-Gothamist.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Workers-who-build-NYCs-subway-cars-face-low-pay-anti-union-bosses-report-alleges-Gothamist.pdf) --- ### [Midday News: Report Finds Poor Conditions Delaying MTA Train Deliveries, Subway Fare Moving to $3 in January, and We Catch Up on the Mayoral Race](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/midday-news-report-finds-poor-conditions-delaying-mta-train-deliveries-subway-fare-moving-to-3-in-january-and-we-catch-up-on-the-mayoral-race/) **Published:** September 30, 2025 **Author:** Hailey Allen **Content:** [A new report says unsafe working conditions at Kawasaki’s rail car plants in Nebraska and Yonkers are delaying train deliveries for the MTA. Meanwhile, the MTA board has approved a fare hike that will raise subway and bus rides to $3 starting in January, along with ending 30-day unlimited passes and coin payments on buses. In Queens, the proposed Metropolitan Park casino has advanced to a final review round, joining three other contenders for three downstate licenses. And with five weeks until Election Day, WNYC kicks off Campaign Catch Up with Ben Max to break down the latest developments in the mayoral race.Midday News\_ Report Finds Poor Conditions Delaying MTA Train Deliveries, Subway Fare Moving to $3 in January, and We Catch Up on the Mayoral Race \_ NYC NOW \_ WNYC](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Midday-News_-Report-Finds-Poor-Conditions-Delaying-MTA-Train-Deliveries-Subway-Fare-Moving-to-3-in-January-and-We-Catch-Up-on-the-Mayoral-Race-_-NYC-NOW-_-WNYC.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Midday-News_-Report-Finds-Poor-Conditions-Delaying-MTA-Train-Deliveries-Subway-Fare-Moving-to-3-in-January-and-We-Catch-Up-on-the-Mayoral-Race-_-NYC-NOW-_-WNYC.pdf) --- ### [AL Company Helping Distant Communities, But Neglecting Their Own. Community Coalition Wants To Change That.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/al-company-helping-distant-communities-but-neglecting-their-own-community-coalition-wants-to-change-that/) **Published:** September 23, 2025 **Author:** Hailey Allen **Content:** A new group called “[Good Neighbors Alabama](https://goodneighborsalabama.org/)” has been making quite a splash over the last few weeks since it was formed, particularly regarding their protest of an Alabama-based company’s treatment — or rather *mistreatment* — of its employees after a detailed and critical report was released by [Jobs To Move America](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/). According to their website, Good Neighbors Alabama is a coalition of “workers unions, advocacy groups, and community organizations who want more accountability for the big manufacturing companies in our state.” --- ### [Off the Rails: Inequality, Insecurity, and Unsafe Conditions at Kawasaki’s Yonkers Plant](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/off-the-rails-inequality-insecurity-and-unsafe-conditions-at-kawasakis-yonkers-plant/) **Published:** September 30, 2025 **Author:** Hailey Allen **Content:** [A newly released report from Jobs to Move America and Cornell University’s Climate Jobs Institute reveals troubling findings about working conditions at MTA contractor Kawasaki’s railcar manufacturing facilities in New York and Nebraska.Citing low pay, hazardous conditions and widespread experience of discrimination reported by workers ](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Off-the-Rails_-Inequality-Insecurity-and-Unsafe-Conditions-at-Kawasakis-Yonkers-Plant-_-Yonkers-Times.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Off-the-Rails_-Inequality-Insecurity-and-Unsafe-Conditions-at-Kawasakis-Yonkers-Plant-_-Yonkers-Times.pdf) --- ### [Coalition raises concerns surrounding manufacturer’s environmental, labor practices in small Alabama town](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/coalition-raises-concerns-surrounding-manufacturers-environmental-labor-practices-in-small-alabama-town/) **Published:** October 2, 2025 **Author:** Hailey Allen **Content:** A sign welcoming drivers to Tallassee, Alabama, calls the town a “Treasure on the Tallapoosa.” Members of a coalition of community, advocacy and labor organizations that held a press conference there recently would say they’re trying to keep it that way. --- ### [Kawasaki’s Yonkers Plant Among Facilities Cited for Low Wages and Safety Concerns](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/kawasakis-yonkers-plant-among-facilities-cited-for-low-wages-and-safety-concerns/) **Published:** October 1, 2025 **Author:** Hailey Allen **Content:** [For nearly 40 years, Kawasaki Heavy Industries has manufactured subway cars in a former Otis Elevator building, located in the heart of Yonkers since 1986, providing jobs for roughly 500 workers in a non-union facility. However, a study released on Tuesday September 30th, shows a different side of the Japanese conglomerate’s railcar facilities.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Kawasakis-Yonkers-Plant-Among-Facilities-Cited-for-Low-Wages-and-Safety-Concerns.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Kawasakis-Yonkers-Plant-Among-Facilities-Cited-for-Low-Wages-and-Safety-Concerns.pdf) --- ### [AL manufacturing company faces allegations of 'extreme conditions' at plant](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/al-manufacturing-company-faces-allegations-of-extreme-conditions-at-plant/) **Published:** September 24, 2025 **Author:** Hailey Allen **Content:** Labor rights activists and past employees of an Alabama water meter manufacturing plant are backing a new report that accuses the company of long hours, major injuries, unfair treatment and high levels of heavy metal waste disposal into the local environment. --- ### [Advocates demand Micron commit to worker and environmental protections](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/advocates-demand-micron-commit-to-worker-and-environmental-protections/) **Published:** June 26, 2025 **Author:** Hailey Allen **Content:** At a recent press conference, 16 organizations including Jobs to Move America delivered a petition demanding a 120-day public comment period on the recently released Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and unveiled a “Community Vision.” JMA’s Khadeejah Ahmad stressed that “Central New Yorkers deserve high-paying, family-sustaining jobs” and demanded workforce investment that prioritizes historically disadvantaged communities. --- ### [California lawsuit seeks to ban sale, marketing of Hyundai vehicles in the state until “unconscionable” labor practices end](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/california-lawsuit-seeks-to-ban-sale-marketing-of-hyundai-vehicles-in-the-state-until-unconscionable-labor-practices-end/) **Published:** November 13, 2025 **Author:** Hailey Allen **Content:** A lawsuit filed in California court is seeking to ban the sale of Hyundai vehicles in the state until the company’s labor practices are reformed. Jobs to Move America, a non-profit that advocates for quality jobs and “responsible” public investment, filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Thursday. Hyundai Motor America, Hyundai Motor Company, Hyundai Mobis, and Glovis America are all named as defendants, as well as Kia America and Kia Corporation. Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA), which is an electric vehicle manufacturing plant in Bryan County, is not named in the lawsuit, though Hyundai Motor Company is its parent company. --- ### [Work release programs depress wages at Hyundai suppliers, study suggests](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/work-release-programs-depress-wages-at-hyundai-suppliers-study-suggests-2/) **Published:** November 7, 2025 **Author:** Troyla Washington **Content:** “I got hurt on the job with my hand, snapped a bone,” Mark Miller said. “They bandaged me up, told me to keep working, so I did.” During a press conference on Thursday, Miller recounted his time participating in a work release program, describing a general lack of safety precautions, insufficient training, and the constant fear of being sent back to prison. --- ### [“Hyundai Calls It a ‘Clean Car,’ but the Production Remains Dirty” at the LA Auto Show](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/hyundai-calls-it-a-clean-car-but-the-production-remains-dirty-at-the-la-auto-show/) **Published:** November 24, 2025 **Author:** Troyla Washington **Content:** [“Hyundai Calls It a ‘Clean Car,’ but the Production Remains Dirty” at the LA Auto Show](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Hyundai-Calls-It-a-‘Clean-Car-but-the-Production-Remains-Dirty-at-the-LA-Auto-Show.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Hyundai-Calls-It-a-‘Clean-Car-but-the-Production-Remains-Dirty-at-the-LA-Auto-Show.pdf) --- ### [California Lawsuit Wants To Ban Hyundai And Kia Sales Over Child Labor Allegations](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/california-lawsuit-wants-to-ban-hyundai-and-kia-sales-over-child-labor-allegations/) **Published:** November 14, 2025 **Author:** Troyla Washington **Content:** [California Lawsuit Wants To Ban Hyundai And Kia Sales Over Child Labor Allegations | Carscoops](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/California-Lawsuit-Wants-To-Ban-Hyundai-And-Kia-Sales-Over-Child-Labor-Allegations-Carscoops.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/California-Lawsuit-Wants-To-Ban-Hyundai-And-Kia-Sales-Over-Child-Labor-Allegations-Carscoops.pdf) --- ### [Hyundai, Kia Sued for Alleged Child and Prison Labor at U.S. Supplier Plants](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/hyundai-kia-sued-for-alleged-child-and-prison-labor-at-u-s-supplier-plants/) **Published:** November 19, 2025 **Author:** Troyla Washington **Content:** [Hyundai, Kia Sued for Alleged Child and Prison Labor at U.S. Supplier Plants](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Hyundai-Kia-Sued-for-Alleged-Child-and-Prison-Labor-at-U.S.-Supplier-Plants.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Hyundai-Kia-Sued-for-Alleged-Child-and-Prison-Labor-at-U.S.-Supplier-Plants.pdf) --- ### [Labor lawsuit says O.C.-based Hyundai, Kia are exploiting children, immigrants, inmates](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/labor-lawsuit-says-o-c-based-hyundai-kia-are-exploiting-children-immigrants-inmates-2/) **Published:** November 14, 2025 **Author:** Hailey Allen **Content:** A nonprofit organization on Friday sued Orange County-based carmakers Hyundai and Kia, alleging the companies have been violating state law against unfair competition with the use of exploited labor from children, immigrants and inmates. --- ### [Labor lawsuit says O.C.-based Hyundai, Kia are exploiting children, immigrants, inmates](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/labor-lawsuit-says-o-c-based-hyundai-kia-are-exploiting-children-immigrants-inmates/) **Published:** November 14, 2025 **Author:** Hailey Allen **Content:** A nonprofit organization on Friday sued Orange County-based carmakers Hyundai and Kia, alleging the companies have been violating state law against unfair competition with the use of exploited labor from children, immigrants and inmates. --- ### [Metro can move forward on subway car plans ahead of Olympics after deal](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/metro-can-move-forward-on-subway-car-plans-ahead-of-olympics-after-deal/) **Published:** July 30, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** [Metro can move forward on subway car plans ahead of Olympics after deal – Los Angeles Times](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Metro-can-move-forward-on-subway-car-plans-ahead-of-Olympics-after-deal-Los-Angeles-Times.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Metro-can-move-forward-on-subway-car-plans-ahead-of-Olympics-after-deal-Los-Angeles-Times.pdf) View the article on the LA Times website[ here](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-07-29/metro-can-move-forward-on-subway-car-plans-ahead-of-olympics-after-deal). **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Transparency --- ### [How to Power Good Union Jobs in the Clean Energy Economy](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/how-to-power-good-union-jobs-in-the-clean-energy-economy/) **Published:** March 26, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Jobs to Move America and Tennessee for All are proud to play a role in holding corporations accountable through deep coalition building and meaningful policy change in a region that was built on the free labor of enslaved Black people, sustained after the Civil War by anti-union laws that disproportionately entrenched Black and Brown communities in a brutal cycle of poverty. --- ### [How Labor Unions Came to Define the L.A. Immigration Protests](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/how-labor-unions-came-to-define-the-l-a-immigration-protests/) **Published:** June 11, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Madeline Janis, who co-founded the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, helped drive the city’s metamorphosis into a Democratic-led municipality driven by immigrant-centered unions. She is now a co-director of Jobs to Move America, a nonprofit that works to raise labor standards on publicly supported projects. With patient organizing, she suggests, attitudes can change. **Categories:** Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [Dozens of Organizations Urge Senate to Vote No on Bad Budget Bill that Would Raise Costs for Americans, Increase Transportation Pollution](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/dozens-of-organizations-urge-senate-to-vote-no-on-bad-budget-bill-that-would-raise-costs-for-americans-increase-transportation-pollution/) **Published:** June 25, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Organizations including Jobs to Move America signed onto a letter against the recent budget reconcilliation bill in Congress that raises costs for American families, pollutes our communities, and eliminates hundreds of thousands of good-paying manufacturing jobs to deliver massive tax breaks for billionaires. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, JMA National, Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [We need more time to comment on Micron report](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/we-need-more-time-to-comment-on-micron-report/) **Published:** July 11, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Organizations including Jobs to Move America are calling for a longer, more inclusive review process for an environmental impact report released for Micron’s facility planned in Central New York. --- ### [Is AI coming for your job? Maybe. Here’s what to expect and how to prepare](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/is-ai-coming-for-your-job-maybe-heres-what-to-expect-and-how-to-prepare/) **Published:** May 23, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Will Tucker, Southern program director for [Jobs to Move America](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/region/southern/), a policy center that advocates for workers, said automation and offshoring have already harmed manufacturing-industry employees as companies search for the cheapest labor route. --- ### [As Trump remakes the federal government, what might that mean for Micron’s NY project?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/as-trump-remakes-the-federal-government-what-might-that-mean-for-microns-ny-project/) **Published:** March 10, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** “The vision for the CHIPS Act was to build our domestic semiconductor capacity while at the same time bringing good jobs to our communities,” said Khadeejah Ahmad, Syracuse organizing manager for Jobs to Move America. “Removing these types of requirements would only really benefit wealthy investors who will be pocketing the money via increased profits.” --- ### [Leveraging Public Funding to Strengthen Worker Protections](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/leveraging-public-funding-to-strengthen-worker-protections/) **Published:** February 19, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The successful union drive at New Flyer demonstrates how employers listen to their workers much better when their public funding is on the line. **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Celebrating the Black labor movement in America](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/celebrating-the-black-labor-movement-in-america/) **Published:** February 4, 2025 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Troy Washington, JMA’s Assistant Director for Media, joined CBS New York to discuss Black History Month and the role of Black workers in the labor movement. --- ### [New Coalition Calls for Justice in Lithium Valley Development](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/new-coalition-calls-for-justice-in-lithium-valley-development/) **Published:** December 4, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Excerpt:** Made Up of Environmental and Social Justice Organizations and Unions, Valle Unido Por Beneficios Comunitarios is Speaking Out on Behalf of Northend, Valley --- ### [What California and RFK Jr. have in common](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/what-california-and-rfk-jr-have-in-common/) **Published:** December 3, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Excerpt:** Valle Unido por Beneficios Comunitarios was mentioned in Politco's California Climate newsletter. --- ### [Alabama says they are safe enough for KFC, but too dangerous for parole](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/alabama-says-they-are-safe-enough-for-kfc-but-too-dangerous-for-parole/) **Published:** December 10, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** In a lawsuit in federal court, 10 current and former Alabama inmates are arguing that the state systemically denies parole to people on work release because the state benefits by keeping a big piece of each paycheck. **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Micron’s $6B CHIPS funding should have more strings attached, critics say](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/microns-6b-chips-funding-should-have-more-strings-attached-critics-say/) **Published:** December 12, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Jobs to Move America—who are part of the CNY Good Jobs for Equitable Access coalition organizing ahead of Micron’s New York construction—are concerned that Micron hasn’t been clear about what a “good job” is before moving into an area with “one of the highest poverty rates in the country.” **Categories:** Climate Change, Manufacturing, Transparency --- ### [Why 'Lithium Valley' holds clues for the country](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/why-lithium-valley-holds-clues-for-the-country/) **Published:** December 9, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** “Part of the unveiling of [the Valle Unido](https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-climate/2024/12/03/what-california-and-rfk-jr-have-in-common-00192498) coalition this week was a statement about community benefits, which the corporations have talked about doing in a voluntary way, and the community is demanding that that be mandatory. That need for it to be mandatory is a reflection of distrust.” **Categories:** Climate Change, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Imperial Valley residents launch coalition to demand accountability from lithium companies](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/imperial-valley-residents-launch-coalition-to-demand-accountability-from-lithium-companies/) **Published:** December 10, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Excerpt:** A new coalition is calling on Imperial Valley companies to make commitments to the community. --- ### [Lanzan líderes comunitarios nueva coalición](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/lanzan-lideres-comunitarios-nueva-coalicion/) **Published:** December 10, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Excerpt:** Valle Unido, una nueva coalición de grupos comunitarios, laborales y ambientales, hace un llamado a las empresas que buscan extraer litio a asumir compromisos vinculantes para un Valle del Litio. **Content:** Valle Unido, una nueva coalición de grupos comunitarios, laborales y ambientales, hace un llamado a las empresas que buscan extraer litio a asumir compromisos vinculantes para un Valle del Litio que garantice buenos empleos locales, protección contra daños ambientales y respeto por los derechos indígenas. **Categories:** Climate Change, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Labor advocates sue Metro over $730-million contract to build subway cars. Will it hurt Olympic planning?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/labor-advocates-sue-metro-over-730-million-contract-to-build-subway-cars-will-it-hurt-olympic-planning/) **Published:** September 16, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Excerpt:** Jobs to Move America is suing to force the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to rebid a $730-million order of subway cars. **Content:** [Will-lawsuit-over-contract-for-subway-cars-hurt-Olympic-planning\_-Los-Angeles-Times](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Will-lawsuit-over-contract-for-subway-cars-hurt-Olympic-planning_-Los-Angeles-Times.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Will-lawsuit-over-contract-for-subway-cars-hurt-Olympic-planning_-Los-Angeles-Times.pdf) **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Transparency --- ### [How Much Will the CHIPS Act Help the Workers Who Make Them?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/how-much-will-the-chips-act-help-the-workers-who-make-them/) **Published:** September 6, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Despite initially having high hopes, deputy director of Jobs to Move America Miranda Nelson expresses frustration with Commerce’s rollout of the CHIPS policy. **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [The Win for EV Workers in the South You Didn’t Hear About](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/the-win-for-ev-workers-in-the-south-you-didnt-hear-about/) **Published:** July 5, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The rapid road to contract ratification at New Flyer in Anniston, Alabama was made possible by a years-long campaign by CWA and a coalition of community groups including Jobs to Move America **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Birmingham Mayor Woodfin agrees to federal “Good Jobs Principles”](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/birmingham-mayor-woodfin-agrees-to-federal-good-jobs-principles/) **Published:** June 24, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Su also thanked “union leaders for showing up here and every single day” and said “Jobs to Move America and Alabama Arise both helped make this trip so rich and meaningful for me.” **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su visits New Flyer plant in Anniston](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/acting-secretary-of-labor-julie-su-visits-new-flyer-plant-in-anniston/) **Published:** June 24, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** New Flyer workers in Anniston unionized in January. The successful union card check followed a community benefits agreement brokered by Jobs to Move America which required New Flyer to be neutral and voluntarily recognize unions with majority support. **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice, Transparency --- ### [There’s Good News About the Labor Movement in the South](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/theres-good-news-about-the-labor-movement-in-the-south/) **Published:** May 20, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The Anniston factory was New Flyer’s only Deep South facility and therefore its last in the United States to unionize. The campaign took nearly 10 years; the ball got rolling after Jobs to Move America, an alt-labor and civil rights group in California, sued New Flyer for not reporting wages and benefits as required under its contract. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Workers at an electric bus plant in Anniston unionized and won double-digit raises](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/workers-at-an-electric-bus-plant-in-anniston-unionized-and-won-double-digit-raises/) **Published:** May 22, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The workers’ successful unionization and new contract comes after New Flyer signed a community benefits agreement with Jobs to Move America, a policy center focused on economic justice, as part of a lawsuit settlement in May 2022. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Another EV Factory Has Unionized Boosting Labor’s Push In US South](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/another-ev-factory-has-unionized-boosting-labors-push-in-us-south/) **Published:** May 16, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The roughly 600 workers at the New Flyer factory formed a union with the Communications Workers of America earlier this year, joining a string of US organizing victories at its parent NFI Group Inc., North America’s biggest manufacturer of transit buses. [Another EV Factory Has Unionized Boosting Labor’s Push In US South](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Another-EV-Factory-Has-Unionized-Boosting-Labors-Push-In-US-South.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Another-EV-Factory-Has-Unionized-Boosting-Labors-Push-In-US-South.pdf) **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Has Organized Labor Finally Cracked the South?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/has-organized-labor-finally-cracked-the-south/) **Published:** May 29, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** New Flyer ultimately reversed course in part because of a series of legal actions brought by a collection of labor groups led by the nonprofit pro-union group Jobs to Move America. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [New Flyer Workers in Anniston Successfully Unionize and Secure First Contract](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/new-flyer-workers-in-anniston-successfully-unionize-and-secure-first-contract/) **Published:** May 25, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** This milestone follows New Flyer’s signing of a community benefits agreement with Jobs to Move America in May 2022, as part of a lawsuit settlement. The agreement mandates the company to enhance Spanish language communications, establish a discrimination complaint system, and ensure that at least 45% of new hires come from historically disadvantaged groups. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [The Art of the Green New Deal](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/the-art-of-the-green-new-deal/) **Published:** May 19, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Jobs to Move America is pioneering an innovative labor strategy that turns public investments in green infrastructure and manufacturing into opportunities for union organizing and better working conditions. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### ['We're Gonna Win': Alabama Mercedes Workers Begin UAW Vote](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/were-gonna-win-alabama-mercedes-workers-begin-uaw-vote/) **Published:** May 14, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** A victory in the Southern state, said one organizer, “would show workers across all different industries that they can stand up together and fight for more.” **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Alabama Mercedes-Benz union vote underway: What’s at stake in this historic labor fight?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/alabama-mercedes-benz-union-vote-underway-whats-at-stake-in-this-historic-labor-fight/) **Published:** May 14, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Vote totals are expected to be available soon in the historic election that follows a whirlwind five months as union organizers signed up a majority of workers at the factory, which has been long resistant to union activity. **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Could the Union Victory at VW Set Off a Wave?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/could-the-union-victory-at-vw-set-off-a-wave/) **Published:** April 25, 2024 **Author:** Hailey Allen **Content:** By voting to join the United Automobile Workers, Volkswagen workers in Tennessee have given the union something it has never had: a factory-wide foothold at a major foreign automaker in the South. Madeline Janis, co-executive director of Jobs to Move America, said the momentum could travel beyond the auto industry to other manufacturers. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Biden Administration tweaks regulations for how states, cities can use federal funding](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/biden-administration-tweaks-regulations-for-how-states-cities-can-use-federal-funding/) **Published:** April 25, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Federal News Network’s Eric White spoke on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin with the assistant director for policy at the union-oriented Jobs to Move America, Valerie Lizarraga, about a recent update by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to the Uniform Grants Guidance. **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Why Philanthropy Must Support Labor Justice](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/why-philanthropy-must-support-labor-justice/) **Published:** April 19, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** [Jobs to Move America](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/) is advancing the community benefits agreement model, [worker standards boards](https://www.americanprogress.org/article/worker-boards-across-the-country-are-empowering-workers-and-implementing-workforce-standards-across-industries/), and other innovative tools that advance worker rights, good living wages, and green jobs where unions don’t exist *yet*. These models are built for real change and give an authentic voice to workers—especially Black workers. **Categories:** Racial Justice --- ### [Big Day for NLC and Municipal Governments: Final Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Uniform Grants Guidance Released](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/big-day-for-nlc-and-municipal-governments-final-office-of-management-and-budget-omb-uniform-grants-guidance-released/) **Published:** April 19, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The White House announced the final [Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Uniform Grants Guidance](https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/M-24-11-Revisions-to-2-CFR.pdf), which is designed to create a streamlined set of rules and regulations for federal grants that ensure. The announcement brings a big win for cities, towns and villages that receive federal grants in terms of how they can use federal funds. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [New York MTA Vendor Kawasaki Says Revealing Pay Data Could ‘Agitate’ Staff](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/new-york-mta-vendor-kawasaki-says-revealing-pay-data-could-agitate-staff/) **Published:** April 19, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA has filed a lawsuit against New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority for failing to release records about railcar vendor Kawasaki’s pay and benefits. Kawasaki agreed to a U.S. Employment Plan in 2018 when MTA awarded it a contract to build new subway cars for New York. Read more about the lawsuit in Bloomberg. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Manufacturing --- ### [Nearly Three Decades of Data on Women in Construction is Missing — Here’s How That Could Change](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/nearly-three-decades-of-data-on-women-in-construction-is-missing-heres-how-that-could-change/) **Published:** April 19, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** “We cannot count on any private company, which is focused on the bottom line to, on its own, implement these national priorities, like hiring more women,” said Madeline Janis, executive director of labor organization Jobs to Move America. “If there is not good reporting and follow up, there’s nothing.” **Categories:** Feminism, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Commentary: Green Transit, Green Jobs bill supports New York's goals for climate and economy](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/commentary-green-transit-green-jobs-bill-supports-new-yorks-goals-for-climate-and-economy/) **Published:** April 1, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The Green Transit, Green Jobs bill will help New York take a massive step toward a clean transportation sector while creating family-sustaining jobs for workers in communities that need them the most. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [JMA Mentioned on "El Genio Lucas" Radio Show](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/jma-mentioned-on-el-genio-lucas-radio-show/) **Published:** January 19, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA’s work in the South was mentioned on “El Genio Lucas,” a Spanish-language syndicated radio show that airs on more than 90 stations across the United States, Mexico, and Canada. [Patricia Genio Lucas23](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Patricia-Genio-Lucas23.m4a)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Patricia-Genio-Lucas23.m4a) **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [How Birmingham reflects an entwined struggle for civil and labor rights](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/how-birmingham-reflects-an-entwined-struggle-for-civil-and-labor-rights/) **Published:** March 14, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA Co-Executive Director Erica Iheme talks about how Black history is a history of labor rights in Alabama. **Categories:** Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [Labor leaders: Demand a better Micron deal](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/labor-leaders-demand-a-better-micron-deal/) **Published:** March 14, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Microchip companies seeking public funding from the CHIPS and Science Act need to do better in creating good jobs for local communities. **Categories:** Labor --- ### [A challenge to American business: fight for infrastructure spending, or suffer the consequences.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/a-challenge-to-american-business-fight-for-infrastructure-spending-or-suffer-the-consequences/) **Published:** May 21, 2019 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** With a $2 trillion infrastructure package on the line, businesses need to step up and fight for the common good in the form of public infrastructure spending — or suffer the consequences,” writes Madeline Janis, executive director of Jobs to Move America, in *Forbes*. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation --- ### [Administration scraps local-hiring plan for public works](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/administration-scraps-local-hiring-plan-for-public-works/) **Published:** August 24, 2017 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** “These huge public investments are an opportunity to create new pathways for people to gain skills and have jobs that aren’t minimum wage, that don’t require skills and don’t have a future,” said Madeline Janis, executive director of Jobs to Move America. “Eliminate local hiring programs and you cut off this huge potential method of dealing with the crisis we’re facing of low-wage jobs and inequality.” --- ### [USPS should seriously consider letting Milwaukee build its new mail trucks](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/usps-should-seriously-consider-letting-milwaukee-build-its-new-mail-trucks/) **Published:** September 9, 2016 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The Service and city government could work closely with REV Group to draft up a [jobs creation program similar to Jobs to Move America’s](https://nextcity.org/features/view/money-train) [U.S. Employment Plan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resources/u-s-employment-plan-resources-2/) (USEP). **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Manufacturing --- ### [Can Trump succeed where Reagan failed?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/can-trump-succeed-where-reagan-failed/) **Published:** June 30, 2017 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Determined to stamp out sanctuary cities, Trump and congressional Republicans plod on, but the anti-apartheid battles of the 1980s demonstrate that such movements are easily cowed by presidents. --- ### [A new divestment movement against Trump gears up](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/a-new-divestment-movement-against-trump-gears-up/) **Published:** June 21, 2017 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Jobs to Move America is releasing a report on June 27 that details this fight between Reagan and cities over apartheid and how it mirrors current battles with the Trump administration over issues like sanctuary status for immigrants. Two cities in particular tested Reagan back then—Baltimore and New York City—to somewhat mixed results. --- ### [How to keep the robots from taking our jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/how-to-keep-the-robots-from-taking-our-jobs/) **Published:** May 1, 2019 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** “Amid the public discussion of the changing nature of work and the possibility that computers and robots could displace more American workers, a crucial fact has largely escaped notice: Taxpayers are often subsidizing the transition to automation,” write Jose Garcia and Madeline Janis, executive director of Jobs to Move America, in *POLITICO.* --- ### [When cities fought the feds over apartheid](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/when-cities-fought-the-feds-over-apartheid/) **Published:** May 24, 2017 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Jobs to Move America researchers combed through thousands of pages of documents—legal memos, policy guidances, court briefings, and correspondence between companies and the Reagan administration—to piece together the story of how cities rose up against the federal government in joining the worldwide fight against apartheid in South Africa. --- ### [Amazon, union organizers face off again in Alabama](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/amazon-union-organizers-face-off-again-in-alabama/) **Published:** March 30, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Erica Iheme, deputy director of Jobs to Move America, said her organization honed its message from last year, going beyond pay. It visited barber shops, beauty shops and other places where Black residents frequented and distributed 6,000 flyers. **Categories:** Labor --- ### [Black American bus drivers at risk](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/black-american-bus-drivers-at-risk/) **Published:** May 1, 2020 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** “This pandemic has made it really clear we aren’t prepared for this crisis, just as we aren’t prepared for the climate crisis,” Miranda Nelson, NY director, said. **Categories:** Climate Change --- ### [Philly, L.A. transit agencies face questions over power plans](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/philly-l-a-transit-agencies-face-questions-over-power-plans/) **Published:** April 4, 2017 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The same week President Donald Trump signed an executive order designed to roll back Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan, climate activists in two cities on opposite sides of the United States were pressuring their transit agencies to think about how today’s investments will impact the adoption of renewable energy sources in the future. --- ### [Alabama’s corporate subsidies cost $4 billion over three decades, report says](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/alabamas-corporate-subsidies-cost-4-billion-over-three-decades-report-says/) **Published:** August 13, 2021 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Excerpt:** A report released Wednesday by Jobs to Move America calls Alabama’s system for corporate tax incentives “exactly the wrong way” to improve the state’s economy, citing $4 billion in giveaways between 1993 and 2020 with scant information about what taxpayers have received in return. **Categories:** Manufacturing, Transparency --- ### [A more inclusive Global Climate Action Summit can stop us from ‘losing Earth’](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/a-more-inclusive-global-climate-action-summit-can-stop-us-from-losing-earth/) **Published:** September 12, 2018 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Grassroots organizations, though under resourced, have been rolling up their sleeves to ensure that a transition from dirty to clean energy sources is fair and equitable. [Jobs to Move America](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/), for example, is working with labor partners in California to ensure that those manufacturing electric buses are paid living wages. --- ### [A huge EV factory is coming to west Tennessee. Here’s how locals are ensuring they benefit.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/a-huge-ev-factory-is-coming-to-west-tennessee-heres-how-locals-are-ensuring-they-benefit/) **Published:** January 17, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA’s Will Tucker talks about how the community benefits agreement approach to the transition to green energy can work in the growing “Battery Belt” in the South. **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Reclaiming the Progressive Potential of Procurement](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/reclaiming-the-progressive-potential-of-procurement/) **Published:** January 17, 2024 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** A longstanding misinterpretation of procurement law keeps cities and states from using federal money to advance local policy goals. JMA’s Madeline Janis and UCLA School of Law Professor of Legal Ethics Scott Cummings on how groups like our Local Opportunities Coalition are pushing the Biden admin to fix this. **Categories:** Climate Change, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Scraping Away the Anti-Worker, Anti-Racial Equity Vestiges of the Reagan Era](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/scraping-away-the-anti-worker-anti-racial-equity-vestiges-of-the-reagan-era/) **Published:** December 8, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Sarah Anderson writes about how outdated Uniform Guidance policies reinforce historic racial and economic inequities and what the Local Opportunities Coalition is doing to update them. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [U.A.W. Strike Gains Could Reverberate Far Beyond Autos](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/u-a-w-strike-gains-could-reverberate-far-beyond-autos/) **Published:** November 1, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA Co-Executive Director Madeline Janis offers some insight on UAW agreements and its effects on workers in the EV transition. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Worker Stories --- ### [UAW wins big concessions from Big Three. Are foreign automakers next?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/uaw-wins-big-concessions-from-big-three-are-foreign-automakers-next/) **Published:** November 1, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA Southern Program Director Will Tucker speaks on what the UAW agreements with the Big Three automakers mean for manufacturers looking to move to the South. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [UAW's record deal could boost others' wages as labor notches another victory](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/uaws-record-deal-could-boost-others-wages-as-labor-notches-another-victory/) **Published:** October 31, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA Senior Researcher Marcos Feldman speaks on what the UAW victories mean to non-union workers and wages. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Worker Stories --- ### [Ford’s U.A.W. Deal Will Raise Costs While Easing Labor Strife](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/fords-u-a-w-deal-will-raise-costs-while-easing-labor-strife/) **Published:** October 31, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA Co-Executive Director Madeline Janis remarks on what Ford’s agreement with UAW means for the rest of the EV industry. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Worker Stories --- ### [The South — and its batteries — looms over the UAW strike](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/the-south-and-its-batteries-looms-over-the-uaw-strike/) **Published:** October 10, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Excerpt:** As the bourgeoning "battery belt" in the South becomes central to the UAW strike, JMA Southern Program Director Will Tucker discussed the manufacturing landscape in the region. **Content:** As the bourgeoning “battery belt” in the South becomes central to the UAW strike, JMA Southern Program Director Will Tucker discussed the manufacturing landscape in the region. [EV-and-UAW-1](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/EV-and-UAW-1.pdf)[Download](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/EV-and-UAW-1.pdf) **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Trump and Biden's Michigan visits will present competing strategies for winning union voters](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/trump-and-bidens-michigan-visits-will-present-competing-strategies-for-winning-union-voters/) **Published:** October 4, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** As Republicans exploit the UAW strike, JMA Co-Executive Director Madeline Janis we need to focus on how the transition to electric vehicles affects workers. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [The car workers' strike in the US is stress-testing the idea that green change and good jobs go hand in hand](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/the-car-workers-strike-in-the-us-is-stress-testing-the-idea-that-green-change-and-good-jobs-go-hand-in-hand/) **Published:** September 25, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA Co-Executive Director Madeline Janis spoke to the Danish newspaper about the UAW strikes and U.S manufacturing. **Categories:** Climate Change, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [UAW strike exposes tensions between Biden’s goals of tackling climate change and supporting unions](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/uaw-strike-exposes-tensions-between-bidens-goals-of-tackling-climate-change-and-supporting-unions/) **Published:** September 18, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** In order to have a healthy economy, more people need to see themselves in jobs that help address climate change, says JMA Co-Executive Director Madeline Janis. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Battle Over Electric Vehicles Is Central to Auto Strike](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/battle-over-electric-vehicles-is-central-to-auto-strike/) **Published:** September 18, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The battle between UAW and Big 3 Automakers is a battle for setting the standards of the electric car industry. JMA’s Madeline Janis spoke about the set the importance of the UAW strike. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Opinion | Alabama improves transparency in Economic Tax Incentives](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/opinion-alabama-improves-transparency-in-economic-tax-incentives/) **Published:** June 13, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Tax incentives lure businesses to set up shop in the state in order to boost job creation. But we need more information on wages and benefits to ensure we are not giving taxpayers’ money to bad actors. This legislation is a step in the right direction. **Categories:** Transparency --- ### [Why The Assumption That Manufacturing Jobs Are "Good" Is Dead Wrong](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/why-the-assumption-that-manufacturing-jobs-are-good-is-dead-wrong/) **Published:** September 8, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** “Made in the U.S.A.” tells you nothing about the quality of jobs manufacturers are creating domestically. JMA Co-Executive Director Madeline Janis talks about the decline of U.S. manufacturing jobs, and how community benefits agreements and good policy can change this. **Categories:** Economy, Health & Safety, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [The Green Transit, Green Jobs bill can boost New York manufacturing](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/the-green-transit-green-jobs-bill-can-boost-new-york-manufacturing/) **Published:** September 15, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** New York can use its purchasing power to turn around a decadeslong decline in manufacturing with Green Transit, Green Jobs, which ensures that transit agencies, their unionized workforce, manufacturing workers and communities benefit from the transition to zero-emission buses. **Categories:** Climate Change, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Biden's Labor-Climate Dilemma](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/bidens-labor-climate-dilemma/) **Published:** September 15, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Excerpt:** It can be tricky balancing the needs of environmental groups and unions, but it can be done. JMA Co-Executive Director Madeline Janis spoke to the Atlantic's Steven Greenhouse about what the Biden administration can do to create good manufacturing jobs. **Content:** JMA Co-Executive Director Madeline Janis spoke to the Atlantic’s Steven Greenhouse about what the Biden administration can do to create good manufacturing jobs. **Categories:** Climate Change, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [US Clean Energy Projects Need Public Buy-in. Community Benefits Agreements Can Help](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/us-clean-energy-projects-need-public-buy-in-community-benefits-agreements-can-help/) **Published:** September 8, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The article mentions how JMA’s community benefits agreements and other project agreements can promote safe, equitable clean energy development and guaranteeing local benefits (like jobs and improved infrastructure) to garner support among nearby communities. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Alabama’s new transparency law is a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/alabamas-new-transparency-law-is-a-step-in-the-right-direction-but-more-needs-to-be-done-2/) **Published:** June 13, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The recently enacted Transparency in Incentives Act requires the state Department of Commerce to disclose online names of companies that receive economic development incentives. Up to this point, none of Alabama’s state subsidy programs were transparent, despite costing taxpayers billions of dollars. **Categories:** Transparency --- ### [Alabama’s new transparency law is a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/alabamas-new-transparency-law-is-a-step-in-the-right-direction-but-more-needs-to-be-done/) **Published:** June 13, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA’s Patricia Todd and Good Jobs First’s Kasia Tarczynska wrote about the Transparency in Incentives Act, which passed in the Alabama Legislature after years of pressure from advocates. **Categories:** Transparency --- ### [Guest opinion: Alabama improves transparency in economic tax incentives; more is needed](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/guest-opinion-alabama-improves-transparency-in-economic-tax-incentives-more-is-needed/) **Published:** June 13, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA’s Patricia Todd wrote about a bill that just passed in the Alabama Legislature that will improve transparency in state tax incentives. **Categories:** Transparency --- ### [OPINION: Racism is in the water in Jackson, but we can’t give up on the South](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/opinion-racism-is-in-the-water-in-jackson-but-we-cant-give-up-on-the-south/) **Published:** May 31, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA’s Angela Dawson, a life-long Mississippi resident, writes about the Jackson Water crisis and the inequalities of our infrastructure system. **Categories:** Health & Safety, Racial Justice --- ### [Winds of Change: Developing a Domestic Supply Chain & Good Jobs in the Offshore Wind Sector](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/winds-of-change-developing-a-domestic-supply-chain-good-jobs-in-the-offshore-wind-secto/) **Published:** May 25, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA’s New York Policy Manager Mo-Yain Tham wrote about how the booming offshore wind industry needs to create good jobs and center communities. **Categories:** Climate Change, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Green jobs must be good jobs. America’s investment in the energy transition should restore the pathway to the middle class](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/green-jobs-must-be-good-jobs-americas-investment-in-the-energy-transition-should-restore-the-pathway-to-the-middle-class/) **Published:** May 16, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** This piece in Fortune from Ford Foundation president Darren Walker mentions JMA’s CBA with New Flyer as an example of a creative solution to ensure that green jobs are good jobs. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Clean electric school buses are healthier for kids, but there could be a downside for workers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/clean-electric-school-buses-are-healthier-for-kids-but-there-could-be-a-downside-for-workers/) **Published:** May 16, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA’s Ian Elder discussed how the transition to electric school buses needs to protect workers. **Categories:** Climate Change, Labor --- ### [New public investments are creating new jobs. Let’s make sure they’re good ones.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/new-public-investments-are-creating-new-jobs-lets-make-sure-theyre-good-ones/) **Published:** May 12, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** In the Public Interest covered the essay JMA Co-Executive Director Madeline Janis co-wrote for the American Prospect about creating “industrial policy for all.” **Categories:** Economy, Health & Safety, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Will ‘Made in America’ Really Lead to Good Jobs?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/will-made-in-america-really-lead-to-good-jobs/) **Published:** May 1, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA’s Co-Executive Director Madeline Janis co-wrote this piece about what we haven’t done, and what we should do, to ensure that “new industrial strategy” actually benefits workers. **Categories:** Economy, Health & Safety, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Job Quality in Alabama and Mississippi’s Manufacturing Facilities](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/job-quality-in-alabama-and-mississippis-manufacturing-facilities/) **Published:** March 23, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA’s Angela Dawson talks about our recent report about manufacturing jobs in Alabama and Mississippi. **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Ensuring the Green Jobs are Good Jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/ensuring-the-green-jobs-are-good-jobs/) **Published:** March 23, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The issue is that despite this booming industrial development, communities in the South continue to be chronically [impoverished](https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/poverty-rate-by-state). Corporations take advantage of a system that includes some of the lowest wages in the nation, along with a relative lack of safe working conditions and training opportunities. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Southern labor ain’t cheap: It costs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/southern-labor-aint-cheap-it-costs/) **Published:** March 9, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** In our house, we believed that able-bodied men and women should work and become productive citizens in their communities. We believed that America owes each of its citizens an equal opportunity to get an education in order to prepare him or herself for the workplace. And, finally, we are convinced that when America pays its workers livable wages, families can thrive, businesses can grow, and our nation and economy is able to rise to unbelievable levels of sustainability. **Categories:** Health & Safety, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Mississippi manufacturing workers report low job quality](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/mississippi-manufacturing-workers-report-low-job-quality/) **Published:** March 3, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Policy center Jobs to Move America has polled manufacturing workers across Mississippi and Alabama to rate their satisfaction with their current job. Workers reported some of their needs are being met, but there are several areas that fall below what is desired in a quality job. Emily Erickson with the University of Warwick says those factors go beyond salaries and benefits. **Categories:** Health & Safety, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Reagan-era regulations hold back good jobs policies in states and cities](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/reagan-era-regulations-hold-back-good-jobs-policies-in-states-and-cities/) **Published:** February 24, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** New America discusses how Uniform Guidance regulations inhibit state and municipal efforts to support job quality and worker power through infrastructure spending, and how a coalition led by JMA is working to change this. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [A Closer Look at the Critical Minerals and Battery Components White Paper](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/a-closer-look-at-the-critical-minerals-and-battery-components-white-paper/) **Published:** January 25, 2023 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The Treasury and the IRS released a white paper previewing their tax guidance on the Inflation Reduction Act’s EV tax credits. JMA recommends attaching good jobs standards to the rules. **Categories:** Climate Change, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Editorial: Taxpayer money can build transit projects — and a stronger middle class. L.A. Metro shows how](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/editorial-taxpayer-money-can-build-transit-projects-and-a-stronger-middle-class-l-a-metro-shows-how/) **Published:** December 1, 2022 **Author:** Web **Content:** Taxpayers’ money should deliver the most good. We can build new transportation projects and propel entry-level workers into solid middle-class careers. Good for Metro for leading the way. --- ### [With the Environmental Bond Act’s Passage, Let’s Ensure the Green Transition Creates Good Jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/with-the-environmental-bond-acts-passage-lets-ensure-the-green-transition-creates-good-jobs/) **Published:** November 14, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA’s Farah Mehreen Ahmad wrote about what the passage of the Bond Act means for New York. **Categories:** Climate Change, Infrastructure/Transportation, Manufacturing --- ### [The Electric School Bus Is the Climate Hero We Need](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/the-electric-school-bus-is-the-climate-hero-we-need/) **Published:** November 10, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA California Director Héctor Huezo wrote the blog with Earthjustice’s Yasmine Agelidis how electric school buses are an opportunity to fight climate change, make healthy air for kids and create good jobs. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation --- ### [‘Made In America’ Should Not Mean ‘Made Under Injustice’](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/made-in-america-should-not-mean-made-under-injustice/) **Published:** October 7, 2022 **Author:** Web **Content:** The Biden administration is making historic investments in U.S. manufacturing–through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act, and by increasing domestic content requirements under Buy America laws. These investments are important, as the disappearance of U.S. manufacturing has caused unemployment and poverty in many communities. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Industrial Policy Without Industrial Unions](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/industrial-policy-without-industrial-unions/) **Published:** October 5, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Coalitions like Jobs to Move America are focused on winning community benefit agreements in places like Illinois, where labor and environmental groups are calling on Lion Electric to allow employees to decide on union representation. **Categories:** Climate Change, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Group calls for putting an end to alleged use of child labor at Hyundai suppliers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/group-calls-for-putting-an-end-to-alleged-use-of-child-labor-at-hyundai-suppliers/) **Published:** September 26, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA is part of group of 24 regional and national labor, community, civil rights, faith and environmental justice groups calling on Hyundai to ensure that child labor is not being used in any of its supplier plants, as reports of the practice are being investigated. **Categories:** Health & Safety, Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [Minimum wage debate continues in Alabama](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/minimum-wage-debate-continues-in-alabama/) **Published:** September 6, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA Southern Policy Manager and former Alabama State Representative Patricia Todd weighed in on Alabama’s $7.25 minimum wage. **Categories:** Economy, Labor --- ### [U.S. Secretary of Labor makes visit in Capital City to discuss ways to improve work conditions in the Magnolia State](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/u-s-secretary-of-labor-makes-visit-in-capital-city-to-discuss-ways-to-improve-work-conditions-in-the-magnolia-state/) **Published:** July 1, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Marty Walsh visited Jackson State University (JSU) on Thursday, June 30 for a panel with labor officials and community organizers. **Categories:** Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [DOE: Here’s what’s happened to EV, renewable, fossil jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/doe-heres-whats-happened-to-ev-renewable-fossil-jobs/) **Published:** June 28, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Jobs to Move America expressed concern over the patchy levels of diversity in clean energy industries, “especially for people of color and women.” **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Manufacturing, Racial Justice, Workforce Development --- ### [Empowering Cities to Use Federal Funds to Create Local Jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/empowering-cities-to-use-federal-funds-to-create-local-jobs/) **Published:** June 7, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** As the Biden administration begins to distribute infrastructure funding to states and cities, elected officials and contracting agencies will play a key role in using this money to create good-paying jobs for their communities. But one federal regulation is standing in the way of local economic prosperity. **Categories:** Climate Change, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [In the Public Interest newsletter 5/31/22](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/in-the-public-interest-newsletter-5-31-22/) **Published:** June 3, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** In a major development with nationwide implications for fair employment and fair contracting, New Flyer, one of the U.S.’s largest bus manufacturers “has agreed to hire and promote more women and racial minorities, a deal that worker advocates say is a model for ensuring that federal funds to replace diesel buses with battery-powered buses boosts workers in struggling communities.” **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Building Our New Electric Fleet](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/building-our-new-electric-fleet/) **Published:** June 2, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** An activist group prevailed on a major bus manufacturer to hire its workers from local, historically disadvantaged communities. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [JMA Press Conference: 1st multi-state Community Benefits Agreement signed](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/jma-press-conference-1st-multi-state-community-benefits-agreement-signed/) **Published:** June 2, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Jobs to Move America, Greater Birmingham Ministries, and New Flyer of America Inc. – the largest bus manufacturer in North America and leader in electric buses – have announced a multi-state agreement to support workers and local communities surrounding certain New Flyer **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [LA Metro-Contracted Bus Co. Settles Wage Fraud Suit For $7M](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/la-metro-contracted-bus-co-settles-wage-fraud-suit-for-7m/) **Published:** June 2, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** A bus company has agreed to pay $7 million and promised to hire and promote marginalized employees after it was sued for failing to meet wage and benefit standards. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice, Transparency --- ### [Labor leaders hail bus maker pact to hire more women, minority workers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/labor-leaders-hail-bus-maker-pact-to-hire-more-women-minority-workers-2/) **Published:** June 2, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The deal comes as transit agencies are set to receive billions from last year’s infrastructure package to transition bus fleets to battery power **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Landmark Community Benefits Agreement with New Flyer Will Lift Workers in Two States](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/landmark-community-benefits-agreement-with-new-flyer-will-lift-workers-in-two-states/) **Published:** June 1, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Jobs to Move America—which calls itself a “strategic policy center”—announced a landmark labor agreement on Thursday that seeks to create better jobs, increased opportunities, and greater diversity at New Flyer, North America’s largest producer of buses and also a major producer of electric buses. **Categories:** Health & Safety, Infrastructure/Transportation, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Labor leaders hail bus maker pact to hire more women, minority workers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/labor-leaders-hail-bus-maker-pact-to-hire-more-women-minority-workers/) **Published:** May 26, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** One of the nation’s largest bus manufacturers has agreed to hire and promote more women and racial minorities, a dealthat worker advocates say is a model for ensuring that federal funds to replace diesel buses with battery-powered buses boosts workers in struggling communities. **Categories:** Health & Safety, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice, Transparency, Workforce Development --- ### [Jobs from Washington’s big infrastructure law will be ‘more fairly distributed’ thanks to this one provision, advocates say](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/jobs-from-washingtons-big-infrastructure-law-will-be-more-fairly-distributed-thanks-to-this-one-provision-advocates-say/) **Published:** May 27, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Washington’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure law includes a provision allowing states and localities to do targeted hiring of local people and certain marginalized groups — language that’s critical, its supporters say, be“Congress, when they passed the infrastructure bill, took the really important step of clarifying into law that cities and states, when they’re doing transportation projects, are allowed to hire local people from communities where the projects are happening,” said Miranda Nelson, the national program director for Jobs to Move America, which was among the progressive groups that lobbied for such provisions. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Racial Justice --- ### [BYD Motors Signs Community Benefits Agreement with SMART Local 105 and JMA](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/byd-motors-signs-community-benefits-agreement-with-smart-local-105-and-jma/) **Published:** July 17, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** This agreement is critical to addressing long-standing inequities in the manufacturing industry, given that women and African Americans are underrepresented in the industry, and that returning citizens frequently face harmful stigmas when trying to find employment. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Electric Bus Makers Pave the Way to Union Jobs for Disadvantaged Workers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/electric-bus-makers-pave-the-way-to-union-jobs-for-disadvantaged-workers/) **Published:** April 27, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The program at Proterra is the fruit of a community benefit agreement (CBA) between the company, United Steelworkers Local 675 and the Jobs to Move America **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice, Worker Stories, Workforce Development --- ### [Pace piggybacks on Georgia e-bus order, approves Homewood facility upgrade funding](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/pace-piggybacks-on-georgia-e-bus-order-approves-homewood-facility-upgrade-funding/) **Published:** April 27, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Marcos Feldman, senior researcher for Jobs to Move America, argued that, in the interest of ensuring job opportunities and economic benefits for marginalized communities, Pace should bid the project out. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [This Woman’s Work](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/this-womans-work/) **Published:** March 30, 2022 **Author:** Web **Content:** Recently, I caught up with Erica Iheme, one of the leaders at Jobs to Move America (JMA). JMA is helping to coordinate the [“Bamazon” union organizing campaign](https://bamazonunion.org/) alongside RWDSU. JMA is a policy center that focuses on comprehensive public spending reform using a racial and economic justice lens. The organization has operations across the country, but their work in the South is especially critical at a time where we are witnessing generational investments in infrastructure and jobs. Erica and I discussed what a win like the Amazon warehouse workers campaign could mean for the workers and communities in Bessemer and across the region. **Categories:** Climate Change, Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [In Bessemer and the South, Black Workers Hold the Key](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/in-bessemer-and-the-south-black-workers-hold-the-key/) **Published:** February 23, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Erica Iheme, a Birmingham-based organizer with the economic justice advocacy group Jobs to Move America, said that Amazon takes advantage of patterns set in the Jim Crow era. **Categories:** Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits supports Amazon workers’ unionization drive](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/alabama-coalition-for-community-benefits-supports-amazon-workers-unionization-drive/) **Published:** February 15, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The union election is being rerun because a federal ruling found that Amazon’s misconduct tainted the outcome of the first election. --- ### [CBA proponents here seeking first win](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/cba-proponents-here-seeking-first-win/) **Published:** January 31, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** One of the architects of a [groundbreaking 2001 CBA for the Staples Center in Los Angeles](https://www.forworkingfamilies.org/resources/staples-cba) was a community activist and attorney named Madeline Janis, now executive director of[ Jobs to Move America](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/), which advocates for investment in public transportation projects. --- ### [Green New Deal or Stale Old Tax-Break Scam? Getting Electric Vehicle Incentives Right](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/green-new-deal-or-stale-old-tax-break-scam-getting-electric-vehicle-incentives-right/) **Published:** February 8, 2022 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Jobs to Move America’s U.S. Employment Plan is mentioned as a way to build good jobs and equity into the public purchasing process. --- ### [Looking for work? What Biden’s infrastructure bill could mean for California job seekers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/looking-for-work-what-bidens-infrastructure-bill-could-mean-for-california-job-seekers/) **Published:** November 19, 2021 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** JMA is mentioned in this article about the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Workforce Development --- ### [U.S. School Buses May Never Be The Same Thanks to Biden’s Infrastructure Plan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/u-s-school-buses-may-never-be-the-same-thanks-to-bidens-infrastructure-plan/) **Published:** November 19, 2021 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The article highlights JMA’s work with allies Chispa and Sierra Club in advocating for electric school buses as well as putting a spotlight on UAW members at school bus factories in North Carolina and Oklahoma. **Categories:** Climate Change, Health & Safety, Manufacturing --- ### [American workers throw NFI under the bus](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/american-workers-throw-nfi-under-the-bus/) **Published:** November 5, 2021 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Company, CEO dispute claims of racism, bias **Categories:** Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Now is the Time to Unleash the Power of Cities and States to Build Back Better](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/now-is-the-time-to-unleash-the-power-of-cities-and-states-to-build-back-better/) **Published:** November 1, 2021 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** The bipartisan infrastructure bill currently in Congress presents an opportunity to rebuild from the pandemic and prepare for the worsening climate crisis. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Virtual event to focus on labor rights in the South](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/virtual-event-to-focus-on-labor-rights-in-the-south/) **Published:** October 27, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** An upcoming virtual event to feature Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin is to center on work in Alabama and across the South to build sport for labor rights, corporate and government accountability. **Categories:** Economy, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [We must invest in a transportation transition — and workers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/we-must-invest-in-a-transportation-transition-and-workers/) **Published:** October 27, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Transportation is the largest source of climate-disrupting pollution in the U.S. Fortunately, electric vehicle (EV) technology has progressed to the point where we can now start replacing tens of millions of fossil-fuel vehicles with EVs. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation --- ### [Game Changer Award awarded to Birmingham native Erica Iheme](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/game-changer-award-awarded-to-birmingham-native-erica-iheme/) **Published:** October 14, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The inaugural Game Changer Award from the National Women Innovating Labor Leadership (WILL) Empower program was awarded last Friday to Erica Iheme, the southern director at Jobs to Move America. **Categories:** Feminism, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [5 Questions with Patricia Todd: Alabama’s Transparency Problem](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/5-questions-with-patricia-todd-alabamas-transparency-problem/) **Published:** September 27, 2021 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Good Job First speaks with Jobs to Move America’s Southern Policy Director about her new report about the lack of transparency around Alabama’s corporate tax incentives. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Transparency, Workforce Development --- ### [How Corporate Subsidies Sink Small Businesses](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/how-corporate-subsidies-sink-small-businesses/) **Published:** September 17, 2021 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Pat Garofalo’s Boondoggle newsletter covers Patricia Todd’s report on corporate tax giveaways in Alabama. **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing, Transparency, Workforce Development --- ### [AL Politics This Week: Dark Days (Guest: Former State Rep. Patricia Todd)](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/al-politics-this-week-dark-days-guest-former-state-rep-patricia-todd/) **Published:** September 7, 2021 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Former state Rep. Patricia Todd Zooms in to discuss Alabama tax dollars being given away secretly to major companies. **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing, Transparency, Workforce Development --- ### [The V - September 5, 2021 - Guest: Former State Rep. Patricia Todd](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/the-v-september-5-2021-guest-former-state-rep-patricia-todd/) **Published:** September 7, 2021 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Jobs to Move America Southern Policy Manager Patricia Todd appears on The V to discuss our report on Alabama’s corporate tax giveaways. **Categories:** Economy, Manufacturing, Transparency --- ### [20 graduate from BYD and SMART’s manufacturing apprenticeship program](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/20-graduate-from-byd-and-smarts-manufacturing-apprenticeship-program/) **Published:** September 2, 2021 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** BYD and SMART Local 105 announced the graduation of the first two classes from its Industrial Manufacturing Technician Apprenticeship program, a first of its kind training program in California to prepare workers for the electric vehicle revolution. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Manufacturing, Workforce Development --- ### [Alabama's $4 Billion in Corporate Giveaways with Patricia Todd](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/alabamas-4-billion-in-corporate-giveaways-with-patricia-todd/) **Published:** August 31, 2021 **Author:** Lauren LaBorde **Content:** Jobs to Move America’s Southern Policy Director spoke to The Valley Labor Report about her new report on Alabama’s corporate tax giveaways. **Categories:** Economy, Manufacturing, Transparency, Workforce Development --- ### [Report: Alabama’s incentives to businesses lack transparency, accountability](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/report-alabamas-incentives-to-businesses-lack-transparency-accountability/) **Published:** August 12, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The report published Tuesday highlights Alabama’s secretive incentives for businesses, and urges lawmakers to improve transparency and hold businesses accountable for promises made about job creation and wages. **Categories:** Manufacturing, Transparency --- ### [Group: state taxpayers left in dark on industrial incentives](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/group-state-taxpayers-left-in-dark-on-industrial-incentives/) **Published:** August 12, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Alabama hands out millions of dollars in industrial incentives for the purpose of luring jobs to the state, but taxpayers are too often left in the dark about the deals and what the state ultimately gets in return, a new report from an advocacy group said. **Categories:** Manufacturing, Transparency --- ### [Mayors: End ban on local hiring for federal projects. These jobs are economic lifelines.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/mayors-end-ban-on-local-hiring-for-federal-projects-these-jobs-are-economic-lifelines/) **Published:** June 4, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** "We are calling on President Joe Biden to fully lift the federal ban on local hiring for federally funded projects. This will allow cities to use those federal dollars to create local jobs – and help us, as mayors, make our regions more prosperous and sustainable for all." **Content:** Biden should kill this Reagan-era rule. Large-scale public investment is a path out of poverty for our residents, especially those hit hardest by COVID. --- ### [CCIA advocates make push with only weeks to go in session](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/ccia-advocates-make-push-with-only-weeks-to-go-in-session/) **Published:** May 12, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Mo-Yain Tham, a senior researcher at Jobs to Move America, said the CCIA will create 160,000 jobs. “There’s massive potential to transform our economy," Tham said "The CCIA assures these jobs will be quality jobs contributing to a green economy.” **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Labor --- ### [Advancements in electric buses making green transit more accessible for rural areas](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/advancements-in-electric-buses-making-green-transit-more-accessible-for-rural-areas/) **Published:** May 13, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Christy Veeder, national program director, speaks to the societal and economic benefits of electric buses and the possibility of Biden's infrastructure plan. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation --- ### [Biden’s jobs plan could build racial equity with one simple fix](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/bidens-jobs-plan-could-build-racial-equity-with-one-simple-fix/) **Published:** May 7, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** How the infrastructure bill could easily be engineered to also build justice. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Racial Justice --- ### [Local hiring gains steam as Biden pushes infrastructure, equity](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/local-hiring-gains-steam-as-biden-pushes-infrastructure-equity/) **Published:** April 23, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The Department of Transportation is aiming to reinstate a program the Trump administration scrapped that would allow local hiring requirements to be added to federally funded infrastructure projects. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Advancements in electric buses making green transit more accessible](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/advancements-in-electric-buses-making-green-transit-more-accessible/) **Published:** April 16, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** "Jobs to Move America supports the switch to electric buses, not just because of reduced carbon emissions and independence from fossil fuels, but also the negative impacts of diesel buses on occupational and societal health." **Categories:** Climate Change, Infrastructure/Transportation --- ### [Opinion: Why we need to Electrify America's school bus fleet](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/opinion-why-we-need-to-electrify-americas-school-bus-fleet/) **Published:** April 19, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** In this op-ed, John Costa (ATU) and Sonal Jessel (WE ACT for Environmental Justice) draw on Jobs to Move America's research to show how electrifying our school buses can create good jobs, healthier communities, and advance equity. **Categories:** Climate Change, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Amazon says it pays Alabama workers well; other local employers pay more](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/amazon-says-it-pays-alabama-workers-well-other-local-employers-pay-more/) **Published:** March 18, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** A survey of about 100 workers at the NFI plant by Emily Erickson, a professor at Alabama A&M University, found that white workers earned about $3 an hour more than Black workers on average. **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Report: Calhoun County manufacturing workers facing low wages, unsafe working conditions, racial and gender discrimination](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/report-calhoun-county-manufacturing-workers-facing-low-wages-unsafe-working-conditions-racial-and-gender-discrimination/) **Published:** March 10, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** A research team at Alabama A&M University in Huntsville released a grim report on the experiences workers are facing at manufacturing plants in Anniston and Calhoun County. **Categories:** Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [Biden's infrastructure plan endorses PRO Act, labor boosts](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/bidens-infrastructure-plan-endorses-pro-act-labor-boosts/) **Published:** April 2, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** President Joe Biden's infrastructure plan unveiled Wednesday calls for boosting workers and organized labor, including by overhauling federal labor law to make it easier for workers to form unions and negotiate the terms of their work. **Content:** President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan calls for boosting workers and organized labor. Madeline Janis, JMA’s executive director told Law360 she’s “excited about this amazing proposal.” The plan’s impact will depend on the details, Janis said. For example, adopting local hire rules would require lifting a long-standing federal ban, she said. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation --- ### [Amazon's union vote: What the election at an Alabama warehouse could mean](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/amazons-union-vote-what-the-election-at-an-alabama-warehouse-could-mean/) **Published:** March 30, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Iheme, the community organizer, said Amazon workers deserve to have enough energy to function outside of work. If warehouse employees aren't "exhausted when they get off work," or running off to a second job to make ends meet, they can be better parents. They might also get involved in the community and even take vacations to other parts of the state, she added, all of which would be good for Bessemer and the state's economy. "When you have that time to invest in your home," she said, "you have that time to invest in your community." **Categories:** Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [NYC’s purchase of school buses should supercharge transition to electric fleet: advocates](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/nycs-purchase-of-school-buses-should-supercharge-transition-to-electric-fleet-advocates/) **Published:** March 22, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The city’s purchase of hundreds of yellow buses could jump-start what has been a slow effort to add electric vehicles to the diesel-guzzling school-bus fleet, advocates argue in a new report. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Health & Safety --- ### [AAMU researchers reveal report on manufacturing industry in Alabama](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/aamu-researchers-reveal-report-on-manufacturing-industry-in-alabama/) **Published:** March 10, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Research shows workers reported earning below living wage, unpredictable schedules and forced overtime, unsafe working conditions, racial and gender discrimination. **Categories:** Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [New study paints bleak picture of Alabama’s tradeoff of tax breaks for jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/new-study-paints-bleak-picture-of-alabamas-tradeoff-of-tax-breaks-for-jobs/) **Published:** March 10, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Big companies benefit at the expense of their employees and surrounding communities, researchers at Alabama A&M say. **Categories:** Economy, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [How Biden is trying to help working-class voters in red-state Alabama](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/how-biden-is-trying-to-help-working-class-voters-in-red-state-alabama/) **Published:** March 9, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The president’s support for the rights of unionizing Amazon workers delighted political organizers in Alabama who are hoping to build long-term Democratic momentum in a reliably red state. **Categories:** Economy, Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [Editorial: One way Biden can help Black and Latino communities recover](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/editorial-one-way-biden-can-help-black-and-latino-communities-recover/) **Published:** March 5, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** "President Biden has repeatedly pitched a massive infrastructure spending plan as a way to create good jobs and address systemic racial inequities. But the president will never be able to achieve those goals as long as the government prohibits using federal dollars to encourage targeted local hiring," writes the LA Times Editorial Board. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [CTA, peer transit agencies urge Biden administration to end local hiring ban](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/cta-peer-transit-agencies-urge-biden-administration-to-end-local-hiring-ban/) **Published:** March 4, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Transit officials, mayors and community activists from Chicago and elsewhere in the country called on the Biden administration to end long-standing federal regulations dictating that any construction project that uses federal funds can’t favor local companies and residents when it comes to issuing bids and hiring. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Mayor Walsh to Biden: Overturn ban on hiring local for federal projects](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/mayor-walsh-to-biden-overturn-ban-on-hiring-local-for-federal-projects/) **Published:** March 2, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Walsh believes allowing people to work in their own communities would help boost the local economy and increase opportunities for marginalized workers. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Walsh and labor advocate push for more local jobs for I-81 project](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/walsh-and-labor-advocate-push-for-more-local-jobs-for-i-81-project/) **Published:** March 2, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Syracuse’s Mayor Ben Walsh and a local jobs advocate are lending their voices to a move to allow more local workers to take part in federally funded public works projects. Jobs to Move America is trying to lift a 30-year-old ban on any geographic hiring requirements in road, bridge or other projects that get federal money. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Mayor Eric Garcetti joins coalition ask Biden to overturn local hire ban](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/mayor-eric-garcetti-joins-coalition-ask-biden-to-overturn-local-hire-ban/) **Published:** March 2, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Officials argue that hiring locally will bolster regional economies. In their letter to the Biden administration, the coalition cited data from Local Labor Hiring Pilot, which shows that local hiring can be used on infrastructure projects without decreasing competition or increasing bid prices. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [WATCH: Mayor Woodfin among 160 officials calling on Biden to overturn ban on ‘local hire’ policy](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/watch-mayor-woodfin-among-160-officials-calling-on-biden-to-overturn-ban-on-local-hire-policy/) **Published:** March 2, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** In a letter to President Joe Biden, over 160 local officials, organizations, and academics are calling on the administration to overturn the ban on local hire, create local jobs and fix the economy. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Woodfin joins mayors calling for end to federal local hire ban](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/woodfin-joins-mayors-calling-for-end-to-federal-local-hire-ban/) **Published:** March 2, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** “We need every tool available to provide good paying jobs, and that’s definitely true for us here in Birmingham,” Woodfin said. “Removing the ban allows local workers to design and build in their communities, but it also provides an opportunity to cultivate a new generation of builders.” **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Mayors join calls for Biden administration to end ban on local hires in federal infrastructure projects](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/mayors-join-calls-for-biden-administration-to-end-ban-on-local-hires-in-federal-infrastructure-projects/) **Published:** March 2, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Jobs to Move America, a broad coalition of mayors, cities, labor unions and community organizations from 24 states, issued a letter Tuesday calling on President Biden to end a decades-old federal regulation that prevents recipients of federal grant money for infrastructure projects to include provisions requiring or promoting the hiring of local community members. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Amazon workers’ fight to unionize draws help from around the world](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/amazon-workers-fight-to-unionize-draws-help-from-around-the-world/) **Published:** February 24, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** “This is our opportunity to shift the narrative of what it means to be a Southern worker,” she said of the Amazon election. “We need to get out of the mindset that it’s okay to have poor working conditions just because of our geography.” **Categories:** Economy, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Biden stays clear of endorsing union effort at Alabama Amazon warehouse](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/huffpost-biden-stays-clear-of-endorsing-union-effort-at-alabama-amazon-warehouse/) **Published:** February 22, 2021 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** “This is his opportunity to put a stake in the ground,” said Erica Iheme, a Birmingham native and southern director for Jobs to Move America, a group working to improve the quality of jobs in Alabama. “He can say, ‘This is where our administration stands.’” **Categories:** Economy, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Labor and community groups sign landmark Community Benefits Agreement with Proterra](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/labor-and-community-groups-sign-landmark-community-benefits-agreement-with-proterra/) **Published:** December 23, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** EV bus manufacturer and technology provider commits to goal of hiring 50% of its workers from communities facing significant barriers to employment, such as veterans, women, and people of color. **Categories:** Labor, Manufacturing, Racial Justice --- ### [Amazon gets billions while state and local government budgets collapse](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/amazon-gets-billions-while-state-and-local-government-budgets-collapse/) **Published:** December 17, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Government subsidies should should require strong labor standards—good jobs for local residents and excluded groups, unionized whenever possible. **Categories:** Economy, Transparency --- ### [Culver City, CA stands up to Big Oil, votes to phase out drilling in largest urban oil field in U.S.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/culver-city-ca-stands-up-to-big-oil-votes-to-phase-out-drilling-in-largest-urban-oil-field-in-u-s/) **Published:** October 29, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** In a year of record fires, record heat, and the coronavirus, the City Council of Culver City, the site of the largest urban oil field in the U.S, voted on October 26 to phase out oil drilling. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Labor --- ### [Green transit and jobs bills would boost upstate recovery](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/green-transit-and-jobs-bills-would-boost-upstate-recovery/) **Published:** November 3, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** By passing the Green Transit and Green Jobs bills, New York will jump-start the clean economy without leaving working families behind, write Hae-Lin Choi from CWA District One and JMA's New York Director, Miranda Nelson. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Manufacturing --- ### [Column: What should ‘Buy America’ look like in a post-Covid world?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/column-what-should-buy-america-look-like-in-a-post-covid-world/) **Published:** October 27, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the failure of decades of US industrial practice dictated by corporations. But the post-COVID economic recovery process offers a critical opportunity to reinvigorate the industry and create millions of new industrial jobs. **Content:** **By Madeline Janis** *This column originally appeared in* [Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/preview/5f92fda05a865a00060ab7ce/). The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the failure of decades of US industrial practice dictated by corporations. Corporate cost-cutting measures like [skimping on inventory](https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-arent-there-enough-paper-towels-11598020793) and offshoring production have left the country’s supply chain ill-equipped to meet the needs of the public in a time of crisis, leading to shortages of essential goods like [paper towels](https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-arent-there-enough-paper-towels-11598020793) and [auto parts](https://www.wsj.com/articles/gms-plans-to-increase-truck-production-delayed-by-parts-shortage-11590155233). The Trump Administration’s tax cuts to unaccountable corporations have undercut US manufacturing and workers even further. But the post-COVID economic recovery process offers a critical opportunity to reinvigorate the industry and create millions of new industrial jobs. Though US manufacturing hit a [more than 70-year low](https://www.industryweek.com/the-economy/article/22028495/manufacturing-is-now-smallest-share-of-us-economy-in-72-years) in terms of percentage of GDP in 2019, the industry still comprised [more than 11 percent of total GDP](https://www.nam.org/state-manufacturing-data/2019-united-states-manufacturing-facts/) in 2018 — or more than $2.3 trillion. And 20 percent of all purchases of manufactured goods in the U.S. are made by public agencies — with our tax dollars. That kind of spending presents an enormous opportunity for the public sector to generate high-quality manufacturing jobs. What if we decided that most of the things public agencies buy — from parts for buses and bridges to masks — would be made in the US? It’s not out of reach, and what a difference it would make for our recovery and for the long-term health of our economy and communities. The federal government’s existing tools for promoting US manufacturing through public procurement — including the [Buy America program](https://www.transit.dot.gov/buyamerica) — present a good starting point for supporting industrial jobs in the US, but they are still far too weak and limited in scope. Though they require that a part of the manufacturing process take place in the U.S., the guidelines for these programs don’t say anything about the type or quality of jobs that companies should create. Research has also shown that the Buy America program creates far fewer jobs than its guidelines intend due to loopholes and lax enforcement of the rules. A 2015 [report](https://www.peri.umass.edu/images/PERI_Procurement_Summary_web.pdf) from the Political Economy Research Institute found that though the program technically required that 60 percent of railcar parts purchased with federal dollars be produced in the US at the time, in practice, only 40 percent of parts paid for through the program actually got made here. (Buy America has since raised the US production requirement to 70 percent.) Local governments and federal agencies also tend to award production contracts to the company offering the lowest price tag, bypassing bids that may cost more on the front end but that ultimately provide more jobs and more value. Cities, states, and the federal government can promote US job creation by instead taking a “best-value” approach to procurement that incorporates an assessment of the employment and other economic impacts of a proposal beyond cost. The [US Employment Plan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/u-s-employment-plan-2/) (USEP) — a policy tool developed by a group of experts, including my organization Jobs to Move America, during the Obama-Biden Administration and [approved for use](https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/files/docs/S10-160211-003_F.pdf)nationally by the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2016 — is one such approach. The USEP is an innovative scoring framework that gives extra points to companies bidding on public procurement contracts for manufactured goods if they create jobs in the U.S., with higher wages and benefits and a greater commitment to recruiting employees from historically marginalized groups — people of color, women, formerly incarcerated people, and other groups that have also been disproportionately impacted by job loss during the pandemic. The USEP has already been implemented successfully in cities including [Los Angeles](https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-11-19/electric-bus-builders-in-l-a-just-joined-a-union-for-oil-workers-with-the-support-of-their-ex-tesla-ceo) and [Chicago](https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-cta-rail-cars-met-1016-20141016-story.html). In his [Build Back Better](https://joebiden.com/made-in-america/) plan, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden makes a number of solid proposals for bolstering US industry, including reversing the Trump Administration’s corporate tax cuts and spending an additional $400 billion on purchasing products made in the US. But we can still do more. If expanded to federal agencies beyond the DOT — something a Biden administration should strongly consider if elected — a revamped Buy America framework paired with the adoption of the US Employment Plan at the federal, state, and local levels could go a long way toward boosting the manufacturing industry and creating millions of good jobs just when US workers need them most. Merely increasing government spending isn’t enough. Maximizing the return on investment of our public spending is critical both for our post-pandemic economy recovery and the long-term health of our economy and communities. Manufacturing is an industry ripe for this kind of approach to public procurement. Decades of deindustrialization and offshoring have set the stage for corporations to [play states and cities against each other](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource/good-jobs-everywhere-why-manufacturing-jobs-should-advance-equity-and-strengthen-communities/), forcing competition over who will offer them the biggest subsidy and least regulation to bring ever lower-quality and lower-paying jobs to their jurisdiction. The fierce competition over where Amazon[AMZN](https://www.forbes.com/companies/amazon)[+1.7%](https://www.forbes.com/companies/amazon) — a company notorious for [exploiting its workers](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html?_r=0) — would base its new headquarters in 2018 is one recent, high-profile example. Rather than settle for less, states and cities should use the power of our public funds to ensure that the manufactured equipment that is purchased with tax dollars is made in the U.S., and that the companies we do business with create quality jobs for people impacted by systemic racism and other barriers to employment. Revamping and expanding Buy America and using the US Employment Plan to purchase everything from buses and solar panels to masks will create millions of good jobs and bolster our economy over the long run. There’s no better time to rebuild US manufacturing than now. We can’t afford to miss the crucial opportunity to do it. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Manufacturing --- ### [Electric bus manufacturing workforce training launched in Los Angeles](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/electric-bus-manufacturing-workforce-training-launched-in-los-angeles/) **Published:** October 7, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Are you excited about the large-scale arrival of electric buses? Are you uplifted by the promise of cleaner air on our streets and at our kids’ schools? Do you want to help produce those electric buses? In Los Angeles, you can now learn how to do so. **Categories:** Climate Change, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [LA County WDACS, Proterra, United Steelworkers Local 675, and community groups announce historic electric bus manufacturing and workforce partnerships](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/la-county-wdacs-proterra-united-steelworkers-local-675-and-community-groups-announce-historic-electric-bus-manufacturing-and-workforce-partnerships/) **Published:** October 5, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** “Making workers and communities true partners in the transition to zero-emission transit is a way to ensure that the growing clean economy does not leave behind working families from earning high, family-sustaining wages in a safe work environment with high labor standards,” said Héctor Martin Huezo, Senior Workforce Equity Coordinator at Jobs to Move America. **Categories:** Climate Change, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [This Labor Day, “Black lives matter” means justice for black workers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/this-labor-day-black-lives-matter-means-justice-for-black-workers/) **Published:** September 6, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** "We must fight for an economy that works for all working people. Because there can be no economic justice without racial justice," writes JMA board member Tanya Wallace-Gobern. **Content:** Every Labor Day, we celebrate the incredible contributions of the labor movement and working people to our nation’s progress. This year, with 10.2 million workers unemployed and over 38 million applying for unemployment benefits, many working families have little to celebrate. Millions of “essential” workers also get little or no paid sick leave or health care coverage and, consequently, are forced to choose between their health and their livelihoods. The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare how our current economy fails to meet the everyday needs of working people. Black workers have been hardest hit by both the pandemic and its economic fallout. They are disproportionately likely to lose their jobs as a result of the pandemic. And Black workers who are still working are more likely to be employed in essential service — and low-wage — jobs, and therefore face greater exposure to the virus than other groups. Black workers make up about one in nine workers overall but comprise about one in six of all front-line industry workers, according to a recent report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). They are disproportionately represented in employment at grocery stores, in public transit, at warehouses and in trucking, and in child care. While many Black workers have been deemed essential, we continue to treat them like they’re disposable — even amid a national racial justice movement that has declared that Black lives matter. Yet, as some elected officials have echoed that call, it is Black workers who have been most impacted by our government’s inadequate intervention in this economic crisis. Congress has poured billions of public dollars into the coffers of corporations, leaving workers with a one-time stimulus payment and now significantly reduced unemployment benefits that fall even shorter of what many families need to stay afloat. Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s ineptitude and indifference have exacerbated the impact of the pandemic itself and its economic consequences — especially for Black, brown, and working people. And with Congressional talks on another stimulus package at a standstill, workers are increasingly forced to choose between paying rent or buying groceries or medicine — a bind that, disturbingly, was a reality for millions of working people even before the pandemic. And that’s the point: our economy is failing working people right now — especially Black workers — because it was failing them before. That’s why today, the National Black Worker Center Project is launching our fourth annual “Black Labor Day” initiative, a week of webinars kicked off with actions today in Raleigh and Durham and putting forth a call to action for a movement that fights for a living wage, quality benefits, and equal pay and employment opportunities for Black workers. This year’s theme, “We Ready”, declares our readiness for the fight ahead and affirms Black workers’ legacy of resilience and leadership in movements past. As the Black Lives Matter movement calls us all to the table, labor’s fight for working people must recognize the inextricable link between racial and economic justice and lift up Black workers and their families in particular. Truly supporting Black workers means not just plugging an economic gap during the pandemic, but fighting for economic security for Black workers over the long run. We must continue to fight for a raised minimum wage, for paid sick and family leave, and for meaningful health care coverage — and to end race-based pay and employment discrimination in the workplace. Our post-pandemic economic recovery cannot return us to business as usual. We must fight for an economy that works first for working people — not corporations. In July, I was thrilled to see so many unions and labor allies turn out in support of the[ Strike for Black Lives](https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/20/business/strike-for-black-lives/index.html), a call from Black Lives Matter activists for labor to stand with Black people in the fight against police violence and in our unique struggle for economic justice. This Labor Day, the National Black Workers Center Project again amplifies that call. Our post-pandemic economic recovery cannot return us to business as usual. We must fight for an economy that works for *all* working people. Because there can be no economic justice without racial justice. This Labor Day, “Black Lives Matter” means justice for Black workers. **Categories:** Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [Where to turn if you want American-made Amtrak trains](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/where-to-turn-if-you-want-american-made-amtrak-trains/) **Published:** April 9, 2014 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** To help manufacturers along in the process, the Los Angeles-based Jobs to Move America coalition launched a new website on Monday, touting a workforce redevelopment resource bank to assist companies in making sure their bids create jobs for Americans. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Manufacturing --- ### [U.S. workforce development webinar educates railcar manufacturers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/u-s-workforce-development-webinar-educates-railcar-manufacturers/) **Published:** April 9, 2014 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Representatives of the world’s largest railcar manufacturing companies learned about best-practices in American workforce development, diversity, and outreach to disadvantaged workers via an informational webinar hosted this week by the Jobs to Move America coalition. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation --- ### [Coalition hosts webinar and launches website to provide resources for manufacturers, rail experts, and advocates](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/coalition-hosts-webinar-and-launches-website-to-provide-resources-for-manufacturers-rail-experts-and-advocates/) **Published:** April 8, 2014 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** On April 7, representatives of the world’s largest railcar manufacturing companies learned about best-practices in American workforce development, diversity, and outreach to disadvantaged workers via an informational webinar hosted by the Jobs to Move America coalition. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Jobs, transit and American communities](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/jobs-transit-and-american-communities/) **Published:** March 6, 2014 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** There are ways for the federal government to leverage transit purchases for good manufacturing jobs that pay a living wage and offer a career ladder to American workers. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Amtrak and CHSRA seek job-creation strategy from high-speed train manufacturers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/amtrak-and-chsra-seek-job-creation-strategy-from-high-speed-train-manufacturers/) **Published:** March 5, 2014 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The Amtrak and California High-Speed Rail Authority request for proposals for a high-speed trainset manufacturer includes a unique provision: Bidders must submit details on how they would create U.S. manufacturing jobs and train workers. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [A manufacturing pulse beat in the heartland](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/a-manufacturing-pulse-beat-in-the-heartland/) **Published:** March 3, 2014 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Witnessing the demolition of the huge St. Paul Ford plant and learning about Minnesota’s dire racial inequalities — Minnesotans of color suffer almost triple the rates of unemployment and poverty as white Minnesotans — underscored the desperate need for the Metropolitan Council to act to revitalize the local manufacturing industry, create good jobs and make them available to disadvantaged people. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Five policy prescriptions for transportation job creation and growth](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/five-policy-prescriptions-for-transportation-job-creation-and-growth/) **Published:** February 18, 2014 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** America’s public transportation infrastructure provides one excellent opportunity to build a more equitable, prosperous economy. Here are five policy prescriptions that can help create good jobs and growth in the transportation sector. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Amtrak wins praise for 'American jobs' request in contracts](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/amtrak-wins-praise-for-american-jobs-request-in-contracts/) **Published:** February 4, 2014 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Amtrak is winning praise for including a requirement that potential contractors provide details about their plans to create American jobs to fulfill orders from the railway in its latest request for proposals. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation --- ### [Amtrak encourages American job creation with high-speed rail car manufacturers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/amtrak-encourages-american-job-creation-with-high-speed-rail-car-manufacturers/) **Published:** February 3, 2014 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The Jobs to Move America coalition on Feb. 3 congratulated Amtrak for its recent Request for Proposals (RFP) for the purchase of 28 high-speed train sets including an unprecedented requirement for bidders to detail their plans to employ American workers. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Manufacturing --- ### [President Obama: The solution to unprecedented inequality is good jobs and opportunities for the disadvantaged](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/president-obama-the-solution-to-unprecedented-inequality-is-good-jobs-and-opportunities-for-the-disadvantaged/) **Published:** January 28, 2014 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Underinvestment in job creation, training, education and public services like transportation put middle-class success out of reach for many Americans, while at the other end of the spectrum, wealth has been concentrated in very few hands. **Categories:** Economy, Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [CTA nears deal on more than 800 new rail cars](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/cta-nears-deal-on-more-than-800-new-rail-cars/) **Published:** January 27, 2014 **Author:** Web **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation --- ### [Calif. high-speed rail authority, Amtrak seek join bids for trains to run on high-speed lines](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/calif-high-speed-rail-authority-amtrak-seek-join-bids-for-trains-to-run-on-high-speed-lines/) **Published:** January 24, 2014 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** California’s High-Speed Rail Authority and Amtrak on Friday released a joint request for proposals to build trains for California’s planned bullet train and Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation --- ### [A modern-day war on poverty needs new tools. Why not make them in the US?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/a-modern-day-war-on-poverty-needs-new-tools-why-not-make-them-in-the-us/) **Published:** January 8, 2014 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Currently, all rail cars and buses purchased with Federal Transit Administration cash must be assembled in the U.S., while only 60 percent of the components must be American-made. **Categories:** Economy, Labor --- ### [Unions battle "Scrooge" Congress on transportation needs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/unions-battle-scrooge-congress-on-transportation-needs/) **Published:** January 2, 2014 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Federal transportation funding is so skimpy that Congress acts like Ebenezer Scrooge when it comes to helping pay for the nation’s roads, subways, buses and other transportation, the AFL-CIO’s top transportation official says. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Rejecting Scrooge-like transportation budgets in 2014](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/rejecting-scrooge-like-transportation-budgets-in-2014/) **Published:** December 27, 2013 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** That’s why our nation’s holiday wish list for 2014 must include a comprehensive vision — and adequate resources — for strengthening the country’s transportation systems, which are the lifeblood of a growing 21st century economy. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation --- ### [Five arguments for American-made buses and how 'The Atlantic Cities' got it wrong](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/five-arguments-for-american-made-buses-and-how-the-atlantic-cities-got-it-wrong/) **Published:** December 12, 2013 **Author:** Web **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Chicago Transit Authority tackles racial employment disparity](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/chicago-transit-authority-tackles-racial-employment-disparity/) **Published:** November 1, 2013 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Much of $2 billion in new transit money will be built by local workers, thanks to a new agreement by a nonprofit and Chicago’s transit authority. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [Which transit agencies have endeavored to buy local this year?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/which-transit-agencies-have-endeavored-to-buy-local-this-year/) **Published:** November 1, 2013 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Hardcore capitalists will argue that transportation authorities should worry about their bottom dollar, especially when it comes to taxpayer money. But hiring and buying local is a sound way to create jobs and leverage public dollars for the best use. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Manufacturing --- ### [Transportation labor joins the Jobs to Move America coalition](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/transportation-labor-joins-the-jobs-to-move-america-coalition/) **Published:** October 29, 2013 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** As a continuation and logical expansion of our transportation Buy America advocacy, we are formally announcing participation in the Jobs to Move America Coalition. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Chicago transportation plans aim to put disadvantaged back to work](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/chicago-transportation-plans-aim-to-put-disadvantaged-back-to-work/) **Published:** October 23, 2013 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The manufacturing of more than 850 rapid transit cars could create 20,000 jobs for the growing population of unemployment in Chicago. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Chicago gets rolling toward good American jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/chicago-gets-rolling-toward-good-american-jobs/) **Published:** October 22, 2013 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** CTA’s addendum to its Invitation for Bids encourages companies to develop comprehensive American jobs plans and follow through to create them if awarded the contract – a move that could create as many as 20,000 good American manufacturing and related jobs. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [CTA asks manufacturers of $2 billion rapid transit cars to disclose American jobs plans for first time](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/cta-asks-manufacturers-of-2-billion-rapid-transit-cars-to-disclose-american-jobs-plans-for-first-time/) **Published:** October 18, 2013 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** On Oct. 17, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) announced it will ask companies vying for a $2 billion contract to manufacture 854 new rapid transit cars to provide specific information on how many jobs they plan to create in America and how they will generate opportunities for American workers, for the first time. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [CTA will quietly nudge rail car bidders to hire Americans](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/cta-will-quietly-nudge-rail-car-bidders-to-hire-americans/) **Published:** October 20, 2013 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The request for a disclosure on an American jobs plan is not a requirement by the CTA, but it is the first time the transit agency has asked bidders to voluntarily submit such information. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [CTA encourages bidders for rail car deal to detail US job creation](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/cta-encourages-bidders-for-rail-car-deal-to-detail-us-job-creation/) **Published:** October 21, 2013 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The CTA is asking manufacturers bidding on a potential $2 billion rail car contract to disclose any plans about new jobs they might create in the U.S. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Are American transit manufacturers afraid of American jobs?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/are-american-transit-manufacturers-afraid-of-american-jobs/) **Published:** October 11, 2013 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Manufacturing companies may be afraid of American jobs, but the Jobs to Move America coalition is not. In the months ahead, our campaign will continue to ask public transit agencies to invest billions of American tax dollars into good jobs, opportunities and factories, right here in America. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Maryland must make sure transit investments create jobs here](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/maryland-must-make-sure-transit-investments-create-jobs-here/) **Published:** September 18, 2013 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** With unemployment rates at 7 percent statewide and much higher in Baltimore, it's clear we need to be innovative and think about how we can grow the manufacturing industry by creating jobs across all communities, particularly those that are low-income. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Thinking outside our economic box: How transit investments can get U.S. manufacturing moving again](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/thinking-outside-our-economic-box-how-transit-investments-can-get-u-s-manufacturing-moving-again/) **Published:** October 20, 2013 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This Labor Day, let’s renew our commitment to getting out of the box and building a new economy where everyone wins. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [The Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy: A new model for American liberalism?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/the-los-angeles-alliance-for-a-new-economy-a-new-model-for-american-liberalism/) **Published:** August 9, 2013 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** No matter the intended beneficiary, LAANE has prevailed with the same underlying argument: that the investment of public funds should yield public benefits. **Categories:** Economy, Labor --- ### [How the CTA can create city jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/how-the-cta-can-create-city-jobs/) **Published:** July 8, 2013 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Chicago has a huge opportunity, right now, to tackle the problem of unemployment, especially among African Americans. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Chicago's $2 billion decision: Will it buy U.S.?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/chicagos-2-billion-decision-will-it-buy-u-s/) **Published:** June 21, 2013 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Chicago's fleet of elevated trains will be joined by 846 new railcars. But who will make them? **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Go local, labor groups tell Chicago Transit Authority](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/go-local-labor-groups-tell-chicago-transit-authority/) **Published:** June 19, 2013 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Chicago labor groups are pissed. And they have a right to be. The Montreal-based company Bombardier Transportation was awarded a $1.14 billion contract to build more than 700 train cars for the Chicago Transit Authority, and the local workforce has been left out. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Labor groups: Future CTA rail car makers must disclose local job details](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/labor-groups-future-cta-rail-car-makers-must-disclose-local-job-details/) **Published:** June 18, 2013 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The Chicago Federation of Labor and Chicago Jobs with Justice, among seven other groups, want new manufacturers of Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) rail cars to lay out specific details about how many local jobs will be created before any contract is awarded. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Groups call on CTA to require new rail car makers to detail future local jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/groups-call-on-cta-to-require-new-rail-car-makers-to-detail-future-local-jobs/) **Published:** June 17, 2013 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Chicago labor and community groups on Monday called on the Chicago Transit Authority to require bidders on future rail car manufacturing contracts to submit detailed plans for creating local jobs. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [In bid for new buses, LA demands American-made](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/in-bid-for-new-buses-la-demands-american-made/) **Published:** February 21, 2013 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** This strategy for directly linking job creation to transportation procurement comes at an opportune time given all the recent attention on infrastructure investment and bringing manufacturing jobs to U.S. soil after decades of outsourcing. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation --- ### [LA bus buy creates new US jobs. Let's make sure other cities follow suit.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/la-bus-buy-creates-new-us-jobs-lets-make-sure-other-cities-follow-suit/) **Published:** September 6, 2013 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Turning federally funded transit projects into a vehicle for job creation that also boosts America’s manufacturing sector is an overdue step. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation --- ### [LA's lost opportunity for job creation](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/las-lost-opportunity-for-job-creation/) **Published:** May 29, 2012 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Public officials charged with expending precious tax dollars on equipment need to select companies that manufacture their products in the United States. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Jobs firm, BYD extend benefits agreement](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/jobs-firm-byd-extend-benefits-agreement/) **Published:** September 12, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Electric bus manufacturer BYD Jobs to Move America’s coalition in California have renewed their community benefits agreement, reaffirming BYD’s commitment to creating pathways into good manufacturing jobs for underrepresented and underserved populations. **Categories:** Labor, Workforce Development --- ### [Elon Musk thinks his treatment of workers is a "trade secret"](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/elon-musk-thinks-his-treatment-of-workers-is-a-trade-secret/) **Published:** September 2, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** Kate Aronoff on why our wonky California legislative fight is a test of whether green jobs will be good jobs, too. **Categories:** Economy, Labor, Transparency --- ### [Lawmakers, environmental advocates make green transit push](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/lawmakers-environmental-advocates-make-green-transit-push/) **Published:** August 27, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The measures would require mass transit systems to purchase zero-emissions buses by 2029 and encourage them to enter into "best value" contracting framework to build the infrastructure to support the transit system. **Categories:** Climate Change, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### ['N.Y. Green Transit/Green Jobs' legislation gaining steam](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/n-y-green-transit-green-jobs-legislation-gaining-steam/) **Published:** August 27, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** The plan has widespread support among environmental advocates, transit advocates, and labor unions throughout the state. **Categories:** Climate Change, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [It’s electric! Dinowitz introduces green bills for NY buses and public transit jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/its-electric-dinowitz-introduces-green-bills-for-ny-buses-and-public-transit-jobs/) **Published:** August 26, 2020 **Author:** Web **Content:** The legislation also cites that other major cities such as Los Angeles and Chicago have put forward similar commitments in the development of new employment “that created hundreds of high-quality, unionized jobs.” **Categories:** Climate Change, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Legislators and advocates announce push for ‘Green Transit/Green Jobs’ legislation in New York State](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/legislators-and-advocates-announce-push-for-green-transit-green-jobs-legislation-in-new-york-state/) **Published:** August 26, 2020 **Author:** Web **Excerpt:** A pair of bills from Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz and State Senator Timothy Kennedy would mandate public bus systems convert to zero-emission buses and would incentivize electric buses to be manufactured in New York’s high-need communities. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation --- ### [Industry stakeholders weigh in on regulation, free trade, transit funding and other potential election-impacted issues](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/industry-stakeholders-weigh-in-on-regulation-free-trade-transit-funding-and-other-potential-election-impacted-issues/) **Published:** October 1, 2016 **Author:** Web **Content:** “We need mass transit to make our cities better, to make life better for people who can’t afford cars or who don’t want to continue to drive in traffic. Public transit has triple bottom-line benefits,” said Madeline Janis. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation --- ### [Public contracts shrouded in secrecy](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/public-contracts-shrouded-in-secrecy/) **Published:** November 16, 2016 **Author:** Web **Content:** The trade secret exemption “absolutely eviscerates the public records law,” said Madeline Janis, executive director of Jobs to Move America. “Companies claim that everything is a trade secret, everything is proprietary. If communities and workers can’t get the information, how do the public and the public agencies know if the contractors are keeping their promises?” **Categories:** Economy, Transparency --- ### [Let's electrify public buses without throwing workers under the bus](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/lets-electrify-public-buses-without-throwing-workers-under-the-bus/) **Published:** July 30, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** “Here’s the thing: electric buses are coming. That much is certain. But how electric buses will be deployed *en masse* is another story, one that’s still unfolding. Will cities like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles that have committed to transitioning their entire bus fleets to zero-emissions technology simply lay off all of their current mechanics and ask electric bus manufacturers to keep the new equipment in good repair? Or is there another way for the current workers to be retrained and even for the buses to be manufactured in the communities that so desperately need good jobs?” Read Madeline Janis, executive director of Jobs to Move America, in *Forbes*. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Sure, watch ‘American Factory.’ But don’t think that all Chinese factories are like the one in the film](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/sure-watch-american-factory-but-dont-think-that-all-chinese-factories-are-like-the-one-in-the-film/) **Published:** August 21, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** “When it comes to the treatment of workers and the protection of the environment, any company anywhere can choose to be a good actor or a bad one — and left unchecked, they often choose the latter. In my experience, nine times out of 10, the key factor determining their choice is whether public officials, workers and local residents have organized effectively to hold the company accountable to fair standards of treatment of workers on the job and protection of the environment,” writes Madeline Janis, executive director of Jobs to Move America, in the *Los Angeles Times.* **Categories:** Economy, Labor --- ### [Labor Day hope: transparency in public works contracts](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/labor-day-hope-transparency-in-public-works-contracts/) **Published:** September 2, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** A proposed California law would compel companies seeking public contracts to deliver the high-quality wages that they promise. “Detailed information about our public contracts in California are difficult to track down,” said Abhilasha Bhola, California senior policy coordinator at JMA, in an email. “That’s why bills like SB 749 are so important—the public needs to have access to information about how our dollars are spent if we want to see real return on our shared investments.” **Categories:** Economy, Transparency --- ### [The route to infrastructure that benefits communities](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/the-route-to-infrastructure-that-benefits-communities/) **Published:** July 13, 2020 **Author:** Web **Content:** States and localities will need the full range of tools to recover economically. That calls for federal policies that tap infrastructure-building’s power to boost local jobs and small-business growth, writes national program director Christy Veeder. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Why there’s little sunshine on many economic development deals in Florida — and beyond](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/why-theres-little-sunshine-on-many-economic-development-deals-in-florida-and-beyond/) **Published:** July 1, 2020 **Author:** Web **Content:** In Los Angeles, transparency proved to be important for an economic development deal and contract between the city’s transit authority and a bus manufacturer. But it took a court battle to reveal the details to the public. **Categories:** Transparency --- ### [Harlem’s Rep. Adriano Espaillat secures multiple wins in critical House transportation bill](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/harlems-rep-adriano-espaillat-secures-multiple-wins-in-critical-house-transportation-bill/) **Published:** June 22, 2020 **Author:** Web **Content:** A five-year bill to improve and increase federal investment in transportation infrastructure programs features our signature good jobs and equity policy, the U.S. Employment Plan. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [Black Workers Matter: How defunding police could create thousands of good jobs for Black communities](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/black-workers-matter-how-defunding-police-could-create-thousands-of-good-jobs-for-black-communities/) **Published:** June 26, 2020 **Author:** Web **Content:** Our research shows how divesting from policing could build clean transit systems in Black neighborhoods and create thousands of good jobs in the process. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Racial Justice --- ### [Rep. Barragán introduces Climate Smart Ports Act to improve air quality and create good jobs in port communities across America](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/rep-barragan-introduces-climate-smart-ports-act-to-improve-air-quality-and-create-good-jobs-in-port-communities-across-america/) **Published:** June 3, 2020 **Author:** Web **Content:** “Jobs to Move America commends Representative Barragan on this initiative and her commitment to ensuring good jobs and clean air go hand in hand,” said Abhilasha Bhola. **Categories:** Climate Change, Economy --- ### [Can workers organize in the deep South during the pandemic?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/can-workers-organize-in-the-deep-south-during-the-pandemic/) **Published:** May 11, 2020 **Author:** Web **Content:** A community coalition employs an alternative approach at an Alabama bus plant. **Categories:** Health & Safety, Labor --- ### [Turning the tide on corporate giveaways in the South](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/turning-the-tide-on-corporate-giveaways-in-the-south/) **Published:** April 3, 2020 **Author:** Web **Content:** Jobs to Move America is building a research-action program, headquartered in Birmingham, to win sunshine and accountability policies in the South. **Categories:** Transparency --- ### [CTA looks to create good jobs and racial fairness even as it grows](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/cta-looks-to-create-good-jobs-and-racial-fairness-even-as-it-grows/) **Published:** September 6, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** The CTA’s move to create training and career pathways for workers from marginalized communities is proof we don’t have to choose between tackling infrastructure issues or racial wealth gap, writes Jacky Grimshaw, Jobs to Move America board member, in the *Chicago Sun Times.* **Categories:** Racial Justice --- ### [What the GM strikers teach us about government subsidies](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/what-the-gm-strikers-teach-us-about-government-subsidies/) **Published:** September 27, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** “What GM is teaching us is that government subsidies and tax credits should not be a handshake deal. Ultimately, taxpayers are footing the bill. Our government – at federal, state and local levels – must ensure that public money is spent wisely, and not at the expense of American workers and communities,” write Alaa Milbes, communications director at Jobs to Move America. **Categories:** Labor --- ### [American Factory tells an all too familiar story](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/american-factory-tells-an-all-too-familiar-story/) **Published:** September 28, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** “We’ve seen it over and over: when workers and community members join together to demand dignity and respect, they can achieve the goal of shared prosperity that should be the basis for all of these agreements in the first place. A win for workers is a win for communities and corporations who invest in them. Hopefully, one day an *American Factory* sequel will be able to tell this story as well,” writes Madeline Janis, executive director of Jobs to Move America, in *Forbes.* **Categories:** Labor --- ### [How New York could make better jobs in Alabama](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/how-new-york-could-make-better-jobs-in-alabama/) **Published:** October 21, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** A new campaign wants city transit authorities to enforce stronger agreements for workers as they contract with a manufacturer in the South. **Categories:** Labor --- ### [Unionizing L.A. bus workers and their CEO come together over fighting climate change](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/unionizing-l-a-bus-workers-and-their-ceo-come-together-over-fighting-climate-change/) **Published:** November 19, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** “Our coalition coalesces around this idea that a company that relies on public contracts to build up their business should be accountable for creating community benefits in that process,” says Hector Huezo, in the *Los Angeles Times.* **Categories:** Labor --- ### ['American Factory': Taxpayers shouldn't subsidize worker mistreatment](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/american-factory-taxpayers-shouldnt-subsidize-worker-mistreatment/) **Published:** February 7, 2020 **Author:** Web **Content:** We should not be doling out taxpayer gifts to companies that don’t meet basic standards like fair wages and safe working conditions. **Categories:** Labor --- ### [LA Sanitation commits to 100 percent electric fleet by 2035](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/la-sanitation-commits-to-100-percent-electric-fleet-by-2035/) **Published:** January 23, 2020 **Author:** Web **Content:** LA Sanitation becomes the first municipality to commit to all-electric fleets. **Categories:** Climate Change --- ### [Electric vehicle industry driving up salaries, report finds](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/electric-vehicle-industry-driving-up-salaries-report-finds/) **Published:** March 11, 2020 **Author:** Web **Content:** Demand for skilled workers in Southern California’s electric vehicle industry is growing, driving up salaries and filling local training programs, according to a new report. **Categories:** Labor --- ### [United State of Women summit to feature Women Can Build: Re-envisioning Rosie Exhibit](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/united-state-of-women-summit-to-feature-women-can-build-re-envisioning-rosie-exhibit/) **Published:** June 14, 2016 **Author:** Web **Content:** Jobs to Move America (JMA), and the AFL-CIO are partnering to sponsor a one-day display of photographs from the Women Can Build: Re-envisioning Rosie exhibit during the White House United State of Women Summit. --- ### ['Women Can Build: Re-Envisioning Rosie' art exhibit highlights working women at White House summit](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/women-can-build-re-envisioning-rosie-art-exhibit-highlights-working-women-at-white-house-summit/) **Published:** June 21, 2016 **Author:** Web **Content:** On June 14, 5,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C., for the first-ever White House Summit focused on gender equity. **Categories:** Feminism, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Investing in public transit lifts up working people](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/investing-in-public-transit-lifts-up-working-people/) **Published:** July 7, 2016 **Author:** Web **Content:** Access to reliable, affordable public transportation is a gateway to a better quality of life that comes from good jobs, quality public education and other public services. For the millions of Americans who can’t afford a vehicle, a simple bus or subway route can mean the difference between chronic poverty and hope for financial stability. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor --- ### [The MTA can rescue suffering workers: Use the capital plan to create good jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/the-mta-can-rescue-suffering-workers-use-the-capital-plan-to-create-good-jobs/) **Published:** July 14, 2016 **Author:** Web **Content:** The MTA capital plan offers us the means to get back on track. We can create opportunities for more manufacturing right here in New York, particularly in the New York City area, where the problems of income inequality are most severe. We can create thousands of good union jobs that will provide workers with the income to patronize restaurants, shops and other businesses in their New York neighborhoods. **Categories:** Economy, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Cuomo issues RFP to manufacture new subway cars in the U.S.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/cuomo-issues-rfp-to-manufacture-new-subway-cars-in-the-u-s/) **Published:** July 28, 2016 **Author:** Web **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [MTA's subway car RFP includes provision to encourage U.S. job creation](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/mtas-subway-car-rfp-includes-provision-to-encourage-u-s-job-creation/) **Published:** July 28, 2016 **Author:** Web **Content:** The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) request for proposals (RFP) for the purchase of 1,025 new subway cars features a “U.S. employment plan,” which includes incentives aimed at encouraging manufacturers to create jobs, advocacy group Jobs to Move America (JMA) announced yesterday. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Labor, Manufacturing --- ### [Gov. Cuomo announces Request for Proposals for new, reimagined subway cars released](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/gov-cuomo-announces-request-for-proposals-for-new-reimagined-subway-cars-released/) **Published:** July 29, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** Madeline Janis, executive director of Jobs to Move America said, “By adopting the U.S. Employment Plan, the MTA has included a jobs disclosure and evaluation tool for the purchase of these trains that will improve New York’s transit system, create good jobs and revive manufacturing in our communities that need it the most. We commend Governor Cuomo on his leadership and commitment to maximizing taxpayer dollars and improving the economic outcomes of our communities.” **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation --- ### [How billions of dollars in transportation spending can transform our communities](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/how-billions-of-dollars-in-transportation-spending-can-transform-our-communities/) **Published:** September 14, 2016 **Author:** Web **Content:** Although the national unemployment rate has declined since the Great Recession, for low-income families and communities of color, the unemployment rate remains in the double-digits and good, family-supporting jobs can’t come fast enough. **Categories:** Economy, Infrastructure/Transportation --- ### [Transit investments can transform communities](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/transit-investments-can-transform-communities/) **Published:** September 26, 2016 **Author:** Web **Content:** Before investing in their communities, public transit agencies must ensure that all customers will benefit, transportation consultant Beverly A. Scott said at a Sept. 12 session she moderated, “Transforming Lives and Communities: The Power of Transportation Investment.” **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Workforce Development --- ### [How an innovative plan helped a veteran find work building railcars](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/how-an-innovative-plan-helped-a-veteran-find-work-building-railcars/) **Published:** November 9, 2016 **Author:** Web **Content:** Many veterans struggle to find good-paying jobs after their service. Kristian was hoping to find a manufacturing job, but the industry that fueled the middle class for so many decades is a shell of what it once was, leaving people like him with few options. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation, Manufacturing, Workforce Development --- ### [LA Metro bus project to lift up disadvantaged workers](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/la-metro-bus-project-to-lift-up-disadvantaged-workers/) **Published:** November 11, 2016 **Author:** Web **Content:** In total, the projects could bring an estimated 4,500 jobs to the Los Angeles County area and other yet-to-be-determined cities that local transit jobs coalition [Jobs to Move America](https://nextcity.org/features/view/money-train) says will play a vital role in the manufacturing and supply chains delivering them to Southern California. **Categories:** Infrastructure/Transportation --- ### ["Natural gas is so 90s": Coalition pushes for Metro fully electric bus fleet by 2030](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/natural-gas-is-so-90s-coalition-pushes-for-metro-fully-electric-bus-fleet-by-2030/) **Published:** January 26, 2017 **Author:** Web --- ### [Environmentalists challenge Metro leaders to buy all electric buses to curb climate change](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/environmentalists-challenge-metro-leaders-to-buy-all-electric-buses-to-curb-climate-change/) **Published:** January 26, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** Unbowed by proposals coming out of the White House to weaken climate-change initiatives, environmental and labor groups Thursday asked transportation leaders to double down on green energy policies by switching to zero-emission electric buses. --- ### [Coalition aims to transform LA Metro to electric bus fleet](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/coalition-aims-to-transform-la-metro-to-electric-bus-fleet/) **Published:** February 1, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** A new coalition of environmental groups, labor advocates and bus riders gathered at Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) headquarters recently to launch a campaign calling on Metro to commit now to an all-electric fleet of buses by 2030. --- ### [Deanne Fitzmaurice: Rosies](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/deanne-fitzmaurice-rosies/) **Published:** March 7, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** The project reveals the overlooked contributions, and decline in hiring since WWII, of the skilled and hard-working women who build our 21st Century transportation including trams, rail, buses, bridges, roads and streets. --- ### [Transport center stage in “Women Can Build” photo exhibit](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/transport-center-stage-in-women-can-build-photo-exhibit/) **Published:** March 8, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** In honor of Women’s History Month, Jobs to Move America and the New York City Department of Transportation announced the launch of the Women Can Build photography exhibit revealing the contributions of women building 21st Century transportation, including trams, rail, buses, bridges and roads. --- ### [Exhibit highlights women who build](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/exhibit-highlights-women-who-build/) **Published:** March 9, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** On International Women’s Day, a new exhibit celebrates women who help to move New Yorkers. NY1’s Jose Martinez filed the following report. --- ### [NYC features women in manufacturing in new photo exhibit](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/nyc-features-women-in-manufacturing-in-new-photo-exhibit/) **Published:** March 8, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** NYC’s Department of Transportation is unveiling a new photo exhibit on Wednesday. --- ### [¡Nueva York reconoce a todas las mujeres en su día!](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/nueva-york-reconoce-a-todas-las-mujeres-en-su-dia/) **Published:** March 8, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** Verónica Albornoz nos muestra cómo la Gran Manzana reconoce el esfuerzo, la lucha y el trabajo de todas las mujeres en el Día Internacional de la Mujer. --- ### [Women at work: 'we can build anything' – in pictures](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/women-at-work-we-can-build-anything-in-pictures/) **Published:** March 8, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** Women employed in industry and manufacturing are grossly outnumbered by men in the US, but a new exhibition sponsored by Jobs to Move America and the NYC department of transportation pays tribute to the women who build America’s infrastructure. Women Can Build features portraits by Deanne Fitzmaurice, and the free exhibition can be seen until 15 May at two sites in Lower Manhattan, DoT Art’s art display cases on Water Street, at Gouverneur Lane and Pearl Street --- ### [Prowess of women builders on display in lower Manhattan photo exhibit](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/prowess-of-women-builders-on-display-in-lower-manhattan-photo-exhibit/) **Published:** March 13, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** When Elisangela Oliveira is high above the city painting bridges, she’s also helping to break glass ceilings. Oliveira, a bridge painter for nearly 20 years, and a host of other women who help build and shape the country’s transportation infrastructure are being celebrated in a new Lower Manhattan photography exhibit. --- ### [A new public art exhibition shares the stories of women in the building trades](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/a-new-public-art-exhibition-shares-the-stories-of-women-in-the-building-trades/) **Published:** March 15, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** In two public plazas this month, the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) is using art to showcase the women who weld steel, wire trains, and paint bridges, all in honor of Women’s History Month. --- ### [CTA breaks ground on new rail car factory](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/cta-breaks-ground-on-new-rail-car-factory/) **Published:** March 16, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** Chicago is back on track to once again manufacture rail cars for the Chicago Transit Authority. The new factory will employ around 170 workers and create almost another 130 construction jobs. CRRC has also committed to spend millions for training programs and community hiring --- ### [Photos of hardworking women: new exhibit honors those in transportation](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/photos-of-hardworking-women-new-exhibit-honors-those-in-transportation/) **Published:** March 27, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** Over the next decade, there will be 533,000 good middle-skill jobs available in manufacturing. Yet only 7 percent of workers in these jobs are women, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. --- ### [The plan behind a Chicago project to lift up working people](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/the-plan-behind-a-chicago-project-to-lift-up-working-people/) **Published:** May 18, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** Jobs to Move America and community partners recently managed to ensure a project in Chicago will create good jobs and long-term economic opportunities for the community. JMA worked with the Chicago Federation of Labor, the city of Chicago and the Chicago Transit Authority for four years to ensure that the U.S. Employment Plan was included as part of the CTA’s latest $1.3 billion project, which will supply up to 846 new railcars and replace about half of the CTA’s current fleet. --- ### [Women can build: the power of transportation investment](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/women-can-build-the-power-of-transportation-investment/) **Published:** May 24, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** Electrician, welder, technician. These are all jobs traditionally held by men, although that is starting to change slowly. Last week, influential women leaders led a keynote panel discussion entitled “Women Can Build: The Power of Transportation Investment” at the Women’s Transportation Seminar annual conference in New York. --- ### [Rick Smith Show: How Trump's DOT policy will harm communities](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/rick-smith-show-how-trumps-dot-policy-will-harm-communities/) **Published:** August 25, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** Jobs to Move America joins Rick to explain the recent move by President Trump’s Department of Transportation to undo the Obama administrations local hiring rule and discuss what that will mean for communities. --- ### [Coalition claims Nippon wrongly fired worker](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/coalition-claims-nippon-wrongly-fired-worker/) **Published:** May 12, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** In a press release on Wednesday, the Jobs to Move America coalition stated that OSHA found reasonable cause to believe that Nippon Sharyo violated the whistleblower protections of the National Transit Systems Security Act. --- ### [The Century Foundation on why manufacturing jobs are worth saving](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/the-century-foundation-on-why-manufacturing-jobs-are-worth-saving/) **Published:** June 14, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** According to Jobs to Move America, just 27 percent of manufacturing jobs belong to women — most of which are administrative positions. Only seven percent of middle-skilled manufacturing positions are held by women. --- ### [Applying lessons from the anti-apartheid era to today](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/applying-lessons-from-the-anti-apartheid-era-to-today/) **Published:** June 22, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** With Donald Trump’s on-going threats to cut off federal funding to sanctuary cities, some activists are looking to the past for lessons learned under President Reagan. Anti-Apartheid activists in the 1980s faced similar threats of cuts to federal funds under Reagan. A forthcoming report by social justice groups details how cities and states successfully fought off Reagan’s threats. How can we apply those lessons to today? --- ### [Reagan vs. cities: the battle over South African apartheid and lessons for the Trump era](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/reagan-vs-cities-the-battle-over-south-african-apartheid-and-lessons-for-the-trump-era/) **Published:** June 28, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** The report “Reagan vs. Cities: The 20th Century Battle Over South African Apartheid & Lessons For The Trump Era” provides historical examples of how cities and states can wield power in the face of threats of retaliation for local policies that defy a president’s political agenda. --- ### [BYD signs jobs agreement at Lancaster plant](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/byd-signs-jobs-agreement-at-lancaster-plant/) **Published:** July 17, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** BYD Motors Inc. announced Monday signing a community benefits agreement with Jobs to Move America to create job opportunities for underserved people at the company’s Lancaster manufacturing plant. --- ### [BYD wants to make more buses in the U.S.](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/byd-wants-to-make-more-buses-in-the-u-s/) **Published:** July 17, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** Stella Li, president of BYD Motors, talks about the company’s plans to increase its production capacity for electric buses and cars in the U.S. --- ### [The great Los Angeles revolt against cars](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/the-great-los-angeles-revolt-against-cars/) **Published:** July 17, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** Our work is “kind of a big-picture, modern Marshall Plan for Los Angeles,” says Madeline Janis, executive director of Jobs to Move America. --- ### [Metro bus fleet to go entirely electric](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/metro-bus-fleet-to-go-entirely-electric/) **Published:** July 7, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** The Metro Board of Directors Thursday approved a plan to transition its entire bus fleet to be 100 percent electric by 2030, a bold move that requires the purchase of more than 2,200 vehicles and continuous advancements in technology. --- ### [BYD's hiring pledge could charge up MTA bus deal](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/byds-hiring-pledge-could-charge-up-mta-bus-deal-2/) **Published:** July 21, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** Downtown-based BYD Motors has committed to hiring almost half of its local manufacturing team from underserved populations, a move that experts said will add points to the company’s electric bus sales proposal going before the Metropolitan Transportation Authority this week. --- ### [Corporate America’s latest trick: The reverse Public Records Act](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/corporate-americas-latest-trick-the-reverse-public-records-act-2/) **Published:** October 18, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** When it comes to evading accountability, corporate America is endlessly inventive. Recently, private government contractors have been fighting disclosure of crucial information in virtually every context nationwide, including with a sneaky maneuver called a “reverse Public Records Act.” A case in Los Angeles is the latest example. --- ### [BYD commits to hiring from communities facing significant barriers to employment](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/byd-commits-to-hiring-from-communities-facing-significant-barriers-to-employment/) **Published:** July 18, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** Jobs to Move America and electric bus manufacturer BYD announced the signing of a landmark community benefits agreement (CBA) that will create pathways into the manufacturing industry for underrepresented and underserved populations in Los Angeles County. --- ### [Labor and community groups sign agreement with BYD in Los Angeles](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/labor-and-community-groups-sign-agreement-with-byd-in-los-angeles/) **Published:** July 18, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** Jobs to Move America and BYD Motors have announced the signing of a landmark community benefits agreement (CBA) that will create pathways into the manufacturing industry for underrepresented and underserved populations in Los Angeles County. --- ### [Metro electric buses could deliver for workers as well as environment](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/metro-electric-buses-could-deliver-for-workers-as-well-as-environment/) **Published:** July 19, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** “Metro committing to adopt a 100 percent zero-emission fleet is a victory in its own right, but if the agency crafts a holistic policy focused on the environment, workers and our communities, it can achieve maximum benefits for the region. Metro has the tools, the timing is right, and the need is greater than ever,” writes Erika Thi Patterson, California director of JMA, and Evan Gillespie of the Sierra Club. --- ### [Electric buses = more good, union jobs for low-income Californians](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/electric-buses-more-good-union-jobs-for-low-income-californians-2/) **Published:** August 1, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** BYD’s CBA and union partnership show what can happen when we work together to create clean economy jobs that are safe, pay well and are accessible for everyone. Our state should follow the lead of SMART, JMA and BYD. California should ensure that we do more than just build a clean economy for a few, but build a clean economy that is good for all. --- ### [LA Metro’s opportunity to lead](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/la-metros-opportunity-to-lead/) **Published:** July 27, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** Last week, Jobs to Move America and BYD, an electric truck and bus manufacturer in Lancaster, California, announced commitments by BYD to create job pathways for underrepresented and underserved populations in Los Angeles County. --- ### [BYD funds training programs, employs disadvantaged workers at California plant](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/byd-funds-training-programs-employs-disadvantaged-workers-at-california-plant/) **Published:** July 28, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** The bus builder has signed a community benefits agreement (CBA) with a coalition of community groups called Jobs to Move America (JMA). A CBA, which is more typically associated with real estate projects, is a legally enforceable agreement designed to support the creation of local jobs. --- ### [LA Metro commits to 100 percent electric buses by 2030](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/la-metro-commits-to-100-percent-electric-buses-by-2030/) **Published:** July 28, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** Calling it better for the environment and public health, the largest transportation agency in the county voted unanimously Thursday to transition to zero-emission electric buses on all its routes by 2030. --- ### [Corporate America’s latest trick: The reverse Public Records Act](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/corporate-americas-latest-trick-the-reverse-public-records-act/) **Published:** October 18, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** When it comes to evading accountability, corporate America is endlessly inventive. Recently, private government contractors have been fighting disclosure of crucial information in virtually every context nationwide, including with a sneaky maneuver called a “reverse Public Records Act.” A case in Los Angeles is the latest example. --- ### [Editorial: Jobs building local transit projects should go to the communities paying for them](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/editorial-jobs-building-local-transit-projects-should-go-to-the-communities-paying-for-them/) **Published:** August 28, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** Given the encouraging results from Metro, cities and states — which are increasingly picking up the lion’s share of the cost of transportation projects — should be allowed to continue experimenting with local hire. Using infrastructure dollars to build badly needed transportation improvements *and* a new middle class would truly help make America great again. --- ### [Metro agrees to buy 95 electric buses, in the first step toward an emissions-free fleet](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/metro-agrees-to-buy-95-electric-buses-in-the-first-step-toward-an-emissions-free-fleet/) **Published:** July 27, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** In the first step toward a new goal of eliminating tailpipe emissions by 2030, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority agreed Thursday to spend more than $138 million to buy 95 electric buses that will run on two Los Angeles County busways. --- ### [Metro approves plan to move toward 100-percent electric bus fleet](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/metro-approves-plan-to-move-toward-100-percent-electric-bus-fleet/) **Published:** July 27, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** “L.A. Metro’s decision to switch from fossil fuel, gas-powered buses to 100 percent clean, electric buses will reduce greenhouse gas emissions while cutting the air pollution that is poisoning our communities, and improve the quality of life for the 9.6 million people who live, work, play and breathe in this region,” the coalition said in a statement. --- ### [L.A. Metro unanimously votes to order 60 electric BYD buses](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/l-a-metro-unanimously-votes-to-order-60-electric-byd-buses/) **Published:** July 29, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** “LA Metro is certainly right to be electrifying, and we’re particularly glad they are working with a company like BYD with a clear commitment to working with our community and labor partners to create a pipeline for underserved and underrepresented populations into good jobs,” says Erika Thi Patterson, national policy director at Jobs to Move America. “That means environmental justice and economic justice for people from the ports to the Antelope Valley.” --- ### [L.A. Metro Board awards one of the largest single electric bus contracts in US history to BYD](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/l-a-metro-board-awards-one-of-the-largest-single-electric-bus-contracts-in-us-history-to-byd/) **Published:** July 31, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** This award comes weeks after BYD signed a Community Benefits Agreement with Jobs to Move America and as BYD moves forward on union negotiations with the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers Local 105. The factory in Lancaster currently employs over 700 Californians making buses and trucks. --- ### [Linking public works to local hiring faces a Trump challenge](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/linking-public-works-to-local-hiring-faces-a-trump-challenge/) **Published:** August 3, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** “Why not let cities and states innovate to create the good American jobs that the administration has been clamoring for?” said Madeline Janis, the executive director of Jobs to Move America. --- ### [Cities nationwide, take notice: Los Angeles just committed to all electric transit buses & you can too](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/cities-nationwide-take-notice-los-angeles-just-committed-to-all-electric-transit-buses-you-can-too/) **Published:** August 4, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** Last week, L.A. Metro, the second largest transit agency in the United States, voted to ensure that all of its more than 2,200 buses will run on battery electric power by the year 2030. This is a huge ground-breaking decision. The city of Los Angeles, its mayor, and its transit board have thrown down the gauntlet; if they can make this commitment, so too can transit agencies in every other U.S. city, large and small. --- ### [Electric buses = more good, union jobs for low-income Californians](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/electric-buses-more-good-union-jobs-for-low-income-californians/) **Published:** August 4, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** California is on the cutting edge of the clean economy thanks to our leadership in addressing climate change. --- ### [Trump to undo Obama-era federal transportation jobs program that aided minority communities](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/trump-to-undo-obama-era-federal-transportation-jobs-program-that-aided-minority-communities/) **Published:** August 24, 2017 **Author:** Web --- ### [Trump’s Dept. of Transportation nixes “Hire Local” jobs idea](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/trumps-dept-of-transportation-nixes-hire-local-jobs-idea/) **Published:** December 28, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** Jobs to Move America, a national coalition that supports using infrastructure spending to benefit low-income people, released a statement denouncing the withdrawal. --- ### [USDOT withdraws local-hiring plan for federally funded projects](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/usdot-withdraws-local-hiring-plan-for-federally-funded-projects/) **Published:** December 28, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** The U.S. Department of Transportation has withdrawn an Obama-era proposal that allowed cities receiving federal grant funds to use geographic hiring preferences for federally-funded projects. --- ### [L.A. approves full LADOT transit electrification by 2030](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/l-a-approves-full-ladot-transit-electrification-by-2030/) **Published:** November 9, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** Yesterday, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a motion that commits LADOT to electrify its transit bus fleet by 2030. --- ### [Is manufacturing's future all used up?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/is-manufacturings-future-all-used-up/) **Published:** December 29, 2017 **Author:** Web **Content:** Though the efforts to revive our much shrunken industrial sector may seem quixotic, manufacturing still matters to the nation’s economy—and its psyche. --- ### [MTA New York City Transit acquiring hundreds of next-Generation subway cars to improve service](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/mta-new-york-city-transit-acquiring-hundreds-of-next-generation-subway-cars-to-improve-service/) **Published:** January 26, 2018 **Author:** Web **Content:** The Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board voted to approve the purchase of 535 state-of-the-art, next-generation R211 subway cars for use on the “B Division,” which are the lettered routes, as well as the Staten Island Railway. Jobs to Move America’s Deputy Director Linda Nguyen said: “JMA congratulates Governor Cuomo and MTA staff on leading the country with the most robust adoption of the U.S. Employment Plan program in the nation. We expect commitments to include a plan to create good manufacturing jobs and hiring U.S. workers.” --- ### [Westchester factory to build MTA subway cars](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/westchester-factory-to-build-mta-subway-cars/) **Published:** January 26, 2018 **Author:** Web **Content:** A whole host of new jobs are heading to the Hudson Valley, as the MTA announced a $1.4 billion contract that will be awarded to Kawasaki to build state-of-the-art subway cars in Westchester. --- ### [L.A. Metro OKs new policy aimed at creating local jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/l-a-metro-oks-new-policy-aimed-at-creating-local-jobs/) **Published:** January 26, 2018 **Author:** Web **Content:** The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board yesterday approved a new policy to incentivize companies bidding on contracts to create and retain U.S. jobs. The policy is estimated to support up to 22,000 jobs as L.A. Metro replaces all of its trains and buses, said JMA National Policy Director Erika Thi Patterson in an email. --- ### [New York set to acquire the next generation of subway cars](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/new-york-set-to-acquire-the-next-generation-of-subway-cars/) **Published:** January 19, 2018 **Author:** Web **Content:** “We’re thrilled,” said John Samuelsen, international president of Transport Workers Union, which fought for the jobs component of the agreement. “The billions of dollars that transit agencies spend every year on new rail cars and equipment should to every extent possible be used to create jobs for American families, not jobs overseas.” --- ### [A pathway to 22,000 jobs: Los Angeles County Metro Board unanimously approves first-of-its-kind good jobs policy](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/a-pathway-to-22000-jobs-los-angeles-county-metro-board-unanimously-approves-first-of-its-kind-good-jobs-policy/) **Published:** January 29, 2018 **Author:** Web **Content:** The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors unanimously adopted a motion to establish an agency-wide Good Jobs and Equity Policy that will cover billions of dollars of taxpayer-purchased trains, buses, and equipment. --- ### [In government procurement, buying local is popular. But is it beneficial?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/in-government-procurement-buying-local-is-popular-but-is-it-beneficial/) **Published:** March 1, 2018 **Author:** Web **Content:** “The intention of local preference, has always been around job creation. Cities want to get as much of the money in their region to their own bottom line,” says Madeline Janis, executive director of Jobs to Move America. --- ### [Connecting public transit to great manufacturing jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/connecting-public-transit-to-great-manufacturing-jobs/) **Published:** April 18, 2018 **Author:** Web **Content:** “By alternately pressuring and working with transportation authorities in Los Angeles, New York, and other cities, Jobs to Move America has gotten foreign manufacturers to create more than 2,500 direct factory jobs in the United States—and several thousand more indirect jobs,” writes Steven Greenhouse in *American Prospect*. --- ### [Public interest group wins legal fees in transparency lawsuit](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/public-interest-group-wins-legal-fees-in-transparency-lawsuit/) **Published:** April 18, 2018 **Author:** Web **Content:** In a landmark decision, a California court recently awarded thousands of dollars in legal expenses to a public interest organization that successfully fought a government contractor’s attempt to block the release of public records. --- ### [Frontline workers call for investment in employees](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/frontline-workers-call-for-investment-in-employees/) **Published:** May 18, 2018 **Author:** Web **Content:** Panelists at a May 7 session discussed the need for motivated employees in both public transit agencies and businesses — as seen by fellow workers on the shop floor — at a time when many skilled longtime workers are nearing retirement. --- ### [Manufacturers have a recruitment problem, so why aren't they hiring more women?](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/manufacturers-have-a-recruitment-problem-so-why-arent-they-hiring-more-women/) **Published:** August 20, 2018 **Author:** Web **Content:** If manufacturers want to recruit the most talented workers, they need to start by making conditions on the factory floor better for women. --- ### [Fear on the factory floor is bad for business](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/fear-on-the-factory-floor-is-bad-for-business/) **Published:** October 15, 2018 **Author:** Web **Content:** In the past 20 years, U.S. manufacturing jobs have become more insecure and precarious. --- ### [Bringing back good manufacturing jobs to America, one electric bus at a time](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/bringing-back-good-manufacturing-jobs-to-america-one-electric-bus-at-a-time/) **Published:** November 13, 2018 **Author:** Web **Content:** What’s better than clean, efficient transportation options in your neighborhood? Clean and efficient transportation options in your neighborhood that provide income and opportunities for your neighbors. Every year, local governments spend more than $5 billion to purchase the buses and rail cars that help people get to work. At Jobs Move America, we think these buses and rail cars should also help people GET work. --- ### [The time is now for action on job quality](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/the-time-is-now-for-action-on-job-quality/) **Published:** November 14, 2018 **Author:** Web **Content:** Americans across the country, bridging partisan affiliation and from rural and urban communities alike, want to use public policy to boost wages in particular for the working poor and near poor. --- ### [CARB commits to zero emission buses and job creation in new rule](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/carb-commits-to-zero-emission-buses-and-job-creation-in-new-rule/) **Published:** December 14, 2018 **Author:** Web **Content:** The California Air Resources Board voted today to mandate that all transit agencies in California operate 100 percent zero emission transit buses by 2040, and to use this transition to invest in workforce development training programs in manufacturing, infrastructure installation, and maintenance. --- ### [California switching to zero-emission transit buses by 2040](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/california-switching-to-zero-emission-transit-buses-by-2040/) **Published:** December 17, 2018 **Author:** Web **Content:** On Friday, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted to set a statewide goal for public transit agencies to transition to 100% zero-emission bus fleets by 2040, representing a first-of-its-kind regulation in the U.S. --- ### [California mandates fleets to operate zero-emission buses by 2040](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/california-mandates-fleets-to-operate-zero-emission-buses-by-2040/) **Published:** December 17, 2018 **Author:** Web **Content:** “The passing of this rule is a huge win for many in our communities who, despite working hard for years, have been unable to benefit from the Silicon Valley tech boom and infrastructure investment,” said Abhilasha Bhola, Jobs to Move America senior policy coordinator. “Not only will this rule reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, it has, the potential to create and support tens of thousands of jobs in our state.” --- ### [Transportation advocates commend states' announcement to develop regional program to modernize transportation and reduce vehicle pollution](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/transportation-advocates-commend-states-announcement-to-develop-regional-program-to-modernize-transportation-and-reduce-vehicle-pollution/) **Published:** December 18, 2018 **Author:** Web **Content:** Leading environmental, scientific, transportation, health, and business organizations working to advance modern, clean, equitable and low-carbon transportation celebrated an announcement today from nine Northeast and Mid-Atlantic governors and the Mayor of Washington, D.C. to move forward with a regional clean transportation initiative. --- ### [Congress takes first step to give second chances, manufacturers should follow](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/congress-takes-first-step-to-give-second-chances-manufacturers-should-follow/) **Published:** December 20, 2018 **Author:** Web **Content:** “While many consider the First Step Act to be just that — a first step — the bill may also contain important lessons for manufacturers looking to solve the sector’s ongoing recruitment crisis,” writes Madeline Janis, executive director of Jobs to Move America, in *Forbes*. --- ### [Report on heavy-duty EVs highlights opportunity for social equity](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/report-on-heavy-duty-evs-highlights-opportunity-for-social-equity/) **Published:** January 18, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** California’s heavy-duty electric vehicle revolution doesn’t just benefit the environment, it will help social equity efforts as well, according to a report from the Union of Concerned Scientists and The Greenlining Institute. --- ### [BYD receives recognition for its commitment to advancing women in the workplace](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/byd-receives-recognition-for-its-commitment-to-advancing-women-in-the-workplace/) **Published:** January 21, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** BYD is the only pure-electric vehicle manufacturer in North America included on Bloomberg’s 2019 Gender-Equality Index List. --- ### [Foxconn fiasco proves manufacturing revival won't happen without accountability](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/foxconn-fiasco-proves-manufacturing-revival-wont-happen-without-accountability/) **Published:** February 1, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** Foxconn reneging on its initial agreement dealt a major blow to Wisconsin’s communities and economy. But it is, ultimately, unsurprising news. Our cities and states spend tens of billions of taxpayer dollars every year on subsidies to private sector companies with few standards in place, as is the case with Foxconn. --- ### [Over 70 workers hired to build CTA's next-gen 7000-Series cars on SE side](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/over-70-workers-hired-to-build-ctas-next-gen-7000-series-cars-on-se-side/) **Published:** March 4, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** The city says the factory, located on 45 acres of land, will eventually create about 170 manufacturing, warehouse and professional jobs. It’s been 55 years since rail cars were built within the city limits. --- ### [Why transit equity matters](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/why-transit-equity-matters/) **Published:** February 4, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** Today marks the birthday of Rosa Parks, who made history in 1955 when she refused to move to the back of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama. --- ### [Meet the black climate and social justice leaders you have never heard of](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/meet-the-black-climate-and-social-justice-leaders-you-have-never-heard-of/) **Published:** February 28, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** A new generation of black activists are working on issues from housing to transportation to food security. Dr. Beverly Scott, JMA board member, is featured. --- ### ['Monumental': Chicago commits to 100 percent renewable energy by 2040](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/monumental-chicago-commits-to-100-percent-renewable-energy-by-2040/) **Published:** April 10, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** “The Chicago Collective who wrote this resolution—comprised of frontline environmental justice communities, green groups, and unions—proves that not only can Chicago build a climate-safe future for next generations, but that a truly just transition also creates good, family-sustaining jobs to lift up communities,” said Kassie Beyer, campaign director of Jobs to Move America in Illinois. --- ### [Chicago commits to 100 percent clean energy](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/chicago-commits-to-100-percent-clean-energy/) **Published:** April 10, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** Chicago just became the largest city in the United States to commit to 100 percent clean energy. Legislation passed unanimously today by the city council will enable the metropolis of 2.7 million to power all of its buildings on clean and renewable energy by 2035. --- ### [A Green New Deal worth taking: how to advance inclusion through clean energy jobs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/a-green-new-deal-worth-taking-how-to-advance-inclusion-through-clean-energy-jobs/) **Published:** April 18, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** The Green New Deal is dominating the headlines, but what does this really mean for workers? A new report released by the Brookings Institute today offers some important insights. --- ### [Activists call on NY to adopt fully electric vehicle fleet by 2040](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/activists-call-on-ny-to-adopt-fully-electric-vehicle-fleet-by-2040/) **Published:** April 25, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** Transportation is the largest contributor to greenhouse gases in the state, and the only sector where emissions haven’t decreased since 1990, according to state data. On Thursday, the ElectrifyNY coalition targeted buses and other mass transit-related vehicles in the state. --- ### [MTA’s two-decade plan for all-electric fleet lacks details, transit advocates say](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/mtas-two-decade-plan-for-all-electric-fleet-lacks-details-transit-advocates-say/) **Published:** April 25, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** If the MTA needs 21 years to make its bus fleet fully electric, it ought to have a detailed plan, transit advocates said Thursday. --- ### [ElectrifyNY activists seek state transition to fully electric vehicle fleets by 2040](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/electrifyny-activists-seek-state-transition-to-fully-electric-vehicle-fleets-by-2040/) **Published:** April 26, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** ElectrifyNY, a coalition of environmental, transit, and social justice advocates, is calling for New York state and its municipalities to fully transition to electric vehicles by 2040. --- ### [How reverse-CPRA lawsuits harm the public’s right to know](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/in-the-news/how-reverse-cpra-lawsuits-harm-the-publics-right-to-know/) **Published:** May 14, 2019 **Author:** Web **Content:** Instead of receiving responses to their requests for government records under the California Public Records Act, some journalists and news outlets have been served with lawsuits seeking to keep records private. This disturbing trend — known as reverse-CPRA-lawsuits — is intended to discourage the press and public from seeking records that could shed light on government activities. --- ## Donation Forms ### [Donate](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/donations/donate-2/) **Published:** December 12, 2019 **Author:** Web --- ## Categories ### [Uncategorized](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/category/uncategorized/) --- ### [Sample Category](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/category/sample-category/) --- ### [Sample Category Two](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/category/sample-category-two/) --- ### [U.S. Employment Plan](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/category/u-s-employment-plan/) --- ### [Health & Safety](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/category/health-safety/) --- ## Tags ### [Sample Tag](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/tag/sample-tag/) --- ## Roles ### [Our Board](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/role/board/) --- ## Categories ### [Health & Safety](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/catalog/health-safety/) --- ### [Workforce Development](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/catalog/workforce-development/) --- ### [Labor](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/catalog/labor/) --- ### [Climate Change](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/catalog/climate-change/) --- ### [Manufacturing](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/catalog/manufacturing/) --- ### [Economy](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/catalog/economy/) --- ### [Feminism](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/catalog/feminism/) --- ### [Infrastructure/Transportation](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/catalog/infrastructure-transportation/) --- ### [Racial Justice](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/catalog/racial-justice/) --- ### [Transparency](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/catalog/transparency/) --- ### [Worker Stories](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/catalog/worker-stories/) --- ### [JMA National](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/catalog/jma-national/) --- ## Types ### [Reports & Policy Briefs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource_type/reports/) --- ### [Webinars](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource_type/webinars/) --- ### [Multimedia](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource_type/videos/) --- ### [Big Ideas](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource_type/big-ideas/) --- ### [Factsheets](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource_type/factsheets/) --- ### [Policy + Programs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource_type/policy-area/) --- ### [Climate Justice Policies](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource_type/climate-justice-policies/) --- ### [Transparency and Sunshine Policies](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource_type/transparency-and-sunshine-policies/) --- ### [Good Jobs Policies](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource_type/good-jobs-policies/) --- ### [Workforce Equity Programs](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource_type/workforce-equity-programs/) --- ### [Community Benefits Agreements](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource_type/community-benefits-agreements/) --- ### [Letters](https://jobstomoveamerica.org/resource_type/letters/) ---