GREEN JOBS FOR ALL -A community-Labour Coalitionand the Toronto and York Region Labour Council is hosting a GREEN JOBS FOR ALL conference today nov. 7th at the Allstream building.
My primary comment so far is that the conference is WELL ATTENDED !
The two first Speakers Tonika Morgan, Movement Builder and Member of Medina Collective and Peter Tabuns, MPP, Toronto Danforth were chanting the same very vague “green economy has grand potential” and I look forward to the workshop were we can actualize the grand potential.
At the workshop for Green Infrastructure Renewal it’s story time…
I am blogging real-time while I’m at this conference; so i will be highlighting the points made in the discussions and consensus building workshops and hopefully this will stimulate some thought process for you to get involved with the Labour movements’ Green Jobs for all Movement.
Infrastructure Use for Green Jobs:
—New Light Rail: Community use transit to have local employment targets met.
—Mayor’s Tower Renewal: 4 pilots are within Toronto Community Housing Corporation. (TCHC) They have already practiced local employment and green renovations. TCHC pilot has a local employment requirement, 25% Canadian content and community engagement.
—Sustainable Energy Strategy: Comprehensive energy retrofit programs and renewable energy development We recommended - research local sourcing of all materials and labours.
—Ontario Green Energy and Green Economy Act: now in regulations 50% local procurement for Wind. 60% local procurement for Solar PV installation
—Chemtrac: disclosing industrial use of toxic chemicals and helping polluters go green
Lets leverage these policies…
Issues to be addressed;
~Job Creation
~Identify Skills Gap
Green infrastructure Workshop
~develop a green charter to guide all our work
~Incentives; social enterprise
~Awarness, Educations and Public Transit
Empowering YOUTH Workshop
-Public School system using Volunteer hours to be skill building for youth for good green jobs
-Green Apprenticeship and Mentorships, Program accessibility and awareness
-encourage local green suppliers for school
-Implement enriched curriculum, how do we make sure our educators feel comfortable with the content enough to truly support.
-Youth holding our decisions makers accountable
-Re-investing in our local communities and neighbourhoods; ensure local apprenticeships local
-past students should come back and retrofit the school
-accountability
-public awareness and education
Green Manufacturing Jobs Workshop
- Aim at the re framing of our vision through an equity lens including discussion about infrastructure
-Education
-Advocating to government; retrofitting building, simplifying application process
-Green Transportation
-Access and outreach; multi-language campaigns making it clear that labor is for the green movement.
-Networking to ensure we are building a movement
Campaigns to be lead:
~December 12th Rally: Hitting the streets
~Pan Am Games; a great rallying point to build a global green solidarity and ensure the public transit and infrastructure is locally driven
~Municipal Election 2010; show us your position to ensure the candidates are behind a good green job strategy.
~Save Our Schools Campaign - keeping schools open if they are green
If we want local procurement and local training- we need a movement to fight for it !
