GWA Fellows Come to Washington

With great excitement, we launched our first fellowship for GWA members in February. Three GWA members were selected for a three-month program to develop their organizing skills and help build GWA.

On February 6, Brittney Linton, Maddey Strickland and Felicia Allen came to DC for a two-day training to kick off their fellowship. All work in the solar industry. Brittney lives in North Carolina, Maddey in Pennsylvania and Felicia in Ohio. We met with allies from the AFL-CIO and our communications firm Pacifica Strategies. Fellows practiced their rap to recruit new GWA members and then jumped right into online outreach in the massive solar and wind Facebook groups.

The fellows are deeply involved in our ongoing activities. They started by turning out GWA members for our monthly organizing committee call. They are helping recruit participants for our focus groups of renewable energy workers. These focus groups will help us decide which services to offer to members in the future. In the coming days, fellows will work with GWA partner Survivors Know to develop plans to fight sexual harassment and

gender-based violence.

Stay tuned for reports from the fellows about all this, as well as GWA tours to worksites and our upcoming temp agency and utility company campaigns. We have a lot going on and we're excited fellows are on board to help make it happen!

Green Workers Alliance Applauds Julie Su as Biden’s DOL Pick

“Renewables workers - and our planet - need someone like Su at the helm of the Department of Labor to push for and deliver on much needed change.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 28, 2023

Contact: gwa@pacificastrategies.com

Washington D.C. - In response to President Biden’s nomination of Julie Su to be the 30th United States Secretary of Labor, Matthew Mayers, Executive Director of the Green Workers Alliance issued the following Statement:

“Workers in this country deserve a fierce advocate in the White House and Julie Su is an inspired choice to become our next Secretary of Labor.

“Su broke new ground as California’s Secretary of Labor, and has continued her inspiring work as Deputy Labor Secretary in the Biden Administration. She has a proven track record of fighting for working people, working closely with both labor unions and other independent worker organizations to stop wage theft, improve working conditions, and more.

“Renewables workers - and our planet - need someone like Su at the helm of the Department of Labor to push for and deliver on much needed change. Right now, renewable energy jobs are scaling up across the country to meet the demand of the Inflation Reduction Act’s unprecedented investment in clean energy. But the industry still relies on low-road subcontractors and temp agencies, who frequently short-change workers and promise jobs that never materialize. Non-union solar and wind workers face dangerous safety conditions, rampant favoritism, and lack of job security, while the investor-owned utility companies that contract for electricity from these projects take no responsibility and make billions in profits.

“This industry—and many more across America—will need to fundamentally change. Julie Su knows this from first-hand experience. She has been a fighter to win these changes, and we look forward to working with her as we demand more and better green jobs.”

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Green Workers Alliance is an organization made of renewable energy workers demanding more and better jobs in the field and a just transition off fossil fuels.

2022 Highlight Video