FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Mike Prokosch: (617) 723-2639
March 16, 2010
State Could Gain 6,000 Jobs by Making Weatherization Field a “High Road” Industry
BOSTON – Massachusetts can get 6,000 good jobs by making the fast-growing weatherization field a “high road” industry. That’s the takeaway from a report released today by the Green Justice Coalition and the national Apollo Alliance. The report, An Industry at the Crossroads: Energy Efficiency Employment in Massachusetts, shows that:
- The jobs are coming. The state and utility companies are investing $1.4 billion in building energy efficiency over the next three years. That will create 6,000 direct and 8,300 indirect jobs in the construction sector retrofitting more than 100,000 residential units and 20,000 commercial and municipal structures.
- Right now, weatherization wages are poverty wages. Prevailing wages in home weatherization are $11.26 to $17.59 per hour in Massachusetts, so low that workers qualify for low-income weatherization assistance.
- “Low-road jobs” cost workers, taxpayers, and the state. Employers who underpay workers shift the cost of supporting their families onto taxpayers. This can cost the state and federal government more than $28,000 a year per family.
- “High road” jobs are a good bargain. Paying all of Massachusetts’s energy efficiency workers $18 an hour + $4 in benefits would bring in $32 million a year in income taxes, unemployment contributions, and workers compensation premiums.
The reports concludes that the state, cities, and utility companies can make weatherization jobs “good jobs” by requiring contractors to meet Responsible Employer standards. Responsible contractors would pay living wages and offer benefits, provide quality training and safe workplaces, and hire local residents. Responsible contractors can help end Depression-level joblessness in the state’s low-income communities and communities of color by hiring local residents.
For copies of the report, visit www.massclu.org or contact Mike Prokosch at Community Labor United at 617-723-2639 or [email protected]. Interviews are available with workers in the industry, labor market expert Dr. Andrew Sum of Northeastern University’s Center for Labor Market Studies, and leaders of the state’s Green Justice Coalition.
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The Apollo Alliance is a coalition of unlikely and diverse interests – including labor, business, environmental, and community leaders – advancing a bold vision for the next American economy centered on clean energy and good jobs.
The Green Justice Coalition is a partnership of community groups, labor unions, environmental and other organizations that support a sustainable, equitable, and clean energy economy in Massachusetts. The Coalition is an affiliate of the national Apollo Alliance.