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AFL-CIO Convention: Solidarity with Van Jones?
The attack that drove "green jobs czar" Van Jones from the White
House this week is an attack on labor and on workers' best hope for
good jobs. If labor wants to promote green jobs, labor should embrace
Van Jones - publicly, loudly, and fast - at the upcoming AFL-CIO Convention.
Sep 12, 2009
The attack that drove "green jobs czar" Van Jones from the White
House this week is an attack on labor and on workers' best hope for
good jobs. If labor wants to promote green jobs, labor should embrace
Van Jones - publicly, loudly, and fast - at the upcoming AFL-CIO Convention.
Van Jones is a proven friend of labor, who has fought to see that
green jobs are good jobs with labor rights and fair labor standards.
If ever there was a time for that old labor slogan "An injury to one is
an injury to all" it is the injury that has been done to Van Jones.
For it is an injury to every American worker who hopes that the crisis
in our economy can be addressed by putting people to work building a
new green economy.
As founder of Green for All and author of the best-seller The Green
Collar Economy, Van Jones put the issue of green jobs on the political
map. Eager to catch the green jobs wave, the Obama administration
brought Van Jones in as "special advisor for green jobs" at the Council
on Environmental Quality. But last month Glenn Beck's Fox News' show began dredging
up calumnies from Jones's past - all information which admittedly had
long been publicly available on the web. (Yes, that's the Glenn Beck who said
"This president has exposed himself as a guy over and over and over
again who has a deep-seated hatred for white people.") This Sunday Jones self-sacrificingly resigned to avoid becoming a distraction for the Obama administration.
The campaign against Jones is the tip of the wedge for a far broader
campaign against organized labor, protection of the environment, and
green jobs.
Credit for starting the campaign that drove Van Jones from office is claimed by Phil Kerpen, Policy Director of Americans for Prosperity. What's their agenda?
Americans for Prosperity has been running what it calls the "Stop the Employee No Choice Act" campaign. Here's what Kerpen has to say about unions:
"Workers increasingly believe, for good reason, that unions either
provide little in return for their dues or work against their
interests."
Kerpen says his defeat of clean-energy legislation is his "No. 1
legislative priority." His group ran a "Hot Air Tour" under the slogan
"Global Warming Alarmism: Lost Jobs, Higher Taxes, Less Freedom."
Finally, Kerpen gets to attack both labor and the environment by attacking green jobs:
"Green jobs are not economic jobs but political jobs, designed to
funnel vast sums of taxpayer money to left-wing labor unions,
environmental groups, and social justice community organizers." Kerpen
and Beck devoted a whole show to "exposing" the union-backed Apollo
Alliance as a sinister conspiracy to unite social justice,
environmental protection, and labor around the green jobs program.
Where does the money come from? According to Kevin Grandia of the watchdog group DeSmogBlog:
The AFP is the third largest recipient of funding from
the Koch Family Foundations. Before 2003, when the AFP was still named
the Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation, it received $18,460,912 in
funding. 84% of that funding came from the Koch Family Foundations
($12,906,712) and the Scaife Family Foundations ($2,510,000). Koch
Family Foundations is funded by Koch Industries. According to Forbes,
Koch Industries is the second largest privately-held company, and the
largest privately owned energy company, in the United States. Koch
industries has made its money in the oil business, primarily oil
refining. Presently, it holds stakes in pipelines, refineries,
fertilizer, forest products, and chemical technology.
Koch Industries, by the way, employed the union-busting Faegre &
Benson law firm, which, according to its website, specializes in
anti-union campaigns and withdrawing from pension plans.
Green for All, the green jobs organization founded by Van Jones, is circulating a petition, "Stand with the Green Jobs Movement." The supporting statement say,
Like the great social justice movements of the 20th
century, our movement for an inclusive green economy is based in the
most fundamental American values: equality, justice, and opportunity
for all.In the face of tactics intended to frighten and divide, we must stand together around the core values that unite us.
Stand with our movement. Sign the petition.
The petition simply says:
I stand for an inclusive green economy based in the most
fundamental American values: equality, justice, and opportunity for all.
If labor wants to stand with the green jobs movement - and if it
wants to roll back the right-wing attack on our unions, our
environment, and our green jobs - it should ask Van Jones to launch the
next phase of the green jobs movement by addressing its convention this
week.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Jeremy Brecher
Jeremy Brecher is a historian, author, and co-founder of the Labor Network for Sustainability. His book, "Climate Insurgency: A Strategy for Survival," or free download at his personal website. His other books include: "Save the Humans? Common Preservation in Action" (2020), "Strike!" (2020), and, co-edited with Brendan Smith and Jill Cutler, "In the Name of Democracy: American War Crimes in Iraq and Beyond" (Metropolitan/Holt).
Brendan Smith
Brendan Smith is an oysterman and green labor activist. He is co-founder of the Labor Network for Sustainability and Global Labor Strategies, and a consulting partner with the Progressive Technology Project. He has worked previously for Congressman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) -- both as campaign director and staff on the U.S. House Banking Committee -- as well as a broad range of trade unions, grassroots groups and progressive politicians. He is a graduate of Cornell Law School.
Tim Costello
Tim Costello was an American labor and anti-globalization advocate who started his career as a truck driver, driving fuel trucks and as a long-haul trucker. He was one of the founders of the North American Alliance for Fair Employment (NAAFE), a network of organizations opposed to the use of temporary workers. In 2005, Costello co-founded Global Labor Strategies to foster the formation of international alliances opposed to the lowering of working standards and wages resulting from globalization. Tim died at age 64 in 2009 of pancreatic cancer at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The attack that drove "green jobs czar" Van Jones from the White
House this week is an attack on labor and on workers' best hope for
good jobs. If labor wants to promote green jobs, labor should embrace
Van Jones - publicly, loudly, and fast - at the upcoming AFL-CIO Convention.
Van Jones is a proven friend of labor, who has fought to see that
green jobs are good jobs with labor rights and fair labor standards.
If ever there was a time for that old labor slogan "An injury to one is
an injury to all" it is the injury that has been done to Van Jones.
For it is an injury to every American worker who hopes that the crisis
in our economy can be addressed by putting people to work building a
new green economy.
As founder of Green for All and author of the best-seller The Green
Collar Economy, Van Jones put the issue of green jobs on the political
map. Eager to catch the green jobs wave, the Obama administration
brought Van Jones in as "special advisor for green jobs" at the Council
on Environmental Quality. But last month Glenn Beck's Fox News' show began dredging
up calumnies from Jones's past - all information which admittedly had
long been publicly available on the web. (Yes, that's the Glenn Beck who said
"This president has exposed himself as a guy over and over and over
again who has a deep-seated hatred for white people.") This Sunday Jones self-sacrificingly resigned to avoid becoming a distraction for the Obama administration.
The campaign against Jones is the tip of the wedge for a far broader
campaign against organized labor, protection of the environment, and
green jobs.
Credit for starting the campaign that drove Van Jones from office is claimed by Phil Kerpen, Policy Director of Americans for Prosperity. What's their agenda?
Americans for Prosperity has been running what it calls the "Stop the Employee No Choice Act" campaign. Here's what Kerpen has to say about unions:
"Workers increasingly believe, for good reason, that unions either
provide little in return for their dues or work against their
interests."
Kerpen says his defeat of clean-energy legislation is his "No. 1
legislative priority." His group ran a "Hot Air Tour" under the slogan
"Global Warming Alarmism: Lost Jobs, Higher Taxes, Less Freedom."
Finally, Kerpen gets to attack both labor and the environment by attacking green jobs:
"Green jobs are not economic jobs but political jobs, designed to
funnel vast sums of taxpayer money to left-wing labor unions,
environmental groups, and social justice community organizers." Kerpen
and Beck devoted a whole show to "exposing" the union-backed Apollo
Alliance as a sinister conspiracy to unite social justice,
environmental protection, and labor around the green jobs program.
Where does the money come from? According to Kevin Grandia of the watchdog group DeSmogBlog:
The AFP is the third largest recipient of funding from
the Koch Family Foundations. Before 2003, when the AFP was still named
the Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation, it received $18,460,912 in
funding. 84% of that funding came from the Koch Family Foundations
($12,906,712) and the Scaife Family Foundations ($2,510,000). Koch
Family Foundations is funded by Koch Industries. According to Forbes,
Koch Industries is the second largest privately-held company, and the
largest privately owned energy company, in the United States. Koch
industries has made its money in the oil business, primarily oil
refining. Presently, it holds stakes in pipelines, refineries,
fertilizer, forest products, and chemical technology.
Koch Industries, by the way, employed the union-busting Faegre &
Benson law firm, which, according to its website, specializes in
anti-union campaigns and withdrawing from pension plans.
Green for All, the green jobs organization founded by Van Jones, is circulating a petition, "Stand with the Green Jobs Movement." The supporting statement say,
Like the great social justice movements of the 20th
century, our movement for an inclusive green economy is based in the
most fundamental American values: equality, justice, and opportunity
for all.In the face of tactics intended to frighten and divide, we must stand together around the core values that unite us.
Stand with our movement. Sign the petition.
The petition simply says:
I stand for an inclusive green economy based in the most
fundamental American values: equality, justice, and opportunity for all.
If labor wants to stand with the green jobs movement - and if it
wants to roll back the right-wing attack on our unions, our
environment, and our green jobs - it should ask Van Jones to launch the
next phase of the green jobs movement by addressing its convention this
week.
Jeremy Brecher
Jeremy Brecher is a historian, author, and co-founder of the Labor Network for Sustainability. His book, "Climate Insurgency: A Strategy for Survival," or free download at his personal website. His other books include: "Save the Humans? Common Preservation in Action" (2020), "Strike!" (2020), and, co-edited with Brendan Smith and Jill Cutler, "In the Name of Democracy: American War Crimes in Iraq and Beyond" (Metropolitan/Holt).
Brendan Smith
Brendan Smith is an oysterman and green labor activist. He is co-founder of the Labor Network for Sustainability and Global Labor Strategies, and a consulting partner with the Progressive Technology Project. He has worked previously for Congressman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) -- both as campaign director and staff on the U.S. House Banking Committee -- as well as a broad range of trade unions, grassroots groups and progressive politicians. He is a graduate of Cornell Law School.
Tim Costello
Tim Costello was an American labor and anti-globalization advocate who started his career as a truck driver, driving fuel trucks and as a long-haul trucker. He was one of the founders of the North American Alliance for Fair Employment (NAAFE), a network of organizations opposed to the use of temporary workers. In 2005, Costello co-founded Global Labor Strategies to foster the formation of international alliances opposed to the lowering of working standards and wages resulting from globalization. Tim died at age 64 in 2009 of pancreatic cancer at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The attack that drove "green jobs czar" Van Jones from the White
House this week is an attack on labor and on workers' best hope for
good jobs. If labor wants to promote green jobs, labor should embrace
Van Jones - publicly, loudly, and fast - at the upcoming AFL-CIO Convention.
Van Jones is a proven friend of labor, who has fought to see that
green jobs are good jobs with labor rights and fair labor standards.
If ever there was a time for that old labor slogan "An injury to one is
an injury to all" it is the injury that has been done to Van Jones.
For it is an injury to every American worker who hopes that the crisis
in our economy can be addressed by putting people to work building a
new green economy.
As founder of Green for All and author of the best-seller The Green
Collar Economy, Van Jones put the issue of green jobs on the political
map. Eager to catch the green jobs wave, the Obama administration
brought Van Jones in as "special advisor for green jobs" at the Council
on Environmental Quality. But last month Glenn Beck's Fox News' show began dredging
up calumnies from Jones's past - all information which admittedly had
long been publicly available on the web. (Yes, that's the Glenn Beck who said
"This president has exposed himself as a guy over and over and over
again who has a deep-seated hatred for white people.") This Sunday Jones self-sacrificingly resigned to avoid becoming a distraction for the Obama administration.
The campaign against Jones is the tip of the wedge for a far broader
campaign against organized labor, protection of the environment, and
green jobs.
Credit for starting the campaign that drove Van Jones from office is claimed by Phil Kerpen, Policy Director of Americans for Prosperity. What's their agenda?
Americans for Prosperity has been running what it calls the "Stop the Employee No Choice Act" campaign. Here's what Kerpen has to say about unions:
"Workers increasingly believe, for good reason, that unions either
provide little in return for their dues or work against their
interests."
Kerpen says his defeat of clean-energy legislation is his "No. 1
legislative priority." His group ran a "Hot Air Tour" under the slogan
"Global Warming Alarmism: Lost Jobs, Higher Taxes, Less Freedom."
Finally, Kerpen gets to attack both labor and the environment by attacking green jobs:
"Green jobs are not economic jobs but political jobs, designed to
funnel vast sums of taxpayer money to left-wing labor unions,
environmental groups, and social justice community organizers." Kerpen
and Beck devoted a whole show to "exposing" the union-backed Apollo
Alliance as a sinister conspiracy to unite social justice,
environmental protection, and labor around the green jobs program.
Where does the money come from? According to Kevin Grandia of the watchdog group DeSmogBlog:
The AFP is the third largest recipient of funding from
the Koch Family Foundations. Before 2003, when the AFP was still named
the Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation, it received $18,460,912 in
funding. 84% of that funding came from the Koch Family Foundations
($12,906,712) and the Scaife Family Foundations ($2,510,000). Koch
Family Foundations is funded by Koch Industries. According to Forbes,
Koch Industries is the second largest privately-held company, and the
largest privately owned energy company, in the United States. Koch
industries has made its money in the oil business, primarily oil
refining. Presently, it holds stakes in pipelines, refineries,
fertilizer, forest products, and chemical technology.
Koch Industries, by the way, employed the union-busting Faegre &
Benson law firm, which, according to its website, specializes in
anti-union campaigns and withdrawing from pension plans.
Green for All, the green jobs organization founded by Van Jones, is circulating a petition, "Stand with the Green Jobs Movement." The supporting statement say,
Like the great social justice movements of the 20th
century, our movement for an inclusive green economy is based in the
most fundamental American values: equality, justice, and opportunity
for all.In the face of tactics intended to frighten and divide, we must stand together around the core values that unite us.
Stand with our movement. Sign the petition.
The petition simply says:
I stand for an inclusive green economy based in the most
fundamental American values: equality, justice, and opportunity for all.
If labor wants to stand with the green jobs movement - and if it
wants to roll back the right-wing attack on our unions, our
environment, and our green jobs - it should ask Van Jones to launch the
next phase of the green jobs movement by addressing its convention this
week.
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