From our friends at Western Mass Jobs with Justice
The project reported below protects the union rights of “green jobs” workers. The Western Mass. Green Economy Working Group helped the consortium members find each other. WMGEWG advocates for a Green Economy which serves local communities, guarantees workers' rights to organize, and promotes community-owned sustainable projects. We meet monthly on the fourth Wednesday, 12:30-2:30pm (Brown Bag Lunch at Noon), at the Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO Hall, 640 Page Boulevard, Springfield.
'Green' trades jobs await training
Springfield Republican, Wednesday, February 24, 2010
By Jim Kinney, business writer
http://www.masslive.com/
SPRINGFIELD - Classes in a "green" building trades program run by UMass, area labor unions and contractors, won't begin for months, but organizers already have jobs or slots in more advanced apprenticeship programs lined up for 19 graduates.
"Our joint apprenticeship partners are optimistic," said Joseph F. Connolly, director of the Labor/Management Workplace Education Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
If the Springfield training goes well, Connolly said the Workplace Education Program would like to expand it to Holyoke, Amherst, Greenfield, Pittsfield and Northampton.
read the full article here