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Women and Green Jobs

Women and Green Jobs. Susan Rees Wider Opportunities for Women April 1, 2009 srees@wowonline.org. What Are Green Jobs?. “Green” relates to a job’s purpose Jobs that conserve energy, expand renewable energy sources, conserve or improve the environment

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Women and Green Jobs

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  1. Women and Green Jobs Susan Rees Wider Opportunities for Women April 1, 2009 srees@wowonline.org

  2. What Are Green Jobs? • “Green” relates to a job’s purpose • Jobs that conserve energy, expand renewable energy sources, conserve or improve the environment • 40% of energy is used to heat and cool buildings • 40% of green jobs expected in making buildings energy efficient • Therefore, many green jobs will be in construction – similar to traditional construction laborer and skilled trades. • Building retrofit, HVAC • Infrastructure development, e.g. “smart grid,” mass transit • And manufacturing – wind turbines, solar panels, auto batteries

  3. Skills Required for Green Jobs • Traditional construction skills with added technical aspects • And thinking “green,” understanding systems • Community college course for commercial HVAC-refrigeration • 2-year, 53 units • How buildings work – building commissioning • Energy use trend analysis and diagnostics • Control system programming • Communication and presentation skills • Basic skills, including trigonometry and geometry

  4. Green: A Road to Better Jobs for Women? • Construction and other green jobs likely will pay more than those traditionally held by women. • 2/3 of all working women are clustered in only 21 of 500 job categories (Women Work, using BLS data) • Except for nurses and school teachers, these categories include some of the lowest paying industries • Retail • Personal services • Food establishments

  5. The Boost From Construction Wages • Single mother with one preschooler needs • $24,139 to make ends meet, WOW’s national median Self-Sufficiency Standard in 2007. • 60% of such women had income below the national median. • 2007 BLS average annual construction salaries: • Laborers -- $30,950 • HVAC - Refrigeration, Mechanics and Installers -- $40,630 • Insulation workers -- $41,480 • Plumbers, Pipefitters, Steamfitters -- $48, 442 • Electricians -- $48,100

  6. Union vs. Non-union Wages • Typical construction trades union member -- $993/ week, $51,636/year • Non-union -- $624/week, $32,448/year • Government certified apprenticeships in the trades are road to higher paying, long-term careers in construction, BUT • Only 11.5 % of construction jobs are union jobs. (Source: Economic Policy Institute)

  7. How Many Stimulus Jobs Will Be Green? • Jobs created by Recovery Act Spending • EPI estimates $200 billion in construction spending over 2 years will create 770,000 jobs in: • Transportation infrastructure • School retrofit • Electric power grid • Home Weatherization Assistance Program • GSA federal building retrofit • Public and affordable housing

  8. How Many Green Jobs for Women? • Not many, if current workforce composition is any guide • Women in construction overall (non-office) -- 2.6% • Construction laborers – 2.7% • HVAC, Refrigeration – 0.9% • Plumbers, pipefitters, steamfitters – 1.5% • Electricians – 1.7% • Insulation workers – 1.9% • Sheet metal workers – 3.7% • Manufacturing: Machinists – 5.2%

  9. Training funds in Recovery and Reinvestment Act • $1.2 billion - dislocated worker services • $750 million - competitive grants in high-growth sectors, including green and broadband expansion • $500 million - WIA adult program • All the above include: • Targeting to low-income populations • Supportive services • Needs-based cash payments • $1 billion Weatherization Assistance Program training • $20 million DOT on-the-job training and supportive services

  10. Adult Education in ARRA • WIA funds may be used to contract with community colleges. • Funds in the State Fiscal Assistance Fund for education may be directed to programs funded under the Perkins Career and Technical Assistance program. • Maximum Pell grants are increased by $500 to a maximum of $4,860. • New American Opportunity Tax Credit replaces and expands the Hope Scholarship to $2,500 and makes it refundable below $90,000 income ($180,000 joint returns).

  11. How to Ensure Women Get Green Jobs • Comprehensive approach, including • Hiring goals or preferences • Enforcement of nondiscrimination and equal opportunity laws • Pre-apprenticeship programs that include: • Local labor market analysis • Specialized outreach • Orientation to construction field • Support services and stipends, including child care and transportation to job sites • Programs addressing sexual harassment • Apprenticeship placements involving unions and employers

  12. At the Federal Level • Improve WANTO (Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations) enacted in 1992 • Shown to increase women’s employment in higher-paying occupations by 47% (Mastracci) • Pre-apprenticeship training and support services, including outreach and coordination with labor-management councils • Authorized at $1 million – often funded at less. • Administered by Women’s Bureau • 20 programs have closed due to lack of funding.

  13. DOL’s Green Jobs Training Act • Green Jobs Training Act of 2007 • Pathways Out of Poverty competitive demonstration grants • Targets individuals with income less than 200% of the Self-Sufficiency Standard • Should consider women’s needs in program implementation. • DOL should include WANTO-type pre-apprenticeship programs as nonprofit partners to receive grants. • Data collection requires gender, race, age and parenting status, job placement and average wage at placement, including benefits.

  14. DOT - Federal Highway Administration • Office of Civil Rights’ On-the-Job-Training and Supportive Services http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/aaa/gtup.htm • Competitive grants to state highway departments. • Purpose: increase employment of “minorities, women and disadvantaged individuals” in transportation jobs. • Includes recruitment, skills training, job placement, child care, outreach, transportation to work sites, pre-employment assessment, mediation and counseling. • “Pipeline” programs may include transportation-related internships, cooperative education, post-secondary support activities.

  15. Federal Nondiscrimination Enforcement • DOL should strengthen equal opportunity monitoring by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs in DOL. • Staffing has been cut by approximately 25% since 2001. • Restore the Equal Opportunity Survey requiring contractors to submit information on average compensation of employees by gender and race. • Update hiring goals for women (6.9%) and minorities that remain based on 1970 Census data. • Expand use of the 2000 MOU between OFCCP and the GSA to jointly promote contractor hiring goals on selected mega-projects valued over $50 million.

  16. At the State and Local Level • Legislation/regulations should give preference to contractors who – • Maximize the hiring of disadvantaged groups, including “individuals for whom construction is nontraditional employment,” and • Provide health and retirement benefits. • Require agencies to coordinate hiring with local community organizations, hiring centers, faith-based, labor and nonprofit organizations. • Require hiring data on Recovery Web sites, including to the extent possible gender, race, ethnicity, age and previous income.

  17. State and Local Level (cont’d) • Enact “project labor agreements” that include hiring goals. • These are negotiated voluntary agreements involving, labor, owners and contractor organizations for large projects. • Include women’s and community voices at the table. • Monitor payroll data. • Establish state pre-apprenticeship recruitment, training and placement programs. • E.g. NYC procurement policies require apprentices on publicly funded projects for the schools, Port and Housing Authorities. • The city’s Labor-sponsored pre-apprenticeship program guarantees placement in these certified apprenticeships.

  18. Washington Area Women in the Trades (WAWIT) Camille Cormier Wider Opportunities for Women April 1, 2009 ccormier@wowonline.org

  19. WAWIT Partners and Major Roles • Wider Opportunities for Women: case management, non-union job and apprenticeship placement, systems advocacy; • YWCA of the National Capital Area: main training site, curriculum/overall program development and implementation; • Community Services Agency of the Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO: hands-on and 120-hour Core Construction training, union job and apprenticeship placement, systems advocacy.

  20. WAWIT is: • 6 weeks of pre-apprenticeship training with up to 18 months of case management /job placement support for graduates. • Training that prepares low-income DC area women for construction and utility careers paying self-sufficient wages .

  21. WAWIT Program Components Industry-Recognized Certificates: • Core Construction - training/certification using AFL-CIO’s curriculum – topics: Construction Math, Blueprint Reading, Industry Orientation/Awareness, Labor History/Contemporary Issues, Tools/Materials • First Aid – CPR • OSHA 10 Safety Hands-on Skills Training: 40 hours at a DC area Union Apprenticeship Training Center

  22. WAWIT Program Components (cont) • Fitness – 3 to 5 hours of weight training per week, emphasis on upper body strengthening • Gender Issues in Construction • Green Jobs Overview • Job Readiness • Basic Computer Skills/Research -a-Trade • Counseling/Case Management (up to 18 months) • Individual Job Placement (up to 18 months) • Technical Reading Comprehension • Supporting Our Sisters: Monthly support groups

  23. WANTO Program(a project of WAWIT) Women into Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations Project Goals: • Prepare 200 women over a 2-year period to enter high paying construction Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RAPs) in the Washington DC area; • Update and dissemination of Workplace Solutions website (www.workplacesolutions.org), an online resource for employers and unions on women in nontraditional occupations; • Institutionalization of 3 to 5 new policies/programs in appropriate RAPs—especially in the area of recruitment and retention of women.

  24. WAWIT Program Outcomes • Seven (7) class cycles completed since March 2007 • 193 women enrolled • 118 women graduated (17 of these on 3/26) • 61% graduation rate • 52 graduates placed in jobs and apprenticeships • 44% placement of graduates • Vigorous placement efforts continue

  25. WAWIT Challenges • Economic Downturn – Many skilled workers “on the bench;” • Not a Union Town – 20% of area contractors are union; • No major ports or industrial/manufacturing base; • Relatively small population base (582,000 in DC; 5.3 million in DC area) from which to draw interested women; • Suburban Maryland and Virginia student recruitment and retention is problematic (“bridge and tunnel” syndrome); • Lack of funding for training and work supports; • Broken and opaque public workforce development systems; • High entrance requirements for urban women: High school diploma/GED, strong math skills, drivers’ license.

  26. WAWIT /WOW Opportunities • ARRA construction/Green Jobs funding promises huge increase in training and jobs for DC area; • Exploring weatherization careers and other Green Jobs with WOW as a potential hub; • DC Green Building Act of 2006 requires environmental retrofits, Green standards for new construction; • US Green Jobs Act of 2007 retrofit requirements apply to the high number of Federal buildings in DC area.

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