As New York tries to build a green economy and meet its climate commitments, excitement mounts over promised new jobs, offset by real concerns about career cuts.
Long Island resident Joseph Zanfardino has been a plumber for four decades, installing gas lines in homes. Even at 63, he has no plans to retire anytime soon.
As he rose through the ranks, his fellow unionists taught him “respect and standards and quality of life,” he said. His job has enabled him to provide for his six children.
“You’re going to take a middle class and destroy it,” Zandardino, a member of Plumbers Local 1 who was at a rally in downtown Brooklyn this week, told THE CITY. “I fight for the members, myself and our children…. They try to make us put down our tools and go get power for all our energy needs, which is ridiculous.”
The transition to “decarbonize” New York’s economy to implement its climate law is expected to create hundreds of thousands of new clean energy jobs and outpace lost jobs by 10 to 1, according to estimates by a state climate panel last year.
Policymakers in New York face the overlapping questions raised by those who see the clean energy transition as a way to bring younger and historically marginalized people into the green economy, and those who want more support for workers in sectors with vulnerable jobs.
“The question here is how do we ensure that the same workers who move from these locations and these jobs have benefits and protections for themselves and their families?” said Maritza Silva-Farrell, executive director of ALIGN, a union-funded group on the Promotion of green jobs.
“It’s an issue that cannot be overlooked, it’s an issue that needs to be addressed… as we move away from fossil fuels,” she added. “It’s not an option, it’s not ‘if’ – the question is ‘how’.”
As John Murphy, the international representative of the United Association of Plumbers, Pipefitters and Sprinkler Fitters, put it: “What are we going to do to say, ‘Okay, we have to do this, but we want to make sure that for the worker is taken care of?’”
The fear of losing his job was on full display Tuesday as dueling rallies took place this afternoon ahead of a hearing at the New York City College of Technology in downtown Brooklyn on drafting the state’s path to achieving its mandated goals.
Hundreds of tradesmen from Plumbers Local 1, Transport Workers Union Local 100, IBEW 1049 and others gathered in front of City Tech holding signs that read “Protect the planet and blue collar jobs” and “There is a better way!”
Meanwhile, a nearby rally led by New York Renews – a coalition of environmental, faith-based, labor and community organizations – emphasized the growth opportunities inherent in the green plan.
Outlines of a roadmap
The state’s climate law mandates a carbon-neutral economy by 2050, a goal to be achieved largely by moving away from burning fossil fuels and towards increased electrification using renewable and clean energy sources.
Some scientists and artisans have also called for the use of “fossil-free” fuels — such as hydrogen and biogas made from organic materials — as part of the state’s climate plan in testimony and at rallies. Those resources, they say, would leverage existing gas infrastructure, employ more people, and effectively advance decarbonization goals.
There is an open question about the role of so-called “renewable natural gas” and hydrogen in New York’s energy future.
One possible way for the state to do its job involves using these fuels, another doesn’t – instead, it involves faster electrification and wider use of renewable resources. The latter is backed by members of the New York Renews Coalition, who call renewable natural gas and hydrogen “wrong solutions.”
“Science will always be our guide in this, and that includes the economics of this plan,” Basil Seggos, the state’s commissioner of environmental protection, said in an interview with THE CITY last month. “What we need to do is strike a balance between meeting the goals, protecting jobs and growing our economy here in New York.”
Union members protest elements of New York State’s climate mandates in front of City Tech in downtown Brooklyn on May 3, 2022.Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY
Whichever path state policymakers choose, more than 211,000 green jobs could be created by 2030, with solar, offshore wind, building electrification and manufacturing likely to be the top-growing sectors as a result of the energy transition, a 2021 Employment Study by the state’s Just Transition Working Group.
The same study predicted the loss of 22,000 jobs by 2030 in sectors such as natural gas distribution and petroleum fuels.
The Just Transition Working Group has not met since December 2021 but is able to meet again at the request of the Council, which is tasked with working out how the state will meet its climate mandates.
Governor Kathy Hochul on Tuesday appointed Mario Cilento, president of the New York State American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, to that council. This move could bring labor issues related to both job creation and displacement to the forefront of planning.
In a statement, Cilento said it will “ensure that the voices of all working people are fairly represented”.
The Just Transition study has published recommendations from the Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s Zero Carbon Action Plan 2020 that outline ways in which redundant workers in fossil fuel-based industries could be helped.
This plan included pension guarantees, reinstatement, and three years’ pay equal to her salary in previous jobs, as well as two years of retraining and up to $75,000 towards a possible move.
A statewide program could cost New York about $60 million a year between 2031 and 2050, according to 2017 estimates, two years before the state enacted its climate law.
“If you’re interested in a climate program, break the resistance by telling community workers that we’ll take care of your needs,” said Robert Pollin, an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and director of political economy Research Institute, which co-authored this report in 2017. “You have to make sure you include the transition features because these [fossil fuel industry jobs] are good jobs, they are good paying jobs.”
Colorado provides an example of a state working to support workers who are left unemployed when coal mines and coal-fired power plants close. Established in 2019, the Office of Just Transition proactively reaches out to those likely to be unemployed to help them plan their economic future, develop new skills and find other jobs.
For its part, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority has allocated $120 million for workforce development and training programs that will reach 40,000 New Yorkers. The agency also requested a $25 million federal grant to help train new and laid-off workers for clean energy jobs. It also supports employment programs for new workers and those transitioning into clean energy work.
“As the state transitions to a more inclusive green economy, it is actively involved in preparing its workforce, particularly those at risk of displacement, to meet the growing demands of the clean energy industry and is ensuring that all New Yorkers are positioned and equipped to take advantage,” a NYSERDA spokesman said in an emailed statement.
“We don’t want to build our own gallows”
Some in the industry scoff at such a plan, such as Constance Bradley, president of Transport Workers Union Local 101, which represents National Grid workers.
“They forgot we were out there and made sure they had heat, made sure they had water, made sure they had cooking gas,” Bradley said Tuesday, speaking of those during the pandemic done work. “Now they’re telling us we need to get trained for something else?”
Plumbers Local 1’s Zanfardino also expressed skepticism about how someone his age would be retrained.
But others are more confident in the adaptability of artisans and unions providing training for the next phase of human technology.
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Environmental activists gather in front of City Tech in downtown Brooklyn to support limiting gas in the state climate plan May 3, 2022.Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY
“We’re always going to have to build stuff and fix stuff and fix stuff. The skills of the construction industry will be needed no matter what solution we seek,” said Rebecca Lurie, retired carpenter and founder of the Community and Worker Ownership Project at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies. “The construction industry will definitely have work. The “What” is “What are we building and for whom?”. … It is very important that we do not build our own gallows.”
According to Lurie, unions will play an important role in ensuring that workers in emerging markets remain safe and are employed in quality jobs.
Proud of this is Shari, a 23-year-old from Harlem and trainee at Plumbers Local 1, who keeps the motto “plumbers protect the health of the nation” in mind.
She attended the rally on Tuesday and expressed doubts about clean energy plans that would phase out the gas. But she said she doesn’t think her work is at risk, although she recognized that “definitely changes need to be made because we’re extracting fossil fuels.”
Shari spoke of the pride she takes in her work, which she called “an art”. Learning the craft has taught her confidence and now she has confidence that she can always support her family.
“Surprisingly, I’m not very worried about my future,” she said. “I’m actually really excited to see what’s going to happen.”
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