Thank you.

It is an honor and a pleasure to be here today with such a distinguished panel.  I am also pleased that we are gathered here today to discuss an issue that is so vitally important to the future health and well-being of our nation…and the future health and well-being of the American Dream.

The concept of the American Dream is imbedded in the fabric of who we are.

It is the ideal, born and bred into anyone and everyone who is a citizen of this nation that each generation can achieve a standard of living that was equal to, or greater than, previous generations.  And that the opportunity to achieve a higher standard of living must be spread widely and justly to all Americans.

Protecting this bedrock foundation of our country is, in my opinion, the defining issue of our generation.  Today’s research shows that as many as 100 million Americans now live in families that are earning less in real terms than their parents did at the same age.

One out of every three American jobs is now at risk of being eliminated or moved off-shore.  And as many of our union brothers and sisters know all too well…this has the effect of imposing artificial wage caps on entire industries in the United States.

The idea of American upward mobility has been the core of the American Dream for generation upon generation.  The bottom line is that the assumptions that we have held for so long about upward mobility and the American Dream no longer apply.  And before long, these assumptions may not apply to over half of the American population - if we allow this to continue.

If the situation persists…where the vast majority of economic gains go to those at the very top…and where most people are removed from upward mobility…then we are at risk of destabilizing our economic and social structures.

So, it is clear that this is a watershed moment in American history.

Ladies and gentlemen, President Obama has hit the ground running with big ideas, big plans, and bold action.  Investments in our national physical infrastructure…as well as investments that begin our national transition to a more “green-focused” economy are now front and center.

These two areas present tremendous opportunities for government, business, labor, and community groups to fashion joint economic development strategies.  These strategies are designed to achieve sustainable prosperity, and upward mobility, for workers and communities all across our nation.

Yet these opportunities each come with a unique set of challenges.

First and foremost is the need for new conversations and new functional partnerships…in order to construct a common-sense strategic vision and approach.  One in which the objective is to capitalize on these opportunities…in order to gain traction for a new model of economic development.

A model premised upon high levels of skills training and apprenticeships resulting in job opportunities, living wages and comprehensive health and retirement benefits for a lifetime.

This model will help ensure that the investments contained in the President’s agenda work to strengthen career ladders.  Ladders that provide hope for a life of promise…not one where the American Dream is just an abstraction.

Because it’s not only time to repair our physical infrastructure…it’s also time to address our moral infrastructure.

This is the time for us to stop acting dutiful by feeling pity for the poor…and to reach out and pull multitudes of economically excluded Americans from the sinking sands of despair and hopelessness.

For if we don’t, we must start pitying ourselves for having the opportunity to help and having done nothing. 

And the key to our success will be broad labor, community, and environmental partnerships.  Those that are designed to develop and spread “best practices” for using public policy and investments to achieve sustainable prosperity.

The great tide that swept Barack Obama into the Presidency was a powerful example of these partnerships in action.  No single group – not unions, not social justice organizations, not the environmental movement…can claim sole credit for the victory on November 4.

It was all of us united behind a common cause and purpose for the first time in my 37 year career as an IBEW member.  And now, all of us must reaffirm those partnerships and begin the hard work of transforming hope into tangible opportunities for American working families.

That is what this conference and this panel discussion is about.

For those of you who may not be very familiar with what is happening today within and among America’s Building Trades Unions…I want you to know that there is a new spirit that is enveloping our movement.

It is a spirit born out of a deep desire to reverse and destroy the many negative stereotypes, misperceptions and imagery that were forged through the mistakes of the past…and which have saddled our industry and stunted our growth for far too long now.

But those stereotypes and public perceptions are not indicative of who we are today. 

Today, we are a movement that is premised upon the idea of providing value - both to the customers and communities that we serve - as well as the men and women we are privileged to represent.  We are also about cooperation, partnership and seeking innovative solutions - that meet the needs of our stakeholders, as well as the needs of the public at large.

This is the thinking that drives our movement today.

 
Ladies and gentlemen, the transitioning of the United States of America towards a more “green” economy is the most important test we will face in a generation.

For not only is it critically important in an environmental context but it is also represents the chance we have all been waiting for.  A chance to combine the energies of government, business, labor and the broader community to fashion a structure that will assure opportunity and security for those who seek to pursue it.

The stakes are high.

If America does not decisively manage the avenues of change associated with the greening of our economy…we will have squandered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve the lives of great numbers of everyday Americans.

There are certainly elements of our battle to reverse climate change which are new and which are ground-breaking.  However, there are other extremely important elements that are not necessarily new.  Especially when it comes to the vast potential for the development of what some are calling “green jobs.”

We must avoid getting caught up in the media’s fascination with “green jobs”…and their view that these are entirely new jobs that will simply fall out of the sky as we work to lessen our national carbon footprint.

For the most part, they are not new jobs.  They are essentially the same jobs, requiring the same skills, which America’s Building Trades Unions have been doing for over 100 years.  The vast majority of the jobs associated with green retrofitting of our nation’s buildings….from housing stock to skyscrapers is construction work.

To isolate these jobs - any of them, including weatherization from the larger construction industry and from the career pathways provided through formal apprenticeship training - is to condemn them to low-wage, dead-end futures.

We must initiate conversations and forge partnerships designed to ensure that these jobs serve as avenues to stable and prosperous careers.

We are taking this very seriously.

As I said, our unions are confronting our past, and taking steps to creating a new and more vibrant identity for the union construction industry…one that is focused on providing “Value on Display…Every Day” for the customers we serve…the members we represent…and the communities in which we live and work.

We are now actively engaged in conversations that we hope will lead to the development of the necessary partnerships with community, economic and social justice organizations.  If we succeed it will result in many Americans, from every conceivable community and economic circumstance, having access to skilled apprenticeship and training programs.

We will prepare them to capitalize upon the growth sectors of our economy associated with the “greening” of America.

To achieve this will require political will within all our organizations and within government at all levels.  We need to craft “Community Workforce Agreements” that not only establish high standards for the emerging green jobs but also provide for local hiring and training for community residents.

There will be many obstacles on this road, including the obstructionist residue within federal agencies, left-over from the Bush era.  But these can be overcome if we work together, and pool our organizational strengths to develop strong community-based coalitions that can craft a more muscular and durable brand of hope.

And when the dust clears, it is my deep hope that we will have renewed a sense of optimism and belief in the American Dream once again.

Thank you.