Alliance Expands Labor-Environmental Partnership for Good Jobs, Clean Energy and Green Economy 

MINNEAPOLIS (December 11, 2008) As the economic crisis grows, and as leaders from around the world gather in Poland to address climate change, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) announced today that they are joining the BlueGreen Alliance. The Alliance is a growing labor-environmental partnership to mobilize the nation to transform the U.S. economy by investing in clean energy and other global warming solutions.

“We’re proud to join the BlueGreen Alliance and help build America so America works again,” said Terence M. O’Sullivan, General President of LIUNA. “We’re the ‘build America’ union – and creating a green economy will build our country, create good jobs, and leave a positive legacy for generations to come.”

The Alliance, originally a partnership between the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club, expanded in October to include the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Communications Workers of America (CWA). By joining forces with SEIU and LIUNA, the BlueGreen Alliance unites more than 6 million people in pursuit of a green economy.

“We need to find opportunities in this economic crisis to help working Americans who are struggling. By investing in a green economy that promotes workers’ rights to unite on the job, we can create a new generation of good jobs and address climate change in a way that provides protections for workers and their communities,” said Andy Stern, President of SEIU. “Two million SEIU members – healthcare providers, property and public service workers – stand ready to tackle two significant challenges with the BlueGreen Alliance: we will fight global warming and revitalize our economy.”

“The BlueGreen Alliance is a key partnership for uniting and mobilizing union members and environmentalists in pursuit of good jobs, workers’ rights, clean energy and a green economy,” said David Foster, BlueGreen Alliance Executive Director. “As this Alliance grows, so does the movement in America to choose a new direction to create economic opportunity by investing in solutions to the global warming crisis.”

The BlueGreen Alliance is a strategic partnership between labor unions and environmental organizations to expand the green economy. The Alliance, composed of the United Steelworkers, Sierra Club, NRDC, CWA, LIUNA and SEIU, is educating the public about the need for solutions that: reduce global warming pollution; restore the rights of workers to form a union; include enforceable labor, environmental and human-rights standards in trade policies; and curb the use of toxic chemicals in order to enhance public health and promote safer alternatives.

For more information, please visit www.bluegreenalliance.org.

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