As a coalition of some of the nation’s largest labor unions and environmental organizations, collectively representing millions of members and supporters, the BlueGreen Alliance urges  Congress to reject harmful provisions in the HEALS Act and instead move swiftly to advance critical relief for the COVID-19 crisis that prioritizes workers, families, and communities most in need.

Urgent relief is needed— America has surpassed 4 million cases and 150,000 deaths due to the coronavirus. The ten-week total for unemployment claims has surpassed 40 million. And months into this pandemic, workers continue to struggle to stay safe and healthy on the job, particularly as states begin to reopen parts of the economy and state and local government budgets are ravaged. We must ensure the safety of workers on the job in the face of COVID-19, whether they are healthcare workers providing critical care, workers in warehouses or grocery stores, utility workers ensuring critical infrastructure is functioning, or manufacturing workers producing essential products. And we must prioritize the most vulnerable; safeguard working peoples’ jobs, homes, and livelihoods; and shore up essential public services.

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“We are grateful for the leadership you have shown over the past eight weeks during this crisis, and the measures that you have already taken to help protect Minnesotans from the Covid-19 illness, including those announced on May 13, 2020. We are also keenly aware, however, of the chorus of voices urging you to more fully reopen the economy quickly, and we write today to ask that you implement the policy recommendations outlined in this letter prior to taking any further action to significantly reopen businesses. Without these protections in place, the drive to reopen at all costs will fail to stimulate the economy while putting frontline workers at risk of illness and death,” the groups wrote.

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Priority one must remain addressing working people and families’ immediate needs. Working people on the frontlines are facing numerous threats and challenges—we must ensure the safety of workers on the job in the face of COVID-19, whether they are healthcare workers providing critical care, workers in warehouses, utility workers ensuring critical infrastructure is functioning, or manufacturing workers building essential products. Congress has taken significant steps but we support your efforts to do more to ensure that the health and safety of frontline workers is protected. Congress must continue to prioritize the most vulnerable; safeguard working peoples’ jobs, homes, and livelihoods; and shore up essential public services.

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This is a necessary initial step, but by this summer millions of Americans will likely be out of work. When working people lose out on even a day’s wages, they have to make hard decisions about what to pay for and what to put off. We urge you to develop and pass an economic stimulus package focused on working people and the public good. A stimulus package must safeguard working peoples’ jobs, homes, and livelihoods. And it must also include investments that will provide for a sustained economic recovery and deliver a cleaner, more resilient economy.

Some companies and industries will need support in the short and medium-term, and we believe this must come with conditions to avoid permanent layoffs, secure jobs, provide safe and fair working conditions, and deliver climate and environmental benefits. Simply handing over billions of dollars without standards would be unwise and would virtually ensure workers do not see the direct benefit of their hard-earned tax dollars. Working people must see the benefits of any package.

Congress must act now on a robust economic stimulus and recovery package.

View the BlueGreen Alliance’s COVID-19 stimulus priorities. 

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 There is opportunity to make real progress in key areas around climate change and job creation. We urge you to take advantage of the closing weeks of this session to advance key priorities.

Specifically, before 2019 comes to a close, we urge Congress to:

1. Fulfill our nation’s responsibility to coal miners and coal communities by passing bills targeted at reinvestment in these communities and protection of coal miners’ health and wellbeing.

2. Invest in clean energy. We also urged Congress to include critical clean energy tax credits in any end-of-year spending package.

3. Pass bills to invest in infrastructure, advance innovation, and protect workers.

We also urged that Congress ensure that the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) only come to a vote if it levels the playing field and makes deep reforms to strengthen workers’ rights and climate and environmental standards, with independent and binding enforcement.

In a letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, the BlueGreen Alliance, International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART), International Union of Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Union of Concerned Scientists, United Steelworkers Union, and Utility Workers Union of America called for the committee oppose Scalia’s nomination.

In a letter to Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and committee Ranking Member Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), the groups called for improvements to the Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism Standards including clear employee participation rights, an emphasis on risk reduction, special attention for vulnerable communities, implementation of the Risk Management Program amendments, independent evaluation, and exclusion of voluntary programs.

In a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives, the BlueGreen Alliance called for the swift passage of the bill, which ensures that the United States remains a party to the Paris Agreement and works to meet its commitments under the agreement

In a letter to Washington State House of Representatives Appropriation Committee Chair Ormsby and members of the committee, the Washington State BlueGreen Alliance urged the passage of Substitute House Bill (SHB) 1257. The suite of provisions in the bill are important to our members because they will lead to a significant reduction of carbon emissions from buildings in Washington State, and the process required to meet these standards for cleaner, more efficient buildings will in turn stimulate a substantial amount of family-sustaining jobs in our region.

In a letter to Chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) and committee Ranking Member Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), the BlueGreen Alliance called for the swift passage of the bill, which includes a grant program and a tax credit bond program; leverages federal, state, and local resources; develops a comprehensive national database; and expands access to broadband.

In a letter to Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Rep. Peter Defazio (D-OR) and committee Ranking Member Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO), the BlueGreen Alliance called for the swift passage of the bill, which would infuse $23.5 billion in direct investments to address wastewater infrastructure and water quality needs. This includes more than doubling funding levels for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (Clean Water SRF) program.