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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 2008)
Labor at table in U.S. plans to slow global warming By DON McINTOSH Associate Editor Global warming isn’t coming. It’s already here. From floods to forest fires, droughts to melting permafrost, rising global average temperature is having an impact. The scientific consensus is that human activity is contributing by increasing the amounts of so-called “greenhouse gases” in the atmos- phere. Greenhouse gases exist in small concentrations in the atmos- phere but have big impacts on temper- ature. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the best-known greenhouse gas, but there are others, including methane and ni- trous oxide. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a scientific body, was formed by the United Nations in 1988 to study the risk of human-caused cli- mate change. Its latest report, in 2007, notes the observed increase in global temperatures in the last half century, parallelling the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. Temperatures have risen about 1 de- gree Fahrenheit since the mid-20th century, while CO2 concentrations have risen to 380 parts per million (ppm) from 315 ppm in 1960. There’s a special urgency to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases being added to the atmosphere because of concern about a possible tipping point, where increased temperatures themselves lead to additional releases of greenhouse gases. For instance, hotter, drier forests would be more likely to burn, releasing even more CO2 and reducing the forests’ ability to convert atmospheric CO2 into oxy- gen. Higher temperatures could also speed up the already melting Alaskan permafrost and the vast Siberian peat bogs, which could result in further re- lease of CO2 and methane, a more potent greenhouse gas. There’s a lot of scientific uncer- tainty about when a tipping point would be reached, but the interna- tional community is hoping that by limiting CO2 concentration to below 500 ppm (and temperature increase to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit over current levels), it can be averted. The reason you’re reading about this in a labor union newspaper is that there are a lot of measures societies can take to achieve the targeted reduc- tions in greenhouse gas emissions, and which ones, and how, will have major impacts on workers throughout the economy. Some industries will be endangered, some will be trans- formed, and some will see tremen- dous growth. The United States is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, adding an estimated 7.2 billion tons of CO2 equivalent to the atmosphere in 2005 — about 22 percent of the world’s total. Part of it is driving: The average American uses 500 gallons of gas a year to drive 12,000 miles, pro- ducing five tons of carbon dioxide. But electricity generation, industry, farming, and residential use of fossil fuels also contribute. U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are on track to increase one-third by 2030, but that trend will have to turn around if the world is to limit CO2 to 500 ppm. SEIU Local 49 finalizes contracts covering 1,900 Portland janitors Service Employees (SEIU) Local 49 in July finalized two contracts cov- ering about 1,900 of the Portland- area’s 2,300 union janitors. A master agreement with nine employers cov- ers 1,700 workers, and a first-ever contract with a local ServiceMaster franchise covers about 200 employ- ees. The four-year master agreement in- cludes employer-provided health in- surance for janitors’ children, for the first-time, with employees paying $40 of the monthly premium. The em- ployee-only portion of the insurance is fully-paid by the employer. Top hourly wages will rise $1.85 over the four years, from $10.60 to $12.45. Newly hired janitors start at 40 cents above minimum wage and reach the top of the scale after two years. The starting wage was 20 cents above minimum in the previous contract, which expired June 30. Workers also get one new paid “personal day” a year besides the seven paid holidays they had. Members voted 542-16 to approve the new master agreement, which cov- AUGUST 1, 2008 ers eight janitorial contractors, plus the non-profit Portland Habilitation Center. The contract with the ServiceMas- ter franchise brings to a close a three- year union recognition campaign. During the campaign, janitors and their supporters held frequent pickets outside offices cleaned by the contrac- tor, including buildings owned by Melvin Mark Companies. In the end, the employer agreed to grant union recognition on the basis of majority sign-up, and negotiated a contract that is similar to the master agreement, ex- cept that it starts with lower wages and benefits, catching up over the first three years. At that point the two sides will negotiate over wages in the final year. Union contractors are in the higher end of the building services market — Class A commercial office buildings in downtown Portland and Vancouver, plus Intel in Hillsboro. Local 49 esti- mates that union contractors have 76 percent, by square footage, of the downtown Portland Class A market, said organizer Maggie Long. Government can limit greenhouse gas emissions by regulation, or dis- courage emissions indirectly by tax- ing them (the so-called “carbon tax” proposal). But a third approach is the one that is gaining the most political support. It’s known as “cap and trade.” Under a cap-and-trade system, the government sets a limit or “cap” on the volume of greenhouse gases that certain sectors of the economy would be allowed to emit, and issues a per- mit for each unit of those emissions. Each year, the number of permits — and thus allowable greenhouse gas emissions — would be ratcheted down. The government would give or auction off the permits to emitters, and emitters could trade the permits to each other in a regulated marketplace. Companies that can make reductions cheaply would sell their unused per- mits to companies that had a tougher time cutting emissions. Thus, the mar- ket in permits would allow the neces- sary reductions to be made as cheaply as possible. Both presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain support the cap-and-trade idea; Obama would auction the permits, while McCain proposes giving them away. Giving them away limits industries’ economic pain. Auctioning generates resources that can be used to speed the transition and cushion the hardships. So far, the cap-and-trade proposal that came closest to passing as the Cli- mate Security Act of 2008, a bill in- troduced by Senators Joseph Lieber- man (I-Conn.), John Warner (R-Va.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). The Lieberman-Warner bill would start by giving three-quarters of the permits away and auctioning the remainder, but the percentage auctioned would go up each year. The Senate debated the bill in June, but failed to get enough votes to shut off debate and move to a vote. No one expected the bill to become law, because it didn’t have enough support to overcome a filibuster, much less override a threat- ened presidential veto. The debate was seen as an airing of the issues likely to come up when the proposal comes back next year. Organized labor was involved in the behind-the-scenes debate over the bill, and was able to get the bill’s sponsors to incorporate a number of union proposals, including a major ex- pansion of the Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirement to non-federal alter- native energy projects. The AFL- CIO’s Building and Construction Trades Department, and the Laborers and Operating Engineers unions sup- port the bill. Labor unions wanted assurance that increasing costs for U.S. manu- facturers won’t drive production to countries that don’t have the climate controls. So the Lieberman-Warner bill included steps the United States could take if countries like China don’t also adopt restrictions on green- house gas emissions. Any country that NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS had not capped emissions after the United States begins the program would need to buy allowances in order to sell energy-intensive goods in the U.S. market. And answering concerns labor leaders raised about potential for spec- ulative abuse in the market for per- mits, Lieberman-Warner would set up a working group to propose regula- tions to protect the market from fraud and manipulation. Unions also wanted benefits for workers who end up losing jobs be- cause of cap-and-trade. Under Lieber- man-Warner, companies wouldn’t get permits if they achieve reductions simply by closing down operations and laying off workers. But some workers are likely to be displaced, particularly in the extraction and transport of coal and at coal-burning electricity plants. Lieberman-Warner would use revenues from the auction of permits to provide a bridge to re- tirement for older workers and retrain- ing benefits for younger workers. The revenues would also fund: • Major investments in technology to contain and store carbon dioxide produced at the coal-burning plants; • Research and development of re- newable energy, including cellulosic biomass; • Grants and other incentives for conversion to renewable energy and increases in the energy efficiency of buildings, appliances, and manufac- turing; • Utility relief for low and middle- income Americans. Above all, union leaders approach cap-and-trade as a way to revitalize America’s manufacturing and support good-paying jobs in the shift to a low- carbon economy. “Solving the climate change crisis is an opportunity to address the manu- facturing crisis,” said AFL-CIO En- ergy Task Force co-chair Bob Baugh at a House Energy subcommittee in June. In a statement released in March, the AFL-CIO Executive Council out- lined some potentially bountiful sources of green-collar jobs: modern- ization of high-voltage transmission lines to increase energy efficiency; ex- pansion of mass transit and passenger rail; energy efficiency retrofits of pub- lic, industrial and commercial build- ings; weatherization of homes; and development of new automotive tech- nologies, not to mention wind, solar and geothermal. The Lieberman-Warner cap-and- trade program would cover almost nine-tenths of the sources of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and would be projected to reduce total U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions to roughly 5.8 billion tons a year by 2020 and 2.7 billion tons by 2050. “Our nation can lead a new techno- logical revolution in the way energy is generated and used,” Baugh told the House subcommittee. “That can be of benefit to the world as a whole, and serve as a foundation for the revival of the middle class in the United States.” Labor Day Picnics Monday, Sept. 1, 2008 Astoria – 50th annual picnic at Cullaby Lake Park (8.5 miles south of As- toria). Noon – 4 p.m. Sponsored by International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 50. Call 503-325-2271 for more information. (This will be their last one.) Bend – Picnic at Pioneer Park in Bend. Noon–5 p.m. Sponsored by the Central Oregon Central Labor Council. Contact Fernando Gapasin at 503- 701-6701 or Jerry Fletcher at 541-350-0265 for more information. Eugene/Springfield – Picnic at Jasper Park in Jasper. Noon. Sponsored by the Lane County Central labor Council. Contact Pat Riggs-Henson, 541-746- 5905 or 541 915-3100 for more information. Medford – Picnic at TouVelle State Park in White City. 11 a.m. – dusk. Sponsored by the Southern Oregon Central Labor Council. Call Carol Bennett at 541-664-0804 for more information. North Bend – Picnic at Ferry Street Park in North Bend. 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Sponsored by the Southwestern Oregon Central Labor Council. Call Robert Westerman at 541-756-3907 or Shawn Jennings at 541-396-3244 for more information. Portland – Labor Day Picnic at Oaks Amusement Park in Southeast Port- land. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Sponsored by the Northwest Oregon Labor Council. Call 503-235-9444 for more information. Salem – Oregon State Fair. The Oregon AFL-CIO labor booth in the Cen- tral Canopy area continues to be staffed with union volunteers during the en- tire two weeks of the fair, including Labor Day. PAGE 11
