Our Story

The Climate Jobs National Resource Center (CJNRC) and CJNRC’s Action Fund are labor-led organizations that work to combat climate change, create good union jobs, and reverse racial and economic inequality by building a worker-centered renewable economy.

Our story began in 2017 with the launch of Climate Jobs New York (CJNY), a coalition of unions that joined together to fight climate change and income inequality. CJNY organized to win significant climate investments in offshore wind infrastructure, trained union members on the science of climate change, and passed landmark legislation to ensure the state’s significant investments in renewable energy create good union jobs with strong worker protections and labor standards.

Early success in New York paved the way for the growth of the climate jobs movement nationwide. We launched as a national organization in 2020. Since that time, our network has grown to include labor-led coalitions in Connecticut, Illinois, Rhode Island, Texas, and Maine. Our national advisory board includes national unions and state labor leaders.

 

Our Approach

We provide strategic and technical support to unions organizing for worker-centered climate action. In collaboration with the Climate Jobs Institute at Cornell University’s ILR School, we work in close collaboration with the unions to develop state-specific science-based climate action plans. We then support unions in establishing state coalitions, organizing around their plans, and building strategic campaigns to win each plan’s implementation. Our staff is skilled in mobilizing resources, experienced in labor and policy advocacy, and knowledgeable in climate science.