How long have you been in the labor movement?
I’ve been in the labor movement as long as I can remember: I was raised in a union family. I had my first opportunity to join the union when I went to work for the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. And I joined that union on the first day on the job. On the second day on my job, I was at my first local union meeting for AFSCME Local 2594. One year later, I was elected president of that Local. And I remained in that position until I went to work for AFSCME as an organizer.
What is the climate jobs story in Pennsylvania?
In Pennsylvania, we have had a long history of work that was created by the fossil fuel industry, and we still have many of those jobs today. But as the green economy has gotten started in Pennsylvania, those jobs were low-road jobs. That’s one of the major reasons labor has gotten involved and created the Union Energy coalition: to ensure that the jobs that are being created in these new sectors are actually good, family-sustaining union jobs. This is what they talk about when they talk about a just transition. And we’ve watched entire communities in our state be left behind in transitions–because when an entire industry leaves, it really hurts a community.
We wanted to be part of the conversation early so that we could ensure that workers’ voices were heard.
What does the union difference look like for workers in the new clean energy economy?
Unions bring security. A union job gives you a level of understanding about what tomorrow will bring. Workers are faced with insecurities every single day, from food insecurity, housing, utility bills at this point. We keep watching all these costs rise and rise and rise and the cost of living and wages aren’t keeping up with that. When you have a union, you’re able to bargain over these issues, you’re able to see when you’re going to get your next raise, what your health care is going to be. Everyone deserves that security; every worker should be able to go to work and come home and enjoy time with your family. You should have a good quality of life.
This is where we spend most of our lives–at work–and we should have a voice when we’re at work.
What are you hearing from members about the top issues working families are facing right now in Pennsylvania?
It’s what most Americans are feeling right now, right? Costs are soaring out of control. We have utility bills that are doubling. People are worried about their health care, whether or not they can go to the doctor. People are having to make decisions about buying their medication or putting food on their table. And I think that this is having a real impact.
But we’re not powerless. There is a way to fight back against this–especially at the policy level. We just have to get organized and get united so that we can be in these policy fights, front and center.
Mother Earth is a really special thing. And if we aren’t going to be good stewards and try to do what we can on our time here, then the generations that are coming after us are going to be even worse off than we are right now.
What are Union Energy's priorities for the coming year?
The way we’ve structured Union Energy is to ensure that we’re hearing from our union affiliates who are involved in every aspect of the new economy. We set our priorities through working groups that we’ve put together. We took our Cornell Climate Jobs Institute report and broke it down into seven different initiatives that would help bring Pennsylvania into this new energy economy. Our working groups convene on a regular basis and guide our work. One of those key priorities comes out of our just transition working group: capping orphan wells, and the majority of that work will be in western Pennsylvania.
Another working group is looking at grid modernization. PJM lives here, and so we are uniquely situated to have to be part of these conversations around modernizing the grid. Our energy working group has identified priorities around modernizing the grids with advanced transmission technologies (ATTs) and grid-enhancing technologies (GETs).
And so we’re having these conversations and thinking about how our priorities as identified in the Cornell report can become reality.
What impact do you want to see Union Energy have in Pennsylvania in the future?
The number one thing would be for our Pennsylvania communities and workers to truly have a voice in decisions about the future. This is where we live. It’s where we raise our families. This is our world. And things shouldn’t just happen around us in our world without us having a voice.
The communities having a voice in these projects that are coming in and how they can get a true benefit from them. There are really smart creative things that I’ve learned since I’ve been sitting in this seat. I don’t come out of a building trades union or an energy union–I come out of a public sector union, so a lot of this work was new to me when we started four years ago. I’ve learned about so much new technology that is right underneath our feet. And the more we’re in these conversations, the more we’re thinking about these new energy technologies, the more we’re figuring out how to manage grid inadequacies, the better.
Ultimately, we all deserve to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and live well. We have to help to change the trajectory, the path we’re on, and also to make sure people can afford to live with the conveniences of the modern world.
I grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania, which was an industrial town. The paper mill was right on the shores of the lake. The lake has just always been part of my life from when I was a little kid. I want generations to come to be able to enjoy that water as much as I did. Rising lake levels are a major problem.
All of this is in play together. None of it can be solved overnight and none of it can be solved with one solution. But protecting Lake Eerie for generations to come is important to me.
Mother Earth is a really special thing. And if we aren’t going to be good stewards and try to do what we can on our time here, then the generations that are coming after us are going to be even worse off than we are right now.