AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said yesterday that the largest group of U.S. unions does not support the Green New Deal in its current form, a potential blow for activists hoping to get labor on board with the progressive climate plan.

“We weren’t part of the process, and so the worker’s interest really wasn’t completely figured into it,” Trumka said at an event hosted by the Economic Club of Washington, D.C. “So we would want a whole lot of changes made so that workers and our jobs are protected in the process.”

Trumka’s comments appear to undercut supporters of the Green New Deal on and off Capitol Hill, who have said for months that they’re in an ongoing dialogue with labor about the resolution.

When the AFL-CIO Energy Committee penned a letter last month in opposition to the Green New Deal, progressives were quick to point out it did not necessarily represent the views of the full AFL-CIO.

The letter’s language mirrored Trumka’s comments yesterday, calling climate change a problem worth addressing but expressing concern the Green New Deal is “far too short on specific solutions.”

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But Trumka’s comments made clear that the AFL-CIO, which represents more than 12 million workers and is often a major partner for Democratic causes, is not on board yet.

Instead, many of the federation’s energy industry unions, including Utility Workers Union of America and United Mine Workers of America, have called for technology-neutral approaches and further building out carbon capture technology.

Full article here: https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2019/04/24/stories/1060211973

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Related: 

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