Working sunset to sunrise: union strategies in three California climate transitions

Abstract

ABSTRACTWe evaluate the conditions and consequences of union strategies in three industrial transitions in California, all driven by its globally influential climate policies: in construction (solar power plants), electricity (nuclear power retirement), and manufacturing (electric vehicles). Building on recent, global frameworks in environmental labor studies, we grow the field’s attention towards unions with workers transitioning between ‘sunset’ industries like fossil energy and ‘sunrise’ sectors like clean energy. Using original ethnographic and archival data, we analyze the conditions that shaped union strategies in transitions, and how these in turn impacted union power and coalitions. We argue that union strategies embraced climate transitions when they organized leverage to define a shift on their members’ terms, independently from employers, often by turning environmental regulation to the advantage of labor and its allies.KEYWORDS: climate politicsunionsjust transitionsolar powerelectric vehicles Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.Ethics declarationThis research received ethics approval from the University of California, Berkeley Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects (Protocol ID 2022-06-15,404) and the University of British Columbia Behavioral Research Ethics Board (Protocol ID H20–01510 and H16–00271-A009). Informed consent was obtained with an oral script, as approved in the protocols.Notes1. In a review of the following solar energy-related legislation, no references to union, labor, or wage standards were found, except for noted outliers. SB-100 California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program (2018); SB-1078 Renewable energy: California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program (2002). US HR 1 American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (2009) implemented a prevailing wage requirement for its temporary loan guarantees to renewable developers and manufacturers.2. EV legislation reviewed: SB-129 Budget Act of 2021 (Citation2021). SB-551 California Zero-Emission Vehicle Authority (2022). SB-1014 California Clean Miles Standard and Incentive Program: zero-emission vehicles (2018). AB-615 Air Quality Improvement Program: Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (2017), HR 8 American Taxpayer Relief Act of 20123. CCUE is a coalition of unions, including IBEW 1245, representing approximately 43,000 utility employees4. The agreement included retention bonuses equalling 25% of the employee’s base salary are paid annually for up to 7 years (PG&E 2016, Ch. 7 p. 4).5. We use progressive and conservative to signal stances that embrace change vs. those that protect the status quo. These are not necessarily aligned with partisan politics associated with these termsAdditional informationFundingThis work was supported by the University of California Berkeley Institute for Research on Labor & Employment [Graduate Student Research Award]; University of British Columbia [Simons Postdoctoral Fellowship].