A recent webinar sponsored by the Labor Network for Sustainability included a speaker who’s a solar installer. He spoke about the dangers and low pay in the mostly non-union sector, and explained that he’s a member of Green Workers Alliance, which aims to support workers mostly in the wind and solar energy fields. The group sees itself as an “on-ramp” for educating their members on their rights, where many will choose to join a union.

The group says that workers in green jobs today “are facing job insecurity, low wages and per diems, lack of benefits and poor safety conditions.” The alliance maintains that our nation “can’t have a just transition to a clean economy without more good green jobs. These changes won’t happen without workers leading the way.”

Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Matt Mayers, the founder and executive director of Green Workers Alliance. He says of the 100,000 or so workers in the wind and solar industry, 80 to 90 percent are in solar and just 10.5 percent were unionized as of 2022.