Labor seeks seat at the cleantech table

"You can get a lot more done with a kind word and a gun than with a kind word alone."

The phase may be credited to Al Capone, but it could easily have been uttered by two labor leaders who took the stage this morning at Cleantech Forum XVIII in Washington, D.C., calling for increased interaction with corporations and government when it comes to cleantech jobs ... or else.

In front of an audience of 500 cleantech investors, entrepreneurs, service providers and large enterprises, labor leaders made repeated overtures to the cleantech industry, emphasizing the power of working together, and also repeatedly reminded the audience of organized labor's power and influence.

"Labor has a role in the debate," said Ron Bloom, special assistant to the president of the United Steelworkers Union, in a panel discussion on the emerging uncommon alliance between labor and big capital in fighting climate change and resource constraints.

"Up until now, it's literally like we've been in different rooms, and that's not going to work," he said, referring to what he characterized as a historic divide between investors, entrepreneurs and workers.

Bloom made it clear his union welcomes the new jobs being created by the cleantech economy—particularly given the heavy steel requirements of wind turbines, or new power transmission. Yet while persuasively using the terms partnership and win-win repeatedly, he just as often wielded a velvet hammer.

"Unions are capable of driving change, and are capable of resisting change," he reminded the audience.

"If this is seen as taking away jobs, people are going to resist. Unions have had a not-minor role in opposition [on similar issues in the past]."

The reminder was echoed by Christopher Chafe, executive director of Change to Win, an affiliation of seven unions representing six million workers.

"[Unions can] be a palpable force in opposition," he said. "We've been part of a force that has shut things down in a heartbeat."

The two labor leaders tried to emphasize the benefits of working together to influence government, suggesting that the reminder of everyday people and their jobs often gets better results than entrepreneurs simply pleading their case alone.

"We're very good cover," said Bloom, "When companies show up asking [states or federal governments] for special pleading, they get a jaundiced reaction. When we show up together, we get a less jaundiced reaction. When we come together, we can be unstoppable, and have a geometric effect."

The conversation evoked thoughtful responses and questions from a clearly engaged audience. When asked what it would take to evidence the benefits of such tight partnership with labor, Change to Win's Chafe responded that proof was already available.

"There are so many examples of high road relationships [between industry and labor] that are working today," he said, that nobody hears about because they're working.

"The big opportunity for us is to make stuff," echoed Bloom, saying the Steelworkers Union looked forward to more partnerships with cleantech manufacturers, and that when it came to cleantech relationships with organized labor, "it's about having a thousand flowers bloom."

"But if we said we needed everybody to give up their job so the Earth could live, it's a nice thought, but it's not going to happen. We have to provide tangible opportunities for people to profit from this transition."