Blue Green Alliance Says Recovery Act Will Spur Green Economy, Help Rebuild Middle Class

MINNEAPOLIS (March 19, 2009) Vice President Joe Biden and the Middle Class Task Force today visit New Flyer of America in St. Cloud, Minnesota, a bus company that produces low-emission, alternative-fuel vehicles. The Task Force is set to discuss how the implementation of the Recovery Act will help the middle class at a facility where many employees are members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA).

The Blue Green Alliance released the following statement from CWA President Larry Cohen and Blue Green Alliance Executive Director David Foster:

“The Middle Class Task Force chose an excellent place to highlight the ways that the Recovery Act is going to benefit the middle class. CWA members at New Flyer are helping to build low-emission and alternative-fuel transit vehicles,” said Larry Cohen, President of CWA. “The key to creating quality, green jobs in the United States is making sure that working people have the right to form a union and bargain collectively so that they can negotiate a better workplace and a better life for their families. New Flyer is an excellent example of good union jobs helping to build the green economy.”

“The effort to build a green economy is underway, starting with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which will serve as a catalyzing force for rebuilding the American middle class,” said David Foster, Executive Director of the Blue Green Alliance. “Mass transit, as highlighted today at the New Flyer plant, is a critical element of building this new, green economy that will result in good, green jobs while at the same time confronting and combating global warming.”

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The Blue Green Alliance is a national partnership of labor unions and environmental organizations dedicated to expanding the number and quality of green jobs in the United States. Since 2006, BGA has grown to unite more than six million union members and environmentalists in pursuit of good jobs, a clean environment and a green economy. BGA is also a partner of the Alliance for Climate Protection.