Good Jobs
Developing worker-centered infrastructure for a just transition to a clean energy economy
The Rise Up Center: Building Infrastructure for the Green Economy
The Rise Up Center is an opportunity center and an energy resilience hub where multiracial, low-income, working families can access pre-apprenticeships, jobs, and job readiness training in the fields of green energy, construction, service, and food. Led by BIPOC labor and power-building organizations, the Rise Up Center will be capable of training 3,000 Minnesotans annually. Partners are Unidos MN, SEIU 26, Unite Here 17, the New Justice Project, UFCW 663, the Building Dignity and Respect Standards Council, and the Future Builders Cooperative. All training programs will address the barriers commonly faced by women, immigrants, people of color, those without a high school degree, and workers with past involvement in the criminal system. The Rise Up Center will rehabilitate the former YWCA Uptown location, located at 2808 Hennepin Ave S and will incorporate environmentally-conscious design standards.
What Else Can We Do?
The 6% Bid Credit
All workers have a right to equal job opportunities and to fair recruitment practices. The 6% Bid Credit bill will create incentives that allow state employers to meet diversity goals. Currently, state agencies must accept the lowest bid when responding to requests for proposals (RFPs). The 6% Bid Credit will expand incentives to not just participation from people of color, women, and veteran-owned businesses, but also to businesses whose workforce is 50 percent or more diverse. This will incentivize the hiring of a diverse, highly skilled, competitive workforce and expand opportunities to meet diversity hiring targets, a critical need to the economic success of all working families in Minnesota.
The Work and Opportunity Act
Working Minnesotans deserve investments to protect their families from hardship and job loss. The Work and Opportunity Act (WOA) will expand wage replacement benefits to undocumented essential workers. WOA will mirror unemployment benefits. The bill asks for a general appropriation to create a separate, third-party run fund to benefit workers who are already paying into the unemployment system. To qualify, applicants must satisfy the same requirements as workers who apply for traditional unemployment insurance. However, this bill will not be UI, but a separate program.