Report Just Released – THRIVE Agenda Would Create 50K New WV Jobs!

For Immediate Release

3-31-21

Report Just Released – THRIVE Agenda Would Create 50K New WV Jobs!

WV New Jobs Coalition Calls for Transformational Economic Recovery Package As Part of ‘Recovery Recess’

#TimeToThrive events during congressional recess will focus on need for comprehensive economic recovery legislation that invests at least $1 trillion  per year nationally in solutions for climate, care, jobs, and justice

Contact:
Ryan Frankenberry rfrankenberry@workingfamilies.org ; 304.932.7020
Gary Zuckett, garyz at wvcag.org ; 304.437.3701

Charleston WV, – A new coalition of labor, economic justice, and environmental groups announced the formation today of the WV New Jobs Coalition with the release of a jobs report by the PERI Institute at U of Mass. that estimates a gain of 50,000 new jobs would be created in WV from the enactment of the THIRVE agenda, soon to be introduced in Congress. 

See the video of the virtual Press Conference  here: https://fb.watch/4AktH7fCW5/  

Read the Jobs Report here: https://www.newjobswv.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/50000-NEW-WV-JOBS-THRIVE-ACT.pdf 

Statements below from several WV New Jobs Coalition Member groups at the press conference.

 

Ryan Frankenberry, State Director of the West Virginia Working Families Party:

“The thrive jobs report for WV shows us that we have the potential for 50,000 new jobs in WV. That’s annual new job creation, and that is forecast to happen for 10 years. So we could have $50,000 new jobs each year for a total of $5.2 Billion of financial impact.”

Sherri McKinney, Organizing Director, SEIU 1199: 

“We’re glad to be a part of this coalition, and joining forces in the state so that we can make a difference for WV Working Families. We represent care workers in this state. Care jobs are important to us. People think that if you worked in health care during this pandemic that you were probably safe and you were able to keep a job. That couldn’t have been further from the truth. There were lots of jobs that were absolutely cut and eliminated from health care providers during the pandemic. And we want to be a part of building back a West Virginia that includes care jobs so that our nursing homes get the staff that they need.

That’s why this is so important to us and why we want to work together across the state with this coalition to make sure that we’re not excluded. And that we absolutely make sure that care jobs are on the forefront in WV!”

Eric Engle, Co-Chair of the Sierra Club of West Virginia, and a local member of the National Treasury Employees Union (speaking as WV Sierra Club’s spokesperson)

“It is absolutely crucial that when we talk about Renewable Energy Jobs, Sustainability, Energy Efficiency, the Economy of the Future,  that we also recognize the climate crisis, recognize massive wealth and income inequality, recognize systemic racism, and that we address these issues as a whole – that we don’t silo these issues off. We need good paying jobs, preferably union jobs with collective bargaining, to move forward and we need to be able to offer that to West Virginians and central Appalachians as an alternative for the future.”

Gary Zuckett, Executive Director, WV Citizen Action Group:

“In West Virginia, we’ve waited far too long to take meaningful action to address the impacts of the pandemic, climate change, systemic racism and economic inequality. Now, with the THRIVE Act, we can move the needle forward through an economic infrastructure package that makes a bold investment in our communities’ future. We can create jobs while solving the climate crisis, providing care, and advancing justice—and we have a historic opportunity to do it this year! THRIVE aligns well with the release of President Biden’s proposals to Build Back Better today!”

Part of National Recovery Recess

This event is part of the two-week-long, nationwide “Recovery Recess,” in which participants in more than 100 grassroots events—town halls, protests, honk and waves, concerts, and creative actions—will call on Congress to pass the THRIVE Act, an economic recovery proposal investing $1 trillion per year to immediately create over 15 million good jobs and end the unemployment crisis, while cutting climate pollution in half by 2030 and advancing racial, Indigenous, gender, environmental, and economic justice.

The WV New Jobs Coalition is coordinating ‘Ten Days of Action’ cumulating in a three city ‘Jammin for Jobs’ live and virtual concert event on April 10^th in Charleston, Morgantown, and Martinsburg. See event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/170973374883649?active_tab=about

The action comes as President Biden is set to unveil his economic recovery proposal today in Pittsburgh.  Recovery Recess participants are urging him and Congress to go big and pursue transformative investments at a scale sufficient to address the interlocking crises of climate change, racial injustice, mass unemployment, and the pandemic.

From West Virginia to Arizona to Alaska, communities that have been excluded from economic opportunity in the past are reminding their senators and representatives of Congress’s historic chance to rebuild and renew. A multiracial coalition of workers, justice advocates, young people, climate activists, and more are taking up this message around the country during the Congressional recess. 

A map of actions taking place throughout the recess, with more being added each day, can be found at www.recoveryrecess.org 

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