Green jobs group wins national award

The Consortium for Worker Education, which has focused green-collar job creation efforts on workers in the South Bronx, has won a national environmental award.

A non-profit organization based in Manhattan has won an environmental award that will help it clean the Bronx while putting local residents to work.

The Consortium for Worker Education the education arm of the AFL-CIO’s New York City Central Labor Council—was awarded the 2012 Environmental Quality Award for its part in cleaning the environment and improving public health in an area that includes New York, New Jersey and Puerto Rico.

The organization will be honored at a ceremony on April 27 at the headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency in Lower Manhattan.

“From creating new local green jobs to improving the city’s quality of life, this environmental champion will help lead the way towards a green energy future for our city,” said U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who is a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee.

The consortium partners with Hunts Point-based Sustainable South Bronx and the Osborne Association to recruit and train Bronx residents for city jobs in emerging environmentally-friendly industries.

Through cooperative and innovative approaches to workforce and business development, we are ensuring that the emerging and critical green energy industry results in quality employment and a cleaner environment for all New Yorkers,” said John McDermott, the group’s assistant to the chairman.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. said the organization “provides much-needed training programs that offer individuals the chance to develop skills in the burgeoning green economy.”

The group’s Center for Environmental Workforce Training is implementing a program to recruit and train Bronxites for jobs in up-and-coming green industries, with the help of a $4 million federal Pathways Out of Poverty grant. Trainees will be prepared for green-collar jobs in construction, horticulture, pollution control, environmental manufacturing and materials recycling.