IFPTE Secretary-Treasurer Gay Henson Celebrates Earth Day with Launch of “Grow Nuclear: Our Jobs, Earth’s Future” Initiative

“This weekend, trade unionists around the world will mark Earth Day by renewing our commitment to cleaner air, cleaner water, and a cleaner planet today and for future generations. 

Like many pro-environment unions, IFPTE supports a climate and energy strategy that elevates clean, reliable and diverse energy technologies.  A critical part of that mix is nuclear power, as it represents the only means of replacing our current reliance on fossil fuels as a source of baseload energy. 

Today IFPTE is already working to seize the opportunities presented by the Biden Administration’s historic investments in nuclear power, as new partnerships are leading to the expansion of apprenticeships to meet the needs of a growing industry, advancing policies that will remove barriers to building new plants and creating a Bridge to STEM that will bring those from under-represented communities into this growing workforce. 

Moving forward, we will broaden our coalition of pro-worker, pro-environment allies by focusing on shared principles, such as strengthening labor-industry partnerships, promoting science-based energy policies, expanding the domestic value chain, and increasing cross-border union collaboration to ensure that this new era of nuclear power does not become another race to the bottom for workers. 

Earth Day was first observed in 1970, and this year we recommit to growing nuclear energy – for our jobs and for the planet’s future.” — Gay Henson, IFPTE Secretary-Treasurer