CBARC participates in EARN Webinar on CBAs

On October 2, CBARC participated in the “Using Community Benefits Agreements to Win Good Jobs and More” panel hosted by the Economic Policy Institute’s Economic Analysis and Research Network (EARN). 

The panelists included Athena Last, our Senior Research Fellow and Jay Mehta, manager of CBARC as well as Tamara Brummer from the AFL-CIO’s Center for Transformational Organizing, Ben Beach from Powerswitch Action and Dev Wakely from Alabama Arise and a member of the Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits. 

The discussion began with an introduction of Community Benefits Agreements, and how labor and community groups can work together to negotiate CBAs with project owners. To illustrate, Alabama Rise and JMA described the positive impact the New Flyer CBA had on workers and the community, and how it can be used as a model for future government-funded projects in other Southern states and nationwide. Panelists shared important resources and best practices for enacting and implementing CBAs, including JMA’s CBARC.