Seattle, WA – Members of LIUNA – the Laborers International Union of North America – weatherized the Seattle home of a low-income woman today for free. It was the first home weatherized in the Northwest as part of LIUNA’s breakthrough program to train hundreds of local workers to do skilled weatherization work. LIUNA plans to weatherize millions of poorly insulated homes a year across the country and open pathways to new careers, especially for low-income workers.

U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (WA-1), State Rep. Bob Hasegawa (11th LD) and LIUNA Northwest Regional Vice President Mano Frey helped kick off the weatherization work on Carolyn Ostrom’s home. A LIUNA training instructor and LIUNA members began teaching a group of prospective LIUNA trainees the weatherization skills that will help them embark upon a promising new career.

“LIUNA’s weatherization program has the potential to create hundreds of family-supporting jobs and cut energy costs for tens of thousands of struggling homeowners here in the Northwest,” said Frey. “Our breakthrough national training program will help bolster a viable new American industry that will create a steady stream of good jobs in the Seattle area for years to come.”

There an estimated 100 million poorly insulated homes in the United States. With passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, President Barack Obama set a goal of making 10 million homes more energy efficient in the next 10 years and significantly reducing our nation’s dependence on foreign energy supplies. If the estimated 2 million poorly insulated homes in Washington were weatherized in the next 10 years, Washington families would save over $700 million annually on their energy bills.

“Weatherization saves money for families and creates jobs in our communities,” said Inslee. “Making one home more energy efficient will save that household about $350 per year. Clean energy training programs like those through LIUNA and local Moontown Foundation help workers get skills in weatherizing and energy audits. This clean energy revolution will bring opportunity for communities throughout Washington state and the country.”

LIUNA will train thousands of workers in communities across the country to do skilled weatherization work. The first Seattle-area workers who plan to enroll in the training program participated in today’s

weatherization. If they make the decision to enroll in LIUNA’s comprehensive, five-week weatherization training program, these trainees will learn a broad set of weatherization and construction skills from experienced instructors. Their new skills will open the opportunity to advance in family-supporting careers.

LIUNA has already begun to train weatherization workers in New Jersey and established a new training program in Delaware at the request of the state’s governor. More than a dozen governors and mayors are now considering adopting the LIUNA weatherization model in their states and cities.

“This training program is my chance gain new skills and contribute to my community,” said Joseph Cortez, a weatherization trainee who was referred to LIUNA by Got Green “This is the start of a new career that can really provide for my family.”

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LIUNA’s standardized national weatherization model exceeds the Department of Energy’s weatherization assistance program standards. Its training programs and instructors are accredited by one of the largest international accrediting bodies. Green for All (www.greenforall.org) and Good Jobs First (www.goodjobsfirst.org) have highlighted LIUNA’s weatherization model as an example of weatherization work done right.