Orlando, FL (September 16, 2009) – U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis praised LIUNA’s breakthrough national weatherization training program speaking via satellite to the union’s Leadership Conference today.

Secretary Solis told the story of Thalia Williams, a single mother in New York who completed LIUNA’s weatherization training program and will be working for the Community Environmental Center (CEC), the largest weatherization contractor in New York State. CEC partnered with LIUNA Local 10 in August 2009.

“The partnership between CEC and LIUNA is creating good jobs, saving homeowners money on their energy bills, and nurturing a new, local workforce,” said Solis. “In fact, five years ago CEC added a women’s locker room to its facilities – but due to the lack of women employees never used it. With the LIUNA partnership and growth of weatherization investment, they’re using it for the first time.”

“LIUNA’s weatherization training program will help to create family-supporting jobs, save homeowners money on their energy bills, help free our nation from foreign oil and protect the environment,” said LIUNA General President Terry O’Sullivan. “Weatherization is a win-win no matter how you look at it. We are proud that our training program has caught the attention of Secretary Solis.”

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act invested $5 billion to expand the Department of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance Program and meet the Obama Administration’s goal of weatherizing one million homes a year. This is a nearly 10-fold increase in the amount typically invested in weatherizing poorly insulated homes. By fixing energy inefficient homes, the nation can save the equivalent of 500 million barrels of oil a year and save homeowners $3.5 billion a year in energy costs (an average of $350 per homeowner).

LIUNA’s breakthrough national weatherization training program will help meet the demand for thousands skilled needed to weatherize America and exceeds Department of Energy’s weatherization assistance program standards. LIUNA relies on experienced instructors who provide trainees with a broad set of weatherization and construction skills and credentials as Technicians/Installers, Weatherization Supervisors and Energy Auditors. LIUNA workers will be credentialed and they will set the standard for the new weatherization industry. 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.

For more information on LIUNA’s weatherization training program please visit http://www.liunabuildsamerica.org/weatherize.