Manufacturers in West Virginia employ around 7% of the state's workforce, and advocates say the state's Appalachian region could bolster its economy by turning itself into a green manufacturing hub.

Dana Kuhnline - program director with the group ReImagine Appalachia - said manufacturing in the clean-energy sector would create good jobs and help build local economies, as well as helping curb climate change.

"What can we manufacture in Appalachia?" said Kuhnline. "How can we reuse shuttered facilities, like closed steel facilities and shuttered coal plants? And what are sustainable products that Appalachia could become a hub for, that we could make in this region?"

At an upcoming virtual summit hosted by ReImagine Appalachia, being held on January 16 and 17, experts will break down how Appalachian communities can take advantage of federal funding opportunities related to climate infrastructure.

Kuhnline said Congress has passed a number of bills in the last couple of years that have paved the way for new investments in the region.

"There's a lot of new money for land remediation," said Kuhnline, "So, cleaning up old coal mines, cleaning up orphan oil and gas wells. There's going to be a whole funding stream set aside for improving environmental issues. And that includes replacing lead pipes. There's also money for increasing the number of trees and urban improvement projects."

She added that increased federal funding for natural infrastructure as a solution to soak up carbon, prevent flooding and repair damaged mine-lands provides an unprecedented opportunity to create new jobs for workers left behind, returning citizens and communities hit hard by the opioid crisis.

Today, workers at the Mercedes Benz plants in Vance and Woodstock, Alabama, will decide whether to form a union.

More than 5,000 employees are preparing for a historic vote, that could affect both their futures and the labor landscape in the South.

Brett Garrard, a worker at the Mercedes Battery Assembly Plant in Woodstock, said he believes joining the United Auto Workers represents the pursuit of such basic needs as fair wages and adequate benefits.

Over time, he said the disparities with a two-tiered pay system and reduced health coverage have made many workers feel undervalued and ignored.

"To have the UAW step in and represent us, we would have a voice and be able to sit down and negotiate," said Garrard. "And then, we wouldn't have surprise changes in health care or we wouldn't have to be penalized financially. There's many factors to it - the biggest part would be able to have a voice, to truly be heard."

The vote takes place in person at the plants, from May 13 to May 17. It's happening shortly after workers at a Volkswagen Plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted to unionize last month.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey is among the six Southern governors opposing unionization.

For Mercedes Benz worker Austin Brooks, this vote represents more than a personal gain. He said he aspires to achieve fair treatment and representation, for himself and other autoworkers.

"It'll light a fire under the workers everywhere else, saying, 'They got it, why don't I have that?'" said Brooks. "And it helps them start a movement where they work, saying, 'We want this as well. We also want to be treated this way. We also want to be treated fairly. We want these benefits. We want this coverage. We want this retirement plan; we want this 401k.'"

The potential impact goes beyond the factory floor, according to Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, associate professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.

He said research confirms that higher wages and improved working conditions can stimulate local economies.

"When workers have higher wages and better working conditions, it allows them to better participate in their local communities, better support their families," said Hertel-Fernandez. "And I think there's good reason to think that this is going to help the local community in which the plant operates."

He predicted the efforts in Alabama will help amplify the future UAW efforts in the South.

Ohio lawmakers are considering legislation that would raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour for most Ohio workers and create a refundable Ohio Earned Income Tax Credit.

Ohio's minimum wage is $10.45 per hour for most employees, which is higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

Policy Matters Ohio economist Michael Shields said provisions in Ohio law weaken minimum-wage protections for certain groups, including workers younger than 16, workers who have a disability and tipped workers.

"Employers who staff tipped workers are allowed to claim a portion of those workers' tips and use it to offset the wages that they pay those workers," he said. "So, tipped workers can be paid as little as $5.25 per hour."

A citizen's ballot initiative to raise the wage will appear before voters this November if it gathers the more than 442,000 valid signatures needed by July 23 to be included on the ballot. Shields said increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour would benefit nearly 1 million Ohioians, around 30% of whom are Black and Latino workers.

Shields said everyone deserves to be paid a wage that honors the value of work and is proportional to cost of living. Despite increases in worker productivity over the past few decades, he said employers have successfully kept wages down.

"The typical Ohio worker today produces about 76% more than their counterpart did at the end of the 1970s," he said, "but over that timeframe, wages for the worker in the middle, the median worker has gone up by just 4%."

If passed, the ballot measure would take effect in 2026. Senate Bill 256 would go into effect in 2028.

This story was produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.

A collaboration between the federal government and local communities works to create new career opportunities.

The Flint Environmental Career Worker Apprentice Readiness Training Program is funded by the Biden Administration's Justice40 initiative.

Tony Johnson, a Black single father from Michigan, credits the program with altering his family's future. He started his carpentry apprenticeship in April 2024 and is now on track for a union job in Flint. Johnson said this is the only program he has ever been part of which has created a career opportunity.

"Imagine going to college and after finishing your program, the instructor line you up with jobs and they keep in contact with you," Johnson explained. "They gave us connections and comfort and stability knowing that we're not in this alone."

Johnson stumbled upon the program by chance and thinks it needs promotion in more Michigan communities. It partners with community colleges, historically Black colleges and universities and apprenticeship programs, training more than 13,500 people. It claims a 70% job placement rate.

Johnson noted as a single parent, trying to work in retail or other jobs would not have been as beneficial for his family's future.

"It's hard living on a single income nowadays with a one-parent household," Johnson acknowledged. "Right now I got the funds, the ability to be able to not just provide but to save for their future instead of living check to check."

Johnson added the apprenticeship program is not only stabilizing but creates a pathway to long-term security and the opportunity to retire one day. He sees it as a valuable lesson and encouraged a positive mindset in his children, emphasizing what they can achieve. The opportunity affects his family both mentally and physically, shaping their outlook on opportunities and possibilities.


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