As part of the Biden-Harris administration’s continued commitment to its “Invest in America” agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded $2 million to UAW Region 6 and the UAW Center for Manufacturing a Green Economy (UAW-CMGE) to further develop the High Road Battery Training Program in partnership with Sparkz Corporation.
The UAW-CMGE is one of 21 new projects recently selected by the Department of Energy to receive a total of $24 million in funding to expand clean energy and support sustainable manufacturing in the United States.
The UAW-CMGE was formed in 2023 to lead the union’s recruitment and training for careers in climate manufacturing and to provide a well-trained, mission-oriented “green” workforce to meet the growing demands of manufacturing operations created by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
“The UAW-CMGE is developing a groundbreaking training model for fast-growing climate industries, starting with the critically important domestic battery industry,” said Priyanka Mohanty, executive director of the UAW-CMGE, of the $2 million investment. “Our model, focused on equitable recruitment, technical battery knowledge, and building innovative new green training programs, represents the central path forward for the climate transition. This model will empower and protect manufacturing workers, ensure their voices are heard, and create an equitable transition to new, diverse climate industries. DOE’s $2 million investment in the UAW and our center underscores the importance of high-road training programs for decarbonization, and we look forward to demonstrating that an investment in workers is an investment in America’s climate economy.”
“The UAW has demonstrated the central role of an empowered manufacturing workforce in American decarbonization,” said Mike Miller, UAW-CMGE Chair and UAW Region 6 Director. “The UAW’s 2023 contract negotiations with the Big Three automakers were a turning point in the fight for a just transition. The strike brought thousands of jobs in the electric vehicle and battery industries under national union agreements with strong job quality protections and billions in investments to retool previously closed plants. It has shown the country that electric vehicle and battery manufacturing – critical to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building new climate industries – can and must be built with good unionized jobs. The UAW wants to bring its expertise in training, workforce development and good job creation to a new green and advanced manufacturing production because it understands the critical importance of a just transition to broader decarbonization efforts.”
In 2023, the UAW and Sparkz announced that they had signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a national labor-employee agreement and a neutrality pledge at the manufacturer’s facilities.
Founded in 2019, Sparkz develops and produces American-made cobalt-free lithium-ion batteries. Eliminating cobalt in the battery manufacturing process reduces the cost of producing lithium batteries and also addresses environmental concerns.
