Labor, Environmental and Community Groups Rally for Heat Pumps for All

New Yorkers need lower energy bills, good jobs, and cleaner air. That was the message at a City Hall rally last Monday where the NYC Central Labor Council, Steamfitters Local 638, community organizations, environmental advocates, and Council Members James Gennaro, Christopher Marte, and Alexa Avilés called for funding a new Heat Pumps for All pilot program in the FY27 city budget.

The coalition is urging the city to invest $10 million in a pilot program that would help lower-income owners of one- and two-family homes replace aging heating and cooling systems with modern, energy-efficient heat pumps installed by union labor. Administered through the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the pilot program would take steps to create family-sustaining jobs through public investment, bringing union members into single family homes to perform upgrades that will last for a generation. Heat Pumps for All can be a model to support union labor, protect homeowners, and reduce emissions, demonstrating climate policy can have practical, positive implications in the daily lives of working people. See more photos from the rally here and here.