The world economic crisis and Barack Obama's election have created an unprecedented opening for mobilizing change, say labor scholars -- and the result could be a healthier environment and more new jobs.

Leaders from labor and environmental groups and the international development community, meeting Nov. 25 at Cornell's Global Labor Institute in Manhattan, agreed that the potential to ally the labor and climate change movements has never been stronger.

Mary Robinson, Ireland's president from 1990-97, said that "framing a way forward" is largely dependent on putting "decent work at the center of the national and international agendas."

President-elect Obama "has to do that if he's going to pull this country and the rest of the world out of this deep economic crisis," said Robinson, chair of Realizing Rights: the Ethical Globalization Initiative. The mission of the New York-based organization is "to put human rights standards at the heart of global governance and policy-making and to ensure that the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable are addressed on the global stage."

Robinson, who also served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, was joined at the meeting by a representative of the Norwegian government, Cornell faculty and others.

Barbara Shailor, director of international affairs for the AFL-CIO, said many feel that now is the world's best chance for a unified labor movement. "You have this moment of hopefulness in Obama," she said.

The first step might be strategizing the approach to the proposed Employee Free Choice Act, perhaps the biggest labor issue in 30 years, Shailor said.

Obama is expected to sign the proposed legislation into law in 2009. Many in the business sector oppose the act, which would allow workers to form unions by signing up a majority of employees rather than holding secret-ballot elections.

Earlier this year, the Global Labor Institute collaborated with the United Nations and other international organizations to create the first comprehensive Green Jobs Report. Obama is also expected to sign an economic stimulus package that includes creating green employment and jump-starting a transition to a low-carbon economy.

Mary Catt is a staff writer for the ILR school.