The ITUC / GURN workshop on A Green Economy that Works for Social Justice last week provided a stimulating and interesting debate in the lead up to COP17. This second workshop attempted to address the research gaps on climate change and brought together people from a range of unions, research institutes, universities and the ITUC.

We were presented with a range of papers that stimulated the discussion, all of which are available to download. The papers covered a range of issues from how unions have used collective bargaining to move environmental issues in the workplace and changing working conditions, what ‘green jobs’ look like in reality and how they can be defined, how unions have engaged with climate change policies at national and international levels, and the debate around green taxation. Case study examples came from a number of countries including Peru, Spain, the UK, Korea, Belgium, France and even China.

One thing that emerged from the discussions was the need for an agreed definition on green jobs. The ITUC definition is that “A green job should be one which reduces environmental impacts of enterprises and economic sectors, while providing decent working and living conditions to all those involved in production and ensuring workers’ and labour rights are respected”.

There were interesting similarities emerging from the research and although none focused on transport in particular, they may be applicable. There was strong evidence that a green economy will be intensive for jobs and will generate jobs, but the exact numbers of jobs and what quality of job they will be is still in discussion. What was identified as essential is that wherever and whenever these jobs are created, trade unions must make sure they are present in these new sectors to ensure that these jobs are both environmentally and socially sustainable.

A number of the studies of the renewable energy sector found many new workers in jobs that require higher education, qualifications and skill levels than the traditional energy sector. In some cases businesses preferred to employ new graduates than retrain current workers. Most of these companies are small in size and have little collective bargaining. However there is more employment of permanent workers than the average. As is the transport sector, there is an increase in subcontracting, which has reduced working conditions. In these traditionally male-dominated sectors, the new green jobs have slightly improved the gender balance, with more women employed (but still below the national average). Some unions have put pressure on their governments to continue investing in the renewable sector, but have had little success so far in organising workers and bargaining collectively. For more information see ISTAS research on green jobs.

The potential of renewable energy for reducing unemployment and poverty because of job creation was highlighted by Woodrajh Aroun from the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) when he spoke about the campaign for One Millions Climate Jobs. The campaign is a research and advocacy project developed jointly by over 40 social, environmental and labour organisations who recognise the importance of simultaneously addressing unemployment and climate change. It is coordinated by the Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC) and the research has reaffirmed the findings of a previous study by AGAMA.

NUMSA has taken a broad approach to green jobs arguing that the transition to a low-carbon economy will involve a paradigm shift, with a whole industrial reconfiguration needed because industry is based on coal. This move will require a significant allocation of capital and labour. To ensure that a strong development agenda continues, the state should take responsibility for financing renewables as well as investment from the private sector. The government needs to regulate this new arena to ensure there is production of low-carbon fuel for low-income families and that the sector is publically owned and communally organised. Unions need to raise awareness among workers so that they understand the potential of renewable energy.

One of the papers looked specifically at the gender perspective of the new green economy in the hope that the typical gender imbalance will not be reflected in new these sectors. There is often a lack of data to be able to analysis this, such as where there is occupational segregation and gender pay gap. The research found that women may need additional education and training as they might not have the necessary skills or qualifications to apply for these new jobs. They also found that there may be a greater challenge for women in small companies, where the process of recruitment is less formalised, flexible working hours are common, there is a lack of childcare provision and the sector has a stereotypically highly masculine image which deters women. Women also need to made aware that green jobs might be a possible career for them. For more information on gender and green jobs see the publication by SustainLabour, Green Jobs and Women Workers: employment, equity, equality.

Research from Korea, developed with the KPTU (Korean Federation of Public Services and Transportation Workers’ Union) has found that while the government has a Green Growth Korea’ strategy, there has been much debate on its genuine ‘greeness’ and social impact and that a substantial number of jobs ‘newly created’ have already existed for some time. The government plans to invest 11 trillion won into ‘greening transport’ (increasing the percentage share of rail and bicycle transportation) and the transport unions in the country should be prepared to influence how this policy is rolled out. The report can be downloaded from the ITUC website, Green Growth and Green New Deal Policies in Korea: are they creating decent green jobs?.

How can unions influence the green economy was a key debate, particularly since much of the research has found that many low quality jobs have been created as part of the green economy. Many governments have not considered social conditions when they have promoted and encouraged new green jobs, but these two agendas (environment and social) should not be considered separate. Not only do unions need to consider new jobs, but also the transformation of existing jobs. Unions can make a positive contribution to the debate on the green economy by addressing social equity. Many green policies seem to benefit the rich and middle income. Some argue that high-speed rail has become a mode of transport for the rich, such as the Ave train that runs between Madrid and Barcelona and now takes on 2h30. It is has provided a successful alternative to short-haul flights, but is not necessarily available to everyone.

The international nature of green economy was highlighted. For example, demand for biofuels in Europe has created jobs outside Europe (in Brazil and Indonesia) and the UK has ‘outsourced’ its emissions to China, by ‘exporting’ manufacturing from the UK to China. In addition products and services must not be looked at in isolation, but their green credentials depend on the whole supply chain and the life-cycle of the product, which go far beyond national boundaries. Investment in the green policies is not just done by the public sector, but also business and international institutions, which may all have distinct motives and priorities. Local workers need to be involved in environmental policies, as a local understanding is critical for social sustainability and role of international financial institutions should not be underestimated. 

Education and training on climate change and the green economy was identified as essential for unions and their members. One area was the development of links between schools and employment, so that trade unions can encourage women to enter into green jobs in traditionally male environments like energy. 

The ETUC has analysed the initiatives involving social partners in Europe on climate change policies and employment, including greening the workplace in the UK and Belgium, green collective bargaining in Sweden, union involvement in national dialogue such as the UK Green Economy Council. In addition unions have organised (sometimes with the government and employer) education and training programmes for a low-carbon economy. The discussion that followed questioned how far the European experience can be transferred to unions outside Europe and whether some of the union structures are part of the barrier to this new area of work. There was also a call for community and environmental organisations to be included and that they could help trade unions to develop a stronger civil society. There was a concept of ‘tripartite plus’ which would include the wider society. The ETUC will be developing Europe-wide education materials next year.

There were also a couple of papers on green taxation, looking at the financial incentives for people to buy products, such as new cars with improved environmental standards. Unions probably should consider supporting green taxation, but be aware of its potential to increase social inequality and should call for tax policies to include social impact assessments to make sure the incentives do not just benefit the rich and middle income. There is evidence that this taxation can work negatively for poor people, as for example, they cannot afford to buy a new car and then have to pay a penalty for buying an older more polluting car. A number of unions have already been involved in national debates (South Africa, Spain, France) on carbon tax, but there was not one agreed position. Many fear that the tax will be passed onto consumers and workers and not paid by the employer. As a green incentive, a Belgium trade union has set up a fund for the poorest people to improve the insulation in their houses. The ITUC has yet to take a stand on green taxation.

In conclusion while the papers provided greater understanding on a green economy for unions, still more research is needed. We need to know where unions have been able to leverage the climate change discourse and to investigate deeper the impact of the green economy on working conditions. In addition a number of unions already have environmental clauses in their collective agreements and we need to study the impact of these clauses and what improvement they have had on the environment and working conditions?