It is claimed that a transition to green energy will create a lot of
employment - maybe 20 million globally by 2020. I looked in my last post at how the adoption of green
energy might be the logical
outcome of historical trends. However the type of work can vary- and not all of
it might be welcome. As one Trade unionist has put it, ‘a green boss is still a
boss’. There are all the usual
issues of pay and conditions. For example, PV solar cell production has boomed
in Germany, but much of this has occurred in the poor east of the country where
wages levels are often low and trade union rights sometimes absent. More
recently there has been a boom in PV cell manufacture and export in China,
where wages are likely to be even lower and working conditions possibly worse,
although improving (ILO, 2012). There has also been a boom in biofuel
production for vehicles, with major plantations in developing countries like
Malaysia, where working conditions may be very poor and environmental impacts
significant, opening up a ‘food versus fuel’ and development policy debate.
Even
in the industrialised countries, there are issues rated to safety and working
conditions. Most renewables-related work is relatively risk free, and mostly
compares well with that in other areas of energy supply (IRENA, 2012). However, care has to be taken working
at heights, and with the toxic materials sometimes used in making PV
cells. Some of the new work will
be in factories, but much of it will involve on-site installation and
maintenance, often in harsh environment, including offshore. On the smaller scale there will be jobs
fitting systems to houses and offices, with regular maintenance: the classic
small company with a White Van. Some of this work may be outsourced to individual
operators and much of it may be non-union.
Trade
unions in the UK and elsewhere have been relatively quick to recognise the
importance of this new pattern of employment. However, while they have welcomed
the growth of green jobs, they also worry about pay and conditions. The UK’s Trades Union Congress (TUC)
has been campaigning for what are sometimes called ‘Just Jobs’- green jobs which are sustainable and safe as
well as properly paid, as part of a
‘just transition’. The positive side of this reflects the workers’ plans
for socially useful work that emerged in the UK in the 1970s (Wainwright and
Elliott, 1982)
There
is also a wider dimension to the transition concept. It is sometimes argued
that, in order to deal with climate change and other environmental constraints,
there will have to be a reduction in the level of economic growth. More
immediately, the transition to renewables will mean the loss of jobs in
conventional energy industries, where unions are often well established. These
issues can lead to conflicts between environmentalists and workers, and
sometimes quite bitter confrontations. While it may be true that longer-term
there will be more jobs, in the short term there could be painful disruptions,
especially for older people who cannot easily retrain or adapt.
The
Unions have therefore sometimes fallen back on a more defensive line. For
example, the TUC report 'A Green and Fair Future', says that union support for
environmental policies is ‘conditional on a fair distribution of the costs and
benefits of those policies across the economy, and on the creation of
opportunities for active engagement by those affected in determining the future
wellbeing of themselves and their families’.
However, in general, the trade union movement backs
change via a Just Transition. In its policy document ‘Equity, justice and
solidarity in the fight against climate change’ the International Trade Union Confederation says ‘Just transition is a tool the
trade union movement shares with the international community, aimed at
smoothing the shift towards a more sustainable society and providing hope for
the capacity of a “green economy” to sustain decent jobs and livelihoods for
all.’ (ITUC 2009)
The ITUC position emphasises the
production process as well as products, as part of a transition to a ‘fairer,
environmentally responsible society that respects human and labour rights’ and
it is campaigning on that (ITUC 2010). It is a big project. Radicals hope that
it will be pursued by grass roots initiatives, which can lay the basis for the
new society. As Kolya Abramsky puts it ‘the most important single factor
determining the outcome of this change will be the intensity, sophistication,
and creativity of grass-roots social mobilization.’(Abramsky, 2010) But he also
recognises that there could be problems. For example, he says ‘The quest for renewable energy could
result in a new and perhaps unprecedented land-grab by companies and investors,
which would create the potential for even more extreme patterns of displacement
and appropriation of land than other forms of energy have done’. He also points
to disputes over pay, conditions and job security within the renewables
industry.
While
there are clearly battles ahead, there are some radical strands in union
thinking, sometimes building on common interests. For example the American Wind
Energy Association and the United Steelworkers have created a ‘Partnership for
Progress’ to accelerate wind-power development and deployment in the U.S. The
European union body ETUC has called for a binding EU target to cut greenhouse
gas emissions 75% by 2050, and has called for a tripartite dialogue to address
negative social effects of restructurings (ETUC, 2013). And in general,
although some unions remain committed to nuclear power, most are very pro
renewables, given their job creation potential and are keen to build links with
environmental groups and campaigns.
For
example, Guy Ryder, General Secretary of the International Trade Union
Confederation has backed a radical energy transition proposal by Greenpeace. He
commented ‘While many additional ‘Just Transition’ policies will be needed to
ensure workers will reap the benefits of a new low-carbon economy- skills,
social protection, quality of jobs; the Energy Revolution report introduces
interesting ideas which will scale up investments in renewable energies,
something crucial if we want to fight future unemployment in the energy sector
and avoid the poorest of the planet, whose jobs depend on natural resources,
paying the costs of business-as-usual’.
Moreover, pushing ahead to positive
targets, a report from the UK Campaign against Climate Change Trade Union group
called for ‘One Million Climate Change jobs now’, outlining how cutting
emissions by 80% by 2030 would create jobs in energy, building, farming and
transport sector (CaCC, 2012, 2014). Overall then there are some hopeful signs around the world (Räthzel
and Uzzell
2013).
The availability of what the
International Labour Organisation calls ‘decent work’ (congenial, safe,
properly remunerated and sustainable employment), could be seen as an ethical
requirement, a basic right. It seems possible this can be achieved as part of
the process of converting to green energy, but it is not automatic. It will
need political struggle- to ensure it is done right. Surely we do not want to
have sweated ‘zero hours’ labour for low pay in bad conditions. It is not a
matter of jobs at all costs.
References
Abramsky,
K (ed) (2010) ‘Sparking a
World-wide Energy Revolution’ AK Press, Oakland, http://www.akpress.org
CaCC
(2012, 2014) ‘One Million Jobs-
Now’, Campaign Against Climate Change Trade Union Group Campaign and Booklet, http://www.campaigncc.org/greenjobs
ETUC (2013) ‘ETUC Position on the Fight against Climate Change in Europe
and the World’ European Trade Union Confederation,
Brussels, http://www.etuc.org/a/11400
ILO (2010) ‘Study on Green Employment in China’, International
Labor Organisation, http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/asia/ro-bangkok/ilo-beijing/documents/publication/wcms_155395.pdf
ITUC (2009) ‘What is Just Transition?’ International Trade Union
Confederation, Brussels, http://www.ituc-csi.org/what-s-just-transition
ITUC
(2010) Resolution on Combating Climate Change through Sustainable Development
and Just Transition’, International Trade
Union Confedertaion, Brussels, http://www.ituc-csi.org/resolution-on-combating-climate
Räthzel, N. and Uzzell, D (eds) (2013) ‘Trade
Unions in the Green Economy,
Working for the Environment’, Earthscan, London
Wainwright,
H and Elliott, D (1982) ‘The Lucas Plan’, Allison and Busby, London update at .
http://www.redpepper.org.uk/a-real-green-deal/
