Sean Sweeney, coordinator of Trade Unions for Energy Democracy, speaks at the Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC) conference.
It’s time for a Just Transition, moving to a modern zero-carbon economy in ways which protect workers’ livelihoods, create a new industrial base and deliver a fairer Scotland. Action is urgently needed to avert the climate crisis and to re-balance the economy to one which provides enough decent jobs making things in clean ways.
Plans for this transition so far have not been ambitious enough and progress has been slow. There has been little planning to ensure the protection of the people most affected, in particular those who work in sectors reliant on fossil fuels. Workers should be able to redeploy to new sectors and opportunities for retraining must be expanded.
Action to stop greenhouse gas emissions can create good jobs and improve everyone’s lives. But, done wrongly, it could instead entrench trends towards precarious work and economic inequality, while risking a backlash against climate action. Justice has to be built in – a just transition is essential.
Our conference in February about why public ownership of energy production and infrastructure is an essential part of any plans to hit climate change targets.
The Scottish Government is consulting on its new Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan. There is a large gap where it should have explained what public actions are needed to ensure change at the pace and scale needed.
This event heard how the privatised energy system is giving us fuel poverty, soaring energy prices and profits; and failing to deliver a Just Transition; and looked at publicly-owned solutions in key sectors, from local to national levels.
Speakers:
Roz Foyer, Scottish Trade Union Congress
Mary Church, Friends of the Earth Scotland
Sean Sweeney, Trade Unions for Energy Democracy
Craig Dalzell, Common Weal
Richard Hardy, Prospect trade union
Katie Gallogly-Swan, member of Just Transition Commission
Conversación informal con Miguel Soto Roa, dirigente sindical. Ha sido secretario de Relaciones Internacionales de la Confederación Industrial Chile Chile "CONSTRAMET" y Coordinador del Movimiento Litio para Chile. Hoy continua asesorando a movimientos sindicales. La entrevista se llevó a cabo en abril 2023, justo ANTES del anuncio de la Estrategia Nacional del Litio. Qué es y cómo surgió el Movimiento Litio para Chile? Cual es el papel de los sindicatos en la lucha por una Empresa Nacional del Litio?#LitioParaChile
Para más información, lean el Boletín de TUED #132 sobre la Empresa Nacional de Litio: http://tinyurl.com/TUED-B132
On April 4, the Mexican Government signed an agreement to purchase 13 power generation plants from the Spanish multinational Iberdrola. The purchase turns the State Company into a majority owner in electric energy generation in Mexico.
* Read the complete bulletin here: https://tinyurl.com/B131-TUED
* For the multi-lingual (ES/FR) bulletin: https://tinyurl.com/TUED-B131
Host by the City University of New York's School for Labor and Urban Studies (CUNY SLU) and Trade Unions for Energy Democracy (TUED). The event shares CUNY SLU student and alumn perspectives on the launch of TUED South in Kenya in October 2022.
Más de 70 líderes sindicales se reunieron en Nairobi para el lanzamiento de TUED Sur, una nueva plataforma sindical con un enfoque de "Vía Pública" para una transición energética justa en el Sur Global.La reunión sentó las bases de una plataforma sindical liderada por el Sur que se centrará en cómo fortalecer la alternativa de la vía pública a la agenda de "privatizar para descarbonizar" del G7, el FMI y el Banco Mundial.
El lanzamiento de TUED Sur fue recibido con entusiasmo, reflejando el momento más amplio de creciente apoyo a un enfoque de vía pública para la transición energética y la protección del clima que pueda hacer frente a los fracasos de las actuales políticas ineficaces y regresivas centradas en los beneficios.
No más privatiazaciónes. Las empresas públicas son del pueblo!
More than 70 trade union leaders met in Nairobi for the launch of TUED South, a new trade union platform dedicated to a “Public Pathway” approach to a just energy transition in the Global South.The gathering laid the foundations for a South-led trade union platform that will focus on how to strengthen the public pathway alternative to the “privatise to decarbonise” agenda of the G7, IMF, and the World Bank. The launch of TUED South was received with enthusiasm, reflecting the larger moment of growing support for a public pathway approach to energy transition and climate protection that can address the failures of the current ineffective and regressive profit-focused policies.
"Green Structural Adjustment" in South Africa: A War On Workers and Climate.Speakers and agenda: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1R...
TUED GF, Working Paper 14, May 26 2022, Beyond Disruption: How Reclaimed Utilities Can Help Cities Meet Their Climate Goals
