HOW TRADE UNIONS CAN SAVE THE PLANET....

Trade Unions get to parts others can't reach. When environmental management systems cannot show evidence of improvements, when companies want to do more than greenwash, and when CSR goes beyond reporting, trade unions can start to act. When companies like Cadbury's want to 'empower employees to take action', unions can make it real. We can organise collective, instead of the usual individualistic, environmental action. By working together we know we can achieve much more than individuals. Millions of people could make a contribution at work, and be properly recognised and rewarded for doing so. It just needs some organisation. Trade unions organise and know about how work is organised.

Members

Most of our members spend their days chipping, chopping, cutting, clipping, or counting lumps of the environment. A study at Cornell University in US proved workers saved millions of tonnes of toxic waste - if there was a formal consultation process. Formal consulation works better than federal agencies, trade associations, team working and the law! Just as 'union organised workplaces are safer workplaces', so too can we also make them greener. Unions are best situated to translate and transfer workplace action to the whole world. The various trade union reps can help members..

Learning Reps

Go out and recruit members to undertake proper nationally recognised environmental learning! You understand this VQ language. There are many members out there who would jump at the chance to do something for the environment while at work and get some recognition for skills development too. This can be at all vocational levels, see skills matrix, The then Amicus suggested to TUSDAC that they develop a qualification for making environmental suggestions. In a NW pilot, £2000 saving were acheived by each candidate. See Environmental Effectiveness Programme Level 2. GMB Adopted Level 3 Environmental Practices Full report of GMB pilot. We are developing a tutor material guide for "Developing Environmental Awareness" that covers ISO 14001 learning requirements, but goes on to encourage employee suggestions - from Open College North West.

Health & Safety Reps

Use our H&S experience and adapt to environmental concerns. We can translate 'Hazards' Risk Assessement to become “Environmental Impacts Risk Assessments”. Remember the reason trade unions are part of Agenda 21 Chap 29 is in part because of our H&S skills. And it may be that H&S can borrow from the new environmental standards eg to 'continuously improve'. The H&S Reps have a crucial (but not exclusive) role, as we want to base environmental procedures at work on the same sorts of lines as H&S, where there are TGWU Farmworkers H&S negotiated a strategic H&S skills agreement, which could be model for similar for sustainability - see below. They also worked out H&S Skills at 3 vocational levels (Drag & Drop).

Trade Union Reps (Shop Stewards/Convenors..)

Get rewards for where members have made suggestions or have been awarded nationally recognised certificate.

Where environmental management systems are introduced, management often offer TU involvement, in which case unions should establish consultation rights.

Trade Unions could make an "Environmental Agreement" that includes the following

1. All members and reps who get involved in Environmental matters should be properly trained to national VRQ standards, so that they can be properly recognised and rewarded. Companies expect environmental improvements to also improve "the bottom line". So we should be rewarded too for suggestions.

2. Organise so that the environmental projects, teams and other schemes are not ad hoc arrangements. Make sure that new inititiatives fit existing industrial relations procedures. With organisation, and any projects add up throught the organisation - eg in terms of carbon dioxide emissions.

3. Danish Unions gained improvements in conditions for their 'Binmen' and for them to be trained to become Green Ambassadors.

4 One campaign by all unions in one major workplace, organised matters so that all improvements to waste collection and disposal were costted, and a proportion of the benefits fed back to members. It was called “From Waste to Wages” .

A draft Environmental Agreement is presently being developed among several UK unions and TUC. We will bring it to you as soon as possible.

Do you know of any other actions - if so, let us know please!

If all of these Represenatives want to put “environmental” in front of their present union title/role we may then be in a better positon to get what we want from the government in the way of 𠇎nvironmental reps rights” - particularly for time off for training and doing the job. More from UNISON

Trade Union Representation on other bodies

TUC could negotiate with CBI and ENTO to work out "environmental skills agreement" - ie generic sustainable skills. While skills intitiatives in UK are "employer" led, farmworkers and farmers worked together to develop a "strategic agreement" to determine the required H&S skills. The same model could develop sector sustainablility skills.

Then Sector Skills Councils can 'specialise'...TU representatives are on all SSCs (SDEP SSC leaflet & TU guide), and SSCs are getting more power.

Brief all Trade Union Officials on environmental matters and how they may impact on their area of representation - eg on SSCs, NHS, LAs...

For more see Presentation to GMB Officers and Officials and in French (ish)