Greener Jobs Alliance

UNISON shows the way!

Image by John Blower on flickr.com/photos/10332960@N03/

At UNISON conference in June, Motion 83, 2026 Year of Green Activity (YoGA) – Turning Activity into Activism, the UNISON NEC puts a number of key points on the way forward for climate activism through and by trade unions.

Unlike most unions, UNISON motions are unshackled by word limits, which allows breadth and depth – veritable manifestos – to supplement the shorter, sharper motions that come from elsewhere and go to the TUC.

The core insights in this one are to recognise:

• the scale of concern among members; 93% worried, 50% very worried and 20% detailing impacts already being felt, and 67% wanting more not less action
• that immediate climate impacts in workplaces on the health of members and the ability to deliver services and the pitfalls involved in ad hoc and improvised responses and that many UNISON members’ jobs are bound up with current policies to respond to the increasing pressure of climate breakdown, with limited resources
• that the slower the response the greater the cost
• that the transition is a whole society issue, not one confined to workers in the energy sector and that UNISON’s embeddedness in communities gives it a crucial role in mobilsing for it
• that adaptation to the damage already being done has to run alongside building resilience to climate breakdown, and this requires more coordination across government departments and, in that planning, workers, and communities, must be central to the decision-making process.

This tees up the core demands to campaign for.

1. A UK wide Just Transition Commission with full union representation
2. Adaptation measures to be on a footing with mitigation
3. A National Climate Service to coordinate government departments
4. A full review of all necessary climate jobs and skills, not just in the energy sector

As well as mandatory extreme weather planning across public services and local communities; statutory facility time for Green Reps; maximum workplace temperatures; greater investment in public transport; the urgent introduction of the Business, Human Rights and Environment Act to tackle global supply chain abuses; increased financial support and environmental regulations for people to make the necessary changes recommended by the climate change committee and a full environmental impact assessment on the introduction of new AI data centres across the UK.

And to facilitate this through union structures by

• supporting the new Branch Environment Officer role as a growth area of union activism;
• actively promote the work of the Green UNISON campaign, the new branch Environment Officer position, regional networks and national newsletter.
• Work with other unions, TUC, ITUC on joint work in workplaces, national and international campaigning.

If this sort of framework were to be adopted across the movement, every year would be a year of union climate action; which is what the crisis demands as it deepens.

Paul Atkin Ed

 

Read on for the full motion

UNISON is proudly at the forefront of UK worker-led climate activism.

We were one of the first trade unions to recognise climate change as an important issue that affects every member, their families, and the communities they live in.

We recognise that Climate change impacts many core trade union, and UNISON specific, issues like: public finances and resources; job security; workplace safety and all the services our members deliver.

And we know that it is an increasingly important issue for our members. Our recent survey showed that 93 percent of our members were concerned about climate change with 50 percent saying they were very concerned and one in five reported ways in which their job was already being negatively impacted by climate change.

Even while Reform UK gains new ground by peddling serious disinformation on everything including climate change, 67 percent of their own members want more, not less, action on climate change.

Rising workplace temperatures and extreme weather are not distant threats. They are happening now. From schools and hospitals to offices and outdoor work, many working environments are becoming less safe and more uncomfortable.

Our members are reporting personal health impacts and disruption from extreme weather events and real impacts on their ability to deliver a service safely for themselves and others.

And the adaptations aimed to support a green transition to a more sustainable work environment often come with unforeseen consequences. Members are adapting to new ways of running buildings, delivering services, and using energy, frequently without adequate training or preparation.

Many of our members are in roles that are all about dealing with the climate crisis in their day-to-day job, drawing up the necessary transformation plans, cleaning up our waterways and coastlines, responding to floods, heatwaves, wildfires and other emergencies, often with limited resources in the face of increasing demand.

UNISON is uniquely positioned to campaign for a just transition across all our services and for all our communities. We must demand climate resilient infrastructure and ensure our members are not left behind in the shift to a greener economy.

The costs of doing nothing, both in human and financial terms, vastly outweigh the costs of acting now. We cannot delay action until a more convenient time. Failing to act only intensifies those costs and physical pressures on essential services and place greater demand on already stretched resources. Some of the necessary changes, if adopted in good time, will save money that is vital for investing in the other changes necessary.

It is our members in public services that are picking up the pieces and who are relied on to manage the consequences of climate change, playing a vital role in protecting communities and maintaining public wellbeing.

However, while the government is finally starting to tackle the important issue of just transition in energy production there is so much more to be done across every other aspect of industry and in the communities we live in. New, good, energy jobs are not the only good jobs we will need to face this emergency.

Adaptation and resilience is essential to combat current and increasing impacts of climate change. Yet it is not being discussed or invested in to the same degree as decarbonisation. Both are equally important and both will require increased training and jobs to meet new demands.

We need to build climate resilience into everything we do:

1) Health and Safety: Protecting vulnerable populations from extreme heat (like the 2022 heatwave) and ensuring essential services (like prisons) function;

2) Economic Stability: Reducing damages from extreme weather and ensuring food/water security, which also creates opportunities for new finance and green growth;

3) Environmental Resilience: Protecting ecosystems and biodiversity while creating nature-based solutions (e.g., wetlands) for cooling and flood control;

4) Infrastructure Protection: Building stronger infrastructure (flood barriers, cooling systems) to withstand future climate impacts, as highlighted by reports from the Climate Change Committee (CCC);

5) Buildings & Homes: Retrofitting homes and ensuring new designs can handle heat and flooding, especially for low income households;

6) Water & Food Systems: Managing drought risks and ensuring resilient food supplies;

7) Urban Planning: Creating more green spaces for cooling and flood management.

The UK’s current adaptation planning is considered insufficient by independent bodies like the Climate Change Committee (CCC).

There is a need for better government integration, funding, and policy to support widespread, effective action across all sectors and regions.

Government departments need to talk to each other about the impact of their plans on climate change. We cannot resolve climate change by only looking at energy use and production. Every area of government has a huge role to play in fighting, and preparing to mitigate and adapt to, the climate emergency. Public transport, health resources, environmental regulations, food production, skills and education, security and whichever department deals with new technology regulations (particularly AI use and impact) all need to work together.

Public services, our members, need to be recognised and invested in, as the vital social infrastructure preventing, preparing for and protecting against the impacts of climate change all of which will be an expanding area of demand even if we manage to reach the 2050 net zero carbon emissions.

Change is necessary and workers, and communities, must be central to the decision-making process.

Conference therefore calls on the National Executive Council to:

1. a) Lobby governments across the UK and in campaign in workplaces where appropriate for:
2. i) A Just Transition, overseen by a UK wide just transition commission (with devolved powers and commissions essential) ensuring our members and communities are represented throughout;
3. ii) Urgent focus and investment on adaptation measures on an equal footing to decarbonisation measures;

iii) A national Climate Service (or equivalent) responsible for ensuring all departments co-ordinate their contributions to the necessary climate emergency mitigation and adaptations;

1. iv) An urgent discussion on the new and increased skills and jobs required to meet the impacts of the climate emergency beyond the (vital) energy sector;
2. v) Mandatory extreme weather planning across public services and local communities;
3. vi) Statutory facility time in line with Union Learning Reps, Health & Safety Reps and Equalities Reps (coming in 2026);

vii) Maximum workplace temperatures;

viii) Greater investment in public transport;

1. ix) The urgent introduction of the Business, Human Rights and Environment Act to tackle global supply chain abuses;
2. x) Increased financial support and environmental regulations for people to make the necessary changes recommended by the climate change committee;
3. xi) A full environmental impact assessment on the introduction of new AI data centres across the UK;
4. b) Progress previous national delegate conference motions on supporting the new Branch Environment Officer role and this expanding area of organising and bargaining, recognising this as a growth area of union activism;
5. c) Continue to actively promote the work of the Green UNISON campaign, the new branch Environment Officer position, the regional networks and national newsletter widely throughout the union to current and prospective members;
6. d) Work with the TUC, STUC, TUC Cymru and ICTU and sister unions on joint work in workplaces, national campaigning and also internationally.

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Liberating work

A one-year accelerator programme to support the creation of jobs in new worker-controlled green projects has been launched by workers.coop, the UK federation of worker and social cooperatives. Called Own the Future, the programme is part of a wider effort to build an ecological and abundant economy through worker-community controlled enterprise. It is the first such initiative from the organisation, which was founded in 2023 to unite worker cooperatives and build dialogue with other worker-led initiatives including unions, social and climate justice organisations. The first Own the Future cohort includes Canopy Coop, an ecological tree surgery and forestry group in Sheffield; Valley Roots, a food distribution hub in West Yorkshire; Nanny Solidarity Network, a childcare co-op in London; Feral Express, a queer bike courier in Sheffield; and Zero Emissions Delivery Waltham Forest, an established courier firm in London looking to transition to worker ownership.

Shifting power and wealth to workers

GJA’s Steering Group recently hosted a presentation by Siôn Whellens from workers.coop, where he outlined the political history and current status of the UK’s worker cooperatives, the composition of the new federation and its ambition to connect with other worker-led bodies.

workers.coop currently has around 100 businesses in membership, and a wider base of around 2,000 individual supporters. Enterprise members range from large organisations working in adult social care and wholesaling to medium sized engineering firms and smaller collectives of workers in ‘tech for good’, research, retailing, community-led agriculture and communications.

The federation’s members are distinct from businesses owned in trust for ‘employee benefit’. Most of them are rooted in the ecological and social movements, and practice radical worker democracy. workers.coop itself describes its mission as

“To enable workers to unite and collectively advance their economic, social and cultural interests. We value collaboration, solidarity and care for each other, our communities and our planet”.

Pride in Work?

While noting that up until now worker cooperatives have mainly been at the edge of Steering Group members’ awareness, they were particularly interested in the potential for worker-owned co-ops in industries such as solar installation and domestic retrofit. It was agreed to maintain links and dialogue between the two networks, with a view to identifying and capitalising on new opportunities.

workers.coop has free resources for unions and worker groups that might be researching democratic and ecological startups and business conversions, as well as access to a nationwide and international network of organisers and advisers. The federation and the Centre for Democratic Business recently issued a call for the government to close the circle of its £5bn ‘Price in Place’ investment in run-down high streets, by funding a sister programme provisionally called ‘Pride in Work’.This would be aimed at enabling workers and local communities to secure ownership and control of key local workplaces, with a focus on local renewable energy projects, the care sector, logistics and green retailing.

GJA supporters interested in developing links with worker-led cooperatives are invited to check out forum.workers.coop, or to receive occasional emails, including Own the Future updates. Anyone looking for specific advice or information can email solidarity@workers.coop

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Towards a transformative response to the fossil fuel energy crisis

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:War_is_a_racket_u_know_-_it%27s_time_for_peace!.jpg

The US/Israeli war on Iran looks like it will be lengthy. Trump’s announcement of an indefinite ceasefire while maintaining an equally indefinite blockade indicates that

1. the US/Israel are not able to impose their terms because a ground invasion aimed at regime change would not be viable. The apocalyptic threat of bombing Iran back into the Stone Age would call forth counterstrokes from Iran and a political fallout too devastating to risk.
2. Nevertheless, the consequences of backing off now, even while declaring victory, would be a visible defeat that would be too damaging to their capacity to project power elsewhere.
3. Therefore there is likely to be a prolonged stalemate based on overlapping blockades of the Gulf. This will cause enormous environmental and economic damage globally, on top of what is already done; and it will manifest more strongly in the coming months, growing stronger the longer it goes on.

The only question is how severe this will be. This poses a series of overlapping crises and challenges that the climate, peace and labour movements have to face up to, have answers for and mobilise together to achieve.

Fossil Fuel supply/price crisis–

1. Increased prices for fossil fuels and their derivative products which will lead to increased prices across the board
2. Increased profits for fossil fuel companies
3. Increased short term viability for investment in fossil fuel extraction
4. Increased costs for everyone else for everything else that has to be transported
5. Shortages of some energy products (jet fuel, CO2) and food supply
6. Increased imperative to transition away from fossil fuel dependence to reduce costs and political leverage
7. Increased attractiveness of EVs and domestic solar panels for those that can afford them.

Responses

The response from the Right has been fast and hard and dressed grifting for fossil fuel companies and US global energy dominance up in the language of the common good.

1. Reduce taxes on fossil fuels (which in past experience benefits retailers not people having to fill up with them)
2. Reduce windfall taxes on FF companies, even as they are making gigantic windfall profits
3. Invest in new North Sea oil and gas, even though they know this will make no difference to costs, a tiny difference to supply, and will not halt the decline in jobs as the basin dries up; and/or put fracking back on the energy agenda, even though they know that the UK is geologically unsuitable for doing this viably
4. Relax mandates on car companies to transition to EVs and developers to build homes that aren’t expensive to heat or don’t use gas to do it
5. Push hard for more investment in nuclear power, which is the least flexible “back up” available, produces electricity at a cost greater than that of fossil fuels and renewables; and would take too long to build to have any impact at all.

This is all nonsense, but it is loudly and perpetually repeated by the Right and their associated media outlets in an attempt to drown out reality and paint anyone who recognises the reality of climate change and/or wants to put forward solutions that

1. Accelerate the transition and
2. Do it in a way that creates millions of jobs, is socially equitable – and therefore transformative

as “swivel eyed eco fanatics” from an “elite” determined to impose “eye watering costs” on ordinary people to deliver their “net zero obsession” (which, if you do the maths, would be £80 billion cheaper than the new investment in FFs that they have in mind). 

To combat this tsunami of misinformation and misdirection, the climate, social justice and labour movements need the most honest, clear and coordinated set of responses that we can put together, and all be proclaiming it with relentless positivity.

From the Greener Jobs Alliance, we’d like to propose four basic principles that we can all sign up to, within which we can collectively develop appropriate specific demands.

1. To stop the crisis we need to stop the war – so the government should give no support for it in any form and press for peace instead on the same lines as the Spanish government.
2. War profiteering is unacceptable and all windfall profits should be taxed at 100% to fund short term targeted measures like energy price caps to support people through the immediate crisis, and accelerate investment in the transition. Similarly, faced with a crisis on this scale, putting any additional investment into war preparation is, as well as wrong in its own right, a luxury we can’t afford. Freezing military expenditure at its current level and using the funds earmarked for increases to accelerate the energy transition, including restoring climate funding in overseas development, will be better for national security in all respects too.
3. The transition is the solution All possible measures should be taken to get off fossil fuel dependence and this can only effectively be done through collective measures, e.g. an accelerated effective insulation campaign requires properly funded local authority direct labour organisations with workers properly educated on the climate crisis as well as technical skills, targeting areas in fuel poverty as a social measure and not cutting corners as private sector micro companies all too often do. Similarly, even if the ban on new investment in North Sea FFs is lifted, it will have a marginal effect and won’t stop the erosion of jobs; so the solution has to be a planned retraining and redeployment alongside increased investment in accelerated deployment of renewable energy. This could most effectively be done through public ownership.
4. Crisis measures must be social justice measures. Rationing by price is inherently inequitable. ATM people who drive are managing by putting less fuel in their tanks when they “fill up”. This can only go so far. So, for example reduce FF demand (and therefore prices) by banning private jets, slashing public transport fares (even the Lib Dems have proposed a 10% cut and states from Tasmania to the Punjab have made it free) to encourage a shift. Pre-emptive limits on purchases of key food items in limited supply, to ensure equitable distribution of what there is.

This is not set in stone. It’s a catalyst to get a debate going that starts us all moving in the right direction and comes up with things that none of us have thought of yet.

So, in the next two weeks we’d like feedback on these principles and suggestions for specific proposals so we can pull them together into a public statement that could provide the basis for a campaign that can build up through the deepening of the crisis.

Online Thursday April 23 – 5.50 – 7.00 We’ll see you there! Join Us

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The post Towards a transformative response to the fossil fuel energy crisis first appeared on Greener Jobs Alliance.

Rail Union calls for Free Fares to cut cost of living in response to war on Iran

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

Transport and travel union TSSA has called on the government to take immediate action to help the public with the cost of living in the face of ongoing economic volatility related to the US/Israel conflict with Iran.

This includes making public transport free at the point of use for the next year.

Read the full statement on the TSSA site here.

TSSA’s Earth Day Blog Rails of change: why public transport is our climate lifeline assesses the rising impact of the Transport sector on carbon emissions, the opportunities presented by rail nationalisation to join up transport policy, boost electrification, shift freight and for City Mayors to run with this agenda.

 On this Earth Day, as the sun sets through a haze of Saharan dust, let us look not to the sky for salvation, but to the railway tracks. The solution to the climate crisis is not a sci-fi technology; it is a reliable, frequent, electric train. Let’s fight for it.

Read the whole blog here. Online Thursday April 23 – 5.50 – 7.00 We’ll see you there! Join Us

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The post Rail Union calls for Free Fares to cut cost of living in response to war on Iran first appeared on Greener Jobs Alliance.