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Historic move towards ‘just transition’ to green transport
5 August 2010
Transport workers must take responsibility for tackling climate change, participants at a historic meeting said yesterday. The calls came at the ITF’s first-ever climate change conference, held in Mexico City on the eve of Congress, in which speakers urged the ITF to develop sustainable means to achieve emission reductions from the transport industry.
According to a widely supported motion before Congress, the process would require “fundamental changes in the current system of globalised production which relies on global supply chains, low transport costs and cheap and increasingly casual labour”. It would also require a bigger role for public transport.
The motion insists, however, that the ITF would never accept that the transition to a low-carbon society should take place through increased unemployment and the undermining of wages and working conditions. It adds: “A just transition therefore has to involve job creation, decent work and quality jobs, a radical redistribution of wealth and social security schemes which safeguard people’s livelihood and social and human rights.”
In the run-up to yesterday’s one-day conference, the ITF worked with the Global Labor Institute (GLI) at Cornell University, US, to come forward with proposals for tackling climate change. The outcome is a discussion document, titled “Transport Workers and Climate Change: Towards Sustainable Low-Carbon Mobility” which was unveiled at the conference.
The 55-page report was compiled in conjunction with the ITF Climate Change Working Group, chaired by Asbjørn Wahl of the Norwegian Fagforbunded union, and with representatives from unions in Australia, Austria, South Africa and the US.
Delegates also considered a paper presented by Robert A Scardelletti, president of the TCU transport and communications union of the US, in which he stressed that the first responsibility of unions was to defend members’ jobs and standard of living.
He added that it would be necessary for unions to oppose job-destroying initiatives associated with climate change. “But, at the same time, we can unite with environmentalists on a range of policy issues,” he said. In addition, policies for expedited research on clean coal and oil technology should be embraced.
Addressing delegates in Mexico City, Lara Skinner of the GLI underlined the important role that public transport must play in dealing with the problem of climate change.
“Reducing the use of private vehicles will be essential in the future and, for this, public transport must be quick, affordable and efficient,” she added.
Alana Dave, ITF education officer, told
Congress Daily News: “This conference is a historic first for the ITF, and one that reflects a growing recognition that transport unions need to respond to the issue of climate change at a workplace level and beyond.”
She continued: “Transport is a significant and growing source of emissions, responsible for around 14 per cent of the global total. We aim to take a lead in promoting a science-based approach which utilises ‘reduce-shift-improve’ strategies that will contribute to the major transformations which are necessary in the transport industry and society as a whole. We particularly support the creation of sustainable jobs and a just transition.”
Dave added that the ITF was committed to building alliances to promote a just solution to the problem of climate change and would continue to work with global unions at international level for the forthcoming United Nations climate change conference in Cancún in November and December this year.
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