And now in video – the union of green

By Rory | Published: 20 November, 2009

[youtube ajT4NzMhNYI]

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We told you lead was dangerous

By Rory | Published: 16 November, 2009

Recycling lead in a lead-acid battery recovery facility by NIOSH - Nat Inst for Occupational Safety & Health.

Earlier this month, this blog reported that although more than half of the lead we use worldwide is recycled, something presented by the industry as a major green advance, production of the known poison, carcinogen, neuro- and reprotoxin is increasing (Lead – a case of right answer, wrong question).

And those workers involved in recycling activities – like processing scrap or dismantling electronic equipment and salvaging the valuable but highly dangerous toxins – could form an increasing part of the at risk but largely ignored workforce.

One factor that has allowed lead, known to be a toxin from antiquity, to persist in our workplaces and general environment, is the extraordinarily complacent workplace exposures standards and guidance around much of the world – and that includes the world’s top two producers, China and the US.

However, official agencies can be embarrassed into action. The UK last week withdrew its lead at work guidance, as a direct result of criticism from Hazards.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the UK government’s official health and safety enforcer, removed advice on the dangers of working with lead from is website and axed the print version of the guide after the Hazards magazine investigation revealed the watchdog greatly under-estimated health risks that could be affecting over 100,000 workers. Read More »

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Green builders don’t build in safety

By Rory | Published: 11 November, 2009

Not enough is being done to ensure green jobs are safe jobs, a US union health and safety expert has warned.

Walter Jones, a safety specialist with the union-run Laborers’ Health and Safety Fund of North America, told delegates to the American Public Health Association annual conference in Philadelphia this week that the shift toward greener buildings hasn’t done much to make the construction or maintenance of these places safe for workers.

He indicated that designers of buildings don’t generally pay much attention to the hazards inherent in building them, and design schools don’t tend to include occupational health and safety in their curricula. Jones noted that between 1990 and 2003, 42 per cent of all US construction-related fatalities were linked to design.
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All gas and no gains?

By Rory | Published: 10 November, 2009

As the global climate change circus departed its latest stopping point, the global union federation ITUC said failure in this year’s negotiations should not be an option.

 Speaking as government representatives left Barcelona’s final preparatory negotiation before the December Copenhagen climate change conference, ITUC stressed the need for an ambitious, fair and legally-binding agreement.

“Leaders of the world meeting in Copenhagen must not accept failure as an option,” said Guy Ryder, ITUC general secretary. “Success will be measured by the legal status of its outcome, emissions reductions and financial commitments from developed countries established as a basis for future negotiations, as well as the actions to be taken by developing countries to achieve low-carbon development. A just and fair result will be a critical benchmark for success.”

Ryder reiterated the union call for commitments on lessening social injustice as well as pollution. Read More »

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Lead – a case of right answer, wrong question

By Rory | Published: 6 November, 2009

lead work

Green initiatives like recycling can have remarkable successes. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they are good for the planet, communities or those working in ‘green’ jobs.

A 2009 report, ‘World Mineral Production 2003-2007’ [pdf], notes that more than 50 per cent of refined lead is now produced from recycled material, dramatically reducing energy consumption during production.

But the report also reveals a marked year-on-year increase in refined lead production worldwide over the period, up 18 per cent from 6.9m tonnes in 2003 to 8.1m tonnes 2007.

‘Dangerous lead’, a new report from Hazards magazine, warns that few countries around the world take seriously the problem of chronic, potentially deadly diseases caused by low level lead doses. Statutory lead exposure standards are almost always set dangerously high.

The report, which received extensive media coverage, including features on Channel 4 News and in the Guardian newspaper, resulted in the UK government’s safety watchdog, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), this week withdrawing its ‘Lead and you’ leaflet.
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Making sure ‘green’ means ‘safe’ at work

By Rory | Published: 5 November, 2009

green killer

Everyone likes to talk green jobs – they sound good and who wants  to be a climate spoiler? But when you add in that the jobs should be “good”, “decent”, “safe” and green, there’s a distinct quietening of the chatter. In fact, while many talk a good green job, in practice it’s a load of greenwash.

In the latest in a series of stories on the ‘green jobs, safe jobs’ issue, Hazards magazine spells some of the major pitfalls workers are encountering.
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Australian workers could get skilled up

By Rory | Published: 5 November, 2009

Australia’s unions are urging the country’s parliament to support government plans to match worker skills to jobs in new, green industries.

The draft National Green Skills Agreement announced by the government on 23 October was welcomed by national union federation ACTU. The agreement sets out to equip thousands of apprentices in emerging and existing industries with the skills to help tackle climate change. Under the plan, mandatory green skills would be included in all apprentice training from the end of 2010.
 
“The skills of our plumbers, construction workers, electricians and other specialist trades workers will be fundamental in ensuring that Australia is able to move quickly and flexibly in creating a sustainable, low carbon economy,” said ACTU president Sharan Burrow. “It is estimated that we are going to need to re-train and upskill about 3 million workers in the next 20 years to meet the challenge.”
 
She added that unions are already working hard to promote green skills. Read More »

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Simple enough – cut emissions and transform jobs

By Rory | Published: 5 November, 2009

The transition to a low-carbon economy must guarantee employment and result in the development of new, decent jobs, global industrial unions have said.

An October climate change meeting convened by global unions ICEM and IMF – the union federations representing most of the world’s unionised workers in the traditional metal, chemicals, mining and manufacturing jobs not often associated with environmental wholesomeness – discussed the issue of job preservation in a greener, kinder world.

 The unions, understandably, believe there’s nothing either green or kind about throwing millions of workers onto the scrapheap. And they add the contribution of their sectors to greening the economy is often under-estimated.
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So, where’s the green jobs gender agenda?

By Rory | Published: 5 November, 2009

There’s nothing green about inequality, unions and social justice campaigners have argued. And a new union report advances the idea, warning that gender equality, commonly an afterthought in employment and work quality policy discussions, needs to be front and centre in the green jobs debate.

Women workers and green jobs: employment, equity and equality, published in draft in October by Sustainlabour and the global union confederation ITUC, notes: “Green economy initiatives which aim at creating more environmentally-sound economies may not fully incorporate fundamental social requirements such as income equity, job quality and gender equality. If they do not take account of these social factors, they may maintain or even aggravate the negative social and distributive trends of the traditional economy including existing inequalities and gender gaps.”
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Everyone in Europe wants green jobs, but…

By Rory | Published: 5 November, 2009

Europe appears to be in the grip of a rare consensus when it comes to green jobs – unions want them, employers want them, governments want them. But we still appear to be some distance from an effective strategy to turn good intentions into good jobs.

Greening the European economy: Responses and initiatives by Member States and social partners, a new report from the Dublin-based Euro-thinktank Eurofound, examines how the energy, economy and climate change threads are brought together. It says its findings “reflect the extent to which environmental concerns have become a key element of policymaking and illustrate the consensus that exists between trade unions, employers and governments regarding the importance of the ‘green agenda’.”

Eurofound finds that across Europe, “national governments and the social partners are keen to maximise the job creation potential of this new area, and stimulate economic recovery, reduce carbon dioxide emissions as well as develop alternative energy sources.”

But it cautions against talking up the ‘green economy’ as a short-term, quick-fix solution to help countries emerge rapidly from the economic crisis. “Changing Europe’s energy infrastructure, limiting carbon emissions, while simultaneously maintaining competitiveness and ensuring that workers’ skills remain up to date, needs careful, long-term planning,” the research body says.
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