After miners’ strikes were crushed in the 1980s and many mines and factories were closed since then, it is no wonder that fossil fuel workers were skeptical of plans for a green industrial revolution.
This is an article in the fourth issue of New Economics Magazine.You can read the full question here.
Last month, more than 500 workers at the GKN car plant in Birmingham voted to go on strike because it was reported that GKN owner Melrose planned to close their factory and Transfer work overseas. Strike Leader Frank Duffy says After the boss rejected an alternative plan developed by workers to make electric car parts instead of traditional gasoline or diesel-powered internal combustion engines, a strike was the last resort. In order to achieve its climate goals, the UK has pledged to ban the sale of internal combustion engines from 2030. GKN has the ability to produce electric vehicle parts to support this transformation, and even received government innovation funds, but this will not translate into green jobs for workers in the Birmingham factory.
A few miles away, almost 50 years ago, another group of workers proposed a similar plan to their boss at Lucas Aerospace and the then Labor government.In the mid-1970s, facing the threat of massive layoffs, workers at 15 Lucas Aerospace factories developed what became known as Lucas Project To save employment opportunities and reposition production as a product with social value. Instead of producing hardware for publicly funded military contracts, the workers advocated government support for the production of kidney dialysis machines, wind turbines, heat pumps, and solar and fuel cell technologies. Climate change is not an emergency today, but in the context of the Cold War and the peace and anti-nuclear movement, Lucas Aerospace workers are thinking about how their skills can contribute to a safer world. The company rejected the worker-led plan, closed the door to a just transition for these workers, and ushered in a period of restructuring and unemployment that led to the decline of British manufacturing.
The Lucas plan is what came to be known as ‘Just Transition”: The belief that workers and communities must be protected during industrial changes—whether it is globalization, automation, or the climate crisis—and be able to determine what the process should look like. The concept of a just transition appears in In the American trade union movement between the 1970s and the 1990s, the union advocated supporting workers who were affected by disarmament first and then environmental protection. Since then, it has been defined differently: in a narrow sense, as workers in the fossil fuel industry Compensation and training, or broadly, as a set of policies to eliminate the impact of reducing carbon emissions on the poorest people in society.
“Climate change is not an emergency today, but in the context of the Cold War, peace and anti-nuclear movement, Lucas Aerospace workers are thinking about how their skills can contribute to a safer world. “
The climate crisis and the need to shift from fossil fuels to a low-carbon economy have had a huge impact on workers, and it is understandable that many of them are worried about their livelihoods. After all, how many examples of a just transition in practice? Germany with Spain We are getting rid of coal by negotiating fair transition agreements with trade unions, civil society and companies.But these are limited examples, focusing on an industry rather than wholesale economic transformation, and taking place in countries with stronger traditions Social dialogue The relationship between trade unions, companies and the government, and greater trade union powers than in the UK.
Here, our most recent experience of lasting industrial change is the de-industrialization in the 1980s and 1990s, where coal pit closures, miner strikes destroyed and the loss of more than 250,000 mining jobs are typical examples. A sort ofIt’s just a transition.Many of these communities are Still dealing with long-term impact The industry is declining, unemployment is rising, jobs are unstable, and health continues to be poor. Still disproportionately dependent on carbon-intensive industries—from steelmaking to natural gas plants—it’s no surprise that some people suspect that this time will be different.
If you look at what most governments and companies are doing now, this suspicion makes sense.Despite all the twists and turns ‘The promise of net zero, and the recent copy-and-paste of the newly transitioned language into government statements and business strategies, the world is still on a catastrophic track Temperature rise This will endanger the workers and the planet they depend on. G20 countries have Subsidies 2.4 tons of fossil fuel projects Since the 2015 Paris Agreement. At the same time, the unjust transformation continues. last year, Lost thousands of jobs Widely used due to plummeting oil demand Dismissal and re-employment practices As private companies protect their profits affected by the pandemic at the expense of workers, and Missed opportunity Create good green jobs in the growing field of renewable energy.
Like the promise of achieving net zero emissions, just transitions have been effectively absorbed by stakeholders who are keen to prove that they are part of the solution while supporting the status quo.We have reached a stage Bleaching Where is the oil giant BP with shell Announce their net zero goal while expanding Fossil fuel explorationEven if companies profit from the renewable energy boom, they do so in the same way as the fossil fuel business of the last century. They relentlessly squeeze resources and labor in the cheapest places, with little regard for workers or their environment, and they have no interest in a truly just transition.
“Like the promise of achieving net zero emissions, fair transitions have been effectively absorbed by the interests of keen to prove that they are part of the solution while supporting the status quo. “
Climate justice activists advocate onlyice transition, recognize ‘The green industrial revolution has relied on the development of resources in the global south, including minerals such as lithium, cobalt, and copper, which are vital to renewable energy technologies. Most transformation plans simply switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy while keeping the inherently exploitative and unjust economic system intact. This can lead to unfair distribution, where billions of people do not have access to electricity at home, and large tracts of their land are colonized to obtain food, products or provide carbon offsets for rich countries. Based on the need for growth that led to the climate crisis, a just transition to workers in the global North is not truly just.For this reason, climate justice needs a transformative Global Green New Deal Reduce the demand for energy and materials, prioritize public ownership and protect communities and ecosystems in the south and north of the world. In this regard, a just transition is an opportunity to change the core injustices of the climate crisis: not only for high-carbon workers, but for all those who are oppressed by contemporary social and economic relations.
Back in Birmingham, GKN, which is owned by private equity, hopes to make a profit without retaining relatively high-paid workers in the UK. Therefore, workers like Frank Duffy are handling things themselves—and they are not the only ones.In the United States, the largest mining alliance has Recently called for a just transition This will enable members to switch from mining to renewable energy.In France, the energy union Resist attempts to privatize The state-owned EDF also advocates public-led decarbonization.Call for Climate Change Campaign One million climate jobs, with Green New Deal Movement It is providing reasons for jointly responding to the climate and inequality crisis, requiring low-carbon industries and social infrastructure (such as nursing work) to provide good green jobs.
Connecting these points requires political education and deep organization in the workplace and in every struggle against class, race, and gender injustice. These are the struggles between David and Goliath, where workers and front-line communities confront big companies and their defenders in government. These interest groups are getting better at choosing just transitions and sowing the language of division between workers and grassroots movements. But one thing is clear: if a just transition occurs, it will win through bottom-up strength and unity rather than top-down.
Picture: Cat Fanny
