Trade unions and the environment: A TUC Education short course for reps 2009

Treasurer, Campaign Against Climate Change Trade Union Group

GREEN UNISON

January 2009

A TUC Education short course for reps 2009
Trade unions and the environment

A trade union environmental course - but why and who for?

Trade unions are responding to the challenge of climate change by actively promoting sustainable policies at work. Workplaces burn energy, consume resources and generate waste - they are the most obvious starting point to tackle climate change and sustainable development issues.


Download the full course details
This summer, the South West TUC is launching a Green Workplaces project funded by the South West RDA, aimed at building our regional capacity to tackle environmental and climate change issues at work.

So how can we work more efficiently, get more from less, and re-use resources? Where will the new, apparently cleaner renewable energy come from 10 years from now? What can workers, unions and employers do together to change how we work, and to work sustainably, now?

This TUC course aims to answer these questions. It is for existing workplace representatives (shop stewards, health and safety reps or ULRs) and also aims to develop new reps interested in a union role as an environmental champion or 'green' rep. It is for unions across all sectors - including power generation, energy supply (coal, oil, gas), renewable energy operators, energy-intensive sectors such as iron and steel and cement, and energy and resource-intensive sectors from retail and office to local government and the wider public sector.

The course has been developed by the TUC with the support of the Trade Unions Sustainable Development Advisory Committee (TUSDAC), a joint TUC/DEFRA body promoting sustainable workplaces. The TUSDAC report, "Greening the Workplace", includes a wide range of examples of union policies and practice at work (www.tuc.org.uk - search under "environment"). The South West Green Workplaces Project Leader is Lu White. Lu can be contacted at the South West TUC office on 0117 947 0521 or email:
lwhite@tuc.org.uk.