How Can Unions Fit into Industry-Driven Climate Agreements?
Bob Baugh, executive director of the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council and co-chair of the AFL-CIO Energy Task Force, has recently returned from Bonn, Germany, where he participated in meetings to ensure that labor’s input contributes to larger United Nations climate change discussions later this year. This report follows up on his first three blogs from Bonn here, here and here.
Climate talks in Bonn have gone slowly. Developing nations have been claiming that developed nations have all the “historic responsibility” for acting on climate change and they have none. At another level, the undercurrent was all about the major diplomatic initiative in Beijing led by Todd Stern, U.S. special envoy for climate. Jonathan Pershing, the U.S. delegation leader, left Bonn to join him in China.
Upon his return to Bonn, Pershing said the discussions had been productive. He said they had discussed the idea of a joint research and development agenda, and although no decisions had been made, “that was to be expected for a first meeting.” It makes sense but the media tended to report it as a disappointment because there was no “breakthrough announcement.” That’s the nature of the high expectations and recognition that the U.S.-China relationship is one of the keys to achieving a global climate agreement.
‘Just Transition’: Putting Meaning to the Words
Bob Baugh, executive director of the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council and co-chair of the AFL-CIO Energy Task Force, is in Bonn, Germany, for meetings to ensure that labor’s input contributes to larger United Nations climate change discussions later this year. This report follows up on his first two blogs from Bonn here and here.
The 30 international trade unionists here in Bonn, under the umbrella of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), are redoubling efforts to ensure that language calling for a “just transition” to a global green economy is included in the outline of a new climate agreement we’ll discuss at a larger U.N. climate change conference this December in Copenhagen.
In short, the ITUC is calling for commitments to a “just transition” for “sustainable, low-carbon economies as the key to guarantee a socially sustainable outcome.”
Tough Negotiations on Climate Change in Bonn
Bob Baugh, executive director of the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council and co-chair of the AFL-CIO Energy Task Force, is in Bonn, Germany, for meetings to ensure that labor’s input contributes to larger United Nations global climate change discussions later this year. His latest report below follows up on his first blog from Bonn here.
Trade unionists know that negotiations are a tough business even in the best of times. Imagine a negotiating process with 189 nations and multiple stakeholders, including business, labor, environmental and other civil society organizations. It is an intense process. Yesterday was one of those days.
U.S. Union Movement Joins in U.N. Climate Change Talks in Bonn
Bob Baugh, executive director of the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council and co-chair of the AFL-CIO Energy Task Force, is in Bonn, Germany, for meetings to ensure that labor’s input contributes to larger United Nations global climate change discussions later this year.
More than 4,000 representatives of governments, business, labor and environmental organizations from around the world are meeting here in Bonn as part of global talks on climate change. The June 2-12 sessions in the former German capital are focused on the outline of a new climate agreement we’ll discuss at a larger U.N. climate change conference this December in Copenhagen.
Members of the AFL-CIO and 30 other international trade union representatives are taking part under the umbrella of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). We are here to follow up on our previous efforts that have resulted in language within the current climate change proposals that speaks to “Just Transition,” and to plan for a series of union events in Copenhagen.
AFL-CIO Calls for Release of Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi
The AFL-CIO and the global union movement are demanding that Burma’s military dictatorship immediately free Nobel laureate and democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained since last Thursday. She was just six days short of completing her house arrest. She was taken to prison after a U.S. citizen swam a mile across a lake to her home and stayed overnight, which violated the terms of her house arrest.
Aung San Suu Kyi, 63, has been under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years and reportedly is in poor health and in need of medical care. The military regime has given no indication that it will grant her freedom and just last week denied an appeal made by her lawyer for her release. A few days ago, she was transferred from her home to Insein Prison and threatened with new charges.
Aung San Suu Kyi is the legitimate leader of Burma and a recipient of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. Her political party, the National League for Democracy, won 82 percent of the parliamentary seats in a national election in 1990, but the military regime refused to cede power.
U.N. Climate Change Programs Must Be Funded
 |
||||
|
||||
Roger Toussaint, president of Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100 in New York City, was in Poznan, Poland, for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which concluded Dec. 12. Toussaint, who was among 100 union delegates, offers his observations on the 12-day event held to build upon the framework negotiated last year in Bali, Indonesia. Read the full series of posts here.
This event brings us one step closer to the eventual adoption of a new treaty (the successor to the Kyoto Protocol) to be signed in Copenhagen in 2009. While many of participants in the trade union delegation attended the climate change negotiations in Bali, Indonesia, in 2007, the expansion and diversification of the delegation continues. This year’s broad representation includes both AFL-CIO and Change to Win affiliates, such as AFSCME, ATU, IUE-CWA, IBB, IBEW, SEIU, TWU, USW, Utility Workers, UMWA and the Industrial Union Council.
Reflections on U.N. Climate Change Conference in Poznan
Jon Forster, first vice president of AFSCME Local 375/DC37 in New York, was in Poznan, Poland, for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which concluded Dec. 12. Forster, who was among 100 union delegates, offers his observations on the 12-day event held to build upon the framework negotiated last year in Bali, Indonesia.
The United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNCCC) in Poznan, Poland, provided an important opportunity for trade unions to be present and weigh in on critical climate change issues. As a public service union, AFSCME was able to bring some different perspectives, and a different set of experiences to the table. Working within the meetings convened by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the AFL-CIO, it was exciting to hear the different viewpoints brought by other trade unions from around the world, including Sierra Leone, the Ivory Coast, Pakistan, Japan, Australia, Poland, India, Egypt, Russia, Kenya, Germany, France, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Canada, among others.
Following the ‘Green Jobs’ Road from Bali to Poznan
 |
||||
|
||||
Bob Baugh, executive director of the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council and co-chair of the AFL-CIO Energy Task Force, is in Poznan, Poland, for the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
The meeting, which was scheduled to conclude Dec. 12, is building upon the framework negotiated last year in Bali, Indonesia, and includes nearly 100 union delegates.
What a difference a year can make.
Poznan is not Bali, nor were these meetings meant to be. As Harlan Watson, the chief U.S. negotiator, told our delegation:
This year is a way station between the Bali framework and the drive to a final agreement in Copenhagen.
What this round of talks will look for is a statement that shows some progress. There are also indications that major advanced developing economies such as China, South Korea, Brazil and others are, for the first time, identifying measurable steps for climate change mitigation, but financing will be a major issue. Major negotiating papers are scheduled for March and June meetings.
Climate Change: Opportunity and Responsibility
 |
||||
|
||||
Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Vice President Ron Heintzman is among union delegates taking part in the 12-day United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNCCC) in Poznan, Poland. The meeting is building upon the framework negotiated last year in Bali, Indonesia. Of the nearly 100 union delegates, Heintzman is among the more than 20 from North America and sends us this report.
Prior to attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland, my knowledge and understanding of the subject was limited. Like many of our members, I could see and feel our climate changing, associating it with the frequently used term “global warming.” I quickly learned that climate change and global warming were not one in the same. I also had little understanding of how encompassing and important the issue is and how it impacts nearly every aspect of our daily lives, now and much more so in the future.
‘Just Transition’: More than Buzz Words
 |
||||
|
||||
Lauren Asplen, assistant to the president for IUE-CWA, is among union delegates taking part in the 12-day United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNCCC) in Poznan, Poland. The meeting is building upon the framework negotiated last year in Bali, Indonesia. Of the nearly 100 union delegates, Asplen is among the more than 20 from North America and sends us this report.
The tug of war in the climate change debate is between how and how fast to mitigate the impact of global warming—i.e., between potential energy sources and emission reduction targets. However, within that overarching question, there are a myriad of issues that brought some 8,000 delegates and observers to the United Nations climate meeting in Poznan, Poland. One stands out as critical to union members, yet it has not received much attention. That issue is what’s termed a “just transition” for workers.
In trade union policy meetings and in the U.N. conference, it is clear that few agree on what a just transition encompasses. Among those who even discuss the concept, the debate often focuses on how much money should go into a fund to help workers in developing countries achieve a sustainable economy and adapt to the impact of climate change.
