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5 November, 2007
Sustainable enterprises will not see the light of day unless concerted and joint union and employer actions occur that engage workers, stated a Brazilian trade union leader last month.
Nilton Freitas, representing the ICEM at a two-day business forum in São Paulo. sponsored by the United Nations Environmental Programme’s (UNEP) Division of Technology, Industry, and Economics (DTIE), said workers and their representatives must be involved in the debate on climate change and concerning workplace chemicals, since staff are “the first victims of unsustainable management of workplace hazards and chemicals.”
Nilton Freitas, Sindicato dos Quimicos do ABC of Brazil
The conference was attended by nearly 200 business, industry, finance, government, and civil society delegates as part of the DTIE’s Business & Industry Global Dialogue.
Freitas, an engineer and workplace health expert at ICEM affiliate Sindicato dos Quimicos do ABC (CNQ-CUT), gave business and civil society leaders case examples where meaningful union-management agreements on sustainability issues have produced vast improvements in communities.
He cited Global Framework Agreements as a prime example, but said joint workplace committees, assessments, and other tools that protect workers and communities must be viable and active. He said such instruments of industrial relations must be strengthened at the national level, and these tools must be backed by a stronger regulatory regime toward climate change and sustainable development.
Freitas was joined on the panel by Lucien Royer of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). Royer said trade unions are uniquely positioned to implement production changes that take into account climate change and sustainability, but that a cooperative mind-set by employers is a prerequisite.
Both Freitas and Royer emphasized that the employment impact of such changes must be addressed through a “Green Jobs” programme that aims to transform the negative impacts of climate change into positive benefits for all stakeholders.
“What is different now,” said Freitas, “is that actions at the workplace must also serve to address social issues, eradicate poverty, and promote social equality and justice.” This, he added, must be done “while enhancing the participation of workers and citizens in production decision-making.”
UNEP-DTIE’s director, Sylvie Lemmet, emphasized at the close of the meeting the importance of trade unions and commented on experiences that unions in the chemicals sector have taken to improve quality of life.
The ILO joined with UNEP and other partners – last June at the International Labour Conference – to begin the necessary work to realise the potential for “Green Jobs” and the necessary labour market transition in the face of climate change.