Coal is dead, long live coal: strategies from Global South unions

The main questions in the debates as put by Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL Global Union director for mining are: “Can coal be clean, and does it have a future.” Further, what is the role of coal in decarbonisation and the Just Transition? These were the key questions that over 30 participants from IndustriALL affiliates and labour support organizations from the Global South countries in Asia, Latin America, and Sub-Saharan Africa discussed. The unions stressed that a Just Transition from high carbon fossil fuel energy generation to low carbon economies, whose main sources is renewable energy, must prioritise workers interests.

Mpufane said the future of coal should be discussed within the context of a Just Transition for coal mineworkers and power dynamics in the energy transition. He said that in most instance, the Global North exerts pressure on the Global South to decarbonize while simultaneously using other fossil fuels. He said: 

“The US, Canada, and Australia - the self-styled climate champions - have issued 60 per cent of new oil and gas licenses since 2020.” 

Kemal Ozkan, IndustriALL Global Union assistant general secretary said a Just Transition must consider job security as coal mining employs 7 million workers globally, with 2.5 million from the Global South. He argued that “a rapid phase-out of coal risks massive job losses.” There were social costs to mine closures that included lost wages, community collapse, and the destruction of local and regional economies. But these can be mitigated by a Just Transition plan that protected workers interests, he said.

The online seminar discussed how unions were responding to the debates on the future of coal. Igor Diaz said 80,000 livelihoods in Colombia depended on coal, yet the government’s energy transition announcements lacked a concrete labour plan. In response, the unions proposed retraining subsidies, public investment in clean coal research and development, and a joint action plan for inclusive transition policies that protected workers’ welfare.

Martin Kaggwa, director of the Sam Tambani Research Institute, affiliated to the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in South Africa, said trade unions must embrace technology’s potential to make clean coal. He gave examples of coal direct chemical looping (CDCL), a process which reduces carbon emissions by 40 per cent when compared to traditional combustion. He argued that if CDCL is increased there are chances that it could extend coal’s economic life. The technology aligns with climate goals and offers opportunities for transition strategies for coal-dependent economies in the Global South, he said.

One of the issues raised by the online seminar is the protection of workers’ rights amid retrenchments by coal mining companies. Busisiwe Matizerd from the NUM said unions must continue to fight retrenchments and precarious working conditions by coal mining companies that included Seriti which recently retrenched over 1137 workers in South Africa.

The online seminar heard that in Indonesia, where coal provided affordable electricity which constituted 60 per cent of the country’s national grid, unions were resisting privatization of public power utilities which they feared would make electricity expensive for workers and the poor.

As a way forward, the IndustriALL regional secretaries of Latin America and the Caribbean, South East Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa, agreed to a joint action plan and coordinated responses on the South-South trade union position on the future of coal. For example, the unions agreed to document their local transition experiences, for example, from Colombia’s stalled reforms and Botswana’s labour laws. The unions will also engage groups like Future Coal on environmental, social and governance issues, and amplify the Global South trade union voices on the urgency of a Just Transition for coal miners.

Photo: Coal mine in Ethiopia, Flickr, Jasmine Halki