Category: Just transition

A Green New Deal for the UK

The Labour Party’s John McDonnell on how a “Green Industrial Revolution” can advance a radical program against climate change, bring energy workers and the rest of the working class to our side, and win socialism in our time.

Jeremy Corbyn, my friend for over forty years and the next Prime Minister of the UK, pledged last year a “GI Bill” for energy workers, writes John McDonnell. Speaking at a conference I organized on alternative models of ownership, Jeremy said that:

Just as the US GI Bill gave education, housing and income support to every unemployed veteran returning from the Second World War, the next Labour Government will guarantee that all energy workers are offered retraining, a new job on equivalent terms and conditions covered by collective agreements, and fully supported in their housing and income needs through transition.

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Making the GND real

The Green New Deal (GND) resolution introduced into the U.S. Congress by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey is a manifesto that has changed the terms of the debate over the country’s future, writes Dianne Feeley. Cutting through the Trump administration’s denials about who is responsible for the extreme weather we already face, it unites the issues of climate change with that of eroding workers’ rights, racism and growing inequality. (At the end of March, the Senate voted against the GND in what has been called a ceremonial stunt.)

The resolution affirms the overwhelming scientific consensus that these are human caused. Further, since the United States is responsible for a disproportionate amount of greenhouse gas emissions, it demands that this society must take the lead in “reducing emissions through economic transformation.”

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Are energy trade unions ‘playing fast and loose’ with climate change?

On 15th January the Scottish Parliament debated a motion from Roseanna Cunningham SNP MSP, on securing a just transition to a carbon-neutral economy, writes Sam Mason. Remarkable in this is the seeming level of consensus in the Scottish Parliament to give meaning to the words of the Paris climate agreement.

Taking into account the imperatives of a just transition of the workforce and the creation of decent work and quality jobs in accordance with nationally defined development priorities through the establishment of a Just Transition Commission – a demand of the STUC. It’s not perfect but with Labour MSP Claudia Beamish getting an amendment in this debate to establish the Commission on a statutory basis it’s something the UK Labour Party should be looking to emulate.

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12 reasons Labor Should demand a Green New Deal

Labor shouldn’t just back the Green New Deal, it should help lead the way, write  JEREMY BRECHER AND JOE UEHLEIN.

Workers have gotten a raw deal. Employers and their Republican allies are trying to eliminate workers’ rights both in the workplace and at the ballot box. But even when Democrats controlled the presidency and both houses of Congress, they did little to protect, let alone expand, the rights of working people. Workers need a new deal.

Now, an alliance of social movements and members of Congress are proposing a Green New Deal to create millions of jobs by putting Americans to work making a climate-safe economy. This program meets the needs of—and has the potential to unite—the labor movement, environmentalists, and all those who have been the victims of inequality, discrimination, racism and, now, climate change.

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Planning for a Just Transition

The Labour Party’s consultation document, A Greener Britain, seeks proposals about different aspects of environmental policy. In this series of articles, Redgreenlabour supporters offer their thoughts. Please comment on these contributions which the authors may well revise and submit to the consultation in due course. We also urge you to submit your own responses to the Party – whether as individuals or through your branches, CLPs, unions, SERA or other environmental groups. The deadline is 24th June.

Question #5; ‘How can jobs be created and existing skills and workforces maintained in a future low-carbon economy?’

The transition to a sustainable economy will require many people to change their occupation. In Britain, many unions have been reluctant to take serious environmental action for fear that rapid change in employment would mean job losses, writes Andrea Grainger. Many remember Thatcher’s efforts to shut the pits which resulted in huge unemployment and the devastation of mining communities. Job losses however are not a natural consequence of the transition to a sustainable economy, but rather the result of poor planning, disrespect of working people, and overconfidence in trickle-down economics. A Just transition is possible.

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