TUC supports push for 1m green jobs

Louise Nousratpour in Manchester
Wednesday September 15, 2010
The Morning Star

TUC Congress: TUC delegates have set out a working-class agenda to tackle the dual scourge of unemployment and climate change by investing in high-quality green jobs.

Congress threw its weight behind the One Million Green Jobs campaign already supported by a range of unions including the CWU, RMT, TSSA, NUT and UCU as well as the Vestas workers and several NGOs.

The campaign, launched last year, details how a million public-sector jobs can be created through investment in green manufacturing, energy-efficient house-building and a fully integrated public transport system.

By putting sustainability and the planet's health before profits Britain could grow its way out of the economic crisis without punishing the poor, delegates argued.

CWU delegate Tony Kearns said that the ambitious goals outlined in the campaign pamphlet were not a "flight of fancy" but could be achieved if Britain was serious about tackling rising unemployment and led the fight against climate change.

"These are jobs that actually need doing today - investing in alternative energy, building homes, reopening rail networks and developing safe cycle lanes," he told delegates in Manchester.

PCS delegate Adam Khalif said that his union planned to create a network of green branch reps to encourage activism among members.

"We must build on the magnificent Vestas workers' struggle and start a debate about how we can defend members' jobs and conditions while protecting the planet we live in," he urged.

"The fight for jobs is the same fight against climate change."

The government was accused of failing to address the pressing issue by delaying key decisions that would ensure "a secure and balanced" low-carbon economy for Britain.

Prospect delegate Sue Ferns, who moved the unanimously passed motion on climate change, said: "We can't simply rely on the market to cut CO2 emissions."

National Union of Mineworkers vice-president Nicky Wilson moved a motion on green coal.

He called for immediate plans to replace coal-fired power stations with new carbon capture and storage plants.

"It is a scandal that Britain, despite capability of being self-sufficient, imports 60 per cent of its coal consumption," he said.

"With the right technology and investment, Britain's coal can be the most efficient, productive and safe industry in the world - and the greenest."