Linking Working Conditions & Terms of Employment to Green Industry & Sustainable Development

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1 Greening of Industry: Linking Working Conditions & Terms of Employment to Green Industry & Sustainable Development Arun Kumar ACTRAV-ILO Bangkok

2 What are Green Jobs?

3 New Green BUT same bad old management? Many green jobs are done in conditions that will be considered indecent [dirty, dangerous & difficult/demeaning jobs in recycling & reuse operations, Ex. the recycling industry - IT, plastics, waste industry, Ship breaking]; General situation for most workers today: low pay, no social protection, poor health & safety standards, exploitative employment relationships & gross violations of workers rights of voice, representation & bargaining; Relevance of Decent Work to Green Jobs? Decent & Green Jobs link with many SDGs So, what employment & working conditions need to be promoted for green & decent jobs?

4 Greening of industry comes not just from growing more trees or investing in effluent treatment plants or energy efficient production processes (important as these are) BUT we also need to look at how business conducts its business. What employment practices of industry incompatible with environment protection?

5 Areas of action for Green & decent jobs Need for re-looking at flexibility policies in the area of production, services and employment Working conditions (OSH) Terms of employment (wages & contracts of employment) regularization of employment relations Freedom of Association and Right to Collective Bargaining

6 Production & employment practices incompatible with environment protection practice of outsourcing & sub-contracting hazardous and polluting work Lack of responsibility towards waste disposal (outsourcing to contractors) often pollutes agricultural land & ground water employment of contract/casual, inadequately skilled low paid labour to do hazardous, dirty work why is hazardous, dirty work (ex. jobs of related industrial sanitation and maintenance, cleaning of furnaces, machinery, etc) not considered skilled enough, requiring regular work force and paid accordingly?

7 OSH & Environment Protection: two sides of the same coin Every 15 Seconds, a worker dies in the world from a work-related accident or disease. Every 15 Seconds, 160 workers have a work-related accident the right of the people to live in safe environment is accepted much readily but right to work in safe environment is not adequately appreciated what does this mean? It means that by the end of this day, nearly 1 million workers will suffer a workplace accident. It means that by the end of this day, around 5,500 workers will die due to an accident or disease from their work!

8 Not in my backyard approach to pollution unsustainable Government policy of closure & shifting of industry when pressurized by NGOs on account of industrial pollution not always a good solution Industries usually shift to rural backward areas where they often continue to pollute While industry gets incentives & support for location, workers are not so lucky - relocation causes job losses and dislocation of workers lives (since workers often cannot not shift to new locations) what s more, contract-casual, precariously employed workers get no compensation or support at all immiserisation of community. Issue of loss of union memberships

9 Production & employment practices incompatible with environment protection Income/wage policies for green economy: poverty wages do not contribute towards sustainable development need to look at minimum wages in green economy? Respect for Freedom of Association & Right to Collective bargaining enabling conditions for representative social dialogue, for democratic decision making over work place changes towards greener economy, for sharing in gains from growth

10 Decent work in green economy therefore implies Ratification, implementation of relevant ILO standards & respect of national labour laws (what should be the social floor) Strengthening tripartitism, participation & consultation of workers & their unions: in design, implementation & evaluation of policies & programmes Focus on safety, health & environment at the work place to protect workers, environment & community Incomes policy in the country poverty wages do not promote sustainable development Capacity building of employers & workers skills development for green economy

11 Some other issues GDP growth measure it grows even when we destroy environment, employ child labour, start a war or destroy jobs or cause industrial accidents (like Bhopal) Financialization of the economy short-termism of the stock markets, rewarding of destruction of productive capacity and causing job losses Accounting & financial standards favour short term valuation to the detriment of medium or long term strategies do not take into account pollution or environmental costs Development Model: hazards of export oriented growth, need for more local, human centred, rather than GDP growth centred economic model

12 A word about some specific policy measures Carbon tax - proposal for carbon tax to be paid by all v/s tendency to give tax breaks to high income people Carbon tax should be imposed only if 100% of the revenues are directed into investments in GHG emission reductions (renewable energy, energy efficiency and retrofit programs, public transit, as well as a green-energy tax refund to protect low-income population) Subsidies - who should be the subsidies aimed at - Oil and gas industry? Small producers? Agrofuels competition for land food v/s fuel v/s forests Emissions Trading schemes will carbon trading be the next financial bubble?

13 Decent Work & OSH impact of excessive working hours that are driven by low wages and an unreasonable wage scheme (Hong Kong Vitasoy Employees Union ). Vitasoy promotes its premium soy-based food and beverage brands under the slogan "where healthy life begins" - yet the company appears to be far less concerned about the health of its workers in Hong Kong Vitasoy Australia Workers Support Fight for Union Rights in Hong Kong: National Union of Workers (NUW), were so angered by this situation they not only declared their full support for the struggle for union recognition and bargaining rights in Hong Kong, but voted unanimously to include a clause in their Collective Agreement - extending coverage to the Vitasoy workers in Hong Kong!