A seminar on “The Green Deal and employment: A strong and just transition through a strengthened social dialogue within the EU” was organized from 29 to 30 November 2023 in Liège / Belgium by BIE International VZW and the Christian Trade Union ACV-CSC Building – Industry & Energy (ACV-CSC BIE) in cooperation with EZA and funded by the European Union. 47 trade union representatives from 14 European countries participated in the seminar. On top of this 22 Trade Union Leaders from 11 countries outside of the EU participated as observers at the invitation and at the expense of ACV-CSC BIE.
During this seminar we studied the European Green Deal specifically on its (potential) impact on employment, industries and we learned from different practices and projects. The seminar began with a very complete explanation of what the Green Deal actually is and where we currently stand in Europe. Mr. Béla Galgóczi (Senior Researcher, European Trade Union Institute) guided us through the political decision-making on the matter and the concrete implementation of the Green Deal.
The next step in the program was to focus on how to incorporate the Green Deal into sectoral social dialogue at the national and European levels. Ms. Dimitra Penidis, Policy advisor and President (workers) of the European Social Dialogue Committee (ESDC) for the chemical sector, ACV-CSC BIE, Belgium was the ideal speaker on this matter given her active involvement within the Belgian sectoral social dialogue for the chemical sector and her position as chair of the ESDC.
Given that the seminar participants all bear political responsibility within their respective national sector unions, we asked five of them to share concrete union experiences with the various impacts of the Green Deal. We listened to interventions from France, the Netherlands, Spain, Cyprus and Finland and got a picture of how the social partners within the member states are dealing with the transitions. The speakers were Mr Gijs Lokhorst, (Construction secretary, CVN Vakmensen, The Nederlands), Mr Sergio Estela Gallgo (Construction & Mining Sector Secretary, UGT FICA, Spain), Mr Constantinos Eleftheriou, (DEOK, Cyprus), Ms Nina Kreutzman, (International affairs advisor, Rakennusliitto, Finland) and Mr Dominique Bousquenaud, (General Secretary, FCE CFDT, France).
Following on from the national experience, we wanted to take a closer look at how the European social partners, trade unions and employer organizations are dealing with the Green Deal. This led to a lively debate in which all speakers emphasized their commitment to help shape the transitions but also formulated clear expectations with regard to the European Commission. Both employees and employers clearly stated that the social partners must be involved in the execution and implementation of the Green Deal. The panel consisted of the following speakers: Ms Corinna Zierold (Head of Just Transition Coordination, Senior Policy Adviser, IndustriAll Europe) , Mr Tom Deleu (Secretary General, European Federation Building and Woodworkers, EFBWW), Ms Emma Argutyan (Director General, European Chemical Employers Group, ECEG and Mr Domenico Campogrande (Director General, FIEC, European Construction Industry Federation).
Following the vision of the European social partners, it was time for a closer look at the insights on Green and Digital Transition Policy by the European Commission. Mr Frank Siebern-Thomas (Head of the “Fair Green and Digital Transitions, Research” Unit in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, DG Empl) shared his expertise with the participants in a very comprehensive but also accessible way.
Of course, the green and digital transitions are not only a challenge for European member states. Europe is not an island in the world and must implement its Green Deal within a complex and tense geopolitical reality. We took advantage of the presence of union leaders from outside the EU - they were in the country to attend the ACV-CSC BIE congress - to ask some of them how transitions are being handled in their respective countries and to what extent the social partners are being involved. We got a fascinating overview and found that the rest of the world is also intensely engaged in the transitions. But even outside the EU, social partners have to fight to get really involved. The panel consisted of the following speakers: Mr Yoshiki Ito (Secretary General, IndustriAll-JAF, Japan), Mr Louis Beguin (President, Manufacturing Industry Federation, FIM-CSN, Canada), Mr Diarraf Ndao, General Secretary (SNTC/BTP, Construction Trade union, Senegal) and Mr Hoover Delgado (President, CTCE, Ecuador).
National governments obviously play an important role in the implementation of the Green Deal and in framing the social dialogue in this regard. We were given a detailed explanation of the Belgian approach by Mr Thomas Dermine, State Secretary for Economic Recovery and Strategic Investments in charge of Science Policy, added to the Minister of the Economy and Employment who attended the seminar via an online connection. As with the other parts of the seminar program, his presentation led to a very interesting Q&A session with the participants.
We concluded the content portion of our seminar with 2 best practices from Belgian companies already taking steps to align their production with the Green Deal objectives. On the one hand, the company Lhoist where they are developing an alternative to traditional concrete brick. And on the other hand, the company Knauff where a project is running to make the production of insulation material as CO2 efficient as possible. In the afternoon we were able to visit the Knauff company and learn about this fascinating project in practice.
Conclusions
On Just Transition:
The Just Transition Fund has limited resources
Trade Unions in the past were used to managing change that was driven by the profit motive. The legitimacy of the change was rightly questioned. Managing change driven by the transitions is different.
Transition brings similar patterns of reorganization (e.g. job losses, transitions, higher flexibility and work pressure), issues that trade unions normally fight when defending workers’ interests.
A policy environment that is facilitating change is needed and should cover the risk and parts of the cost of a change that is of common interest. This includes a new role for the state.
In order to make the claim of just transition with climate ambition a reality, a supportive political economy context is necessary: an ‘eco-social state’.
On the sector social dialogue:
Fight for the maintenance of real, constructive, tripartite social dialogue at all levels (interprofessional, sectoral and company).
Putting our points of attention on the agenda of cross-industry, sectoral and corporate consultation bodies
Putting people back at the heart of decision-making (Industry 4.0 ><5.0)
Raise awareness, inform, train, support and equip our activists so that they take ownership of the issues and make workers' voices heard.
The economic aspect of transitions must not take precedence over the social aspect!
We need global, macro view of transition issues
3. On the social partners:
Workers and employers are open to the dialogue around the green and digital transitions
But they should be heard on all issues: “Nothing about us without us!”
The social dialogue should be strengthened on all levels. A dialogue with representative social partners leading to binding and enforceable agreements
The social partners are the preferred parties when it comes to realizing a just transition and taking care of those at risk of becoming victims of the transitions.