A Global Agenda for Change

Workers’ Education and Environment
a project of the ILO Bureau of Workers’ Activities (ACTRAV)
with funding from the Norwegian Government
INT/93/M12/NOR

Environmentally Sustainable Development: They are Trade Union Issues!?

A vital component of the concept of sustainable development is that environmental challenges cannot be met without, at the same time, meeting basic social and economic development objectives. This parallels the ILO's own proposition expressed in the Declaration of Philadelphia that "poverty anywhere constitutes a danger to prosperity everywhere." In addition, the ILO's fundamental principle that "lasting peace can be established only if is based on social justice" is also directly related to many of the fundamental environmental challenges of today. Without an equitable sharing of the costs and benefits of environmental protection within and between countries, neither social justice nor sustainable development can be achieved.

The ILO has for many years been in the forefront in trying to improve the working and living environments of workers. The question of environmental protection and sustainable socio-economic development is not a responsibility solely for governments and employers; workers are also intimately involved. Their joint cooperation is essential for the issue to be addressed.

Through the efforts of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the work of the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), a more integrated approach towards development policies and projects has been developed. These policies and projects, if environmentally sound, will lead to sustainable development in both developed and developing countries.

  Back to Top

How does the ILO support environmentally sustainable development?

As a result of the growing interest and concern regarding the environment, Mr. Michael Hansenne, Director-General of the ILO, declared that "Environment and the World of Work" would be the theme of his report to the 77th Session of the International Labour Conference in June, 1990. This report led to the adoption of a resolution on the environment, development, employment, and the role of the ILO. The Report and the Resolution provide a clear statement of the ILO's role regarding the environment.

Among other items, the report points out that trade unions should be encouraged and strengthened:

• "to be involved in the design and implementation of environmental policies and programmes which might promote new employment, protect existing employment, or lead to the loss of employment;
• to work for the access to information and participation in the establishment of company environmental strategy or policies, the introduction of new techniques monitoring chemical emissions inside and outside of the plant, inspection and reports regarding compliance with environmental regulations and standards, etc. Special attention should be paid to the role that women play in the environment;
• to promote the setting up of special joint committees to deal with general environment issues of the broadening of the mandate of existing joint committees (e.g. health and safety) to encompass the general environment;
• to enable the trade unions, especially the workers' education, to design and develop training programmes and training materials for workers to provide environmental awareness and the skills necessary to meet environmental objectives with special efforts to be made to ensure that workers' health and safety representatives receive appropriate environmental training."

Although the ILO had undertaken a number of environmental training activities prior to 1990, such as traditional vocational training, management development, workers' education and employers' organizations training programmes, more focus than ever before was put on environmental activities.

   Back to Top

How can the ILO promote environmentally sustainable development?

In an effort to bring the issue of sustainable development to the minds of workers around the world, the ILO launched a program in the Bureau of Workers' Activities (ACTRAV) to focus on environmental issues and workers' education. In November 1989, the ILO/ACTRAV project INT/89/M04/NOR "Workers' Education and Environment" was funded by the Norwegian government as a two-year inter-regional project covering parts of the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia. The objective was to provide workers' organizations in selected regions with the means to raise the awareness of workers on environmental protection and sustainable development issues. This project aimed to encourage trade unions' active participation in the decision-making process, and to include environment-specific and related issues in their educational programmes.

    Back to Top

Agenda 21: Focusing the World on the State of the Environment

In June 1992, the United Nations Commission on the Environment and Development (UNCED) meeting held in Rio, observed that the trade unions could be more fully involved in environmental deliberations at the international level. The meeting stressed the involvement of governments, employers, AND workers as critical to the success of health, safety, and environmental programmes. Specifically, Chapter 29 and 36 of Agenda 21, states in part:

The UNCED meeting pointed out, and this Project agrees, that for the trade unions to be involved in the whole question of environmental protection and sustainable development, there is an urgent need for more intensive and forceful workers' education programmes on the subject. Also, there must be as well the participation of qualified trade union representatives in environmental advisory committees at national and local levels. This is where the second part of the Project comes in . . .

Back to Top

What Else Can Be Done? "Workers' Education and Environment", Phase II

It became clear during the first phase of the Project that while many trade unions had developed policies and strategies on environmental protection and sustainable development, further assistance was needed for their practical implementation to bring about real improvements. The establishment of committees which deal with environmental issues at the workplace, local, national, and regional levels is an example of what can be done to promote awareness and involvement.

The Project's Phase II was inaugurated in August 1994 and continued to target trade union leaders and educators at various levels, including rank and file members. The objective was to put the cooperating trade unions in a position to participate in the formulation and implementation of environmental and sustainable development policies which reflect the special needs and concerns of the workers and their organizations.

Phase II then focused on following-up the trade union policies adopted during Phase I and in the implementation of the action plans to improve trade union participation in issues concerning environmental protection and sustainable socio-economic development. The Project worked with other ILO projects as well as with activities undertaken by international and regional trade union organizations primarily in Africa and Asia, but also in the Americas and Europe.

Some of the Project's cooperative partners have readily integrated the environment into their regular education programmes, particularly in those activities dealing with occupational health and safety. However, there is still a need to provide further in-depth awareness and education through the development of local workers' education materials, audio-visual aides, etc. There would also be a great benefit in providing workers' organizations with the skills needed to bring about the integration of environmentally sustainable development in all types of training, education programmes, and other trade union activities.

Back to Top

What Happens Next?

The "Workers' Education and Environment" project has developed an excellent set of training materials in print and on CD-rom in English, French, and Spanish. Numerous local materials have been developed in many other languages, covering a variety of issues. This Project and its cooperative partners have produced relevant documentation, policy papers, and case-studies which explain and illustrate the accomplishments of this entire effort. Take a moment to explore and read these papers and case-studies. They will explain how trade unions have taken the issue of environmentally sustainable development and have succeeded in adding it to the important agenda of the trade union movement. We encourage your trade union to do the same.