Collective bargaining as a vehicle for a just transition

The transition to a low-carbon economy calls for adaptation measures to minimize any negative social impacts, said the ILO at a hearing entitled “Towards green collective bargaining in Europe” organized by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). Planning for a just transition can ensure that the risks of job losses are minimized and that quality jobs are gained.

"Collective bargaining is an important means to drive just transition measures at enterprise, sectoral, interprofessional or national level towards a low-carbon economy by including relevant clauses in collective agreements,” said Verena Schmidt, Labour Relations and Collective Bargaining Specialist at the ILO.

The ILO Guidelines for a just transition towards environmentally sustainable economies and societies state that “Social partners should promote the inclusion of specific environmental provisions through collective bargaining and collective agreements at all levels [...], as a concrete way of facilitating cooperation between employers’ and workers’ organizations and encouraging enterprises to comply with environmental regulations [...]."

Through collective bargaining it is possible to adopt a tailor-made approach to a just transition that takes the needs of workers and employers at company, sectoral or national level into account. Once the collective agreements are effective, the environmental commitments made in collective bargaining become mandatory clauses, which in the event on non-compliance could be challenged in courts.

The European Commission has just issued a Communication on Strengthening social dialogue in the EU: harnessing its full potential for managing fair transitions. According to the Commission, the close cooperation between employers and employees is essential to ensuring the efficient organisation of industrial production activities, and to equipping the work force with green and digital skills.

The social partners indeed play a key role in supporting skilling and job transitions. Collective agreements have been concluded to support workers during labour market transitions by ensuring decent wages and working conditions, skills training and re-training and active labour market policies. The most frequent topics found in collective agreements in relation to just transition include occupational safety and health, hybrid work and telework, the prevention of climate change and compliance with environmental legislation.

Despite the importance of a just transition, less than a quarter (23 per cent) of the agreements analysed by the ILO’s Social Dialogue Report 2022 address environmental aspects. Although clauses dealing with environmental aspects are more common in agreements in high-income countries, particularly in Europe, they can be found in other regions as well.

“The presence of just transition clauses depends to a large extent on the characteristics of the collective bargaining system in each country,” Ms Schmidt explained. For example, a bargaining system with central coordination by trade unions might favour the incorporation of just transition clauses, enabling unions to broaden negotiations and regulate specific working conditions related to climate change.

Ms Schmidt also cited the example of Canada. The major green clauses in Canadian collective agreements include green travel, cutting waste, green procurement and the right to refuse work under certain conditions, such as when the work would not respect environmental protection regulation.

The findings from the Hearing will feed into the EESC’s opinion on Green collective bargaining.