Transitioning unions: what constitutes a just transition for Swedish trade unions?

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Abstract The inclusion of ‘just transition’ in the Paris Agreement in 2015 has inspired subsequent attempts, and hopes, to bridge jobs versus climate divide in attempts to decarbonize industrial society. But what are the imperatives for a just tr[ansition of the workforce? And what are the nationally defined development priorities for the creation of decent work and quality jobs? Through interviews with Swedish trade union representatives from Sweden’s three largest industrial emitters (steel, petroleum refining, cement) along with representatives at the central level, this study illustrates contrasting interpretations of what constitutes a just transition. The main tensions concern the time a climate transition is allowed to take; if policies should support local inhabitants or global concerns over climate change; why allegiances are limited to the industrial town or encompass a wider trade union movement; and whether national politics or European coordination is what makes a transition ‘just’. While central levels of Swedish trade unions understand just transition in international and intergenerational terms, local level trade unions advocate for an emplaced understanding of just transition. Given the risk of growing conflicts between different segments of trade unions over the issue of climate transition policies, a progressive alliance between the labour- and climate movements is improbable as matters stand at present.