BOB BAUGH (above) isExecutive Director off the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council JEFF RICKERT (top) isDirector of the Center ffor Green Jobs FOCUS □ CLIMATE CHANGE ANDLABOURSTANDARDS Good Green lobs Delegates AFL-CIO loudand filled clear Convention the that microphones our to nation make needs at their the to point 2009 creDelegates AFL-CIOConvention to make theirpoint loudandclearthat ournation needstocreategood sustainable greenjobs. Attheheartof the GreenJobs resolutionis the belief that addressingglobal climate change, achieving energy independence and assuring a justtransitionforworkers and communities are critical to theeconomic, environmental and security interestsoftheUnited States. Thedesirefora cleaner planet andgoodjobsisa visionsharedbyunions acrosstheglobe.Labourrights, including workplaceandcommunity standards, arefundamental toachieving it. Déjà vuAllOverAgain Thisisn'tthefirst timethat American unionsand theUS government havetakenup theissuesof energyindependenceand job creation.In the late1970'stheUS adoptedan aggressive set of programmes forwind,solar,biomass,shale oil and other forms ofenergy. A number ofunions gravitated to ones specificto theirindustry or craft andsought tobuildbridges between unions, environmentalists, and communities. But, the presidency ofRonaldReaganbrought all ofthis toa screeching halt. He saw biggovernment as theenemy, unions a roadblockand the freemarketas salvation. Deregulation becametheruleoftheday,union bustingthe law of the land and privatisation oftenturnedthe publicsectorover to a nonunionprivate sector. The endoftheoil embargo and cheapgas hastened government's moveout oftheenergy business. Unionefforts tofashion a newenergy policyfailedand theblue-green initiatives collapsed. Today,after decadesofwage stagnation, neoliberalism has failedleavingbehind economic devastation, manufacturing in ruins, and private sectorunionisation at itslowestpointsincethe early1900s.Unionsacrossthe worldare confronting an international economic crisisand what the UK's 2006 SternCommission report identified as 'thegreatest market failure inhistory ', climatechange. These intertwined crisis demanda boldnewstrategy, an aggressive environmental economicdevelopment agenda that willleadtoa cleaner planet, create goodjobsand rebuild thelabourmovement. JustTransition and Labour Rights Overthepastthree yearstheFederation and its affiliates have made enormousstrides domesticallyandinternationally indeveloping newpolicy ,promoting research, buildingalliances,and havinga clearunionvoice on climatechange. TheAFL-CIOand theInternational TradeUnion Confederation (ITUC) arefighting fora justtransition withgreenjobsandlabourrights. Thefight forgood jobs intheUS mirrors the'decentwork and quality jobs' policiessought bytheITUC. TheUS labourmovement andtheITUCwerea vocalvisible presence inCopenhagen wherethey workedwithgovernments and otherorganisationsto getjusttransition languageincorporated intotheagreement. These efforts paid offwhen theSharedVisionWorking Groupreachedagreement on twoparagraphs. One identified theneed forstakeholder (civil society-unions) participationin decision-making. The secondidentified a justtransition, 'realising thataddressing climate changerequires a paradigm shift towards buildinga low-emission society thatoffers substantial opportunities andensures continued highgrowth and sustainable development, based on innovativetechnologies and moresustainable productionandconsumption , whileensuring a justtransitionoftheworkforce thatcreatesdecentwork and quality jobs'. The identification of stakeholders and acceptanceof 'quality jobs and decentwork'language represented a majorbreakthrough forthelabour movement. These wordsprovidea seat at the tableand a directreference to ILO labourconventionson the rights of workersto organise, formunionsand bargaincollectively. Asserting theserights willbe critical as governments move to investtrillions in climatechange. But, the immediate struggle is to assure that the CopenhagenAccord,an interim documentthat didnotincorporate theworking grouplanguage, willdo so intheend.Indications arepositive but ourtrade unionexperience tellsuswe must press our demandsuntilthe contract is signed.The sameis trueintheUS as we shapejusttransition policiesforthe21stcentury. A Cleaner Planet and Good Jobs Theevolution oftheAFL-CIO policiesbeganwith itsembraceoftheApolloAlliance (a labour-environmental coalition) agendaforenergy independence . It complimented theFederation's labour rights initiative, the EmployeeFree Choice Act (EFCA) and a setoftrade,tax,healthcare,and otherpoliciesdesignedto revitalise manufacturing and createjobs in construction, transportation ,and theservicesector. Recognising the challengeof climatechange, theFederation developedan environmental economicdevelopment policythatplacedmanufacturing , construction, utilities, transportation, trade and jobs at thecentre ofa greeneconomyprogram .Itcalledfornew investments in a sustainable energy infrastructure. Itsupported a regime that wouldprotect American workers witheffecOurtrade union experience tells us we mustpress ourdemands until the contractis signed Page 3Volume 17Issue 1201 0 INTERNATIONAL union rights Whilejob creation willalmost certainly occur thereis no guarantee ofgood jobs: fewworkers at windand solar plants belong to unions tive trade policies and a systemthatwould ensurestableenergypricesand moderatethe impact on utilities during thetransition to a lowcarboneconomy .Without these key elements, there was a seriousriskofdriving good jobs offshoreintonations without labourrights or environmental regimesand farless carbonefficient production. Thedevelopment ofa legislative agendaparalleleda growing dialoguebetweenlabourandthe environmental community. The Apollo Alliance helped lay the groundwork foran investment agenda.Thishelpedcreatethefoundation foran explicitlabourrights agenda embodiedin the 2006formation oftheBlue-Green Alliance (BGA) bytheUSWandtheSierra Club.Theirprinciples includesupport forEFCAand climate legislation. People wereshockedto see thenation'slargest environmental organisation workso openlyon a corelabourrights issue. With the annual marketfor environmental products and servicesprojected to double from $1.37trillion currently to $2.74trillion by 2020, jobs and environment is an obvious unifying theme.AFL-CIOunionsand the Environmental Defence Fund financed the Manufacturing ClimateSolutionsstudiesto demonstrate...