Workers on the front line of climate change: Re-politicizing trade union climate action

Abstract

Considering that the transition to a low-carbon economy will not be secured by mutual agreement but requires coordinated industrial organizing, this article builds upon eco-socialist critiques to identify the concrete dimensions of the underlying solidarity between workers and the rest of nature as reflected in workers’ struggles. Specifically, we argue that industrial organization in opposition to labour precarity and work intensification is fundamental to both achieving sustainable work and mitigating environmental harms to workers’ bodies. This argument presents a basis for a common response to the transition to a low-carbon economy across the labour movement and for cross-sectoral climate demands in bargaining.