Jobs vs. climate justice? Contentious narratives of labor and climate movements in the coal transition in Germany

Kalt, Tobias

doi:10.1080/09644016.2021.1892979

Cited by 81 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Even in the more social movement or class-oriented UNISON (Hampton, 2015; Hyman, 2001), the more transformative environmental justice narratives are barely more prevalent than alternative narratives. This poses a barrier to the emergence of more transformative claims and is largely in line with the claim that ‘a coherent transformative vision is missing’ in union discourses, despite agreements that there are ‘no jobs on a dead planet’ (Kalt, 2021a: 14). The lack of a positive vision of a sustainable future within planetary boundaries, which could provide a ‘metanarrative’ bridging the gap towards closer cooperation (Roe, 1994), is also partially the failure of social and environmental movements to promote a socially just and secure narrative of welfare within planetary boundaries.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

“…To accelerate decarbonisation efforts, we need to go beyond the jobs-versus-the-environment dualism. But this process is set to be a rough road, wrought with political struggle and conflict (Kalt, 2021a). In this article we have looked into how this conflict plays out between different unions and their strategies, either focusing on the immediate financial and material needs of their members, siding with business and against environmental and social movements, or choosing to side with social movements, possibly against the interests of some members.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is clear that workers’ material interests in different sectors are key to understanding union support for or opposition to climate policies (Price, 2019; Räthzel and Uzzell, 2011), yet this does not fully explain the variability of climate engagement (Galgóczi, 2020; Kalt, 2021a, 2021b). All unions live with, and within, the tension of short-term material interests and long-term societal interests.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The divergent narratives and strategies of unions in times of social-ecological crises: fracking and the UK energy sector

Kreinin

2021

Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research

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The issue of fracking highlights the variability of trade union approaches to the environment in the UK energy sector, as reflected in their narratives and strategic organising orientations. Stories alone cannot change the material interests underlying complex societal conflicts, yet transformative policies on the climate crisis cannot emerge without a coherent story about the environmental crises and possible solutions. This article uses unions’ positions on fracking as a proxy for opposing/supporting/hedging against climate action to see how divergent positions amongst the UK’s three biggest unions in the energy sector (UNISON, Unite and GMB) and the TUC are reinforced or challenged by internal union narratives and strategic foci. Drawing on four in-depth expert interviews and 148 union documents, the main union narratives and strategies are analysed and clustered. The article’s key insight is that unions’ specific narratives differ depending on a union’s orientation. Pro-fracking unions address the short-term immediate financial and material concerns of members and hence promote business partnerships, while anti-fracking unions develop broad-based grass-roots alliances to address the climate crisis. The key entry point for transformative coalitions lies in promoting a coherent and positive narrative about transformative change, in line with scientific evidence.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The divergent narratives and strategies of unions in times of social-ecological crises: fracking and the UK energy sector

Kreinin

2021

Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research

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“…Opportunities to build power locally and democratically will likely require broader alliances and coalitions. While not a focus of this article, the labour movement is likely to be key if a greater focus on equity and justice in the transition to renewable energy is to be constructed (Kalt, 2021; Snell & Fairbrother, 2011).…”

Section: Local and Democratic Renewable Energy Geographiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transitioning to renewable energy in Sydney: Relational and co‐evolving energy geographies

Vaughan

Webber

2021

Geographical Research

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This article analyses the geographies and politico-economic dynamics of Sydney's multiscalar renewable energy transition. Sydney's energy economy seems to be dominated by marketisation, privatisation, and fossil fuel-generated electricity, yet simultaneously a decentralised renewable energy transformation is unfolding. In this context, we ask how do politico-economic and technical changes co-evolve within the renewable energy transition? What tensions exist among different actors, institutions, and markets across changing energy geographies? Drawing from field research, including key informant interviews with various renewable energy stakeholders, we characterise the renewable energy transition in Sydney as inherently relational and in tension rather than as simplistically binary. In particular, three dynamics of relationality considered here are foundational in the push and pull of energy geographies in Sydney: fossil fuels and renewable energy sources; neoliberalisation and democratisation; and system and local scales as sites of action. After mapping those out, we conclude by questioning the long-term impact of neoliberalisation on emergent, more democratic approaches to energy.

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“…For example, if the supply chain involves outsourcing to a jurisdiction with weaker environmental regulation the net positive environmental effects may be minimal. In addition to focusing on formal and informal workplace employment relations, there needs to be greater sensitivity to the needs of workers outside the traditional employment relationship [54], and the macro and global structures that can buttress the common interests of workers and employers, or even trade unions and environmental movements [87,88]. Here, therefore, sustainability is examined within a theoretical approach that recognises the dynamics of cooperation and conflict in the employment relationship.…”

Section: The Employment Relationshipmentioning

confidence: 99%

Employee Voice: The Missing Factor in Sustainable HRM?

2021

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Sustainable Human Resource Management (HRM), has the potential to facilitate organisations development of principles, policies and practices for the challenges of the 21st century. However, to do this we argue a fundamental element in this process has yet to be fully addressed and incorporated into the theory and practice of sustainable HRM; this is employee voice. Additionally, the actual and potential role of trade unions in facilitating employee voice is yet to be conceptualised within sustainable HRM literature. We argue that the development of effective employee voice mechanisms is vital in the implementation and maintenance of sustainable HRM. In this conceptual paper, we outline the nature of the voice architecture, the impact of the employment relationship on voice mechanisms, how it can be effectively measured, and propose a framework for further exploring these concepts. These key factors we identify as critical in implementing and assessing the effectiveness of the relationship between employee voice and sustainable HRM, to potentially serve as a basis of future research into sustainable HRM.

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Jobs vs. climate justice? Contentious narratives of labor and climate movements in the coal transition in Germany

Cited by 81 publications

References 23 publications

The divergent narratives and strategies of unions in times of social-ecological crises: fracking and the UK energy sector

The divergent narratives and strategies of unions in times of social-ecological crises: fracking and the UK energy sector

Transitioning to renewable energy in Sydney: Relational and co‐evolving energy geographies

Employee Voice: The Missing Factor in Sustainable HRM?

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