Report on TUED Strategy Meeting at COP23

By staff - Trade Unions for Energy Democracy, November 28, 2017

On November 10th, during COP23, Trade Unions for Energy Democracy (TUED) convened a “Strategy Roundtable” in Bonn, Germany. The meeting was attended by more than 40 representatives of roughly 25 unions from 14 countries as well as several allies from the environmental movement, media and research bodies.

Union participants came from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Dominican Republic, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, UK and USA. The meeting was organized with support from the New York office of Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung (RLS–New York). Participants were welcomed by Stefanie Ehmsen of RLS-NYC, and TUED Coordinator Sean Sweeney of the Joseph S. Murphy Institute, City University of New York.

The meeting provided a rare opportunity for unions that are not yet part of the network to be exposed to TUED’s analysis and to participate in a lively debate about the struggle for the future of global energy systems. Copies of TUED’s most recent working paper, “Preparing a Public Pathway: Confronting the Investment Crisis in Renewable Energy,” were circulated.

Setting the context for the meeting, Sweeney provided a brief overview of the 5-year history of the 60-union network, and the political origins of the “Resist, Reclaim, Restructure” framework. There was broad consensus among participants that the current, market-driven approach, focused on “mobilizing the private sector,” is failing to produce a just energy transition and that, given the Paris targets, there is an urgent need to pursue public alternatives that advance social ownership and democratic control of the power sector and the broader energy economy, including energy options, management, and research and development.

Participants also provided updates on recent developments in their regions, including reports on: the Philippines and the challenges facing trade unions under Duterte’s government; the September meeting in Buenos Aires on “The Energy Grid and the Commons”; the UK Trades Union Congress resolution to support public ownership of energy; developments and next steps to follow the June 2017 meeting in Geneva of TUED unions in Europe; why “Public Renewable Power” is gaining support among unions in Australia; latest developments in Canada, particularly Alberta and Quebec; and the recent sharp debate around the AFL-CIO resolution on climate change in the US. Participants also heard about ITF’s campaigning work on public transportation.

Identifying points of agreement and shared analysis, representatives of Friends of the Earth International (FOE-I) and Friends of the Earth Europe (FOE-E) also participated in the discussion.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are not the official position of the IWW (or even the IWW’s EUC) and do not necessarily represent the views of anyone but the author’s.