Opening remarks at Unifor’s Climate Change & Our Jobs Conference held in Mississauga on November 10, 2023.
Welcome to Unifor’s conference on climate change.
Today is November 10, 2023.
After living through the warmest September ever recorded in human history, we just one-upped ourselves and lived through the warmest October ever recorded in human history.
Canadian communities in different provinces are still picking up the pieces following severe weather events such as forest fires, droughts, floods and hurricanes. In some cases the aftermaths of such disasters takes years to recover from, and that’s above and beyond the devastating consequences of the events themselves.
Across the globe, climate change is felt and is most felt by working class communities, whether they live along waterlines, in already harsh climates, or even in areas where severe weather is not part of daily threats.
The United Nations has warned countries to take immediate action to reduce emissions and prevent the long-term devastating impacts of global increases in temperature.
The original target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C increase above recent historical averages looks to be impossible.
Further to this, it was recently reported that in the face of all of the science and warnings, that in spite of many governments making significant announcements all over the world, that it is clear that our collective actions are not having the effect that are necessary to meet targets and curb global warning.
I could go on and on but the reality is that you likely know this. Because you have registered and come from many places in the country for a conference on climate change and our jobs.
You don’t need me to tell you that things look bleak.
You feel it. We all feel it.
It’s one of these big and complex issues that many people think we can’t do anything about.
It’s one of these issues where it’s easy to become cynical. Or to tune it out all together.
We could spend all night talking about the very bad things that are happening in our world, but you know what they are. We are not here to dwell and commiserate.
For unions, and for us here tonight, we want to figure out what we can do to affect the current situation, and its outcome.
Climate change is a global issue.
It affects how and where we work. It affects how and where we live, today and into the future. It affects the production and the consumption of goods. It affects all sectors of our economy.
And because we work in all sector of our economy, we are uniquely positioned to understand what’s going on, how things really are changing and transforming, and most importantly, how we can affect them.
I will emphasize this point.
Unifor as a union is uniquely positioned to not only understand the issues we face in our sectors, but to affect them.
Unifor members are uniquely positioned to lead the change that is needed today. In your workplace, in your community, in your union and in the broader society of Québec and Canada.
On climate change, just like for any major transformation we face, it is not good enough to sit and wait for the change to operate. It is not good enough to rely on others to take charge and to get things done.
We have work to do, and it is up to us – Unifor activists – to roll up our sleeves if we want to see these changes.
Climate change is not an issue of the future. It is happening now, every day.
We deal with it in shifting investment, in the impact of weather events, in changing technologies in response to climate change, in workplaces closing or opening.
We deal with it in our communities.
Whether you are an energy worker in Fort McMurray, or an auto worker from Ontario, or a hotel worker from Saskatchewan, a telecommunications worker from Quebec, or a transport worker from the Atlantic.
We are in some way all united in front of climate change.
In the face of a global crisis, what can unions do?
That’s the question for us as a movement, as Unifor, as the broader working class and for you this weekend. No pressure.
For many years our union and many unions have been trying to bring this conversation to our members, and bring our members into the conversation.
We have a team of people in the union who are working at bringing people together to discuss and act on climate change.
We’ve been running discussion sessions at regional councils, and have just developed a survey that is currently out there in the field, and we are hoping for locals to encourage member to participate.
One of our predecessor unions, the CEP, was pivotal in defining the notion of just transition.
And while we now refer to the process in many different ways, it’s helpful to think about what we mean by just transition. Do we mean that we have given up, that workers are going to lose their jobs and we have to mitigate the impacts?
No, obviously not.
What we mean is that individual workers and their families should not carry the full cost of these transformations on their shoulders.
That the cost of climate change should be borne more equitably across all society. That if you lose your job because of climate change, either because your sector is changing or because your workplace was affected by severe weather, then you and your family should be looked after.
What it means is that we don’t go at this alone, in isolation. We have to work together – as a community, and as working people across all provinces and borders, across all unions, to defend our interests so we can facilitate a future that we want and need on a planet that is livable and under conditions that are fair, or just.
The alternative is that failed policies and the endless corporate quest for profit result in workers bearing the full cost of these changes.
We know that our workplaces are changing. We know that economic sectors are changing. But we also know that if there is any constant in life it is change. We know that to protect our collective interests, we have to draw from what we know, from our experience at work, and to develop solutions and a vision for a fair future.
Our job here tonight, tomorrow and once you return home after this conference, is to figure out what working people are to do about it.
This conference looks at more than just transition.
You will discuss how climate affects you in the workplace, as a worker. You should express your concerns, your hopes, your ideas for change.
The power of the union is creating a space where we can have the discussions and organize for a better world.
We want to discuss what we can do so that our membership will not be overwhelmed by the nature of climate change and have tools in their hands to affect our current outcome.
We want to be part of the solution while not bearing the cost or price of climate change.
That is why we call for union and worker voices at all tables where discussions are taking place around climate change.
As for us, I’m hoping that you brought your own ideas to this table.
In case you need some questions to get you started, here are a few.
Collective bargaining is the most powerful tool working people have to make lasting change. How do we bargain the transition? What language do we have, and what language do we need?
How do we enforce what we bargain? If anything, countries across the globe could learn a thing or two from unions about how to make sure a contract or agreed-upon targets are respected and enforced.
Employers and governments are making big shifts when it comes to investment in production, and this affects all of our sectors. How do we follow our work and ensure good union jobs wherever the jobs of tomorrow come from?
For the sectors that aren’t directly impacted by climate, what do they need to make sure communities are protected in the face of climate transformations? What can the union do to fight for resilient communities, communities with good upgraded infrastructure where people have access to good, equitable public services to get them through the different stages of their lives?
Where can we push governments at all levels to roll out industrial policies that look at the things we need here in Canada and make a plan to build them here with good union jobs? Made in Canada public transit can tackle climate change and create good jobs, because yes, we can do both!
How will we use our voice as a union and our power as workers to bring more democracy to the process of planning for the economic future of Canada? How will we amplify the voices of hundreds of thousands of union members and find a way to also amplify those of millions of non-union workers so that the future does really look up for all of us?
All of these questions come down to one thing: putting forward a working class vision for a better future for ourselves and our families, and finding opportunities to build the better world that is needed.
Governments will not give us this future. Employers will not concede to us this future. It is up to us to imagine it, to organize for it, and to bring it to life through worker power.
So! Welcome to this conference and thank you for joining the second Unifor conference on climate change.
It’s up to us to make the most of this space. We are here to share ideas, to reflect, to hear best practices and to move working people forward.
Tonight, we will hear from trade unionists from across Canada. They will share the opportunities and obstacles that arise from climate change work in their region.
Tomorrow, we will look at the policy responses that have been developed in Canada and elsewhere, in the union world and in government. We will dive into specific sectors such as auto and energy, which are currently living through many changes.
We’ll also hear from our coalition partners and allies about their perspectives on these issues, interspersed with a few interactive sessions courtesy of the research department.
Finally, on Sunday, we’ll deal with the more practical aspects of how to build tools and structures of engagement to confront some of the core climate-related issues faced by union members and their locals.
If Lana were here, she would say when we fight, we win! It is true that climate change is a big and complex issue, but in front of big and complex issues we have organized and won before, and we will organize and win again.
I hope you have a great conference.