Launch the Trade Union Clean Air
Network
Wednesday, 6 February, 2019 2pm - 4pm
ITF Head Office, ITF House 49-60 Borough Road London, SE1 1DR This meeting is
supported by the University and College Union, National Education Union,
Greener Jobs Alliance and the Hazards Campaign. For further information and to
register your attendance please contact Janet Newsham at:
janet@gmhazards.org.uk
Air
Pollution – all in a day’s work? Having decent work means being able to breathe
clean air at work. The reality for most workers is that the air they are
exposed to at work and on the way to work is polluted wherever they are
working.
There is
very little acknowledgement of this in most government and local authority
clean air policies. Government strategy is essentially an exercise in kicking
the can down the road by delaying vital measures or passing it over to local
authorities to sort out. It needn’t be like this.
There is
rightly a public outcry about air pollution as a public health emergency. But
it is also an occupational health emergency. Most air pollution is caused by
work-related activities. Yet you wouldn’t think this was the case if you read
all the consultation documents and public policy pronouncements on the subject.
Even many of the environmental organisations who are campaigning for clean air
fail to properly acknowledge this fact.
Why set up a
trade union network? The worker voice needs to be much more prominent in the
public debate on this issue. We have the example of asbestos, another workplace
killer, to show how more effective unions can be when they co-ordinate around a
single issue. The Joint Union Asbestos Committee (JUAC) shows how this can be
done.
What would a
network do? The adoption of a charter will provide a set of demands which
unions can prioritise in campaigns at local, regional, national and
international level. The network can also support the development of resources like
pollution checklists for health, safety and environment reps who want to
monitor the level of risk to their members. It can promote best practice case
studies and training that unions can use to raise awareness. The trade union movement has a central role
to play. We need to make sure our voices are heard.
That’s why a
planning meeting has been called to discuss our response. All unions and
supporting organisations are invited to attend a meeting .
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