Brussels, 2012
Europe is facing global challenges. The rise in energy prices and the resource scarcity gave EU governments and the Commission a new sense of urgency to do more on energy savings. The environmental performance of workplaces across Europe is increasingly significant and is becoming of strategic corporate interest and key to corporate survival and financial sustainability.
A number of ETUC affiliates have piloted innovative union-led projects already identifying workplace ‘green reps’ and providing training to enable workers to fully engage on these matters with management, addressing sustainability also in transnational information and consultation bodies. The proposed project would build on this nascent work at the national and sectoral level to build a European dimension strengthening worker capacity at the workplace level and promoting the extension of information, consultation and participation on environmental performance, energy and resource efficiency.
ETUC Green Workplaces Network - what is involved?
Partners:
• ETUC - as project coordinator
• Cepag (Belgium- Wallonia)
• Arbeid en Milieu (Labor and Environment), linked to all Flemish trade unions organisations
• European Metalworkers Federation (EMF)
• European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU)
Organisation:
1. Set up of a European Green Workplaces Network, acting as Steering Group, (within the ETUC).
2. Set up of a National Green Workplace Network Steering Group
3. Organise a national seminar to promote worker information and consultation on environmental questions.
4. Produce an ETUC Green Workplaces Handbook, with practical advice and case studies on energy and resource efficiency, with contributions from each project partner.
5. Develop and provide environmental training material for worker representatives.
6. Identify and develop up to 5 Green Workplace initiatives in each project partner, whether in the public and private sectors, supported by joint employer-union-employee activities (training, surveys, etc).
7. Disseminate all this information in a European conference (100 participants, 6 working languages) to be held in Brussels in October 2012.
The project is funded by the European Union