We need a green rep in every workplace

What's more, there are no credible plans to get us out of this crisis. 

Even as scientists show that this summer's heatwaves would have been “virtually impossible” without the human-caused climate crisis, the government is rowing back on measures to reduce emissions. 

Without a radical change, our communities are going to see more extreme floods, more wildfires, and more deadly heatwaves, all set against a backdrop of huge losses to wildlife and nature. 

And let’s be clear, it is our communities – working people and our families – who are being pushed into harm’s way; those on top have insulated themselves from this crisis. 

Just as we kept having to handle asbestos when the bosses knew it wasn’t safe, so we are having to buy cheap and dirty, carry out unsustainable jobs, and pay through the nose for fossil fuels when we know they’re killing us. 

We need to do things differently. We, the workers, need to take the reins. 

Need for change 

We urgently need two things: 

• a UK-wide green industrial revolution, and 
• worker-led change. 

The UK’s fallen behind Europe and the US, and we're paying the price in higher bills, colder homes, polluted towns, underfunded public transport, and climate-change related death and illness. 

Government ministers are burying their heads in the sand. Bosses are taking ever larger profits instead of investing to protect our jobs and our world. 

To secure our future, we need to make 30 million homes more energy efficient, expand green energy production six-fold, massively grow public transport and infrastructure, and radically rethink how we do aviation and shipping. 

Businesses, industry leaders, and the government know this. Yet they’ve done precious little. Or, sometimes, they’ve done worse than nothing: they say one thing and do something completely different. 

It’s clear that we can’t wait any longer. We, the working people, need to initiate the change we need to see. 

People power 

We workers know our industries and our workplaces. We also know how they could be run better and cleaner. Trade unionists prove this day in, day out. Our knowledge and our willingness to step up make our colleague’s lives safer, richer, and more dignified. 

And now we need to take on the next big issue that bosses won’t. We need to lead our workplaces and our industries to the green revolution. 

Union green reps 

Stand as your branch’s green rep and fight for the future that our colleagues deserve. One where our work is good, useful, sustainable, safe, and doesn’t implicate us in the crimes of our bosses. 

Green reps across the country are fighting and winning for their colleagues, families, and communities. 

Our green reps have already: 

• Won net zero commitments from employers across the country 
• Won maximum working temperature rules in key workplaces 
• Won fair transitions to an electric fleet 
• Won green rep facility time and inspection rights 
• Won worker representation on key long-term strategic planning boards 
• Won universal carbon literacy training for colleagues 
• Won new procurement standards, amplifying our success to other workplaces 
• Won green/future skills learning agreements 
• Won green curriculum changes in our schools, colleges, and universities 
• And the list is growing by the week 

Step up and win 

Our green reps are leading the fight for justice for our members. But we’re still thin on the ground. 

If we want a future that works for working people, we need to fight for it. 

And, as our climate breaks down and the world heats up, the advanced guard will be union green reps. 

Start your reps journey here