Environmental issues are currently a key focus of discussion in the trade union apparatus with debates occurring in forums outside those of traditional social dialogue and collective bargaining. At company level, employee representatives are looking at using the levers of social dialogue to address environmental issues in the very places where production methods are defined. While the corporate executive level is increasingly accountable for externality effects on other actors in addition to their own employees, the question can be asked over different avenues for expression and discussion vis-à-vis groups of workers who are increasingly aware of and committed to environmental issues. Environmental Committees set up within the framework of the WC negotiations are an infrequent occurrence at this time when employee representatives are looking for and facing fresh challenges. Nonetheless they could lead to an overhaul of the current approaches.
While the place of the environment in trade union policies varies from one organisation to another, the high profile Yellow Vests movement, with its famous ‘End of the world / End of the month’ slogan, has prompted even the least environmentally involved confederations to now include these issues, at least in terms of their rhetoric. In terms of social dialogue, the theme of the environment is also discussed with employers’ organisations albeit most likely in specific CSR forums.
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