Workers in high carbon manufacturing sectors are fighting to decarbonise their factories and save their jobs. Join this practical session for climate activists to explore how they can fight for genuine worker-led transitions in alliance with workers and trade union organisers. We’ll discuss how to build powerful coalitions and navigate the tensions that can arise between trade unions and climate groups.
Mika Minio-Paluello has worked at the intersection of climate change, trade unions and social justice since 2005, providing analysis and running campaigns that strengthen movements, defend jobs and create a safe climate future. She now co-runs the TUC's climate & industry work.
Frank Duffy works on just transition for the TUC. He has been a long-time senior workplace rep with Unite in the automotive sector, and worked on a transition plan for his workplace (GKN Automotive) when it was faced with closure.
Rosemary Harris is a Just Transition Campaigner for Platform. She currently works on just transition for offshore oil & gas workers in the North Sea and was one of the authors of the Our Power report, which produced 10 offshore worker-led demands for a just energy transition.
John Cooper is the Convenor of the Stellantis site in Ellesmere Port and is also the chair of the Unite Automotive National industrial sector committee.
Gareth Forest worked for the TUC’s Yorkshire and Humber region from 2017-2022 focusing on just transition, transport, and trade union organising. He co-founded and supported several public transport campaigns that focused on coalition building between trade union members and climate activists, including the Better Buses campaigns in West, North and South Yorkshire. He is now the Campaigns and Education Officer for Equity, the performing arts and entertainment trade union.
