Socio-ecological transformation and the trade union movement: Prospects for a sustainable future

Socio-ecological transformation and the trade union movement:
Prospects for a sustainable future*

speakers:

Patrick Bond, Professor of Sociology, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Jenny Huschke, Regional Director, DGB North Hesse

Moderation: Anne Lisa Carstensen, Professorin of Global Political Economy of Labour, University of Kassel, Germany

time and place: UNI:Local, 10. September 2025, 19:00 – 21:00 Clock

*Event in English with consecutive translation into German

Humanity is in the midst of a severe ecological crisis. In the discussion about it, how this can be overcome, Technological solutions for sustainable development are often presented in the sense of 'green Keynesianism' or 'ecological modernization'. However, none of these approaches are capable, to offer a real solution, since they have the given production- and reproductive relations do not fundamentally question.

Many different actors can be considered as protagonists of change, from civil society to institutions. However, one crucial player is often overlooked: the organized labor movement. Social-ecological transformation has long been a complex issue for trade unions, because they find themselves in the so-called 'job-versus-environment dilemma'. At the same time, due to structural changes in the economy, unions have, z.B. difficulties due to outsourcing and the emergence of new unorganized sectors, to reach all sections of the working class.

In this context, questions such as the following arise: How could a transition to a more sustainable future be possible?? How can ecological issues be linked to the agenda of the labor movement? How should workers in general and trade unions in particular deal with the issue of the ecological crisis?, to overcome the dilemma between jobs and the environment? How can this issue be addressed at a global level?? How can existing North-South divisions in the movements be overcome??

We will discuss these and other questions at the event. In addition to our panelists, there will be alumni of the Global Labor University (GLU) Present examples from current union struggles on the topic of socio-ecological transformation.

An event hosted by the Global Labor University (GLU) and the Department of Global Political Economy of Work at the University of Kassel