Climáximo, part of the Climate Jobs Campaign in Portugal, was at the 11th Congress of EPSU (the European Public Service Union), which took place in Bucharest from June 18th to 20th. The slogan of congress was Time for Public Services now!
This was a 3 days European congress, which brought together 500 trade unionists from 45 countries to stand up for public services and the rights of public service workers. EPSU’s congress, which happens every 5 years, took place now, in a moment of great political change at global, European, and national levels, with an ever worsening climate crisis, the rise of the far-right and a shift of the entire political landscape to the right. This shift is a massive threat to the working class – not only because it will mean direct attacks to workers rights but also because it promises to completely undermine the already poor climate policies, on which the future of humanity depends on. Hence, progressive trade unions, as all other progressive organizations must step-up to meet the challenges of our times.
We were invited to join the panel on June 19th, to talk about the biggest threat to Human lives, workers rights and to working class interests that has ever existed – the climate crisis – and “ Union action to fight the climate crisis”. This panel was moderated by Bart Vanhercke (Research Director ETUI), joining two other panelists on the discussion:
• Lisa Pelling, Arena Ide, Sweden
• Christine Behle, Ver.di, Germany
On the panel were vocal about the need for urgent radical climate policies, an disruptive action to achieve. The moment the congress happened was very indicative of such need. Romania was under a heat wave, with “temperatures often exceeding 50-55 degrees Celsius in the sun”. This led to traffic restrictions, and accentuated the drought, in a country where “ roughly 4,000 people face limited access to drinking water.” It was indeed, also for the congress participants to work with such extreme temperature.
We were extremely happy to share some of our thoughts and vision, to hear from other panelist and from the audience, as the environmental and climate emergency must not be a secondary question in the pathway Unions and the Labor movement choose going forward. The climate crisis is a climax of all the crises of capitalism. And whether we like it or not – it will be the biggest definer of European (and global) politics. The climate struggle and the struggle for radically just social and climate policies must be up-taken by all sectors of the working class and the Labor movement, and must be met with greater ambition, disruptive action, and innovative strategies and tactics. It was especially important to mention it is such congress, as public services will be at the center of a any just energy transition – if that is to be one, and so will be its workers and working class leaders.
More information about the congress can be found here: https://www.epsu.org/article/11th-epsu-congress-18-20-june-2024
