Climate change and industrial relations: Reflections on an emerging field

Abstract

What does climate change mean for the field of industrial relations? In this article, we argue that a meaningful disciplinary response to climate change requires more than simply widening the scope of industrial relations scholarship to include environmental dynamics. It demands recognition of the ways in which the categories of analysis and intellectual preoccupations of the discipline have been shaped by what we term the ‘fossil capitalist inertia’ exerted by their largely 20th-century origins. Climate change requires critical reflection of the extent to which industrial relations processes that were introduced to increase fairness and equality in a fossil capitalist context have the potential to contribute to different kinds of unfairness and inequality in an era of climate instability. The article identifies four frontiers of the scholarly development already underway that give effect to this conceptual enlargement: critical engagement with the concepts of (a) ‘sustainable development’ and (b) ‘just transition’ (c) analyses of reconfigured union identities and strategies and (d) discussions of the roles and influence of employer associations and state actors in labour and environmental relations and transitions. The article concludes by introducing five new articles that advance existing scholarly reflections on the challenge of a changed climate for industrial relations along each of these frontiers.

A world systems analysis of union membership and support for government spending on environmental protection

“…Trade unions’ relationship to the environment is an area of increasing interdisciplinary interest including contributions from industrial relations scholars and the emerging field of environmental labor studies (Flanagan and Goods, 2022; Räthzel et al, 2021; Ringqvist, 2022; Uzzell and Räthzel, 2013a). Prominent accounts in the literature, which are predominantly qualitative studies with a particular focus on the level of union policy, point to recurring dilemmas between jobs and environmental protection (Räthzel and Uzzell, 2011; Thomas and Doerflinger, 2020).…”

“…While unemployment levels are not readily comparable across developed and developing economies in ways serving present purposes (ILO, 2019), semi-periphery and periphery states face systematic disadvantages in their capacity to protect workers against various labor market-related risks (e.g., Silver, 2003: 80–81), as reflected, for example, in the unequal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic across world systems positions (Valizade et al, 2023). One potentially important factor to consider in this regard is the strength of ALMPs, that is, policies designed to assist unemployed workers to reskill and find new employment (e.g., Valizade et al, 2023), which ties into debates concerning the importance of a “just transition” for workers not to perceive environmental agendas as threats to their material interests (Flanagan and Goods, 2022: 483; Kalt, 2022: 513; Uzzell and Räthzel, 2013b).…”

“…There is growing interest in the relationship between trade unions and the environment, as reflected in a recent special issue of this journal (Flanagan and Goods, 2022). Early assumptions concerning union members’ reluctance to embrace environmental agendas have been contested (Chen, 2017).…”

Emploi, travail et environnement : l’heure des transitions ?

“…Dit autrement, la transition sera-t-elle vraiment écologique et sociale ? On peut d'ores et déjà penser que cela dépendra de la capacité des actrices et acteurs économiques à investir et des actrices et acteurs syndicaux à négocier les mutations (Flanagan, goods, 2022), pour que soient reconnues les compétences, défendues les conditions de travail et les rémunérations. Cela dépendra également de la façon dont le droit du travail et les politiques de l'emploi ou de la formation accompagnent et responsabilisent les travailleurs et les travailleuses, leur permettant de choisir et d'agir (lallement, zimmermann, 2019) quel que soit le type d'organisation au sein de laquelle ils et elles travaillent.…”

Determinants of union strategies towards the twin digital and green transitions in the German and Belgian automotive industry

“…Here, the literature and policy-makers have used the concept of a ‘just transition’ in specific reference to this shift and its impact on industrial relations. The increased use of digital technologies requires worker involvement in management decision-making processes, for example regarding the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) (Eisenberg, 2019; Flanagan and Goods, 2022), with worker voice strengthened through social dialogue, employee participation and representation structures designed to help manage and anticipate restructuring (e.g. Gumbrell-McCormick and Hyman, 2013; Pulignano and Stewart, 2013; Pulignano et al, 2007).…”