Union Renewal and Workplace Greening — Three Case Studies

Abstract

This article evaluates the renewal potential of three unions’ workplace greening agendas in three large workplaces. The cases suggest the agenda is easy to initiate with members and employers and has tangible environmental benefits but is labour intensive and difficult to sustain beyond focusing events. There is limited evidence that the agenda attracts new members but stronger evidence that it attracts new activists. Although facilitative of partnership, unions are mainly cast as environmental watchdogs and trouble‐shooters. The findings suggest that even timely, popular, developmental agendas, conducive to partnership, can have only a moderate effect on union renewal and must be consciously configured to do so properly.

Union membership and the willingness to prioritize environmental protection above growth and jobs: A multi‐level analysis covering 22 European countries

“…Given that support for environmental protection in fact tends to be higher among members than non‐members, the results indicate that the latter would be a more immediately expectable outcome. This is in line with the conclusions drawn also by Farnhill (2018, p. 716): while the effects on membership recruitment are uncertain, an environmental union agenda may serve to attract and engage new activists.…”

“…Relating back to debates on union policy, the findings may indicate potential support among members for unions to engage more strongly in environmental issues. Indeed, based on the results, environmental advocacy may be argued to constitute a fruitful path towards union renewal (Farnhill, 2018).…”

Employee Voice: The Missing Factor in Sustainable HRM?

“…Unions are seen to offer a key role in terms of collective worker voice and supporting sustainability through their traditional health and safety concerns in the workplace [55]. Motivations for engagement with sustainability in terms of environmental protection in the form of "just transition" and "green job" initiatives might include renewing union activity and "workplace greening" [56], creating stronger alliances between trade unions in traditional occupations and other "civil society" organisations [54] and, importantly, extending traditional workplace health-and-safety goals to include social and environmental sustainability. Britain's Trade Union Council (TUC) [57] advocate for a worker-centred just transition, arguing that: .…”

Evaluation of Vegetation Restoration along an Expressway in a Cold, Arid, and Desertified Area of China

“…Previous studies have taken a series of measures to restore expressway slopes. The traditional forms of slope vegetation protection include grass planting [10], three-dimensional vegetation networks [11], masonry stone wall establishment [12], skeleton grass planting [13], vine plant protection [14], and geogrid grass planting [15]. Slope grass planting is characterized by a low survival rate, high maintenance costs, and the frequent degradation of grass seeds, while shrub planting is restricted by the water and nutrient conditions of the slope [14].…”

“…Inevitably, such approaches led to a low protection effect of the slope. Some expressway greening projects were only possible with the use of engineering work [15], with large investments. Also, over time, with rock weathering, concrete aging, and steel bar erosion, the protection effects become weaker [16,17].…”