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Trade Unions and EnvironmentallySustainable Development

Booklet 6

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Workers’ Education and Environment

Project INT93/M12/NOR

Bureau for Workers’ Activities

International Labour Office Geneva

This booklet is one of eight booklets in the series “Trade Unions andEnvironmentally Sustainable Development”. The series was produced in1996 as part of the International Labour Organization project “Workers’Education and Environment” (INT/93/M12/NOR), sponsored by theGovernment of Norway.

It comprises:

Guide to the Booklets

1. Environmental Indicators of Development

2. Political Indicators of Development

3. Economic Development and Security

4. Social Development

5. Equality of Opportunity and Treatment

6. Education and Training

7. International Development

Publication does not constitute endorsement by the ILO. You areinvited to copy, excerpt, adapt and translate the materials for non-commercial purposes, and to make them appropriate for youreducation and training activities. The ILO, however, does not acceptresponsibility for such republication.

Please acknowledge the source and send a copy of the reprint tothe Bureau for Workers’ Activities.

While every effort has been made to contact the copyright holdersfor material reproduced herein, we would be happy to hear from anyunacknowledged source.

For more information about the project, please contact:

Bureau for Workers’ ActivitiesInternational Labour Office,4, route des Morillons, CH-1211,Geneva 22, Switzerland

Fax: 41-22-799-6570.E-mail [email protected]

Photographs: Jaques Maillard, ILO Geneva, unless otherwise stated.

Design and printing: International Training Centre

of the ILO - Turin, Italy

Introduction

This booklet looks at the promotion of broad systems ofeducation as a human right and an essential tool forachieving the goals of environmentally sustainable de-velopment.

It identifies several stages of education and training forthe advancement of these goals:

u basic education for all;

u vocational training;

u development of skills and life-long learning;

u trade union education and leadership training;

u provision of information.

A lack of access to any of these means that many peo-ple are not aware of the close links between human andwork activities and the environment.

There is thus an overall need to increase people’s sensitiv-ity to, and involvement in, finding solutions for environ-ment and development problems. In this respect, basiceducation is fundamental to giving people the aware-ness, values and skills needed for participating in sustain-able development.

The importance of encouraging girls to school is high-lighted as a key to improving a country ’s developmentand empowering women to participate in environmentaldecision-making.

Life-long learning, developing skills and vocational train-ing means that workers have the education, training andinformation to adapt to the changing economic condi-tions and labour markets that go hand-in-hand with thecomplex environment and development linkages.

But, more importantly for us as trade unionists, continuingtrade union awareness-raising and education and train-ing can also provide members and leaders and the localcommunity with the knowledge and skills to allow for fullparticipation in defining environmentally sustainablepolicies and in concerned bipartite and tripartitedecision-making bodies at all levels.

Education and training 1

Hopefully the following pages will help you and your un-ion to:

u think about the importance of basic education, espe-cially of girls, and of skills development and training ofworkers to the goals of environmentally sustainabledevelopment;

u think about union needs and resources to promoteawareness-raising of workers and community, andeducation and training of its members to participatein decision-making; and

u define priorities at furthering these needs to include ina union policy on overall environmentally sustainabledevelopment.

2 ILO - Workers' Education and Environment

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Education is a human right and an essential tool forachieving the goals of environmentally sustainable de-velopment.

A country ’s ability to develop more sustainably dependson the capacity of its people to understand complex en-vironmental and development issues so that they canmake the right development choices for the nation as awhole and relevant decisions concerning their everydaylives. There is thus a need to increase people’s awarenessof environmental issues and of how their lives both affectand are affected by these issues. Only then can they beinvolved in finding solutions for environment and devel-opment problems. Basic education can give people theenvironmental awareness, values and attitudes, skills andbehaviour needed for sustainable development.

Development must be by people, not only for

them. People must participate fully in the

advisory and decision-making processes that

shape their lives.

Environmentally sustainable development also dependson ensuring that workers have the education, informationand training to adapt to changing economic conditions,technologies, and labour markets.

But perhaps the most important factor for us as trade un-ionists lies in educating our members to become com-petent in environmental decision-making at all levels —at the workplace and in the local community, at nationaland international levels.

Education and training, and raising of environmentalawareness are linked to just about all the issues discussedin these booklets, especially those on meeting basicneeds and equality of opportunity.


Basic educationfor all

Basic education is the foundation stone for all environ-ment and development education. Some of the goalsthat have been identified for countries to strive for are ac-cess for all to education, and primary education for atleast 80% of all girls and boys. Adult illiteracy should bereduced and the literacy levels of women brought intoline with those of men.

Education in its broadest sense has to be seen

as an essential part of sustainable

development. For every one percent

improvement in literacy, economic growth over

one percent has been recorded in developing

countries.

UNDP 1993

Literacy, or illiteracy, is a good indicator of educationalachievement in developing regions because it generallyreflects a minimal level of succesfully completed school-ing.

The progress in primary education over the past few dec-ades has been encouraging and it has boosted literacyrates considerably, particularly among young people. To-day, almost all the world’s boys are getting some form ofprimary education. In most industrialized countries and insome countries in developing regions, decades of pri-mary education have led to near 100% literacy for theyoung. But in most of the developing world, generationsof educational neglect have left very high rates of illiter-acy, especially amongst the older generation, womenand the rural people.


An illiterate person cannot, with understanding, read and write a short simplestatement on their everyday life. A person who can only write figures, his or hername or memorized ritual phrase is not considered literate.

Primary education is defined as education beginning between the ages of 5and 7 and lasting for about 5 years. Secondary education is considered as be-ginning at about age 10 - 12 and lasting for about 3 years in a first stage andthen 4 years in a second stage from age 13 - 15. Tertiary education includes uni-versities and colleges, begins at about 17 - 19 years of age, and lasts for at least3 or 4 years.

Source: UNDP Human Development Report 1995


0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Argentina

Chile

Mexico

Peru

Brazil

Honduras

Guatemala

Haiti

Central America and the Caribbean

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Zimbabwe

Zambia

Zaire

Kenya

Botswana

Ghana

Uganda

Egypt

Morocco

Mozambique

Mali

Niger

1970 1992

Africa0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Philippines

Thailand

Sri Lanka

Malaysia

Indonesia

Saudi Arabia

India

Bangladesh

Pakistan

Nepal

Asia

Adult literacy rates, 1970-1992

Source: UNDP Human Development Report, 1995


0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Argentina

Suriname

Trinindad and Tobago

Venezuela

Mexico

Jamaica

Costa Rica

Colombia

El Salvador

Guatemala

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Zimbabwe

Egypt

Algeria

Kenya

Cameroon

Ghana

Madagascar

Zaire

Morocco

Tanzania

Senegal

Sudan

Ethiopia

Niger

Africa

Central America and the Caribbean

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Sri Lanka

Philippines

Indonesia

Viet Nam

India

Thailand

China

Nepal

Bangladesh

Pakistan

Afghanistan

Asia

Enrolment in education for all levels:

percentage of population aged 6-23 (1992 figures)


The problem remains the lack of enrolment of young girlsin primary and secondary schools. Although their enrol-ment rate is increasing faster than that of boys, they havestarted from a much lower base and school attendancestill lags far behind that of boys in southern Asia and insub-Saharan Africa.

For mass secondary education there has been progressfor both boys and girls in Latin America and the Carib-bean, but little progress for girls in sub-Saharan Africa,and only moderate progress in other developing regions.The result is that there are about 900 million illiterate peo-ple worldwide, of which women outnumber men two toone. Illiteracy rates are highest in sub-Saharan Africa,southern Asia and western Asia, where more than 70% ofwomen aged 25 and over are illiterate. In eastern Asiaand south-east Asia, this figure is more like 40%, and inLatin America and the Caribbean, over 20%. This gap willpersist well into the next century in all developing regions.

Education and literacy of women are especially impor-tant keys to improving health, nutrition and education inthe family and to empowering women to participate indecision-making in society.

Illiterate girls tend to marry young and have many ba-bies. Their own daughters are then more likely to stay athome to help look after their brothers and sisters until theyleave home to repeat the cycle. The World Bank esti-mates that where women are excluded from secondaryeducation, they have on average seven children, but if40% of women go to secondary school, this averagedrops to three children.

Education means not only having fewer babies but alsohealthier babies: mortality among Indian babies ofmothers with primary education is half that of babiesborn to uneducated mothers. A literate mother is betterequipped to understand hygiene and she can betrained as a health worker.

An educated woman is also more likely to make sure thather child goes to school. In many countries women arethe main managers of environmental resources, workingon the land and gathering fuel and water. These jobs aredone more efficiently and productively by women whohave had some schooling. It is not hard to see then thatinvesting in basic education, especially for girls, has veryhigh social and economic returns and has proved to beone of the best means of achieving sustainable develop-ment.


What matters ineducating for future

environmentallysustainable development

are the choices madetoday - the best choicefor any poor society is toget its girls into school.


0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

1970 1990

Latin Americaand the Caribbean

Eastern andsouth-eastern Asia

Southern Asia

Sub-Saharan Africaa

Northern Africa andwestern Asia b

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Illiterate women aged 20-24 (%)

Over 40 per cent of young women are still illiteratein Africa and southern and western Asia

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Illiterates aged 20-24, 1990 (%)

The widest gaps between women and menare in Africa and southern and western Asia

Latin Americaand the Caribbean

Eastern andsouth-eastern Asia

Southern Asia

Sub-Saharan Africaa

Northern Africa andwestern Asia b

Women Men

Illiteracy rates

are falling for young

women but are still

much higher

for young women

that men

Source:

UN,

“The World’s women:

trend and statistics

1970-1990“

a: Includes Sudan;

excludes South Africa

b: Includes Somalia

and Mauritania;

excludes Cyprus, Israel

and Turkey

How can more children, especially girls, be encouragedto attend schools? The first step is to ensure that at leastprimary education is free and universal. Parents will beless likely to send their children to school if they have topay for it. This is an especially important consideration forgirls, as sons will nearly always be given priority if parentscan afford to send only some of their children to school.

Enrolment at the primary level increased by

nearly two-thirds during the past 30 years in

developing countries, from 48% in 1960 to 77%

in 1991.

But still 130 million children at primary level and

more than 275 million at secondary level are

out of school. Primary school drop-out rates are

high in many countries — 31% in Mexico, 48%

in Togo, 80% in Bangladesh...

For poor children, for schooling to be free may not beenough. Enrolment rates can be increased by providingfood supplements at school, for example. (This has theadded advantage of providing extra calories for thosechildren who may be malnourished.) Anything that less-ens the so-called “women’s work” will also help to getmore girls to school: a water supply near the family homewill mean that girls spend less time fetching water for thefamily; food supplements for children at school maymean that girls do not have to stay at home to cook forbrothers and sisters. School toilets can also help: in someparts of Pakistan, when a girl needs to go to the toilet shehas to go home.

Meeting education needs does not have to be costly.UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, reckons that5% of GDP is enough to deliver basic health services andfive years of education. Resources given over to educa-tion, particularly for girls, are, however, in many countriesinsufficient. In some cases they have been further de-creased by government spending cuts and especially bystructural adjustment programmes. This can only have along-term negative effect on human development, es-pecially of disadvantaged groups, and thus of environ-mental management.



0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

Finlan

d

New

Zeala

nd UK

Portu

gal

Nethe

rland

s

Norw

ayFra

nce

Bulga

ria

Hung

ary

USA

Jama

icaBe

lize

Pana

ma

Braz

il

Costa

Rica

Mexic

oCh

ile

Boliv

ia

Guate

mala

Malay

sia

Thail

and

India

Singa

pore

Pakis

tan

Philip

pines

SriLa

nkaCh

ina

Bang

ladesh

Zimba

bwe

Keny

aEg

ypt

Tanz

ania

Moroc

co

Ethiop

ia

Sene

gal

Malaw

i

Came

roon

Ghan

a

Ugan

da

Zamb

ia

Guine

a Biss

au

Sierra

Leon

eZa

ire

INDUSTRIALIZEDCOUNTRIES

LATIN AND CENTRALAMERICA & CARIBBEAN

ASIA AFRICA

Public expenditure on education, as a percentage of GNP,

1990


Basic education is essential to enhance the levels of tol-erance and goodwill needed for living in a crowdedworld. Improved health, lower fertility and better nutritiondepend on greater literacy and social and civic respon-sibility. More directly, it would mean that education on en-vironment and development concepts could be madeavailable to all the population from a very early age.


The UN Social Summit of 1995committed the nations of the world:

u to promoting and attaining the goals of universal and equitable access toquality education, the highest attainable standard of physical and mentalhealth and the access of all to primary health care and respecting and pro-moting “our common and particular cultures (committment 6)

Educationfor all

While the growth in basic education over the past fewdecades is encouraging, a large gap exists between in-dustrialised and developing countries in enrolment ratesafter primary schools and other indicators, and this gap isincreasing.

People the world over have progressed

towards equal education opportunities,

but huge gaps persist

between North and South,

between men’s and women’s educational

achievements,

and between boy’s and girl’s opportunities.

Making development sustainable means that thesetrends should be corrected or speeded up, with the maintask of education policy to make literacy for all a goaland to close the gaps between male and female edu-cation.


4

20

100

10

5-6

416

15

183

72

45

6-3

6

40

200

20

8

60

300

30

10

80

400

29

Mean years ofschooling

Change in absolute difference

Widening gap in human progressSouth Gap North

Tertiary educationenrolment ratio

Scientists andtechniciansPer 1,000 people

Expenditure on R&D

US$ billions

80-85

1990

1980

1990

1980

1990

1965

1990

North-South gaps in human development

Source: UNDP 1992

Development of skillsand vocational

training

Learning skills through basic education is the steppingstone to developing specialised skills and being able toadapt and upgrade them to facilitate mobility and inte-gration. People should be able to benefit from obtainingknowledge and skills beyond those acquired in youth. Thisconcept of life-long learning covers that gained in formaleducation and training, and the learning that occurs ininformal ways such as volunteer activities and work andtraditional knowledge and experience.

Training experts in environmental management

is not enough.

What is needed is true environmental literacy

on the part of each worker and citizen.

Training is one of the most important tools to develop hu-man capacities and equip workers with the means tomeet growing development challenges during the transi-tion to a sustainable society. Vocational training pro-grammes for new entrants to the labour market, andretraining programmes for displaced and retrenchedworkers should be directed towards acquiring and up-grading practical and vocational skills.

Such programmes should have a job-specific focusaimed at helping individuals find employment and be in-volved in environmental and development work. In thepresent era of technological change and unemploy-ment, many workers have seen their work situation be-coming increasingly insecure. It is therefore importantthat any training and re-training be connected to em-ployment security, so that ÿ20workers respond positivelyin a spirit of security in change, rather than retreating intodefending security against change.


Education and training can also help different groups actas agents of change. It can help them identify problemsof potential hazards in their immediate working and livingenvironments, and to make plans to improve them. Itcan provide the necessary skills to increase options for in-come generation.

For social and cultural reasons, women and other disad-vantaged groups have had less opportunity for, and ac-cess to, formal and informal education. This has oftenprevented them from fully realizing their own potentialand thus their contribution to development — a contribu-tion that we have seen is considerable given their knowl-edge and skills in managing natural resources and theenvironment.

It is therefore important within education and training sys-tems, within trade unions, the workplace, and in other or-ganizations, to provide opportunities and trainingmaterials targeted at the special needs and contribu-tions of all different groups in achieving environmentallysustainable development.


DISCUSSION POINTS Talk to two or three union members doing differentjobs at work and find out:

u What kind of training have they had to helpthem do their job?

u What kind of training would they like to have tohelp them do their job more effectively?

u What kind of training would they like to have toprovide them with the skills to do other jobs?

u What kind of training or education would theylike to have for their own personaldevelopment? For trade union development?

Lars

Joh

an

sen

,IL

O


Action should be taken to:

u increase the coverage of environmental considerations in training andeducation at all levels for all people — vocational, management, un-ion, cooperatives...;

u develop accessible and appropriate training materials for all groups;

u develop awareness and promote active participation of all concerned,underlining the need to change consumption and production patterns;

u enable groups with specific needs to participate fully in training activi-ties by providing special arrangements, for example, for women (child-care facilities), workers with disabilities (access), migrants (language),etc;

u integrate traditional knowledge and skills of different groups within proj-ects aimed at the improved management of natural resources.

DISCUSSION POINTS u What is the extent of training on environmentalissues in your workplace?

u Are there any differences in trainingopportunities between the following groups ofworkers at your workplace?

l men and women?

l different ethnic groups?

l old and young?

l workers with different abilities?

l fulltime, part-time and temporary workers?

Give examples with your answers.

Trade unioneducation

Trade unions are vital actors in promoting environmen-tally sustainable development as they have the organi-zation, experience and commitment to identify bothproblems and seek practical solutions. They can build ontraditional union areas of concern — workplace healthand safety, solidarity with other workers, and the overallachievement of economic, social and environmentalgoals — to improve the quality of work and life for every-one.

Just as they have done, or are doing, in occupationalhealth and safety, unions will have to develop compe-tence in the area of environmental issues and policies tobe effective. This will involve the development of struc-tures and a commitment of resources to awareness rais-ing and education and training of members to become“environmental representatives”.

Trade union education allows workers and their represen-tatives to improve their knowledge and provides themwith a basic grounding in the issues necessary to pro-mote environmentally sustainable development. Theaim is, firstly, to create a clear awareness of the issues,and, secondly, to be able to use the knowledge for effec-tive action to bring about improvements at the work-place and to be able to participate in policy making atnational level.


This is an important concept, for while other parties maybe responsible for a large part of environmental dam-age, trade unions will obviously have to develop theirown policies and strategies so that the interests of theirmembers are not sacrificed in the process of change.There are many different ways in which unions can moti-vate and educate their members towards promotingtheir interests in this area.

The aim of trade union environmental

education is, firstly, to create a clear

awareness of the issues, and, secondly, to be

able to use the knowledge for effective action

to bring about improvements at the workplace

and to be able to participate in policy making

at local and national level.

Awareness-raising To raise awareness of environmental issues, unions needto relate closely to the immediate needs of their mem-bers, and the issues taken on board must be those thatdirectly affect them. Many workers, if asked about priori-ties, will propose such traditional areas of concern aswages, job security, etc., without realizing the links withenvironmental and developmental issues. It is thereforeone of the tasks of the union to sensitize members to envi-ronmental issues in themselves and also to point out themany linkages between these and economic, political,social and devleopment issues. (It is hoped that thesediscussion booklets can help you in this task.)

Trade union experience shows that the way members“see” environmental issues often reflects past attitudes tooccupational health and safety. That is, they may beapathetic or accepting of risks for a variety of reasons —they may be unaware of the risks as many environmentalhazards are hidden or do not show up until the damagehas been done; or they may overestimate their own, orthe environment’s, ability to survive; many workers are notaware that improvements can be made.

Another aspect is that members may think that environ-mental improvements will mean job losses. While this isnot necessarily true, it still has to be approached by theunion, which in turn should be receptive to members’ atti-tudes and use them to build confidence and commit-ment to a union environmental strategy.


Trade union awareness-raising and education on the en-vironment, perhaps more than with other trade union is-sues, has to be strongly oriented to the local situation andreflect the job experiences and lives of the members. Itmust aim to help members find solutions that will be ac-ceptable to both themselves and people in the localcommunity at large.

Training fordecision-making

Once members have an awareness of the basic issues, itbecomes necessary to train some representatives to beable to participate in advisory and decision-making bod-ies concerned with environmentally sustainable devel-opment at all levels. Most unions have identified asequence of training from general trade union develop-ment to specialized training, in occupational health andsafety or environment, for instance, to training in cam-paigns and specific issues, for instance on toxic waste.

While unions in industrialized countries may have the re-sources to follow through on this line of strategy, many un-ions in developing countries would probably find itdifficult to implement training on specific environmentalissues. Based on experience in environmental training sofar, it seems that integrating environmental issues into oc-cupational health and safety training programmes is agood path to take in the immediate term. (Although theissues raised in these booklets can also be integrated intoeducation and training dealing with such union issues ascollective bargaining, women’s rights, etc.)

Educating and training workers to become motivated toimprove working conditions has been a major concern oftrade unions in both industrialized and developing coun-tries for some time now. This has resulted in a network ofhealth and safety representatives and joint union-management committees at the workplace that are ca-pable of actively participating in decisions concerningsafety at work, of monitoring the workplace to identifyhazrads, and of initiating action to get rid of risks. It is asmall step to extend this to integrate environmental issuesinto the training of safety reps, especially in view of thelinks between safety and health and the environment.


Environmental auditing

One of the skills that union reps need to develop in thisarea is the ability to carry out environmental audits ofcompanies in much the same way as a health andsafety rep is trained to use a checklist to pinpoint work-place hazards. (See booklet 5 “The New BargainingAgenda” in the ILO “Workers’ education and Environ-ment” series.)

Training in skills will allow a union representative

to look at the environmental impact of a

company’s processes and products.

The aim of environmental auditing is to

determine and improve the environmental

performance of a company, to check

compliance with regulations and company

policy, and provide information on all aspects

of its environmental protection, including

employment and training implications.

Environmental bargaining

A large part of union education and training in environ-mental matters will also have to be aimed at communi-cat ion and bui ld ing l inks. Communicat ion wi thmanagement has always been part of trade union train-ing, and the same will be true of communication con-cerning environmental pol icies, as they take onincreasing importance in collective bargaining and ne-gotiation in joint workplace committees. (For more infor-mation on environmental bargaining see the ILO“Workers’ Education and Environment” booklets.)

It is at the level of the workplace that promotion of envi-ronmental standards can be maximized and measuresto control pollution put into effect. Environmental issuesare thus key workplace issues, so effective workplace or-ganization and policies are essential. Negotiators willtherefore also need access to union education on envi-ronmental issues and their links to other union areas ofconcern.


Building links with the community

The efforts that unions make to raise awareness amongand train their members can also improve their imagewithin the local community. Taking on and defending theinterests of a wider community can be used to raise theunion’s credibility, and as a recruiting tool, for instance inthe informal sector, or for appealing to women to take ona greater role in union affairs.

Indeed, Agenda 21 calls for trade unions to participate inenvironment and development activities within the com-munity and promote joint action on potential problemsof common concern. Joining up with other unions, localorganizations, environmental groups and people intocommunity coalitions can be a most effective means ofpromoting common policies.

Participation at national level

While the need for representation is of prime importanceat shopfloor level and in the local community, unions alsohave to be represented at national (and international)level, in decision-making, in monitoring the applicationof standards and in coalition-forming. Strengthening therole of trade unions in environmental policies and tripar-tite bargaining on them can only benefit all three socialpartners and facilitate the achievement of environmen-tally sustainable development.

As with work at the local level, trade unions will have to setaside both the time and the resources for education andtraining, information and technical backup to be able toparticipate effectively with their counterparts in industry,government and other organizations.

Participation at international level

This may seem very far removed from the everyday ex-periences and lives of “ordinary” workers, but it is impor-tant that we understand the global consequences ofenvironmental hazards. The industries and companiesthat are at the origin of much of the exploitation of re-sources and pollution are international. Standards varyfrom country to country, so that national policies andstrategies have to be backed up by effetcive means ofinternational cooperation and agreements.


Trade unions therefore need to have access to interna-tional bodies on environmental matters. As with any ne-gotiating process, unions will be more effective if theycan develop a common policy. International solidaritythrough close links with unions in different countries, pri-marily through the international trade union movement,is one way to advance this aim.

The international trade unions have three major func-tions, all of which are essential to global environment anddevelopment concerns:

u they help coordinate international solidarity;

u they represent the interests of workers in internationaland regional bodies; and they provide information,education and other services to affiliated unionsworldwide.

In this way, national unions can benefit from the informa-tion, experience, and training and assistance pro-grammes of international unions (and other internationalbodies), many of which have developed programmesaimed at addressing environmental issues.

Paid educationalleave.

We have seen that unions can have a great deal of influ-ence in educating and training for development of theirmembers’ skills. Negotiating for paid educational leavewill ensure that workers develop both new skills to meetchanging economic conditions and also increase theirawareness of, and involvement in finding solutions to, en-vironment and development problems.

Time off during working hours, with pay, has been crucialto the success of setting up trained health and safety rep-resentatives in many countries. Extending this right — bylaw or by collective bargaining — to workers trained inenvironmental matters could also be central to an effi-cient functioning of a strategy aimed at bringing man-agement and worke r s c lose r togethe r ove renvironmentally sustainable development.


Leadership training Training in environmentally-sustainable development is-sues is also necessary for union leaders, for it is the lead-ership that commits support — both morally andfinancially — for any union projects and campaigns. Ifthe leaders can be made aware of the linkages in allthese issues and their importance at all levels, then a un-ion with a dedicated leadership will have more chanceof really carrying out its responsibility to its members tomake sure their rights are not sacrificed in a changingworld.

The role of the leadership is especially important at the in-ternational level where they are probably the ones to beinvolved in negotiations. Education on the environmentallinks to political and international issues is especially im-portant in this context.


DISCUSSION POINTS ILO Convention 140 on Paid Educational Leavestates that countries that have ratified it shouldpromote the granting of paid educational leave forthe purposes of:

l training at any level;l general, social and civic education;l trade union education.

u If you are on a course right now, are you takingadvantage of paid educational leave?

u Has your country ratified Convention No. 140on Paid Educational Leave? If not, find out thereasons for this.

u Does your union take advantage of theprovisions found in the Convention that allowfor paid leave for union education, or iseducational leave a developed practice inyour country without the benefits of theConvention?

u Would ratification of this Convention bringadvantages in any way to your union?

Give examples with your answers.

Information Those union members who have been trained to repre-sent workers’ interests in environmental matters will needtechnical support to make sure that their training is usedto the best advantage. Technical support and advice forthe trained rep is of vital importance — reps who lacksupport will not be effective and will rapidly become dis-heartened.

Such support on the part of the union may take the formof inquiry services, field inspection services, documenta-tion, for instance from employers, manuals, agreements,legal standards, and promotion of awareness throughdistribution of circulars, pamphlets, bulletins, etc.

The trained representative should also expect all neces-sary information and support from employers. This couldinclude information on processes, accident and illnessstatistics, environmental monitoring results, etc; supportfor joint or union inspections; and a place to work with atleast a minimum of equipment such as a desk and lock-able filing cabinet. Such demands should be incorpo-rated into a collective agreement.

To complement union support, or where this sort ofbackup is not available, the environment representativewill know when and where to seek expert help or informa-tion and know how to evaluate that option. In this respectit may be worth exploring what specialist or technical oradvisory services exist locally — in research centres, gov-ernment agencies, non-governmental organizations,etc. — or even outside the country — other trade unioncontacts, international trade unions, UN agencies, for in-stance.


People need information on such areas as:

u The state of urban air, fresh water, land resources (including forests andrangeland), desertification, soil degradation, biodiversity, oceans, theupper atmosphere...

u population, urbanisation, poverty, health, rights of access to re-sources...

u the relationships of groups such as women, indigenous peoples, chil-dren and young people, the disabled, migrants, etc. with environmentand development issues...

Agenda 21

There is a wealth of information available that could beused for the management of sustainable development,but many people have trouble finding what they needwhen they need it. (Booklet 6 “Resources and Glossary” inthe ILO “Workers’ Education and Environment” series hasa list of international organizations that could be of inter-est. Many of these have catalogues of their publicationsthat they will be only too pleased to send to you, or other-wise help with your enquiries. Perhaps the most useful arethe International Trade Secretariats, international federa-tions of unions by sector.)

In many countries the information that exists remains hid-den from use because of a lack of awareness of its valueand availability, because of the demands of more press-ing problems, a lack of information technology or trainedspecialists, etc. This is especially true in the developingworld, and the gap in availability, quality and access todata between the industrialized and developing coun-tries is widening. Workers all over the world may find it use-ful to have access to, and training to use, theenvironmental and other data increasingly available onworld wide computer connections.

Information on sustainable development issues needs tobe provided to people who need it, when they need itand in a form they can understand. Commonly used in-dicators of development, such as GNP and measure-ments of individual resources or pollution do not provideenough information about sutainability. We need infor-mation on all the issues discussed in this booklet — envi-ronmental, social, political development, etc. — andmore, if we want to produce indicators that show us if weare creating a more sustainable world.



ACTIVITY:Finding and using information

AIMS:

u to find information and make priorities based on real problems

u to use this information to run an awareness campaign

TASKS:

u Find out your members’ problems, through a simple survey, andmake a list of the priority development issues as they affect yourmembers.

u List some environmental problems as they are affected by, andaffect, your workplace/living surroundings.

u Once you have a list, think about how and where to get local andnational information on your priority issues.

u Think about possible groups to join up with for your campaign.

u Using the information you have obtained outline a simple infor-mation campaign — posters, leaflets, meetings, for example —for local use in awareness raising.

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NotesNotes

FURTHER READING

u LabourEducation.Publishedfour timesperyear inEnglish,French and Spanish, by the Bureau for Workers’ Activities,ILO.

u Earth Summit Agenda 21, the United Nations Programmeof Action From Rio.

u HumanDevelopmentReport.1993and1995.UnitedNa-tions Development Programme.

u TheWorld’sWomen:TrendsandStatistics1970-1990,UN.

u The Practical Role of Trade Unions in Improving Environ-mental Protection and Sustainable Development: Back-ground paper for the ILO Symposium on Workers’Education and the Environment, Geneva, 6-8 0ctober1993.

u Environment, Employment and Training: How ThingsReally Happen. T. Alfthan, et al. 1989.


ILO publications can be

obtained through major

booksellers, or ILO local

offices in many countries,

or direct from

ILO Publications,

International Labour Office,

CH-1211 Geneva 22,

Switzerland,

A catalogue or list of new

publications will be sent free

of charge from the above

address.

Back to Trade Unions and Environmentally Sustainable DevelopmentBooklet 6 - Education and TrainingIntroductionEDUCATION AND TRAININGBasic education for allEducation for allDevelopment of skills and vocational trainingTrade union educationAwareness-raisingTraining for decision-makingPaid educational leaveLeadership trainingInformation

FURTHER READINGSee Booklet 7 of Using ILO Standards to Promote Environmentally Sustainable Development

booklet 6 education and training€¦ · it identifies several stages of education and training for...

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