Taking care of health and the environment at the workplace – training in Arusha

Arusha, Tanzania – Trade unionists from Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda came together to advance toward the sound management of chemicals. The event which took place from January 18 – 19, 2010 was organized by ITUC-Africa part of the joint UNEP-Sustainlabour programme on Labour and Environment.From March 8-9, 2010 in Accra, Ghana, a similar workshop will be held, this time for participants in francophone countries in Africa. Stay tuned for upcoming information.The workshop aimed to build a network of trade unionists in charge of management of chemical risk. The training session carried out focused on strengthening awareness of the health and environmental impacts of chemicals, and providing tools for addressing and reducing chemical risks at the workplace, ranging from practical information such as how to read a label, to how to include related provisions in collective agreements, or how to demand for the right to be informed and for the application of precautionary principle at the workplace.The seminar also aimed to improve knowledge on national legislations and references to international tools, ILO conventions, Stockholm, Basel and Rotterdam Conventions and SAICM (Strategic Approach to Chemicals Management). Leer más...

COP Side Event: Financing Climate Change

How much funding is lacking? Who should pay? Using what mechanisms? Toward what type of activities and sectors should investment made and how? There are some of the questions which will be covered during this seminar which will be held on Wednesday, December 16 in the World of Work Pavilion at 18:00 – 19:30.
The following trade union as well as civil society organizations will take part and present their positions on this issue: ITUC, ETUC; COSATU - South Africa, GEFONT and NTUC – Nepal, CCOO – Spain, Oxfam, Climate Justice and Sustainlabour.
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COP Side Event: Women Workers and Green Jobs

Where does equality remain in the promotion of green jobs? If green employment represents the jobs of the future, they must also be jobs for women. Is this variable integrated into current proposals? The Sustainlabour Foundation and the ITUC have opened a debate as part of the first reflection on this issue in the form of a draft report entitled ¨Women Workers and Green Jobs: Employment, Equity and Equality¨ to be presented Wednesday, December 16 in the World of Work Pavilion at 15:00 – 16:00.
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Preparations for Copenhangen – the trade union WoW pavilion

During the COP15 Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, the Danish trade union LO-Denmark will open the doors to its building for the World of Work (WoW) Pavilion from December 14 – 16, 2009. During three days the pavilion will host various trade union activities.
Among the activities set to take place, Sustainlabour will participate in the organization of two events on Wednesday, December 16. In addition, as part of the joint UNEP/Sustainlabour programme on Labour and Environment, Sustainlabour will provide assistance to the trade union delegation and facilitate the participation unionists in the negotiation processes.
Finally the premier of a video, produced jointly by Sustainlabour and the ITUC, about Trade Unions and Climate Change will be held at the closing of the WoW Pavilion in the Worker´s Museum on December 16, from 20:00 to 22:00.

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Women Workers and Green Jobs report

“Green jobs should be unionised jobs where concerted efforts are made to employ, recruit, train, pay equitably and organise women”, a sentiment reflected in the Sustainlabour-ITUC joint preliminary report entitled ¨Women Workers and Green Jobs: employment, equity and equality¨ and presented recently at ITUC´s first World Women’s Conference held on October 19 – 21, 2009 in Brussels. The report explores the creation of green jobs in various sectors; analyzes to what extent women workers have access to these positions; the necessary policy measures that must be adapted to ensure the inclusion of the gender dimension into the green jobs agenda, and the role of unions in the organization of women workers in the emerging green economy. This draft will be presented at the Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen in December.
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Climate change talks in Barcelona

Held from 2-6 November 2009, the Barcelona Climate Change meeting represents the final round of negotiations before the Conference in Copenhagen. The talks which will be attended by over 4,000 delegates and international observers will aim to draw up a text for an agreement at COP15 and will cover themes such as Adaptation, Mitigation, Financing, and Technology Transfer.
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