Background
As citizens, we can vote for political parties or engage in the climate and environmental movement. As consumers, we can influence our own carbon footprint through consumption habits and everyday choices. But what about the workplace? Do we, as employees, have the power to influence the climate and environmental footprint there?
To prevent workers from being bystanders in the climate transition, both union representatives and researchers have called for clearer action options in the important social arena that the workplace represents. The local cooperation between employers and employees, and the collective agreements that this is based on, are cornerstones of the Norwegian labor model, and awareness of the potential to anchor the transition work in this is increasing.
The entire public sector in Norway must be fully mobilised to address the climate crisis, and municipalities have a particularly important role. The municipal sector has over half a million employees. If these are involved in climate work, it will set the standard for the rest of the labor market.
The Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS), which negotiates on behalf of all Norwegian municipalities except Oslo municipality, and the trade unions in the municipal sector have agreed in their main agreement that environmental, climate, and sustainability work should be part of the local cooperation between employers and employees. In other words, the municipality's climate and environmental measures should be discussed with the employees' representatives.
About the project
In this project, we examine the conditions for green cooperation between employers and employees in the municipal sector.
The project addresses the following questions:
- Why should local cooperation between employers and employees prioritise climate and sustainability transition work?
- How can the purpose declaration of the main agreement be translated into local practice?
- How can union representatives engage in climate and environmental transition?
- How can the unions facilitate their own representatives' participation in such work?
- How can the municipality as an employer facilitate such an expanded understanding of cooperation between employers and employees?
We attempt to answer these questions through reflective conversations and interviews with stakeholders in the labor market, as well as through case studies that provide relevant experiences in organisational policy development.
Collaboration
The project is part of the research center Include and is a collaboration between researchers at the University of Oslo, the Norwegian Union of Teachers, the Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees, the Norwegian Society of Engineers and Technologists (NITO), and the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS).
Duration
2020 – 2024