1 December 2025: booked up: Convention/Conference : Labour Environmentalism: Crisis, Perspectives and Strategies

Workshop A1: Historical and current experiences of environmental destruction and health problems in coal mining – connections between labour and environmental struggles?

This workshop focuses on the experiences of coal miners and the question of social and individual relationships with nature (external nature – human nature). The strong relationship between coal workers and their working environment is well known: in addition to pride in their work, identification and cultural imprinting typical of cooperative shift work are also common, and an emotional connection to coal is evident. However, interviews also regularly report on the negative consequences of coal mining, such as lack of self-care, illness, accidents and death. The sadness about lost places and feelings of powerlessness also testify to ambivalence. The workshop will first present research interviews and other material and provide insight into social science empiricism: the experiences of coal miners can be heard in anonymised form. This will then be the subject of a discussion between researchers and practitioners from East and West. The central question here is: How can ambivalent experiences with one's own and external nature in coal mining, its mastery and its consequences be incorporated into the negotiation of conflicts in the mining areas?

Language: German

Coordinators: Virginia Kimey Pflücke (postdoctoral researcher, economic and labour sociology, BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg); Janina Puder (visiting professor, socio-ecological transformation, BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg); Discussion with Maximilian Hauer (co-author: Climate and Capitalism, 2024) and partners from trade unions, works councils and socio-ecological protests.

Workshop B1: Transformation and co-determination: Between optimism, fears and right-wing successes. Perspectives from Europe and Argentina – Part 1

The workshop consists of two interrelated parts. The overarching goal is to analyse current right-wing authoritarian mobilisations in the transformation process and to discuss whether and to what extent democratic participation in the world of work is suitable for countering them. In the first part, international perspectives on the rise of right-wing and climate-sceptical parties will be examined, with a particular focus on the working class, and discussed in a country-by-country and North-South comparison. We will first focus on Europe and Germany, then contrast this with Argentina, where the extreme right-wing Milei government represents an anti-state, anti-union and anti-ecological government project that nevertheless enjoys considerable support among workers. In the second part, we will look for starting points for political practice in the world of work. We present both comprehensive economic transformation concepts and concrete case studies that show the conditions under which the democratic shaping of transformation processes fails or succeeds. Among other things, we discuss the role of property structures and (lack of) co-determination in different sectors. 

Part 1: Stocktaking and international perspectives

• Andreas Hövermann (WSI): Fears of transformation as fuel for right-wing mobilisation – democratic participation as the answer
• Sol Klas & Gerardo Juara (Frente Sindical de Acción Climática, Argentinien): Unions’ Climate Action in light of current challenges (online, translation via Zoom)
• Introduction and moderation: Anne Tittor (SFB 294 ‘Structural Change of Property’, University of Jena) & Neva Löw (WSI)

Language: The workshop will be held in a hybrid format in German and Spanish. Spanish-German translation of both parts of the workshop will be provided via Zoom. Anyone in Berlin who wishes to follow the Spanish translation will need their own internet-enabled device (e.g. smartphone) and suitable headphones.

Coordinators: Max Knapp (AK Vienna), Steffen Liebig, Maria Pfeiffer & Anne Tittor (SFB 294 ‘Structural Change of Property’, University of Jena), Neva Löw & Stefan Schoppengerd (WSI), in cooperation with the Momentum Institute & the TraSAs network

Workshop C1: On the ecology of living labor. Exhaustion of workers and nature – the example of the transnational car and battery production

In most discussions that seek to bring work and ecology together, the focus has so far been on securing jobs: The restructuring of the coal and steel industries, but also of the automotive industry, should be carried out in a “socially acceptable” manner, for example through retraining or social safety nets. There is nothing wrong with social security, but this falls short of an “labor environmentalism” perspective”. Work and nature are not separate spheres. Rather, work is linked to human vitality, i.e., to humans as social beings, e.g., their strength, spontaneity, and creativity. Accordingly, the exhaustion of humans and nature must be viewed as interconnected. 

The workshop will focus on this connection between the depletion of nature and human exhaustion, using the example of today's automobile and battery production. On the one hand, the globally destructive natural conditions (keyword: lithium production) will be examined. On the other hand, the workshop will also explicitly address the current industrial working conditions in (electric) car and battery production in Europe, as these are largely unknown in many ecological discussions to date. The aim of the workshop is to use concrete examples (from Hungary, Italy, France, Germany and elsewhere) to discuss the relationship between exploitation and the exhaustion of nature and workers, and to debate the political consequences. 

Language: English (with translation into German and possibilities of German contributions)

Coordinator: Stefanie Hürtgen (Universität Salzburg) with inputs by Krisztofer Bodor (Periféria Policy and Research Center, Budapest), Angelo Moro (Universität Pisa) and Clelia La Vigni (Scuola Normale Florence).

Workshop D1: Subjective barriers to transformation and how to overcome them: Workplace experiences and potential for action in the socio-ecological transformation

From a workplace- and subject-centred perspective, this workshop explores possible entry points for social-ecological policies among employee groups that tend to be skeptical of climate policy and movements. The focus is on non-academic, manual-technical occupations and thus precisely on groups that work in sectors central to climate policy, such as construction, energy, chemicals and automotive. In surveys on climate attitudes, they tend to be less concerned and engaged with environmental issues, but more open to right-wing authoritarian, anti-democratic political agendas. This finding is especially significant as it is precisely these groups that need to be involved for a successful ecological transformation. The workshop explores the limits of socially acceptable transformation approaches and focuses on the subjectivities of employees and their specific patterns of experience and interpretation in order to understand and, in perspective, overcome subjective and socio-structural barriers to transformation. For example, what role do concrete work experiences play in negative attitudes towards climate policy regulations and actors? What disruptions and contradictions can be found here? Finally, the socio-ecological potential for agency of these groups will be identified and discussed from a trade union and climate policy perspective.

Language: German

Coordinators: Hans Rackwitz, Thomas Barth (beide IfS Frankfurt am Main), mit Inputs von Ronja Endres (PECO e.V.), Dirk und Nelia (Klimastreik Bern)

Workshop E1: Which labour strategies for social-ecological transformation conflicts? Lessons from an international selection of case studies and current struggles – Part 1

This two-part workshop focuses on recent developments in the automotive industry that have placed socio-ecological transformation at the center of discussion. We aim to assess whether mainstream trade unions’ Just Transtition framework is fit to address the current conflicts. Drawing on recent European industrial experiences, we will first identify the obstacles that ecological conversion proposals are currently facing. Building on this analysis, we will then bridge labor environmentalism with debates on trade union renewal strategies to explore how these challenges might be addressed.

Part 1: The limits of an Ecomodernist Just Transition: Comparative case studies

This session will address both theoretical and practical strategic discussions. We will start with a brief theoretical approach to the limits of an Ecomodernist Just Transition strategy. Then, we will address two experiences: LAB trade union’s fight for the ecological conversion of Mecaner Urduliz (Basque Country), and the ongoing struggle of the factory collective of ex-GKN workers at Campi Bisenzio (Italy), who fight for the ecological conversion of their plant. The experiences at Mecaner Urduliz and ex-GKN will then be compared to the fight against layoffs at the German supplier Mahle, which was more akin to an Ecomodernist Just Transition Strategy. After a brief discussion amongst the participants, we will introduce some strategic hypothesis for an ecosocialist trade union renewal.

Language: English

Coordinators: Julia Kaiser (Universität Leipzig), Katharina Keil (University of Lausanne), Martín Lallana (LAB trade union – Basque Country)

Workshop F1: Different roads, shared horizons: Building rank-and-file power and leveraging top-down partnerships between labour and climate movements – Part 1 

This two-part workshop brings together organizers and researchers to learn from three primary case studies spanning the spectrum from rank-and-file-led action to top-down policy successes through organizational partnerships. Despite differences in industry, country, and approach, our shared analysis of these movements will spark strategic takeaways for participants. Both workshop parts can be attended independently. Engaging in both is encouraged for participants aiming to explore the interaction between top-down and bottom-up strategies and gain practical takeaways tailored to their own challenges. 

Part 1: From the Shop Floor Up – Worker and Activist Protagonism in Italy and Germany

This session grounds us in the lived experience of rank-and-file leadership. Highlighting GKN in Florence and hosting presentations from workers involved in the Enel coal plant struggle in Torrevaldaliga Nord, Italy, and Verkehrswendestadt Wolfsburg (“Transport Transition City Wolfsburg”), we will share first-hand accounts of how worker/activist protagonism emerged and shifted their movements. Through collaboratively built timelines and actor maps, we’ll trace strategies, breakthroughs, and limits. The Just Transition Partnership in Scotland—founded by the Scottish Trades Union Congress and Friends of the Earth—appears here as a contrasting case: a strong top-down coalition that doesn’t operate at plant or grassroots levels. We’ll explore why, and where future openings might lie. This first session is more front-facing, grounding participants in workers’ perspectives before moving to applied strategy in the following session. 

Participants need not be involved in labor or climate movements; we will provide case studies for those coming from other vantage points or seeking to think beyond their immediate struggles.

Language: English

Coordinators: Aaron Niederman (Fellow of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation), Anne Moeller (University of Flensburg), Marco Caligari (University of Ferrara), Matthew Crighton (Just Transition Partnership) 

Workshop A2: Labour and the socio-ecological transformation of the agro-industry

Modern agro-industrial farming and value chains contribute considerably to the double ecological crisis of mass extinction and the climate emergency. From the left, food sovereignty and small-scale farming are usually put forward as the alternative. This is despite the fact that agro-industrial value chains are increasingly dependent on precariarised migrant workers, both in the plantations of the Global South and in the capital intensive farming systems in Europe, North America and China. What role can workers play in transforming these industries? Can climate justice and food sovereignty movements create alliances with labour? And how can a meaningful transnational solidarity be built along the value chain? The workshop explores these questions by examining the development of a just transition perspective in the palm oil industry in Indonesia. Inputs on how workers, trade unions and environmental justice activists linked social and ecological questions in the plantations, on the transformative vision is being put forward, and first steps towards transnational collaboration are presented for a comparative and critical reflection. Responses reflect on how social-ecological transformation strategies could become relevant for further processing in the food industry, and whether a just transition perspective could also be applied to migrant labour in European agriculture. 

Language: English and Indonesian 

Workshop coordinator: Oliver Pye (University of Bonn), with presentations and inputs by Hotler Zidane Parsaroan (Sawit Watch, Indonesien), Damar Panca Mulya (KPBI Konfederasi Persatuan Buruh Indonesia), Benjamin Luig (IG Bau) and Astrid Kaag (FNV, Federation of Dutch Trade Unions).

Workshop B2: Transformation and co-determination: Between optimism, fears and right-wing successes. Perspectives from Europe and Argentina – Part 2

The workshop consists of two interrelated parts. The overarching goal is to analyse current right-wing authoritarian mobilisations in the transformation process and to discuss whether and to what extent democratic participation in the world of work is suitable for countering them. In the first part, international perspectives on the rise of right-wing and climate-sceptic parties will be examined, with a particular focus on the working class, and discussed in a country-by-country and North-South comparison. We will first focus on Europe and Germany, then contrast this with Argentina, where the extreme right-wing Milei government represents an anti-state, anti-union and anti-ecological government project that nevertheless enjoys considerable support among workers. In the second part, we will look for starting points for political practice in the world of work. We present both comprehensive economic transformation concepts and concrete case studies that show the conditions under which the democratic shaping of transformation processes fails or succeeds. Among other things, we discuss the role of property structures and (lack of) co-determination in different sectors. 

Teil 2: Transformation plans and case studies

• Max Knapp (AK Vienna): A transformation for the many. The model of the Chamber of Labour as a third, democratic option alongside fossil fuel persistence and disempowering transformation from above.
• Andrea Müller (F.A.T.K., University of Tübingen) & Maria Pfeiffer (SFB 294 ‘Structural Change of Property’, University of Jena): Municipal infrastructure companies in socio-ecological restructuring. Are public welfare orientation and employee co-determination factors for success?
• Johannes Specht (WSI): ‘First comes food, then morality?’ Obstacles and opportunities for socio-ecological transformation in the meat industry
• Introduction and moderation: Steffen Liebig (SFB 294 ‘Structural Change of Property’, University of Jena) & Stefan Schoppengerd (WSI) 

Language: The workshop will be held in a hybrid format in German and Spanish. There will be a Spanish-German translation of both parts of the workshop via Zoom. Anyone in Berlin who wishes to follow the Spanish translation will need their own internet-enabled device (e.g. smartphone) and suitable headphones.

Coordinators: Max Knapp (AK Vienna), Steffen Liebig, Maria Pfeiffer & Anne Tittor (SFB 294 ‘Structural Change in Property’, University of Jena), Neva Löw & Stefan Schoppengerd (WSI), in cooperation with the Momentum Institute & the TraSAs network

Workshop C2: Solidarity alliances in Grünheide – realities, opportunities, challenges 

This workshop will examine the ‘ecology of work’ based on the Tesla car factory in Grünheide and the associated struggles and resistance. To this end, the workshop aims to bring together activists involved in the respective struggles on site and facilitate a practical exchange. They will have the opportunity to report on their struggles. Afterwards, the main focus will be on the question of a joint alliance. We want to talk about what practical experiences we have with each other, what challenges solidarity alliances face and what opportunities they offer. Finally, the experiences will be linked to general social developments and questions of strategic networking elsewhere. The workshop ties in with various perspectives on care (work), mutual care for workers and care for/with nature.  Participants in the discussion: climate activists from the Grünheide citizens' initiative and/or Tesla den Hahn abdrehen; full-time and/or volunteer trade unionists from IG Metall Fangschleuse and/or non-unionised workers from the factory; critical academics from the Industrial Labour in the Social-Ecological Transformation working group.

Language: German

Coordinators: Valeria Bruschi, Friedemann Wiese (Fellow at the Rosa-Luxemburg-Foundation)

Workshop D2: Perspectives on work in the ecological crisis: Industrial workers between decarbonisation and militarisation 

As a fundamental part of daily life, work plays an important role in shaping political and normative orientations. In order to understand the attitudes of industrial workers towards the ecological crisis, it is therefore necessary to focus more closely than before on their working reality as a living environment. It is crucial to note that the working environment in industry is currently undergoing fundamental change. In addition to digitalisation, decarbonisation and, more recently, militarisation are driving forces of change. This is happening against the backdrop of a tense geopolitical situation in times of global upheaval. The dynamics of change are encountering a situation that has been characterised for many years by work intensification, site closures and relocations, and constant internal restructuring. In this situation, trade unions, works councils and employees find themselves increasingly caught in a dilemma between job preservation, socio-political demands and the requirements of a fundamental socio-ecological transformation. In this workshop, we want to take a look at how this dilemma affects the attitudes of employees. We will discuss initial insights from two research projects in a transdisciplinary context with representatives from academia, businesses and social movements. 

Language: German

Coordinators: Jenny Simon, Tobias Kalt, Markus Wissen (all HWR Berlin), Rhonda Koch (research assistant to the works council at VW Baunatal), with contributions from Stefan Nagel (IG Metall union representative at BMW Leipzig), N.N. (Fridays goes industry) 

Workshop E2: Which labour strategies for social-ecological transformation conflicts? Lessons from an international selection of case studies and current struggles at Volkswagen Osnabrück – Part 2

Recent developments in the automotive industry have once again clearly shown that the transformation of the sector has long since reached the factories: as a crisis that entails drastic cuts for employees, whether through the ‘socially acceptable’ cutting of thousands of jobs or entire factory closures, as in the case of Ford Saarlouis or possibly the Volkswagen plant in Osnabrück. The recent escalation of events at Volkswagen illustrates yet again that the traditional tools for a so-called Just Transition in the realm of a so-called “social partnership”, which have long guided German trade unions and works councils are reaching their limits. To quote a works council member: ‘A future collective agreement is not a sustainable product.’

Part 2: The case of Volkswagen Osnabrück

The second slot of the workshop will focus on the case of Volkswagen Osnabrück. Osnabrück is a hotspot for the battle over the form of conversion: towards the military and violence or towards a socio-ecological future. VW wants to stop building cars there from 2027. Rheinmetall has already described the VW plant as well suited for the construction of military vehicles. What is the situation at the plant and what are viable ways forward in this context?

Language: German

Coordinators: Mario Candeias (Rosa-Luxemburg-Foundation), with inputs from Stephan Krull (coordinator GK Zukunft Auto.Umwelt.Mobilität), Eckhardt Hirschbaum (Works Council VW Osnabrück)

Workshop F2: Different roads, shared horizons: Building rank-and-file power and leveraging top-down partnerships between labour and climate movements – Part 2 

This two-part workshop brings together organizers and researchers to learn from three primary case studies spanning the spectrum from rank-and-file-led action to top-down policy successes through organizational partnerships. Despite differences in industry, country, and approach, our shared analysis of these movements will spark strategic takeaways for participants. Both workshop parts can be attended independently. Engaging in both is encouraged for participants aiming to explore the interaction between top-down and bottom-up strategies and gain practical takeaways tailored to their own challenges. 

Part 2: From the Framework Down – Informing Local Strategies with Scottish Insights 

This interactive session invites participants to bring their own contexts. We’ll explore how individual actors—activists, union officials, or workers—can catalyze top-down structures and binding agreements that support grassroots organizing and systemic change. Drawing on the Just Transition Partnership framework, we’ll apply its elements to the Italian and German cases. We’ll explore how worker and activist engagement can reinforce top-down initiatives, using examples like Wir fahren zusammen (We ride together) in Germany. Finally, we’ll co-create strategies with participants that reflect these insights.  

Participants need not be involved in labor or climate movements; we will provide case studies for those coming from other vantage points or seeking to think beyond their immediate struggles.

Language: English

Coordinators: Aaron Niederman (Fellow of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation), Anne Moeller (University of Flensburg), Marco Caligari (University of Ferrara), Matthew Crighton (Just Transition Partnership) 

Workshop A3: State, capital and subalterns in the conflict zone of green extractivism in Chile 

The workshop discusses socio-ecological conflicts in the Chilean mining sector, which are changing in the wake of the global energy transition. From an interdisciplinary perspective, it analyses the roles of the state and capital in the contested reproduction of the capitalist extractivist order and the resistance to it, particularly on the part of trade unions, workers and indigenous peoples. At its best, this scientific investigation contributes to enriching political work by highlighting the intertwining of conflicts over labour, nature and ways of life. It also opens up a space to consider how conflicts over and movements for climate justice, workers' rights and against glocal exploitation can be linked. The workshop will begin with a film screening showing the ecological and social consequences of lithium mining in Chile's Salar de Atacama, introduced and accompanied by director Juan Donoso. Next, Nina Schlosser will present the findings of her dissertation on the contested lithium extractivism in Chile. She outlines the prevailing power relations and shows, along the dominant structures, what resistance and contradictions arise from the struggle for a lithium consensus and how they are strategically dealt with and what the consequences are. Andrés Alvarez will then talk more specifically about the role of trade unions in this context, which are often caught in the dilemma of having to choose between jobs and environmental protection and play an ambivalent role. Finally, there will be room for open discussion.

Language: German

Coordinators: Andrés Alvarez Falconí, Nina Schlosser (HWR Berlin, University of Vienna), Juan Donoso 

Workshop B3: Realistic visions – versus utopian capitalism

Technocratic elite management is giving way towards authoritarian voluntarism. This popular authoritarianism cannot be defeated on the basis of the status quo ante. Responses need to be visionary and real.  However, today’s rational realism is lacking any vision, while at the same time being utopian. It is based on the implicit assumption that the world can continue to grow with 3,5% annually and double global output every 20 years. Is de-growth an alternative and what would it mean for economic policy? Hansjörg Herr will discuss how to square the circle of maintaining a dynamic and innovative economy while stopping the profit driven logic towards ever increasing economic growth.  

The further the environmental crisis is advancing the greater the risk of eco-dictatorial regimes as the default option to subordinate diverging interests under the imperative of ecological survival.  The willingness of an increasing number of governments including western liberal democracies to abandon any serious commitment towards human rights are in this context an alarming expression of declining willingness to maintain basic human rights principles while pursuing national interests. Frank Hoffer will discuss how the shift from often criticised  human rights double standards to a world of zero-standards requires a more peoples and solidarity instead of state-centred approach to defend and advance basic human rights and democratic standards. Spontaneous one-time mobilisation events have proven to be highly ineffective forms of political protest, giving the illusion of resistance while lacking any substantial impact. Moving beyond ad-hoc mobilisations and mere resistance to deep organising and sustained organising for socio-ecological transformation requires a model of permanent, emancipatory worker education.  The Global Labour University uses this approach as a strategy to combine ideas, knowledge and action. Edlira Xhafa will present the experiences of the GLU with blended learning as a way to translate ideas and visions into action.  

Language: English

Coordinators: Frank Hoffer, Edlira Xhafa (both Global Labour University), Hansjörg Herr (HWR Berlin)

Workshop C3: The ‘Teslaisation’ of the German automotive industry? On the transformation of work, production and employment

The German automotive industry is in a deep crisis. While local manufacturers and suppliers are terminating social partnership agreements and cutting jobs, new Chinese and American competitors are establishing themselves in the e-mobility market. The workshop will shed light on this dual upheaval of ecological modernisation and geo-economic power shifts. In addition to providing an overview of the effects of the dual transformation on the quality of work and employment at existing locations, the workshop will also focus on new players. Both the US electric car manufacturer Tesla and the Chinese global market leader in battery manufacturing CATL have opened production sites in Germany. However, the Tesla Gigafactory in Grünheide and CATL in Arnstadt have made negative headlines: both locations are characterised by stressful working conditions and high staff turnover and are considered hostile to co-determination and trade unions. Are the two companies pioneers of a momentous restructuring of the German automotive industry? After three short keynote speeches, we will discuss conflicts surrounding the transformation of work and production and the prospects for a socio-ecological transformation in the (German) automotive industry.

Language: German

Coordinators: Stefan Schmalz, Karla Zierold, Sophie Steidel, Sabrina Stangl, Mara Schaffer (all University of Jena)

Workshop D3: Labour, ecology and socialisation: historical lessons and perspectives for industrial restructuring from below

The intensified debate on the relationship between work and ecology has been accompanied by increased interest in historical struggles around democratizing the economy. Nevertheless, current debates often focuses on the few positive examples visible today, thus remaining disconnected from historical continuities and the rich wealth of experience of the labour movement. The number of empirical studies on the history of the relationship between work and nature also remains limited. Yet previous research suggests that historical perspectives offer considerable potential for the search for practical approaches and strategies that are appropriate to the crises of our time. On the one hand, this potential lies in reconstructing the debates and experiences of the historical labour movement with regard to issues of socio-ecological transformation, economic democracy and socialisation. On the other hand, looking to the past offers opportunities to examine the connection between metabolic regimes and labour relations more closely. The workshop will therefore focus on the question of how ahistorical perspective on  labour, ecology and the question of socialisation can fill and complement gaps in the current labour environmentalism debate. To what extent are historical struggles over labour, ecology and property comparable to today's conflicts? What conditions have changed, and to what extent do historical perspectives need to be updated for the crises of our time? What insights can be gained from the history of the labour movement for an emergent politics of labour ecology?

Language: German

Coordinators: Jary Koch (ZZF Potsdam), Maximilian Wilken (communia/WZB) with inputs by Solveig Degen (HU Berlin), Ralf Hoffrogge (Berlin/ZZF Potsdam, freelancer writer) und Jary Koch.

Workshop E3: Producing the mobility transition!

How can public investment in rail infrastructure promote growth and employment – and what contribution can the domestic rail industry make? These questions are addressed in the workshop ‘Producing the mobility transition!’. Based on the latest results of an input-output analysis for Austria and Germany, we show the economic potential of expanding rail infrastructure. In addition, we use a qualitative analysis to highlight the special characteristics of the Austrian rail industry: crisis-resilient, innovative, sustainable and characterised by good working conditions – an ideal lever for socio-ecological transformation. The workshop will discuss key challenges and policy options. After a presentation on the topic, participants will work in small groups to develop concrete policy proposals for strengthening the sector. The aim is to identify ways of strengthening the political will for a mobility transition – so that the railway industry can become the driving force behind a socio-ecological economy.

Language: German 

Coordinators: Laura Porak and Lukas Cserjan (University of Linz)

Workshop F3: The future construction site: climate, labour and alliances in the construction sector 

The construction industry is a prime example of the ecological crisis facing the world of work, whether through its consumption of resources, land sealing and, in particular, concrete production, which alone accounts for around eight per cent of global CO₂ emissions. This is leading to increasing resistance, from protests against large-scale projects and motorways to blockades of gravel pits and cement works. There is also growing discussion of a ‘construction revolution’ — away from reinforced concrete and mass new construction towards renewable materials and building renovation. However, the perspective of workers in the construction industry is usually left out of the equation. As the ‘climate precariat’, construction workers are not only particularly affected by fine dust, increasing extreme weather events, etc., but also have the specific technical and social knowledge that could be central to a socio-ecological transformation. That is why we want to use this workshop to explore possible alliances between the climate and trade union movements in the construction industry. Based on input on existing strategies (including the ‘Heat Strike’ campaign in the UK) and from various perspectives from academia, activism and trade unions, we want to discuss strategic directions for labour environmentalism in the construction industry. In addition, we would like to initiate the development of joint demands and possible ideas for action – especially with regard to care as resistance practices. Method: Short inputs from different perspectives followed by small group discussions and a plenary session to gather everyone's thoughts.

Language: German 

Coordinators: Matthias Schmelzer (University of Flensburg), Nils Urbanus (Werkstatt für Gewaltfreie Aktion, End Cement)