A key element of Canadian action on climate change must be a plan to ensure that workers in affected sectors are not made to bear the brunt of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Just Transition, developed by the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union and supported by both the Alberta Federation of Labour and the Canadian Labour Congress, is a program designed to ensure that workers are given the training necessary to transition into jobs created in emerging industries.

While over a million jobs will be created in the next decade even if Kyoto is ratified, certain sectors will see a reduction in jobs. The solution to this shift in jobs is not to forego action on climate change, but to ensure that those who do lose their jobs are given options, particularly in those related sectors experiencing overall growth.

The elements of a successful Just Transition program include:

• Training and educational opportunities that allow workers to upgrade their skills for the jobs that are being created;

• Early notice of layoffs, so that workers can access counselling and training/educational programs quickly;

• Income support for displaced workers for up to three years–depending on time in the energy workforce–to enable workers to take advantage of training and educational opportunities;

• Peer counselling to assess workers’ needs, and analysis of labour market needs; and

• Relocation funds, up to a maximum of $15,000 per worker, for those who must move in order to find new work.

A conservative estimate of the cost of such a program would be about $1 billion over ten years. For more information on Just Transition, see the report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives called Making Kyoto Work, available online at www.policyalternatives.ca.