Environmental movements and labour unions have traditionally been seen as pursuing different goals: one fights for the environment, the other for workers’ rights. Environmental thinking should, however, shift from curbing individual consumption to rethinking how work is organised, says researcher Ville Kellokumpu, who seeks to involve labour unions in the fight.
The prevailing approach to addressing the ecological crisis is ineffective, and environmental movements lack sufficient strategic power to advance their goals. This is the opinion of Ville Kellokumpu, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oulu, who believes that advancing sustainability transformation requires new ways of thinking and models of action.
”The strategies of environmental movements often focus on raising awareness and reducing individual consumption. Yet, this approach fails to translate into the necessary societal action and political power required for sustainability transformation,” Kellokumpu says.
Kellokumpu has turned his attention to the working class. In his postdoctoral research in human geography, he examines the class politics of climate change and the strategic role of labour unions in a sustainability transformation. The aim is to explore how to appeal to the workers at the core of production systems and, in doing so, build broader political power to address the eco-crisis.
Observations from the forestry sector led Kellokumpu to his research topic already during his doctoral studies. The question of workers’ and labour unions’ agency in the transformation of production systems arose as he examined the structural changes in the forest industry and the shape of the forest bioeconomy. This inspired him to consider potential connections between the goals of labour unions and environmental movements.
“In my research, I examine whether environmental thinking has neglected the class perspective and the political agency of the working class. I believe that labour unions, particularly in industrial sectors, could play a central role in advancing changes with significant environmental implications by building societal power to support these demands.”
The role of labour unions in sustainability transformation has recently been examined through the framework of just transition. However, broader exploration of the relationship between the ecological crisis and class has received less attention. It is this gradually expanding academic discussion that Kellokumpu contributes to with his research. For example, Matt Huber’s book Climate Change as Class War (2022), addresses the class dimension of climate change from the perspective of work organisation and labour unions. Huber argues that workers and labour unions in industries critical to sustainability transformation are the key actors with whom partnerships should be developed.
Reorienting thinking from consumption to production
Kellokumpu raises a concern that prevailing environmental thinking places too much emphasis on consumption. As a result, responsibility shifts to individual consumers, leading to the depoliticisation of the issue. Another weakness of this consumption-focused approach is its inability to appeal to a broader audience beyond the consumption-conscious, highly educated middle class. This makes it challenging to create a broader societal vision that unites different social classes.
The real challenge for environmental movements is to convince the general public of the necessity of a sustainability transformation for themselves as well. According to Kellokumpu, environmental movements stumble on the assumption that the more they communicate the catastrophic elements of climate change, the more public awareness will be raised, which in turn will change people’s behavior or compel politicians to take the issue seriously.
“It has become clear, however, that this approach does not work as expected. The strategy of raising awareness has not succeeded in reaching a broader audience, nor does it connect with those workers whose primary interest is securing their jobs and livelihoods.”
From the perspective of workers in industrial sectors, the sustainability transformation can threaten jobs and lead to economic incecurity. Many are therefore concerned that environmental policies may not be implemented in a fair manner.
Kellokumpu aims to dismantle these political deadlocks in understanding the ecological crisis by shifting the focus from consumption to production and the organisation of work. He hopes that this change in perspective could open new pathways for environmental actions that are both politically and economically relevant to a broader segment of the population.
“We need broader strategic consideration of how the sustainability transformation can deliver employment, livelihood, and economic security, especially for the working class in economically vulnerable positions.”
Labour unions as strategic actors in the sustainability transformation
In his research, Kellokumpu also examines two industries central to the sustainability transformation – electricity and forestry – and their respective labour unions. Through these sectors, he seeks to understand how labour unions and environmental movements might collaborate in the ecological reconstruction of industry.
“Workers and labour unions in industrial sectors are at the core of production systems that must be transformed and thus hold a significant position as we transition to new forms of work and production within ecological constraints. They have the opportunity to bring forward various demands in societal discourse and political decisionmaking.”
According to Kellokumpu, the current structure of the forestry industry, for example, does not fit within the boundaries set by the sustainability transformation. This is a result of the industry’s prolonged structural shift, which has led to a low-value-added production model: the decline in paper demand has been offset by products like cellulose and cardboard. At the same time, the economic value added in relation to the wood raw material used has decreased. This has resulted in increased logging pressure, alongside reductions in excess capacity and jobs.
Indeed, the past few years in the forestry industry have been marked by significant changes in the labour market. In 2020, the Finnish Forest Industries Federation (Metsäteollisuus ry) withdrew from sectoral collective labour agreements, shifting contract negotiations to the company level. This change led to a 112-day strike at UPM’s plants in early 2022 as new collective agreements were negotiated.
Kellokumpu is particularly interested in the agency of labour unions and workers in this context. His aim is to listen to and understand their perspectives on the transformation within their industry.
“Workers in these sectors are, quite justifiably, concerned about their jobs and livelihoods, given the past developments. The risk is that a transformation left solely to market forces would largely leave these people on their own, with little support.”
How, then, can the ecological restructuring of industry be advanced in a way that also safeguards workers’ interests? Kellokumpu highlights a proposal from the BIOS Research Unit, which suggests science-driven economic planning mechanisms[1] where workers and labour unions are included as central actors in the planning process.
Kellokumpu himself delves into this by examining the points of intersection and, conversely, the tensions between the goals of industry labour unions and environmental movements. The aim is to build connections that could enable partnerships and politically impactful joint action to address the ecological crisis in a just manner. While discussions around a just transition have gradually made their way into the labour movement, actual alliances between environmental movements and trade unions are, according to Kellokumpu, still in their very early stages.
“It is necessary to take a broader look at what kind of actor the labour movement is within the sustainability transition and in relation to nature.”
You can follow Ville Kellokumpu’s work on X: @spatial_politiq.
Pictures: Kati Leinonen
[1] Järvensivu, P., Toivanen, T., Vadén T., Lähde V., Majava, A., Ahokas, J., Hakala, E., and Eronen. J. T. 2023. Teollisen kestävyyssiirtymän tiedevetoinen suunnittelu. Poliittinen talous 11 (1). Helsinki: 8–47.
