Make transition as smooth as possible

MOST of us agree that there is a need to transition to a greener economy, but there must be a recognition that workers require protection during the transition period as we move towards the goal of net zero.

Whether we like it or not, there are still considerable numbers of workers employed in activities that would have to be described as anything but green.

It would be wholly wrong for a number of reasons to regard such workers as expendable.

They should not take the blame for investment decisions made long ago that seemed progressive at the time, but in retrospect can be seen as contributing to climate change.

However crucial it may be to change the way we live our lives, including the way we work, we need to ensure that people do not see moves towards a greener economy as necessitating greater economic insecurity for themselves.

The interests of those who work in industries that have to be phased out as part of a green transition must therefore be paramount.

As the Wales TUC has pointed out in its report advocating a “just transition”, it’s important that every workplace should have a negotiated transition plan whose aim is to ensure that no worker is left behind.

Such an approach is surely in the interests of the employers concerned as well, especially those who themselves want to participate in the transition to a greener future.

Currently there are concerns about the fate of those working in the Aberpergwm coal mine in the Vale of Neath, which supplies high quality anthracite to the Tata steelworks at Port Talbot.

The Deputy Climate Change Minister Lee Waters would like the mine’s operating licence to be withdrawn as part of the net zero agenda.

Naturally there are worries for the fate of the mine’s employees, of whom there are around 160 plus 16 apprenticeships.

Such workers cannot simply be thrown to the wolves, and it would make no sense at all for the mine to shut, with the anthracite it sells to Tata replaced by more polluting coal from abroad.

Of course there is urgency about the need to cut carbon emissions, but the transition must be carried out smoothly and without brutality.