A Just Transition for building materials

Upon the initiative of our global sister trade union federations IndustriALL Global Union and the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI), the International Labour Organization (ILO) held a Tripartite Technical Meeting on the Promotion of Decent Work and a Just Transition in the Building Materials Industry, including Cement, from 23 to 27 September 2024. IndustriAll Europe’s basic materials network was represented through its chair Sebastien Dupanloup and senior policy advisor Maike Niggemann.

The first meeting of its kind for the building materials sector in the ILO’s history, bringing together governments, employers, and unions to discuss challenges and opportunities in the industry. The goal was to adopt conclusions and recommendations for future action.

On the last day of the meeting, negotiations concluded with an agreement on the Promotion of Decent Work and a Just Transition in the Building Materials Industry, including Cement. The agreement, available in English, French, and Spanish, is seen as a milestone in establishing the foundation for decent work and a just transition for workers.

The workers’ group delegation secured commitments on several key issues:

• Agreement that social dialogue, at all levels, based on respect for freedom of association and the recognition of collective bargaining rights, is crucial for shaping and effectively implementing policies that promote decent work and a just transition, ensuring no one is left behind.
• Employers and trade unions should collaborate to develop and implement just transition plans at the sectoral and enterprise levels through collective bargaining and workplace cooperation, in line with national legislation and ILO guidelines.
• Governments should enforce measures to ensure that all enterprises, including multinationals, in the building materials industry respect human and labor rights.
• Governments should ensure that public procurement rules foster strict adherence to labor rights, including occupational safety and health (OSH), and support effective labor protection for workers in the industry.
• Governments, in cooperation with employers’ and workers’ organizations, should promote equality of opportunity for all workers, ensure equal pay for work of equal value, and support work–life balance.
• Skills development and lifelong learning strategies, including quality apprenticeships developed by governments, employers, and workers’ organizations, are key to helping enterprises and workers respond to evolving industry requirements.
• Universal access to comprehensive, adequate, and sustainable social protection systems must be strengthened to support all workers, including migrant workers and those vulnerable to the effects of climate change and the ongoing transition to greener economies.

OSH risks and hazards in the industry, including exposure to hazardous substances and manual handling injuries, need to be addressed. The meeting also tasked the ILO with:

• Developing guidelines and tools for the promotion of decent work and just transition in the industry, including subcontracting;
• Undertaking industry-specific labour market assessments, including normative gap analysis and research on the impacts of transformations towards environmentally sustainable building materials for enterprises and workers;
• Strengthening the capacity of constituents to engage in effective social dialogue to promote decent work and ensure a just transition, in collaboration with the ILO International Training Centre;
• Assisting in identifying and monitoring occupational diseases caused by new building materials and production processes used in the industry, in collaboration with relevant UN agencies, and providing guidance to constituents regarding appropriate risk elimination measures;
• Designing and implementing development cooperation projects and organizing regional meetings and workshops on labor issues in the building materials industry.

At industriAll Europe, this result will contribute to ongoing work on the Just Transition framework in Europe, including the forthcoming European Fair Transition Observatory and joint union campaign for the Just Transition Directive. IndustriAll Europe will continue to cooperate with our sister European federation EFBWW and the global union federations to make a Just Transition a reality for our members in this foundation industry.