- Conference
- 2025 Energy Service Group Conference
- Date
- 12 February 2025
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes:
1)The energy sector is undergoing rapid transformation, with significant growth in renewables, clean energy technologies, and new infrastructure.
2)While these changes present opportunities for good, secure, safe, unionised jobs, they also bring challenges, including casualisation, subcontracting, and attacks on terms and conditions.
3)UNISON’s strength in the energy sector relies on an active, organised, and growing membership, yet recruitment and organising remain challenging in some areas, particularly in emerging clean energy industries.
Conference believes:
a)To secure fair pay, safe conditions, and strong workers’ rights in the evolving energy sector, we must build workplace power through an ‘Organising to Win’ approach.
b)An organising strategy focused on recruitment, workplace activism, and leadership development will help UNISON increase its influence across the sector, including renewables and clean jobs.
c)A well-organised energy workforce can play a key role in shaping a fair transition to net zero, ensuring that new jobs are secure, well-paid, and unionised.
Conference calls on the Energy SGE to:
1)Develop and implement a sector-wide ‘Organising to Win’ strategy, focusing on growing membership, training new activists, and strengthening workplace organisation.
2)Launch a dedicated recruitment and organising drive in renewables and clean energy jobs, ensuring these industries benefit from strong trade union representation from the outset.
3)Provide resources, training, and support for energy sector activists to engage and organise workers, including those in subcontracted and remote roles.
4)Campaign for a just transition across the energy sector that delivers high-quality, unionised jobs.
5)Lobby energy employers and government for greater recognition of trade unions in renewables and clean energy workplaces, ensuring collective bargaining coverage extends across the whole energy sector.