Following that line of action, the Second Labour Union Assembly on Work and Environment took place in Argentina very recently. It was called by the Trade Union Confederation of Workers of the Americas (CSA) founded in March of 2008.

There, the workers took the committment of struggling for “economic, political, social and environmentally” sustainable development models, and criticized the public policies that promote intensive exports in natural resources and monoculture expansion in the region, which is closely linked with the use of agrotoxics.

The current food, social, energy, environmental and financial crises is caused by the neoliberal “predator model”, which main feature is a double overexploitation, of labor and natural resources, the trade unionists claim in the final declaration of the meeting held in Buenos Aires. Representatives of ecologst organizations also participated in the meeting.

From a different perspective, the solutions to face the problem of climate change must take into account the social injustice and clearly state that the theory of “shared responsibilities” is groundless.

“The demand for climate justice comes from the recognition that the industrialized countries have a huge environmental debt to the countries of the South, as a result of over 150 years of development based on the abuse of fossil fuels: gas, coal and oil. This is a climate debt they should pay”, the document reads.

The CSA aims to strengthen the presence of workers at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), given the concerning lack of effective commitment from the developed countries in reducing emissions.

“Most of the mechanisms include the Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM), the Joint Implementation (JI), and proposals to include mechanisms from Reducing Emissions from Degradation and Deforestation (REDD) in the next agreement, but with instruments to commodify the possible solutions to climate change and make the actual solutions inviable”.

Finally, the trade unionists of the Americas have taken the commitment of strengthening alliances on these issues facing the UN COP15 on Climate to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark in December of this year.