The summit will be organized around six distinct and consecutive discussions:

MORNING DISCUSSIONS:

The Road to Paris: Perspectives on International Labor’s Program and Strategy

Part 1: Unions, the Paris climate talks, and the “inside-outside” approach

Are the December 2015 talks the last chance for the UN to produce an effective global agreement? What do unions and their allies want or expect from the Paris meetings and actions?

Facilitator: David Boys, Deputy General Secretary, Public Services International

Maite Llanos, Trade Unions for Energy Democracy, summary of the COP 21 preparations.

Fabienne Cru-Montblanc, National Executive Committee, Confédération générale du travail (CGT), France, with Marie-Christine Naillod, Policy Advisor, CGT, on the perspective of French unions leading into the Paris talks

Part 2: Connecting the climate fight to the struggle against austerity and inequality: opportunities in Southern Europe

Could the recent rise of the left in Greece and Spain help ‘energy democracy’ and climate protection become central to the anti-austerity agenda of unions across Europe?

Facilitator: Chris Baugh, Asst. General Secretary, Public and Commercial Services Union, UK

Yiorgos Archontopoulos, President, EYATH’s Union (Thessaloniki water workers), Greece

Fatima Aguado Queipo, International Secretary, and Francisco Javier Cabezos Rubio, Secretary of Workers Health, Environment and Public Sector, Federación de Servicios a la Ciudadania – Comisiones Obreras (FSC-CC.OO), Spain

Simona Fabiani, Responsible for Environment and Land, Confederazione Generale del Lavoro (CGIL), Italy

Part 3: North- South trade union perspectives on the need for a ‘programmatic shift’

Making the case for a bold and transformative trade union program to address the social and ecological crisis.

Facilitator: Alana Dave, Education Director, International Transport Workers Federation

Wol-san Liem, Director of International Affairs, Federation of Public Services and Transportation Workers Unions (KPTU), Korea

Diego Azzi, Advisor, Central Unica dos Trabalhadores (CUT), Brazil

Asbjorn Wahl, International Advisor, Union of Municipal and General Employees, Norway, and Trade Union Network for Europe

AFTERNOON DISCUSSIONS:

Carbon Battlegrounds: Canada and the United States

Part 1: Power shift in Canada: Unions, ‘extreme energy’ and the rising movement for a truly sustainable future

Inspired by the recent election results in Alberta, and the recent rise of the indigenous and student movements, unions are challenging the oil industry and its allies in new and creative ways.

Facilitator: Sari Sairanen, Director of Health and Safety, UNIFOR, Canada

Donald Lafleur, Executive Vice President, Canadian Labor Congress (CLC)

Mireille Pelletier, advisor to Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN-Quebec)

Part 2: U.S. Labor’s changing climate politics and the implications for organizing and membership engagement

Key unions in the U.S. have formed a formidable political alliance with the oil, coal and gas industries. But important voices in the U.S. labor movement are articulating an approach to climate change that is science-based, internationalist, economically transformative, and able to inspire and move union members.

Facilitator: Sean Sweeney, Director, International Program for Labor, Climate & Environment, Murphy Center, CUNY

Estela Vazquez, Executive Vice President, 1199 SEIU Healthcare Workers East

Fernando Losada, Collective Bargaining Director, National Nurses United

Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez, President, NYS Nurses Association

Christopher Erikson, Business Manager, Local 3, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

Part 3: Beyond ‘Blockadia’: Building a new ‘socio-ecological’ mass movement

Resistance to the expansion of fossil fuel use is rising globally and becoming increasingly intense–especially around fracking, tar sands, and coal. Meanwhile, Naomi Klein’s new book This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs.The Climate points to the systemic roots of the crisis and the need for ‘deep social change’ grounded in ‘reciprocity and cooperation.’ Can such a narrative help address our own ‘ambition deficit’ and inspire the next great movement?

Facilitator: Lenore F Friedlaender, Assistant to the President, SEIU 32BJ

Comments from US based movement leaders:

Denise Fairchild, President and CEO, Emerald Cities Collaborative

Jacqui Patterson, Director, NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program

Bill Fletcher Jr., Host, Global African

Dean Hubbard, Director, Sierra Club Labor Programs

SLU Blog

Trade Union Climate Summit — Participants and Agenda