Coal workers and climate strikes: a match made in capitalist crisis

Words by Finn Bryson

On the 20th of September, over 80,000 people converged on Sydney’s Domain for the global Climate Strike. One of the key demands from the gathered crowd was an end to fossil fuel electricity generation. But to many people just a couple of hours away in New South Wales’ Hunter Valley - where the collapse of the local coal-fired power industry threatens thousands of jobs - these rallying cries sounded more like an axe over their heads. On their minds was an anxiety-inducing question: would climate action sentence their communities to an abrupt death?

This fear is not exactly new. The future of the Hunter’s Liddell coal-fired power plant has been bleak since 2015, when its owner AGL announced it intended to close the plant in 2022 and replace it with an interim gas-fired power plant, and maybe, in the distant future, with fully-renewable generation. In a twist of irony, Scott Morrison and the Coalition responded by threatening to intervene in their beloved “free” market to force AGL to keep operating Liddell. The energy giant agreed to eke another year of operation out of the plant.

Workers are understandably worried about the chaotic and uncertain transition being proposed and what it means for their livelihood. Companies are supposed to give the government three years’ notice when they want to close a power generator, but the legislation is full of loopholes, leaving people uncertain about the future of their jobs. Of course, more renewables – and with them, new jobs – are coming online to replace ageing generators, especially as the plummeting price of renewable energy generation makes it the obvious choice for new energy capacity. But much of this development is happening a long way from existing fossil fuel communities, where people will be left jobless.

The Morrison government capitalised on this fear, painting any discussion of phasing out fossil fuels as an attack on the coal workers of the Hunter, and on the businesses that make our nation a prosperous one. The now infamous lump of coal he paraded in parliament marked this issue out as a political football. ScoMo won the football match practically unopposed. In this year’s federal election, it was coal communities that recorded the biggest swings to the Right.

Many on the Left identified this as resulting from the lack of a viable alternative vision for economic certainty and job security in a post-coal society, and an environment movement that appeared to cast fossil fuel workers as villains. Indeed, many involved in the struggle have fought hard to change this, including students from the Spreading the Climate Strikes USyd group, which sees the fight for working class interests as a core value in climate justice. The work of USyd students in making pro-worker demands central to the School Strike 4 Climate campaign has been crucial to attract wider support from workers and labour unions. 

On September 20th, workers from the CFMEU, ETU, NUW and NTEU made a strong showing at the rally, demonstrating their support for demands for ‘green jobs’ and a ‘just transition’ for workers. Ex-fossil fuel worker and MUA member Tommy John Herbert led an enthusiastic crowd chanting ‘climate justice, workers’ rights – one struggle, one fight’ – a huge moment that prompted several corporate supporters of the rally to lodge complaints with the organisers. 

The climate action big business wants does not involve putting people first. Their vision means “interim” gas power plants; it means more fracking on the land of First Nations people in the NT; and it means a renewable energy sector that is hostile to unions fighting for such inconvenient things as good wages and working conditions. It’s no wonder fossil fuel workers are uninterested in giving up the conditions they and their unions fought for over decades to work in a private renewable energy sector that is shaping up to be an unregulated cowboy-capitalist free-for-all.  

We cannot allow the terms of the transition to be determined by corporations that have no reason to look after people’s interests. As environmental activists, we need to propose an alternative strategy that protects workers and the environment. The Liddell plant closure is an opportunity for us to specify what is meant by the Climate Strike’s demand for a ‘just transition’, by making Liddell an example that can inspire change across Australia.

We need to fight for an alternative for the Hunter and for coal communities around Australia. Jobs can be created. Lost generation capacity will necessarily need to be replaced. But we need to fight to make sure these are fair, green jobs. This battle will need to be fought by an alliance of students, workers and others, also making sure the demands of First Nations people, women and other marginalised groups are prioritised. Unions and the labour movement have historically been a major force in progressive activism, and they can help drive the movement for climate justice if it promotes better outcomes for workers. These groups must fight in solidarity against a system that puts profit before people and planet. 

A protest has been called for this Friday the 1st of November to protest the government’s policy to force the Liddell plant to stay open at a cost of $1 billion and 12 million extra tonnes of carbon pollution. The protest demands no extensions for coal power: let Liddell close and provide a job guarantee for workers; re-power the Hunter with publicly-owned renewables; fund a just transition for Hunter communities. There is growing enthusiasm for a ‘just transition’ to renewables and now is the time to demonstrate what that looks like in practice.

The Liddell power plant will close. What will rise from its ashes depends on the strength of our calls for justice.

Join University of Sydney students at the protest at 5:30pm, November 1st at the Commonwealth Government Offices Sydney (1 Bligh Street)!
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/710336359435721/