A key part of securing a just transition is in the support offered to workers in high-carbon sectors. There are two aspects of this. The first concerns the availability of low carbon employment opportunities and the kind of jobs created in relation to pay, location, and skillset. The second concerns support for workers in moving through the labour market which arises from that. This paper focuses on the second aspect of support required for a just transition and covers actions which can and should be taken by the Scottish Government now.
Workers in Scotland’s energy sector do not feel supported in identifying and moving into opportunities in green industries. Their concerns are exacerbated by the closure of the Grangemouth refinery and increasing redundancies in the oil and gas sector. Workers are in an increasingly precarious position yet regularly hear promises of a just transition.
The Scottish and UK Governments are playing a major role in the development of renewable and other green sectors through policy, public funding, and licensing. All of these interventions present opportunities to establish a fair offer to workers in high carbon sectors. The Scottish Government can also use devolved responsibility for training and skills development and business support programmes to ensure the foundations are in place for high carbon workers. The examples in this paper represent vital stepping stones for workers to feel greater confidence in the transition and the security of their livelihoods.
The Offer to Workers – conditionality for private companies
For companies, particularly those that are engaged in both high carbon and green energy, there must be a clear expectation set of how workers are to be involved and supported through the transition. The development of renewables to date has not delivered an acceptable level of benefit for workers and communities in Scotland. This has included a lack of opportunity for workers in high-carbon industries to bring skills and experience to the sector.
Conditions should apply to companies seeking public support to enter into green industries or reduce emissions from their existing production. This should include commitments to ensure pathways for existing workers into green jobs within the business, support and investment in skills training and paid time off for training or to find alternative employment.
The Scottish Government’s commitment to Fair Work should also be leveraged to ensure there is workers’ voice in these companies as part of building better workplace conditions and employment policy such as equalities and redundancies, and ending the casualisation of the workforce.
An expectation should also be set that companies in all sectors will engage with the Scottish Government’s Just Transition Planning process, through which a clear plan should be negotiated with their workforce for the future. In addition to company-specific plans should be developed with the engagement of workers and their trade unions.
The Offer to Workers – a clear public sector programme
Alongside the conditionality for private companies, the Scottish Government should provide targeted support for high carbon workers. The Offshore Training Passport is an example of the kinds of intervention the government can initiate to open up transition pathways. However, while the first phase of the Passport is welcome, it does not address the issue of safety standards which are often left to workers to pay out of their own pocket. A more comprehensive and coordinated programme should be developed across areas of Scottish Government responsibility.
Through the Scottish Funding Council, skills training and inclusive labour market programmes should be delivered by colleges, universities and training providers. This should include a targeted retraining funding initiative for oil and gas workers, available to all workers regardless of their employment status, with fast track support for those under threat of redundancy. Alongside advice and career development support from Skills Development Scotland.
There should be clear pathways established for workers to access targeted support – the burden of finding jobs in green industries, undertaking the necessary training, and analysing how transferable existing skills and experience are to other sectors, should not rest with workers themselves. Current programmes such as PACE, are not suited to managing a transition as they only step in at the point of redundancy. A more proactive approach is needed.
Individual, tailored support should be available to workers who wish to retrain. Retraining pathways must be in line with the needs of a zero-carbon future as well as with existing skill sets. They should take into account their experience without ‘going back to the start’.
Sectoral Just Transition Planning and groups such as SOWEC should have an aim to bring industry together with the public sector and trade unions to manage the transition. They can identify interventions in a way that is responsive to the needs of all parties, while ensuring government commitments to Just Transition and Fair Work are delivered.
This Offer and the labour market interventions which underpin it should be nationally funded but locally delivered. In each locality where there is a concentration of affected industries and workers, a strategic partnership convened by the local authority/ies should coordinate and plan delivery drawing on best practice for local labour market initiatives – the entire system should be ‘worker-centred, demand-led and joined up’ and should build in all publicly-funded programmes should include positive action to promote labour market inclusion.
March 2024