7. Unions promoting awareness

From green newsletters and staff surveys to ‘green days’ and film shows, shop stewards are reaching out in imaginative ways to encourage staff to support the green agenda. Green newsletters are a popular way of union and local branches informing workers about the environment and climate change with 34% of respondents saying they did this. They were equally likely to reach out to workers on the environment by organising a green day (34%).

Green days are clearly an increasingly popular way of raising the issue of the environment as in the 2009 survey only 6% of respondents reported organising a green day (up 28 percentage points).

Green surveys had been carried out by 24% of respondents (up 16 percentage age points on 2009) followed by 17% who had carried out green audits (up 14 percentage points). Surveys and audits are very powerful ways of highlighting the need for action and this is reflected by their growing popularity.

A further 15% had had a dvd/film showing (up 12 percentage points on 2009). The big increases in union events shows the growing confidence of union reps that these are really effective ways of reaching out to their work colleagues.

Green events organised by unions