[Fresh Ink] Europe: Green capitalism can be just as deadly

[May at Appleby Books]

Europe:  Green capitalism can be just as deadly

If you are one of those employed in the rapidly expanding green jobs
sector, don't assume your green employer is any less likely to
exploit and endanger you. This is the message from Laurent Vogel,
director of the European TUC's health and safety research arm, HESA.
In an editorial in the latest issue of the organisation's Just
Transition newsletter, he cites the case of Spanish multinational
Gamesa, 'one of the finest examples of green capitalism, certified,
labelled, and making much of its commitments to the environment, its
'collaborators'-in other words its staff-and 'communities'. The
company is posting enviable profits. Is it a success story for a
win-win-win scenario?' The answer, it seems, is 'no'. According to
Vogel:  'On wind farms, upkeep and maintenance are outsourced. For
example, Gamesa has hired the company Guascor to repair the blades at
its wind farms. This involves injecting resin to seal the cracks,
filing them down and then repainting them. Women were recruited from
rural areas to do what the company described as 'rapid and well-paid
work'.' The real story is less rosy. 'A few months after having
started work, several women were showing symptoms of poisoning:
irregular periods, nosebleeds, headaches and so on,' writes Vogel.
'Tipped off by the trade unions, the factories inspectorate
investigated and discovered that these women were handling extremely
dangerous substances and no protective measures whatever had been put
in place. Seven women were advised by their doctors not to have
children over the next two years because of the risk of birth
defects!' He concludes:  'Green jobs do not always involve such
dramatic conditions, but private management of environmental
protection activities does sacrifice working conditions for the sake
of competitiveness.'

The relative appeal of green jobs, Just Transition editorial, Laurent
Vogel, February 2010. Green jobs, safe jobs blog.


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