Over 50 union leaders from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and South Korea gathered in Bali, Indonesia to share analysis on their respective countries’ energy transition, exchange experiences, and build strategies towards building the Public Pathway approach in the Asia-Pacific region. The meeting’s organisational goals, political objectives, and key questions are summarised here.
Last week, in Bulletin 148, we summarised the results of a series of July workshops in Jakarta organised by TUED, PSI, and PSI affiliates and allies in the week leading up to the Bali meeting. These workshops are part of a national trade union effort to defend public energy against the threat posed by the “privatise to decarbonise” agenda reflected in the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) between the rich countries and the Indonesian government.
This week, we review the results, proposals, and next steps following the regional policy meeting in Bali. For participant bios, presentations, and multimedia, view the “Post-Meeting Package” here. The Bali meeting was the third of its kind, following two previous TUED South regional policy meetings for Sub-Saharan Africa (Johannesburg, May 2023) and Latin America and the Caribbean (Bogotá, May 2024).
Regional Policy Meetings and Development Position Papers
A central goal of the Bali meeting was to support unions in the development of positions and (potentially) initiatives and campaigns to advance the public pathway approach in the A-P region in ways that are realistic and appropriate. A related short-term task to develop a clear position on the Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs) and similar “privatise to decarbonise” initiatives. TUED has already developed a preliminary critique of the JETPs, but more detailed work is necessary.
As part of the TUED Women’s Leadership for a Public Pathway initiative, sessions focused on a feminist approach to the energy transition were incorporated into each day of the meeting leading to gender based discussions and references throughout the three days. A forthcoming bulletin will highlight this work.
Throughout the meeting, participants agreed on and reiterated the strategic importance and political urgency of developing more in-depth trade union position papers on the energy transition within and across national contexts as a means of building confidence in the viability of the public pathway alternative.
Indonesian unions are currently working with TUED to develop a position paper on the energy transition that focuses on the country’s power sector. The position paper explains what’s wrong with the current policy and what an alternative could look like.
Alternative Financing in the Public Pathway
The financing session in Bali helped elevate collective analysis around unions’ grappling with the details and challenges of alternative finance models. The Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD), a regional alliance of groups working for economic justice, put forward a proposal to put forward a regional trade union statement at the COP29 meeting, also known as “the finance COP”, in Baku, Azerbaijan later this year.
Dr. Fadhel Kaboub, policy advisor and President of the Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity, discussed neocolonial wealth extraction and structural trade imbalance. “If we don’t have a long-term strategic vision for ourselves, we’ll continue to be part of someone else’s strategic vision,” he said. Corporate and neocolonial interests underlie mainstream “climate finance”. Trade unions need a structural transformation (not reform) of the Global Financial Architecture. “The OECD has made clear that nobody in the Global South can industrialise without their approval. The current climate finance framework is not going to deliver any meaningful climate action. Global South unity and a publicly-Funded system are within reach,” said Dr. Kaboub
Proposal for a Working Group: Managed Decline of Coal
Participants identified the economic dependency on coal as one of the region’s leading challenges. Following discussions on the issue, participants proposed the development of a regional working group intended to address target obstacles and opportunities for the managed decline of coal. The working group, it was suggested, could also exchange experiences with unions in other coal-producing countries from the Global South such as South Africa and Colombia.
Ashim Roy, General Secretary of the India Workers Peasants Council (Hind Mazdoor Kisan Panchayat – HMKP) and co-founding member of TUED, led the discussion on the proposal. “Having studied the coal dependent energy system that drives Indian economic development and the complexities to decarbonize, the pathway to just transition is both a complex and deeply contested political field,” he said. “We require a space for shared learning from the specific field of coal transition. At the meeting in Bali, I proposed a Just Transition working group for unions from countries on the coal value chain and/or with economies dependent on coal-based energy systems. TUED South is a much-needed platform to bring us together as labour movement actors of the Asia-Pacific region. TUED rightly foregrounds the public pathway as the appropriate framework for these complex and challenging discussions,” Roy added.
Several presentations by trade union leaders focused on public transport campaigns, especially those in informal transportation systems (such as those based on the tuk-tuk, jeepney, angkot, etc). Ajay Kumar of the Nepal Transport Workers Union (NETWON), a union-affiliate of the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), stressed the importance of reclaiming and strengthening publicly-owned transportation systems based on accessibility and quality of service, not based on profit. Kumar presented on NETWON workers’ efforts to organise for public electric mobility through policy pressure.
Country-Specific Analysis
Country-specific analysis helped participants draw parallels and identify patterns in the region. Comrades from Nepal talked about the contradictions of the energy system, which is majority publicly-owned but interfaces with the Indian market. Currently, Nepal exports clean energy during periods of high generation and imports dirty energy at a high cost during periods of drought.
Mozibor Rahman, General Secretary of PBBSKU (Paschimanchal Bidyut Bitaran Sramik Karmachari Union) of Bangladesh, led a call for regional trade union solidarity with the movement for worker democracy in Bangladesh. Following the resignation of former Primer Minister Sheikh Hasina on August 5, PBBSKU comrades said “The students have finally won. The dictatorial, murderous prime minister has resigned and fled. The fight for economic justice and worker democracy continues.” Edward Miller, a researcher at the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research (CICTAR) suggested to TUED on the social media platform X: “I hope we can seize upon this moment to reform the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board, a World Bank imposition that is riddled with corruption and denies workers the right to organise. Workers and consumers deserve better!”
Next Steps
In Bali, Nepalese comrades advanced proposals for the region’s next policy meeting. “During the successful Bali meeting, the Nepalese unions gathered and agreed to put forward a proposal to host the second regional Asia Pacific meeting in 2025/2026 in Kathmandu. Our unions in Nepal have been following TUED’s work closely for several years and we are committed to helping build a regionally-coordinated Public Pathway,” said Ajay Kumar Rai, Executive General Secretary of the Nepal Trade Union Congress (National Centre) and chief advisor of NETWON and the head of the foreign affairs department.
Moving forward, TUED South plans to organise quarterly regional meetings for Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Africa. The meetings will allow unions to update one another on developments, including campaigns and initiatives.
Welcome New TUED Unions!
At the Bali meeting, a number of unions from the Asia-Pacific region announced their decision to participate in the TUED network. We’d like to welcome the following unions from the region:
- Philippines: Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (Solidarity of Filipino Workers)
- Nepal: Nepal Agriculture Workers’ Union
- Indonesia: Gabungan Serikat Buruh Indonesia (GSBI)
- Indonesia: Persatuan Pegawai PT PLN Indonesia Power (PP-IP)
Several unions have recently joined the TUED network, as a result of TUED South’s regional meetings.. An upcoming bulletin will take a closer look at these unions. Overall, trade union support for the Public Pathway is rising and becoming more visible–especially in the Global South.
Unions Say Why They Are Joining TUED:
Andy Wijaya, General Secretary of PP-IP (Indonesia):
“We are joining TUED because we want to fight together to ensure that electricity stays in control of the state and to ensure it is a public good. The Public Pathway is very important in the Just Transition and it matches with the principle of our national Constitution that national vital resources must be controlled by the state. We will spread the TUED fight to other trade unions in Indonesia. Workers need to coordinate and stand together to ensure electricity remains and is strengthened as a public good. The Public Pathway scheme is what makes this possible.”
Emelia Yanti Siahaan, General Secretary, Gabungan Serikat Buruh Indonesia (GSBI):
“A just transition is a class struggle. This means it requires the participation and involvement of Labor and the public to realize a just transition. Without a strong class struggle, a just transition is just a fraud.”
Luke Espiritu, President, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (Solidarity of Filipino Workers):
“We must have a just transition that does not leave anyone behind, especially the workers. The transition must not be pursued for the benefit of the ruling class. That is why energy must be democratised.”
Trade Unions for Energy Democracy (TUED) is a global, multi-sector trade union initiative to advance democratic direction and control of energy in a way that promotes solutions to the climate crisis, energy poverty, the degradation of both land and people, and responds to the attacks on workers’ rights and protections. TUED is part of the Global Labour Institute Network.
Read more TUED Bulletins here.