The STUC’s Energy Conference in March 2023 brought together trade unionists, policymakers, and relevant stakeholders to consider how to tackle bills, climate and jobs crises by ensuring a just transition and building trade union power.

The Crises we Face

The first panel titled, ‘Setting the context – the crises we face’ brought together expert speakers focused on jobs and conditions, energy bills and the climate crisis. Its objective was to create a shared level of knowledge about the concurrent challenges facing our energy system.

Participants then broke into breakout groups and focused on reflections from the panel, identifying current problems they saw in their own workplaces and what would happen if nothing changed.

Condensed notes from the first panel’s breakout groups can be downloaded here

A link to the recording of the session can be viewed on our Youtube channel

Our Demands

The second panel titled, ‘Our demands – building a new energy system’ brought together expert speakers focused on the policies necessary to tackle the systemic causes of an energy system that drives the climate crisis, oversees soaring energy bills, and fails to retain jobs and economic benefits in communities. The session outlined the structural changes necessary to rebuild our energy system and set out what decision-makers at all levels could do to get this underway.

Participants then broke into breakout groups and focused on reflections from the panel and developed ideas for how to fix the energy system, directed primarily at decision makers. Later breakouts would focus on what organising within the trade union movement and communities could look like.

Condensed notes from the second panel’s breakout groups can be downloaded here

A link to the recording of the second session can be viewed on our Youtube channel

Organising for Change

The third panel titled, ‘Organising for change: What can we do now?’ brought together expert speakers who have been organising for a new energy system to tackle rising energy bills, deliver an energy transition and retain jobs and economic benefit in communities.

Discussion focused on how workers across Scotland could organise to change our current energy system.

Participants then broke into breakout groups where they reflected on the panel and explored organising initiatives they were already involved in and what they thought was possible in their communities.

Condensed notes from the third panel’s breakout groups can be downloaded here

A link to the recording of the third session can be viewed on our Youtube channel