Sustainable Transport and the Environment Guide - Unite the Union

But what we can do is to look at fuel and cost savings – e.g. encourage holding areas
near the runway – this would reduce emissions and the costs savings could secure
ground handling jobs.
It was noted that stacking could last for up to 18 minutes and aircraft could be sitting
in a queue lining up to depart for more than 20 minutes with all engines idling. There
is a need to negotiate around the use of air space – currently companies fly the
cheapest route where air traffic costs are the cheapest – not always the best or shortest
routes. Overwhelmingly, there was a need to pressure Government and the EU to act.
More and better rail links to airports could take freight and passengers off roads.
There could be incentive schemes for employees who come up with sustainable
transport ideas – which might be self-funding through the cost savings achieved.
A simple energy saving might be for airports to scale down the extensive use of
lighting in of-peak periods. Sometimes the level of lighting was very high and some
airports didn’t even factor in an ability to turn part of the lighting off – it was all or
nothing and in some cases lighting was kept on 24/7.
Recycling need to be introduced into airports and EU ETS does not solve the issue
need to campaign for global trading scheme
An absolute need was to improve job security – using minimum standards to stop the
race to bottom syndrome; as it is now, in many cases, currently it is a case of a job
today but no job tomorrow.
The links with ETF and ITF were considered highly important.
7.4 Docks and Inland Waterways Trade Group
Delegates reviewed the content of the report in detail and were comfortable with the
text as it stood. A range of other pressing issues were discussed.
7.5 Day 2 of Conference
Eduardo Chagas, General Secretary of the European Transport Workers’ Federation
gave a presentation on behalf of the ETF, He started by outling the work of the ETF
and the various campaigns they had been involved in.
He then went on to say that this is a moment of growing pressure on labour and social
rights, with the spread of social and wage dumping, attacks on trade unions and
expansion of neo-liberal policies which requires a clear and firm response from
European workers and their organizations, and that a new front is thus now open in
our members’ priorities: the protection of jobs. And that the trade union movement
must go on the offensive and claim that the same support is found for preserving jobs
and workers’ living standards.
The credit crunch and the resulting economic crisis, has come at the same time when
the European trade union movement has been confronted with a series of rulings from
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