1. The Central Role of Labour Law in the Climate Crisis

The climate crisis will revolutionise the world of work. In Australia and globally, the impact of the crisis, in terms of climate disruptions and climate action, has been described as akin to ‘a new industrial revolution’.^[1] Amid the ‘rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented transitions in all aspects of society’,^[2] labour law — being the legal regulation of work — is of critical importance.

Labour law is central to the two main types of climate action: climate adaptation (the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects in order to moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities) and climate mitigation (human interventions to reduce emissions or enhance the sinking of greenhouse gases).^[3]

Climate change adaptation requires that labour law contribute to workforces equipped to create, maintain and repair the social and physical infrastructures necessary for the flourishing of human beings and other living species in present and future climates. This encompasses a wide range of industries^[4] and spans ‘blue’, ‘white’ and ‘pink’ collar occupations, as well as work in informal and unpaid contexts.^[5]

Climate adaptation also requires that workers are protected by labour law from the health and safety threats created by and accelerated by climate change, including impacts associated with working in climate-changed conditions (such as extreme temperatures, flooding, cuts to electricity supply)^[6] and impacts from disruptions that flow from collapsing physical and social infrastructures (such as staff shortages, agitated clients, transport and supply chain breakdown and increased care demands). According to one study, 75% of Australian workers have already indicated physical health impacts associated with climate change, almost 10% have lost wages or had to take personal leave and 2% have lost jobs.^[7]

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, climate change mitigation requires, as a pre-eminent priority, rapid, deep and in most cases immediate greenhouse gas emission reductions. This demands systems capable of rapidly and fairly phasing out employment in fossil fuel extractive industries, reducing emissions within every industry and workplace,^[8] and industries that are able to support the work required to establish and maintain renewable energy infrastructure at sufficient speed and scale.^[9] These processes are sometimes referred to through the term ‘just transition’,^[10] although it is a term with a contested and flexible meaning that has been used in ways consistent with the perpetuation and expansion of fossil fuel industries.^[11]

This chapter examines the role of Australian labour law in the climate crisis (what it is currently and what it ought to be). It begins by situating this role within the contradictions and contestations of labour law. Turning specifically to Australian labour law, it then argues that Australian labour law is presently indifferent towards climate action and at times, restrictively so. It draws out how: (1) Australian labour law typically does not have environmental objectives; (2) It severely restricts the pursuit of environmental objectives, especially in relation to collective bargaining and industrial action; (3) It does not systematically provide for climate action; and (4) It is premised upon continuous economic growth.

The critique is followed by mapping out four pathways towards a climate conscious Australian labour law, one which can be a vehicle for effective climate action. We argue for (1) the integration of environmental objectives into Australian labour law; (2) foregrounding green bargaining; (3) invigorating democratic solidarity; and (4) the exploration of post-growth (post-capitalist) futures.