Québec Labour Confronts the Climate Crisis

Most academic literature on unions and climate action is concerned with the analysis of union positions on climate as expressed by union representatives and in official documents. We as yet know little of the internal processes that lead unions to take these positions, and in particular the tensions or contradictions among labour actors that prevent unions from being more effective climate actors. This paper contributes to this body of work by exploring three areas of tension and contradiction that confront climate action within the Québec labour movement. These include tensions within unions with respect to the importance that climate action ought to occupy in union strategy, sharp disagreements on strategic and tactical questions having to do with rank-and-file organizing, industrial legality, and political demands, and an emerging contradiction between private and public sector positions on climate action and sustainable futures.