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TGWU members are involved in the production, transport and use of pesticides, and the union has a long history of campaigning for reduction in the use of pesticides. The TGWU organised a conference on pesticide production, use and protection in 1997. In the report, the TGWU national secretary for agriculture says, "The union has long been concerned about pesticide exposure . . . In 1950, two young farmworkers died after spraying a field with the weedkiller DNOC. One died on the roadside near the farm and the other in hospital. [And] as early as 1947 the union secured substantial damages for the widow of a member who died from DNOC poisoning." General Secretary Bill Morris says, "We owe it to ourselves and the future of our country and the planet to find ways of reducing our use of pesticides. A national policy is long overdue."

The report calls for use of pesticides only when absolutely necessary, development and use of pesticide reduction techniques, more use of integrated crop management, more research on biological pest control, application of the precautionary principle to genetically modified crops, and greater government support for organic farming.

As part of the campaign, the TGWU is also conducting a survey of pesticide reduction methods (Pesticide reduction, TGWU, 1998).

The TGWU also has many members in the chemical industry, and has been active in promoting sound environmental management at work. The TGWU is supporting standards like the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). The union held a conference on eco-management in 1996, and a survey of 450 safety reps in 1995 found that 36% were already involved in environmental issues at work and 92% said they would like to be involved.

A lot of research has shown that to be successful, company environmental policies need the participation of workers. According to one study in Denmark by Professor Borge Lorentzen, "Ordinary employees possess knowledge and experiences from their daily work and from production processes which are very important when it comes to establishing efficient environmental protection."

The TGWU organises in five of the nine UK companies that gained EMAS accreditation in the scheme's first year. At the chemical firm Rhone-Poulenc the union has negotiated an agreement allowing safety reps the same rights on environmental issues as they have under the SRSC Regulations. The T&G safety rep's handbook and the TGWU report Trade unionists and eco-auditing give practical guidance on how safety reps can get involved.

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