Just Transitions - a Global Exploration: Quebec

Dr Felix Schulz speaks to Professor Melanie Laroche and Jonathan Michaud from the University of Montreal about how the concept of just transitions is understood and implemented in Quebec, Canada. In the episode, they cover the province's unique industrial relations system, proactive and reactive union strategies for addressing the climate crisis, and challenges in equipping union representatives with climate expertise. 

This project is funded by the Hans Böckler Foundation – Just Transition: Aktivitäten im internationalen Vergleich 2021-582-2. Visit the project webpage. 

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in December 2024. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast episode or the project, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk.  

A transcript of this episode is available. 

You can listen to the rest of the episodes in this series. 

About the speakers:  

Felix Schulz is an interdisciplinary researcher at Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS). Prior to joining LUCSUS, he worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Employment Relations, Innovation and Change (CERIC), the Digital Futures at Work (digit) Research Centre and the Hans-Böckler-Foundation funded Competence Centre on social-ecological transformations at the University of Leeds, where he remains as Visiting Research Fellow 

Melanie Laroche is a professor at the Université de Montréal's School of Industrial Relations, where she teaches labour relations strategies and collective bargaining.

Jonathan Michaud is a doctoral candidate and lecturer in industrial relations at the Université de Montréal. He works on a partnership agreement with the United Steelworkers on three cases of just transition in local unions, at plant level, in different regions of Quebec under the supervision of Professor Mélanie Laroche.