Workroom Versus Boardroom Approaches to Sustainable Development

In The Way Forward, ¹ prepared for the UN General Assembly Special Session in 1997, we traced the history of the movement for sustainable development back to the earliest stages of history, when workers began the struggle against the worst forms of unsustainable production. The first trade unions paved the way for increased participation in the workplace, and what has subsequently developed into an extensive field of occupational health and safety. We examined political, economic and institutional factors that affected our efforts and impeded the implementation of Chapter 29 in Agenda 21.