Britain's biggest trade union body wants workers to have the right to negotiate over AI before employers decide which parts of their jobs to hand over to machines.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has called on the government to give workers more say over how AI is introduced in the workplace, warning that its enthusiasm for the technology has yet to be matched by a practical plan for the people expected to work alongside it.
In a letter to the new AI and Future of Work ministers, Kanishka Narayan and Kate Dearden, TUC general secretary Paul Nowak and assistant general secretary Kate Bell said the government's approach should be built around three principles: giving working people "a voice, rights, and a fair share."
"The government is actively pursuing an AI strategy based on the assumption that these are transformative technologies," the pair wrote. "And you have acknowledged that AI technologies are changing the world of work, and that workers and their unions are key to shaping that change.
"But we have not yet seen a practical plan that gives force to your acknowledgement that working people need to determine and benefit from AI-related change."
Among the union body's demands is the right for workers to negotiate over the introduction of AI, including algorithmic and surveillance technologies that could affect their jobs or working conditions.
TUC isn't arguing that employers should keep AI out of the workplace altogether. Its beef is with companies making those decisions while giving the people affected little or no say.
"A comprehensive plan must include reforming corporate practices so that workers are stakeholders in firms, not merely inputs to be minimised using AI in the pursuit of short-term profits," Nowak and Bell wrote. "It means a right to negotiate on AI, empowering workers' expertise and interests as a prerequisite for any fair and effective AI adoption."
TUC said the government's work on algorithmic and surveillance technologies will provide an early test of whether its stated commitment to workers amounts to much, arguing that workers need "a clear right to negotiate on technologies that risk undermining their dignity and conditions at work."
It also had some words for employers who like the productivity part of the AI pitch rather more than the worker rights part.
"For employers keen on AI but allergic to workers' rights, we would say it's notable that the Nordic countries have among the highest levels of AI adoption," the letter said. "A key factor is that these workers have more structural power to shape technology and are therefore more open to its effective use."
Across the Atlantic, meanwhile, the TUC sees an example of what not to do. It pointed to the booming fortunes of tech billionaires and the declining share of wealth going to workers in the US, describing the result as a "chaotic billionaire-driven AI agenda."
The union body also warned of political consequences if workers come to see AI primarily as a means of cutting jobs, wages, or bargaining power.
"Working people winning a stake in the benefits of new technology can be a vital plank in this government's plan to deliver growth in every postcode," Nowak and Bell wrote. "Without this, AI disruption – real and perceived – will become ripe for exploitation by the far-right."
For a government betting heavily on AI as an engine for economic growth, the TUC's message is fairly simple: if machines are going to transform work, perhaps the humans doing it should get a say too. ®
Source: The register