One week ago we presented together with Fundación COTEC and Comisiones Obreras our report “Trade Unions, Labour rights and Technological Change”. As a culmination of this first phase of the collaboration that we have been carrying out, we have presented the conclusions of this report in a conference on the digitization of work, that we have co-organized and in which we have invited experts in this field to share ideas and reflections.
Thus, there was a debate about which principles should guide the new public policies and regulations of the labor market to face this new reality, and the need for more studies to anticipate and quantify the impact of digitization on the future of work was highlighted. Faced with the extinction of distance, we reviewed new forms of union organization with the capacity to forge alliances beyond the workplace. There was also space for an in-depth discussion of the power relations that lie behind the technological deployments in the workplace and on how to protect and exercise digital rights so that technological progress benefits all parties involved.
You can see a photo album of this conference here.
We also recommend a couple of related articles. First, a must-read about the scope of digital rights in labor relations, such as this interview with Carlos Preciado, Magistrate of the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia, that was also participating in the conference “Trade unions facing technological challenges”. This interview was done by Carlos del Castillo for El Diario. And second, same author and same media, the article Un manual para sindicatos de la economía uberizada y robotizada (in English “A manual for unions in the uberized and robotic economy”) which reflects the conclusions of our report “Trade Unions, Labour rights and Technological Change”.
And finally, we link you to this documentary video by Fundación COTEC on its project #MiEmpleoMiFuturo, which addresses some interesting considerations on what digitization is, automation in the field of work and what repercussions it can have.
PROGRAM OF THE CONFERENCE TRADE UNIONS FACING TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGES – July 8, 2019
9:30 am Welcome and presentation of the project
Unai Sordo
General Secretary of CCOO
Cristina Garmendia
President of the COTEC Foundation
Gemma Galdon
President of Eticas Foundation
10: 00 am Pass of the video documentary #MiEmpleoMiFuturo [#MyEmploymentMyFuture]
10: 30 am Presentation of the study “Trade Unions, Labour rights and Technological Change”
11.30 am The role of trade unions in the 21st century: platforms, machines and rights
Bruno Estrada
Economist, Deputy to the General Secretariat of CCOO
Henar Alvarez Cuesta
Professor of Labour Law and Social Security at the University of León
Maria Luz Vega
Coordinator of the ILO’s Future of Work Initiative
Lucia Velasco
Member of High-Level Expert Group on the Impact of the Digital Transformation on EU Labour Markets
13:00 New organisational strategies and tools for trade union action
Javier Fernandez
Union Action Secretariat of CCOO
Amparo Merino
Member of the project “Fundamental rights in the face of the change of subordinate work in the digital age”
Oscar Molina Romo
Researcher on Labour Relations at the UAB Institute of Labour Studies
15:30h Digital rights at work: from the right to disconnect to conscientious objection
Jaime Cabezas
Professor of Labor Law and Social Security at the University of Vigo
Carlos Hugo Preciado
TSJ magistrate and author of the book “Los derechos digitales de las personas trabajadoras” [The digital rights of working people]
Carlos Gutierrez
Secretary of Youth and New Realities of Work CCOO
Gemma Galdon
Technology Analyst and President of the Eticas Foundation
