Implementing the TUC’s AI Bill Is A No Brainer
The TUC’s Draft AI Bill and a new IER booklet on AI point the way forward for Labour to protect workers
By Tony Burke Co-chair of the Campaign For Trade Union Freedom
The Institute Of Employment Rights booklets have for years provided an authoritative analysis of employment rights issues and in some instances have pointed the way forward and helped draft future employment legislation.
IERs new ‘Algorithmic Management And A New Generation Of Rights At Work’, written by Dr Joe Atkinson (University of Southampton) and Professor Philippa Collins (University of Bristol) is one such booklet that all incoming Labour MPs should read along with the TUC’s draft ‘Artificial Intelligence (Employment and Regulation) Bill’.
How AI will effect workers has been much talked about. A low point was Sunak’s ‘AI Summit’ at Bletchley Park to which unions were not invited and ended as little more than photo opportunity for Sunak to smooze with Elon Musk.
I have no doubt there will be many benefits for working people and society from the use of AI, but one of its biggest drawbacks is AI’s potential for intrusiveness coupled with the ability to produce in nono-seconds what it would take humans to do in hours.
As Unite National Officer for the Media Louisa Bull (one of the areas where there will be a big downside to the use of AI could be in the media) and where the union is busy organising digital and tech workers told the global union Union Network International: “It is never acceptable to pass off responsibility for key decisions to non-human agents and yet that is happening”.
The authors rightly point out that: “Technology has revolutionised the way we work over the last 30 years, and is now changing radically the way in which working people are managed.
“Rapid advances in ‘artificial intelligence’ have given rise to complex and powerful algorithmic management tools that pose an increasing threat to the right of workers to enjoy decent working conditions and exercise agency over their working lives.”
Although the Labour manifesto has a reference to “updating regulations to outlaw the use of predictive technologies for blacklisting and safeguard against the singling out of workers for mistreatment or the sack without any evidence of human interaction” overall the current outdated employment protections will just not be enough to provide the protections workers will need.
As the authors point out – with collective bargaining in the UK at low levels – for millions of people protection will not be available to those engaged in business models that exploit workers.
They correctly contend that what is needed is: “a new regulatory framework giving workers and unions a genuine voice in the use of algorithmic management tools, alongside recognition and protection of their rights and access to justice that ensures their employers can be held to account”.
Without widespread sectoral collective bargaining a new frame work of protection for non-human interventions and decisions underpinned by law, not a toothless code of practice – is now essential.
Coupled with the TUC’s recent work, this LRD booklet sets out the way forward. A Labour government needs to agree wider employment protections in consultation with those unions already in at the deep end and have members working and organising in digital and tech companies such as Unite, Prospect, Equity, NUJ, CWU along with the TUC to implement the TUCs ‘Artificial Intelligence (Employment and Regulation) Bill’ as first step.
For Labour the spade work already done – coupled with the research by Atkinson and Collins’ work – its a no brainer.
Originally published in the Morning Star 17th June.
UK Amazon Dispute: GMB Pushes For Historic Recognition
After a long and contentious battle, the GMB is on the verge of becoming the first recognised trade union at an Amazon warehouse in the UK and Europe.
In the coming weeks, GMB will hold a ballot for union recognition at Amazon’s Coventry warehouse. The UK union movement stands united behind Amazon workers, pushing for this historic victory against one of the world’s most powerful corporations.
How it began
The roots of the campaign began in December 2022 when Amazon Coventry warehouse staff voted, for the very first time in the UK, to strike over a 50p per hour pay rise. With a 63% turnout from 300 members, an overwhelming 98% voted to strike, well above the required threshold.
Workers described the pay offer as “a kick in the teeth”. In some cases they’d had to turn to food banks to feed their families and were struggling to pay bills, all while working tirelessly throughout the pandemic.
Workers demand better
Beyond the insufficient pay offer, dissatisfaction grew over general working conditions. Reports emerged of fainting incidents due to prolonged standing, and a GMB freedom of information request revealed that ambulances were called to the Coventry site 59 times between September 2018 and October 2021 for issues ranging from burns to traumatic injuries.
The workers’ demands were clear: £15 per hour and immediate improvements to working conditions. On 25 January 2023, GMB members headed for the picket line for the very first time in the UK, initiating over 30 days of industrial action at the Coventry warehouse.
The setbacks
On 8th June 2023, GMB had to withdraw its bid for recognition at Coventry after Amazon increased its reported number of workers to 2,700, a claim accepted by the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC), with the GMB accusing Amazon of ’dirty tricks’.
Despite this setback, GMB intensified its efforts, leading to significant action on 24th November 2023, with protests and coordinated strikes across Europe and the USA.
Another new Amazon centre faces strike action
On January 2024, GMB members at a new centre in Birmingham, which opened in October 2023, voted to strike over pay and conditions. Strikes commenced on 25th January 2024, exactly one year after the initial Coventry stoppage, with 100% of GMB members at the Minworth fulfilment centre voting for industrial action. This marked the third UK Amazon warehouse to formally vote for strike action.
Workers grow in strength
Trade union membership in Coventry continued to grow exponentially. In 2023 alone, GMB membership at the Amazon warehouse in Coventry surged by 5,000%, highlighting the growing strength of feeling amongst members at Amazon. GMB attributed their recruitment success to natural workplace leaders, the diversity of the workforce, and proactive union organisers who engaged with workers regularly, empowering them in decision-making processes.
Dirty tricks
Throughout the campaign, Amazon employed various union-busting tactics, including posting anti-union notices and offering union members a £2,000 incentive to transfer to other sites around the Midlands to dilute the membership numbers.
Despite these challenges, GMB turned these tactics into recruitment opportunities, growing membership at other sites by using those transferred members to start conversations in new workplaces. This strategy proved effective, as evidenced by the recent industrial action at Amazon’s new flagship site in Birmingham.
On the verge of first-ever trade union recognition
GMB, confident in the growing number of members at the Coventry site, relaunched their campaign for recognition at the warehouse early this year. On 19th April 2024, the CAC ruled in favour of a union recognition vote, determining that a majority of workers would likely support union recognition. This decision paves the way for a legally binding vote among Amazon Coventry’s workforce.
The CAC will appoint an independent scruitineer to arrange a legally binding vote of workers, with the ballot timetable expected to be announced in the coming weeks. All that remains before the official voting period can begin is an agreement on access at the site between employer and the GMB, but that is expected to be resolved soon.
Amazon could be on the brink of being forced to recognise a trade union for the first time and the TUC will be working alongside and supporting GMB to ensure the best possible turnout. If the ballot is successful, this would see a recognised trade union footprint in Amazon in the UK for the very first time. Union recognition would mean Amazon would be forced to sit down with GMB on matters relating to pay, hours, and holidays; the first time this has been achieved anywhere in the world outside of the USA.
Speaking on the significance of the recognition bid, Paul Nowak, TUC General Secretary said: “It’s vital that we all get behind Amazon workers. Good employers recognise the value of trade unions and how they can make workplaces happier, safer, and more productive. Too many workers in this country are treated like disposable, throwaway labour. And too many decent companies are being undercut by the bad.”
“This campaign, like many others, highlights the urgent need for legal reforms to allow unions access to workplaces and to eliminate unnecessary barriers to recognition.”