UK trade union: Tech's economic gains should benefit 'working people'

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Robots should be used to benefit working people, rather than aid employers, a report by Trades Union Congress (TUC), Britain's biggest trade union, said on Monday.

The TUC report said that the economic gains from digitization, robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) should be used to benefit working people.

"Previous waves of technological change have not led to an overall loss of jobs, but have disrupted the types of jobs people do," the report said, adding: "With the most recent wave of industrial change, rewards from higher productivity have gone predominantly to business owners, rather than being shared across the workforce through better wages and working conditions."

TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady said, "Robots are not just terminators. Some of today's jobs will not survive, but new jobs will be created."

"We must make sure that tomorrow's jobs are no worse than today's," the general secretary said. "They must provide fulfilling work, with good pay and conditions. And there must be funding to train people for new work if their job is made obsolete."

In Britain in the 1950s, almost one in three people worked in manufacturing industry, while one in 12 worked in professional and technical services.

By 2016, the report said, these numbers had reversed. But the jobs lost in manufacturing were not replaced by jobs of similar or better quality in the communities affected. Wages in former industrial areas are still 10 percent below the national average.

The TUC has called on the government, business and trade unions must work together to mitigate disruption to working people's lives, and to maximize opportunities for working people to benefit.

"With two-thirds of the 2030 workforce already in work today, efforts must focus on ensuring that existing workers are equipped to deal with the change," the report said.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency