Monday, September 10, 2018

Robotics and Liberation


A four-day working week will be possible this century if businesses are forced to share the benefits of new technology with their workforce. That's the claim from the TUC. But for most British workers the trend is going in the other direction.
Some 1.4 million people now work a full seven days a week in the UK, according to the TUC, and 51% of people they surveyed said they feared the benefits of new technology would go to company managers and shareholders. A report this January from Centre for Cities found that 3.6m UK jobs could be replaced by machines by 2030.
At the Royal Mail when the postal service invested in new sorting machines - thus cutting down on the amount of time workers were needed to sort out packages - it wanted the staff to work extended delivery rounds instead.
Terry Pullinger a leading union rep explained, "People are finding that they're being pushed to work harder, but how much can people take?"
TUC's general secretary Frances O'Grady highlighted that unions had fought for two-day weekends and limits on long hours - and that this is their next challenge.
"We know that some people are pessimistic about whether technology will make their lives better but technology could be a force for good, we can also make everyone's working lives better and richer," she explained. "It doesn't have to be about surveillance and exploitation. This could be about creating more satisfying work."


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