Digitalisation must lead to a fair, inclusive and sustainable labour market

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EU trade unions stand up for anticipated labour market policies

“The future of work has to be shaped politically and the trade unions have to play a key role in the policy-making process,” said Gabriele Bischoff, President of the Workers' Group of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), during the extraordinary meeting of the Workers' Group in Tallinn. This was one of the main messages sent by the meeting on Working for a better future, which addressed the effects of digitalisation and innovation on the European labour market.

A strong social dialogue, the creation of an effective legal and fiscal framework and further research and investment were identified as the drivers of a successful digital transition in the labour market.

“The more services move online and become accessible to people, the less we need offices for people to work in," said Eiki Nestor, President of the Estonian Parliament, regarding the challenges of technological progress. He concluded that "We cannot recreate jobs, but we have to use the opportunity of digitalisation to create new jobs.”

Job destruction was one of the main concerns raised during the meeting. Participants were also concerned about a digital divide in society, segmentation of the labour market and accessibility problems for workers in a digital labour market (Peep Peterson and Ago Tuuling, Secretaries-General of the Estonian trade unions). However, digitalisation also raises questions about data protection, social security systems, wealth inequality and fair taxation, as mentioned in particular by Kadri Kaska of the Estonian Cyber Security Service.

Technological developments are changing the nature of work and generating new forms of business and employment, not only in the growing Sharing Economy and Digital Economy, but also in traditional businesses. These developments are creating opportunities and challenges for the labour market which need to be addressed by EU and national policies, said Anna Byhovskaya, TUAC policy adviser.

The meeting called on policy makers to address these issues with anticipated social and economic policies that eliminate legal grey zones, which can lead to abuse by businesses. Participants called for policies to limit adverse effects and ensure that all workers are covered by fundamental labour standards and adequate social protection.

Luc Triangle, Secretary-General of industriAll, stressed that “We have to put people first when talking about digitalisation and innovation.” Participants broadly supported his position that technological developments cannot be avoided, but must address the needs of society. Luc Triangle stressed that active engagement in technological developments is crucial for the competitiveness of the European economy and that Europe must seize opportunities to capitalise on digitalisation and innovation.

In order to make digitalisation a success for Europe, EU trade unions called for closer cooperation between the social partners and an intensive dialogue on the future of work between the EU institutions, national governments, social partners and civil society at all levels. They highlighted the need for collective bargaining to counter the rise of income inequalities and to ensure an inclusive and sustainable digital transition and a better future for the entire workforce.   

Liina Carr, member of the EESC's Workers' Group and ETUC Confederal Secretary, flagged up the importance of a strong social dimension for the Digital Single Market. She proposed including a European transition fund in the European Pillar of Social Rights, which would enable workers to participate in a digital labour market by (up)skilling them.

The need for strong investment at European and national level was identified as a prerequisite for keeping pace with competitors. Furthermore, participants urged the European Commission to make the digitalisation of the labour market a priority on the EU policy agenda.

The creation of a European strategy was considered. The EESC Workers' Group members were firmly of the opinion that an EU strategy would be better able to grasp the challenges which go hand in hand with broader socio-economic, demographical and environmental changes. They agreed that the strategy must ease business, foster job creation and growth, and lead to a sustainable and competitive social market economy.

The meeting showed that there is no one size fits all approach to the challenges and opportunities of digitalisation and innovation. Further assessment of the scope, speed and scale of the digitalisation process are needed to find effective solutions.

 

More about the EESC's recent work on digitalisation, innovation and the future of work:

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