Data on Purpose 2023: Making Tech Work for Workers<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\r\nHoffman spoke on the panel \u201cBuilding Digital Guardrails That Serve Workers\u201d along with\u00a0Meera Joshi,\u00a0New York City Deputy Mayor for Operations, and Kavita Dattani,\u00a0Postdoctoral Researcher, Fairwork Project,\u00a0University of Oxford. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n
While the scope of data collection and invasiveness of workplace technologies \u2013 particularly algorithmic management systems \u2013 has changed rapidly over the past several years, Hoffman made the case that existing solutions can fundamentally address a many of the challenges technology poses for workers.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n
\u201cWe know that unions have been negotiating over technology for decades, for example in manufacturing when robotics started to be introduced in the 1980s.\u00a0 Many\u00a0<\/span>of the key principles from that period<\/span>\u00a0\u2013 notice, assessment of risks and bargaining over\u00a0implementation and<\/span>\u00a0impact \u2013 still apply today.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\u201cFor instance, in Germany,\u00a0works councils<\/span>\u00a0have restricted the use of individual data collected by algorithmic management systems\u00a0so that it can only be used\u00a0<\/span>to evaluate performance on a team level over time, not as an individual metric on a daily or hourly basis.<\/span>\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\r\nHoffman also mentioned the CWA\u2019s agreement in call centers which requires that monitoring be limited to specific\u00a0 hours each month, \u00a0that workers be on notice when monitoring is taking place and that monitoring be for the purpose of feedback, not discipline.<\/p>\r\n
Another example Hoffman gave is that UNI recently signed a global agreement with a major call centre company that\u00a0requires that\u00a0<\/span>on-the-job surveillance\u00a0must not be \u201cdisproportionate\u201d to business needs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWe shouldn\u2019t just accept that it\u2019s OK to have a camera watching you for the entire workday,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\r\nThis monitoring exposes workers to psychosocial stress and can also lead to physical injury. Hoffman pointed to the high injury rate at Amazon, where the company uses extreme monitoring to push workers\u2019 pace of production. This pressure to meet inhumane targets can also force workers to miss legally required breaks.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n
To help unions stop these excesses, UNI will be issuing a guide in the coming weeks that details how workers around the world have used their collective power to make tech work better for them.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n
Hoffman concluded that \u201cWhen companies change how they do business, they must talk to workers. They need to dialogue with unions and have robust, independent health and safety or even technology committees to implement new tools properly and fix problems that arise.\u201d<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Strong unions and collective bargaining are fundamental to protecting workers\u2019 rights as new technologies change our jobs, UNI Global Union General Secretary Christy Hoffman told participants at\u00a0Data on Purpose 2023: Making Tech Work for Workers.\u00a0 Hoffman spoke on the panel \u201cBuilding Digital Guardrails That Serve Workers\u201d along with\u00a0Meera Joshi,\u00a0New York City Deputy Mayor for Operations,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":10317,"template":"","categories":[41],"global-issues":[35],"sectors":[],"cross-sector-groups":[24],"workers-rights":[],"regions":[],"topics":[],"class_list":["post-10316","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","global-issues-new-world-of-work","cross-sector-groups-professionals-and-managers"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Unions are critical digital guardrails, UNI GS Hoffman tells #DataOnPurpose \u00a0<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n\t \n