‘New world of work must work for everyone’, CWU’s Andy tells UNI Conference

Telecoms & Financial Services August 28 2019

CWU deputy general secretary (T&FS) Andy Kerr was yesterday (Tuesday) unanimously re-elected world president of Uni Global Union’s information, communication, technology and services (ICTS) sector.

Wasting no time in reinforcing the importance of trade unionists rising to the challenges and opportunities posed by the so-called ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’, Andy told delegates to the UNI ICTS world conference in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia that unions must tackle head-on technology’s evolving impact on ICTS jobs.

Thanking more than 300 activists from nearly 70 countries for their support and confidence in his leadership, Andy urged affiliated unions to proactively shape the future of their sector rather than allow themselves to be buffeted by unstoppable developments in artificial intelligence and digitalisation.

Warning that “things are not getting easier for workers worldwide,” Andy continued: “This sector is at the centre of new technologies, and we need to make sure that we’re together in solidarity and determined to take the opportunities presented to us by the new world of work.”

That message has been a recurring theme of the UNI ICTS world conference which opened on Monday – giving a global platform for representatives of national unions that collectively represent more three million workers.

With delegates united in the belief that the world of work stands at a historic turning point – and that technological advances must be harnessed to extend social justice, rather than exacerbating inequality – Andy stressed: “Digitalisation and artificial intelligence are no longer the future of work; they are our present.

“At this critical time we are here to celebrate our victories, to share the lessons we’ve learned and to build a strategy of success for the next four years.

“We need to make sure that that workers across our sector can secure their rights through organising, collective bargaining and social dialogue.”