Strong legal safeguards needed over “damaging” workplace surveillance, CWU says
Postal, Telecoms & Financial Services, Union Matters, Tech November 2 2026Workplace surveillance has created a climate of fear and distrust among workers, trade unionists have warned a government consultation. Responding to the recent government Make Work Pay consultation on workplace monitoring technologies, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) has backed proposals to impose a duty for employers to consult with trade unions over the introduction or modification of workplace monitoring.
The union – which represents workers in the postal, telecoms, finance and technology sectors – has been noticing and disputing the growth of digital surveillance and AI-driven monitoring in recent years.
These examples include the deployment of Postal Digital Assistants (PDAs) at Royal Mail, which monitor the movements of employees on a minute-by-minute basis, a move that was successfully resisted by the union.
Commenting, CWU Deputy General Secretary (Postal) Martin Walsh said:
“Delivery workers are being placed under more stress than ever before, and a lot of this pressure is being applied by the PDA and the constant monitoring of delivery employees is unacceptable – each week, we’re seeing over 20,000 counselling notes generated towards employees.
“Our members in delivery are out in all weathers, seven days per week, and do a fantastic job. The last thing they need is Royal Mail micromanaging them in every detail. Last week, we secured an agreed joint statement which commits the company to a reduction in the amount of data and surveillance a delivery employee has to face each day.”
Karen Rose, Deputy General Secretary (Telecoms and Financial Services), said:
“Technology in call centres has monitored and tracked our members for years, but advances in new AI software are bringing in more sophisticated ways to collect data on how workers perform their jobs. From speech analytics that assess customer interactions and influence decisions about call effectiveness, to digital software that monitors computer activity, tracks tasks, and increasingly shapes how work is organised and managed.”
“Digital and AI driven technologies are also tracking our engineering members at work, whether driving, working on a laptop or doing physical work. The CWU has secured important safeguards to ensure that our members do not face detriment as a result of technology and that the collection of data is minimised. But these protections rely on union strength and employer good faith.”
“At the heart of the proposals is a legal right for workers to be consulted and negotiated on workplace monitoring technologies. Until those rights are secured, it is up to unions and workers to continue challenging employers and pushing for standards that put workers’ interests at the heart of technological change.”
John Chadfield, National Officer for technology at the CWU said:
“‘AI-driven’ workplace surveillance at work is the opposite of innovation, it has become an option for careless executives that wish to try and shift the blame of their company’s poor performance to workers. As surveillance tools have become a feature in every single industry that the CWU represents, adding nothing but stress and workload intensification to hard working employees constantly being asked to do more with less. Instead of support, they are monitored by an increasingly detached senior management layer who often don’t understand the technology they are buying. We’ve seen this play out in the technology industry over the previous decade, and we know that it is only workers that suffer the consequences of poor leadership decisions.
“We’ve asked the government to develop a worker-first approach to regulation at a national and regional scale. In the workplace, transparency alone would not be enough; workers need meaningful consultation and negotiation over AI deployments.”
For further details, please see LTB 267/26 and attachment