In some UK companies, however, shop stewards have secured local agreements that commit the employer to inform and consult around planned technology changes. In comparison, the lack of institutional and legal backing in the UK, makes it far more difficult for Unite to obtain similar levels of influence. In some Norwegian workplaces, union involvement is early in the process and extensive. There are also opportunities for union and worker involvement in the implementation of new technology. Unions in well-organised workplaces are often involved at an early stage when decisions around technology are made. The strong institutional supports in Norway are critical to encouraging union-management cooperation around digitalisation.The union accepts better jobs may mean fewer jobs in the sector but, unlike in the UK, operates in a context where other similarly paid jobs are usually available to displaced production workers, and there is a relatively generous social security system and retraining provided for the unemployed. By contrast, NNN regard automation as the only way to keep Norwegian plants competitive, given the countries high labour costs. However, employer opposition has made progress very difficult and slow. In the UK, Unite’s central focus has been protecting jobs, with the aim of reducing the working week to accommodate labour-saving technology, National policy emphasises securing New Technology Agreements which seek to commit employers to involve unions in technology decisions and provide assurances on how change is managed. There are important differences in union strategies towards digitalisation.Shop steward perspectives on ways the union can further support them in dealing with digitalisation.Union influence in relation to job losses and the monitoring and surveillance of workers.Union involvement in the introduction and implementation of digital technologies. The report is based on findings from a Leverhulme Trust Research Project that involved interviews with officials and shop stewards in Norsk Nærings- og Nytelsesmiddelarbeiderforbund (NNN, the Norwegian food and drink workers’ union) and Unite in the UK.įocusing on production operatives, it addresses: Given these differences, we would expect unions in Norway to be able to secure better outcomes for workers when faced with digitalisation. In the UK, there are no such rights, and consultation is only required in relation to redundancies. Norwegian unions have rights in law and collective agreements to be involved in any decisions affecting the workforce, including new technology, and co-determination law provides for worker representation on company boards. Norway is a high-wage economy, with a strong welfare state, where unions remain powerful and influential policy actors, whereas the UK is more neo-liberal economy where unions have been seriously weakened and marginalised over many decades. A new report by academics from Cardiff and De Montfort University examines the role of trade unions in Norway and the UK in processes of digitalisation and whether they can shape better outcomes for workers. However, robotics and associated digital technologies are being taken up, albeit unevenly, and threaten to disrupt existing ways of working. The food and drink processing sector is the largest manufacturing employer in most European countries, and is often seen as a technological laggard. Shapers of technology? Unions and digitalisation in food and drink processing in Norway and the UK
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