The international seminar about “Digital transformation, new forms of work and workers’ representation”, organized by CNS "Cartel Alfa" / F.N.CORESI (Confederaţia Naţională Sindicală "Cartel Alfa" / Fundaţia Naţională CORESI) in partnership with EZA and funded by the European Union, took place between 21st and 24th of May in Predeal, Romania. The seminar was in a face to face format, with 48 representatives of workers’ organisations Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Moldova and Portugal. Public officials from the Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Digitalisation, the National Agency for Fiscal Administration, and the Labour Inspection have also attended the event, sharing their views and experiences on the digitalisation process and its challenges. Simultaneous translations were provided to all participants in Romanian-English/English-Romanian and Romanian-French/French Romanian.
The agenda was followed according to the scheduled program and, based on the participants’ feedback and questionnaires, the organization of the event was very satisfactory. At the same time presentations incited interest and a lot of debate, showing it was found meaningful and relevant for the activity of participants and their organisational projects. During the last day of the seminar, the participants had the opportunity to discuss with the Mayor of Brașov City and the team responsible with digitalisation, during a working visit to the City Hall. The discussions centred on the ongoing and future projects that the Municipality is implementing for transforming Brașov into a Smart City. The broad topics discussed during the seminar were:
- Digitalisation and changes in the world of work
The digital transition is an important pillar of the NPRR, as an instrument for the implementation of the objectives of the Digital Strategy. The level of digitalization of the Romanian state has been at 21% since 2020 and by 2030, it must reach 100%, according to the Digital Compass, the strategy in the field of digitalization of the European Union. It is essential to understand how new technologies and social impact is managed. A shared concern of the participants, especially from Estearn European Countries, is the capacity and preparedness of the states to respond to the problems and challenges of the digital transformation and the ways to support the working people to manage with the digital era changes. At least a decade is estimated to solve and address these challenges.
- Employment challenges in the digital era – are workers ready to face them?
Digitalisations has brought with it new forms of work relashionships that have not been coverded by the protection of labour law. The biggest challenges include access to social security, association, access to control/inspection of work, health implications, etc. Negative effects of digitalization are associated with income and job insecurity, work intensification, and deterioration of mental wellbeing. Managing hybrid work and work from home is another challenge shared by workers and employers alike.
The digital transformation essentially means educating people in using the new tools and mechanisms. Thus, Digitisation must be accompanied by the development of digital skills and competences as the jobs of the future will be different and a great proportion of the operations that take place in society can be automatised. People must be partners of the transition. If not, it will be critical for our democratic societies. Promoting social dialogue, raising people's interest and implementing forms of participation remains an important challenge in all countries.
- What are the negative & positive effects of technology on employment opportunities and how we deal with them?
Digitalization affects not only whole jobs, but also the composition of jobs, by altering the task profiles within them. It is essential to understand that the social impact of new technology will depend on how new challenges are managed. We must create the conditions that foster an opportunity-generating job market for those people who have already skilled up for the new digital landscape. There is still a digital gap among generations but also among companies, in terms of the adoption of the new digital technologies. At the same time, participants shared positive developments and good practices, both at state level and also within trade unions that highlighted successes in the adoption of digitalisation and the new technologies for improving union work, development of digital skills and attracting members.
- Are there winners and losers of the digital transition? Is a win-win scenario possible?
Digitalisation must not be feared as it brings tools that make our lives easier. However, we need to be aware of the dark side of these types of technologies, the potential to wipe out entire professions and radically change many others.
The future of work will depend to a large extent on the political decisions that would be made in the coming years. People must be partners of this transformation. Through cooperation and dialogue, we need to find solutions to inhibit the negative aspects that create problems in society. And, ensure that there will be support for everyone, in line with the commitment made by various international organizations including the United Nations and the International Labour Organization.
During the seminar our invited speakers presented their materials and offered the participants the chance to comment upon them, to ask questions and to reflect on the data reported. The round-up for the conclusions of the three days of exchanges of ideas and best practices lead to a few points and directions for action that the participants agreed upon:
- Promoting social dialogue, raising people's interest and implementing forms of participation remains an important objective;
- As jobs are changing and the operations are automatized, digitisation must be accompanied by the development of digital skills and competences;
- The main tasks of the unions in the digital transformation are:
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- to protect workers from the negative consequences of the digitalization, to take up the challenges brought by the digital transformation, innovate and unionize the new emerging sectors and types of work;
- to play the role of a practical tool in the mastery and controlled reasonable management of the processes arising as a result of the digital transformation;
- to help build strategies for expanding influence through new forms of unionization, social dialogue, industrial relations and collective bargaining.
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