The Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ) is concluding its two days of reflection on artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace, during which more than a hundred activists were able to discuss the ways in which AI is transforming tasks, trades, and ways of working.
« As a union organization, it is important to better understand these tools and their effects in order to evolve our demands and also erect safeguards. We see it every day: AI can facilitate certain tasks, make work less arduous, or help people do their jobs better. But beware, it is also used to increase workloads, monitor workers more closely, reduce their autonomy, and even eliminate jobs, » declares FTQ General Secretary Olivier Carrière.
« We need to see how we can translate these reflections into concrete demands and clarify the priorities we want to work on. We want, for example, for workers, together with their union, to have a real say in the introduction of AI into their workplace. That means being informed, being consulted, but also being able to negotiate the conditions under which these technologies are used, » the General Secretary adds.
« Now that this observation has been made, we must act and be present on all platforms to raise awareness of the issues and put pressure on governments, in particular, to obtain optimal framing for AI to prevent abuses. The discussions will have to lead to something concrete, and in this respect, we want to be able to work with the new Minister of Labour, Mathieu Lebrun, and the new Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Affairs, Anne Nguyen, » the General Secretary continues.
« Finally, we want workers to have a say in the transformations of their work. May AI serve to improve working conditions and not just to exercise more control or increase profits. As has always been the case, the FTQ is not against technological change, and AI is no exception. It is here to stay; the challenge is to master it, to learn to work with this new tool, but above all to ensure that it also benefits workers. Because technological progress should also be able to go hand in hand with social progress, » concludes the General Secretary.