_Workers’ rights are human rights.
Workplaces are sites of power imbalance, and much of the rapid acceleration of tech – both as a workplace and in the workplace – has created zones devoid of traditional protections and processes.
Dangerous, precarious, and invisible work sustains much of the tech supply chain, from Congolese children working in hazardous cobalt mines, to Filipino and Indian content moderators reviewing gruesome social media content on low-wage contracts, with all the attendant physical and mental stresses and hazards.
We look to where tech is swiftly rolling into workplaces through the auspices of worker tracking, surveillance, algorithmic bosses, and brittle automation systems.
People need to be re-centred at the heart of the conversation on the future of work. Narratives of inevitability and desirability about the rollout of automation and robotics in pursuit of ruthless efficiency need to be challenged. We should have a say on the work we do, today, as well as tomorrow.
Work futures demand more of our collective attention. This is what our playmakers and the Tech Impact Network give them. More attention. More support for those already fighting for stronger rights. More protections for workers in the modern era of labour.
