News

Eighty participants from 14 countries gathered in Madrid, Spain, for UNI Europa Professionals & Managers’ Group Conference from 19–20 May. The conference theme of ‘Putting P&Ms at the Heart of a Digitalised Europe’ focussed on the transformative impact of digitalisation in working peoples’ personal and professional lives. The conference also heard case studies from trade unions and how they have responded to ensuring inclusive and sustainable growth in line with UNI’s Breaking Through strategy.

Just transition for P&Ms in digital workplaces

Participants welcomed the role of UNI Europa P&M Group in bringing together the services part of the economy – the professionals, managers and knowledge workers – who are wealth creators. Participants also tried to decode the consequences of digitalisation that have been described in research from, among others, Frey and Osbourne at the University of Oxford, who argue that hundreds of occupations will be lost to artificial intelligence; robotics, and emerging technology. Delegates discussed the social and economic risks of development that included increased polarisation of the labour market between high skilled and low skilled workers, and growing potential for discrimination at work.

The trade union participants agreed that P&M jobs will continue to grow in the future, with more specialised and skilled jobs for workers in the labour market, however, delegates from across the UNI sectors also warned that many P&Ms were already experiencing negative effects of digitalisation: increasingly precarious contracts, freelance and crowd working which made it harder for unions to organise. Meanwhile, under-regulated use of technology in a global labour market was forcing anywhere, any time working practices; poor access to training; poor professional development, and attacks on professional standards. This was fuelling P&Ms’ sense of vulnerability and a long working hours’ culture which was leading to greater stress and burn-out.

UNI Global Union P&M Director, Pav Akhtar, called on affiliates to debate digitalisation and act with confidence: “Change at work has always been with us. The pace and scale of it may be faster now but we can’t afford to sit back and see workers’ rights be dismantled. We need to get on the front foot to answer questions about what type of work there will be; how we can ensure it is quality work, and how we can secure good standards of living at a time of digital jobs. P&Ms need strong unions to shape the future of work so unions can’t let others set the agenda for working people. We must organise digital workers for a just transition.”

Presenting a draft strategy on social dialogue in a digital age for P&Ms, newly elected UNI Europa P&M President, Elisabeth Tosti, from DM union in Denmark, urged affiliates to: “Take this strategy back to your unions. Use it to talk to your members and to your leaders. Find out what is happening to P&Ms on the frontline. Let’s share innovative solutions; let’s share good practices, and let’s help to shape a strategy for all UNI sectors with an emphasis on social justice and good conditions at work in a time of increasing digitalisation.”

Presenting the four-year annual report summarising the breadth of union activities that UNI Europa P&M Group and its affiliates have participated in, re-elected UNI Europa P&M Vice President, Sandra Vercammen, from LBC-NVK union Belgium, said: “We have every reason to be proud of increasing P&M affiliates’ engagement across UNI sectors and in our company initiatives. We have adopted the Breaking Through strategy on multinational alliances and organising; on growing strong and active P&M unions; on cross-sectoral work, on influencing political and regulatory issues. Let’s spread the word and grow even stronger!”

UNI Europa P&M Awards

The conference presented the first UNI Europa P&M Awards which were spread across four categories to celebrate the achievements of P&M affiliates that have been working hard over the past four years to break through and win power for P&Ms. The P&M Campaign Award was won by Filcams, CGIL (Italy) for its organising activity in the Carrefour supermarket chain. The P&M Union Innovation Award was won by FLT (Norway) for its employer-backed life-long learning programme to reskill P&M workers for the new world of work. The P&M Union Organising Award was won by National Alliance Trade Union (Romania) for its digital organising campaign among Deutsche Telekom workers. The Power in a P&M Union Award was won by FO-Com (France) for its work on political and industrial campaign to recognise and improve work life management rights for workers.

Solidarity action

Conference participants held a silent protest to support Amnesty International’s campaign to demand that the Egyptian authorities disclose the truth behind Italian student Giulio Regeni's death. With banners reading: ‘Truth for Giulio’, UNI Europa P&M Group expressed anger at the death of 28-year-old Regeni, a PhD student at Cambridge University, who was in Egypt researching trade unions. He went missing in Cairo on 25 January 2016, which marked the fifth anniversary of the popular uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak. Regeni’s body was found 10 days later, bearing signs of torture, in a roadside ditch on the outskirts of Cairo.

UNI Europe P&M President, Elisabeth Tosti, described what happened to Regini as “chilling” adding that: "It is important that trade unionists around the world come out to express their support and solidarity with Giulio's family and friends.”