UNI & the Future World of Work

UNI Global Union, based in Nyon, Switzerland, represents more than 20 million workers from over 650 trade unions in the fastest growing sectors in the world – skills and services. A total of 90% of new jobs are expected to be in these sectors in the next decade. UNI and our affiliates in all regions are driven by the responsibility to ensure these jobs are decent and workers’ rights are protected, including the right to join a union and collective bargaining.

Breaking Through!

Already in 2014 at the global congress in Cape Town, UNIs affiliates knew that the future world of work will require the upmost of attention. Having identified the key challenges ahead, including the risk of workforce polarisation, flexibility with no security, the rise of individualised and precarious work, and the disruption ahead, UNI set out to change the rules of the game.

The commitment to our work on digitalisation and its effects on work, skills, bargaining and organising, was reconfirmed at UNIs congress in Liverpool in 2018. With unanimous support and many interventions from our affiliates, the Future World of Work resolution was adopted with flying colours.

Through the Breaking Through strategy, UNI aims to ensure justice and equality for all working people. This includes focusing on global value chains in a networked, digitalised world. On new forms of business structures such as platforms and crowdsourcing and their unsocial, exploitative employment forms. On the need for ethical Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. On filling the world-wide neglect of workers’ data rights. Of breaking the super surveillance and monitoring we all are subject to and enforcing responsible data governance strategies. On the need to ensure that all workers, in all forms of work have sound social and fundamental rights. On the pressing need to revamp vocational training and higher education. And on the urgent requirement to make sure the future world of work is gender neutral and empowering for all.

General Secretary, Christy Hoffman is the driving force behind UNIs future of work strategies. Determined to support union organising and to make sure workers have a seat at the table, Christy is leading our work to make the new world of work empowering for all. With Christy at the helm, UNI Global Union remains one of the top thought leaders on the necesssary change facing us all.