Speech by President of Trade Union Confederation of Russia Boris Kravchenko to the 14th BRICS Trade Union Forum 23 April, 2025 − Brasilia, Brazil
Dear colleagues,
The issue of the impact of digital technologies on employment and the labour market is at the centre of the national social dialogue in the Russian Federation. Trade unions in our country believe that it is impossible to talk about technological changes outside the existing context of challenges to the fundamental interests of workers around the world.
We see a lot of contradictions between the desire to expand AI to its full potential, and the need to regulate issues such as the rights and privacy, to ensure review and appeals mechanisms and shape an inclusive digital future.
Russian national trade union associations traditionally follow a cautious approach to AI. We stress the risks associated with the limitless adoption of AI in the workplace, and the vital role of public of public oversight and regulation. Ai will undoubtedly replace certain jobs, but it will also create new ones that require different skills.
When discussing the use of AI, it is extremely important to take into account the legal situation and the lack of protection that currently exist for workers due to the existing gaps in the norms and regulations, as well as the use of loopholes to evade responsibility on the part of businesses and hidden labour relations through the use of subcontractors.
One of the growing challenges for employees is related to human resource management using AI, also known as algorithmic management. In the vast majority of cases, the algorithmic labour process management is used in digital platforms, but it goes far beyond platform economy, and is widely implemented in the logistics sector.
This tool is applied both to manage employees and to collect data that facilitate further machine learning. This data can also be used for surveillance, monitoring and intensification of work. This creates problems in terms of undermining privacy and the creating programmes to restrict workers' rights.
The laws governing data protection, OSH, as well as the obligation to conduct collective bargaining, today apply only to certain aspects of the use of AI, while labour legislation has not fully kept pace with the ongoing changes.
We believe that states have an obligation to create regulations to ensure that companies that purchase and implement AI comply with their constitutional and international obligations. Governments must provide legal protection against violations though well-trained and resourceful labour inspections, as well as an access to justice for the restoration of rights.
There exists a fundamental imbalance of power and knowledge between workers and employers who now possess algorithms which now dictate and control the work process. Without access to those algorithms, and without transparency, workers will be at a disadvantage in defending their rights through collective bargaining, or through legislative changes. Digital platform employees everywhere face outrageous violations of occupational safety and labour rights, discrimination, low pay, denial of the right to social protection and access to justice.
The spread of AI to various spheres of society also affects the provision of social protection and public services. Under the slogan of efficiency, in many countries the programmes are being increasingly outsourced, and the introduction of AI systems to manage them strengthens the desire to privatise public services.
Outsourcing of public services and social protection to private companies also entails serious risks to privacy, as sensitive personal information about people's health and status is transferred into the hands of private companies that introduce these AI systems in the government interests.
Rapid adoption of AI and the risks associated with its deployment have brought to the foreground the policymakers' desire to regulate it. Nevertheless, there exist many problems in approaches to regulating the technologies, the impact of which we cannot yet realise. And although certain political forces insist on regulation that can ensure rapid progress in the implementation of AI, we must insist on the need for approaches that are based on the workers' rights. Therefore, regulatory approaches to AI must set clear boundaries as to how AI should be used.
Social dialogue and collective bargaining are key to mitigating negative effects of algorithmic management, ensuring OSH, avoiding discrimination, and establishing clear criteria for the collection and use of personal data that would limit surveillance and respect privacy. But they are also fundamental to improving the quality of jobs and wages, as well as to ensuring the implementation of adequate skills development and retraining strategies.
Given the increasing automation of tasks and growing uncertainty about the impact of AI on future jobs, social dialogue processes aimed at limiting job losses and ensuring fair transition for workers will be required. These should include investments in job creation and adequate vocational training and education, to be also accompanied by a reliable social protection of the affected workers.
The introduction of AI in the workplace should respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of workers, and should not restrict the right to freedom of association and the right to organise. Collective bargaining should be at the centre of implementing AI in the workplace. Workers' representatives should be clearly informed about how these technologies are going to be implemented.
An impact and risk assessment of AI implementation in the workplace should be conducted jointly with employers. Social partners should also be closely involved in the development of inclusive and high-quality education, training and lifelong learning systems. They should promote the inclusion of AI and digital skills in formal education curricula at all levels of education, so that workers have the necessary skills for today’s and tomorrow’s labour markets.
We must ensure transparency and accountability in the decision-making process based on algorithms, as well as employee representation in these processes, to prevent exploitation, inequality of rights and discrimination. The monitoring of workers with AI should be limited to exceptional circumstances that are strictly necessary for the performance of work and ensuring health and safety.
Employees should be duly informed about what data is collected from them and how it will be used, in order to be able to give prior informed consent for such use. The use of AI to manage and deliver public services should be properly regulated and monitored to ensure that it works for the benefit of society.
Specific measures and licensing systems should be applied to ensure that public data is not monopolised or used for private purposes, including access to source code and localisation requirements. To bridge the global AI gap, significant investments in public digital infrastructure and digital skills are needed.
They will be required to ensure inclusive deployment and adoption of AI worldwide. The concentration of AI in a small number of countries and companies is unacceptable. The future of the world of work, shaped by digitalisation and artificial intelligence, is inevitable, but the results are not predetermined.
By ensuring active participation of national and global trade unions in these transformations, we can create a future of work that is inclusive and fair.