Workers and Machines newsletter #1

What's new

We are running a project in partnership with Connected by Data, bringing together education unions, representing millions of support staff, teachers, leaders and specialists.

Last week, ten unions made an ‘urgent call for educator voice in AI and EdTech’, setting out the need and plan for educator voice in AI. Read more about the project.

The movement on the move

Supporting unions to negotiate and advocate on tech is a key priority for the TUC. We saw a massive uptick in union activity on AI in 2025. Here is a look back at some of the year's highlights:

• Equity union upped the AI ante in negotiations with TV and film producers: During negotiations with trade body PACT, in an indicative strike ballot performers working in film and TV voted ‘Yes’ by a landslide: 99.6% said they would refuse to be digitally scanned on set.

• AI became an industrial issue as unions took on big tech: In 2025 the TUC supported unions across the board and backed campaigns including bringing together some of the UK’s highest profile online safety campaigners with an open letter calling on MPs to urgently investigate TikTok’s job cuts and use of AI content moderation.

• From practical tools to national innovation strategy, we’re seeing more from the movement on shaping AI at work:  Unison launched their AI Hub, a resource for members, reps and activists to support understanding and collective bargaining about AI in the workplace. Here at the TUC, we published what building blocks are needed for a pro-worker AI innovation strategy in the UK.

• The TUC closed out 2025 with a range of political engagements around AI in the workplace: We set out priority issues for the Business and Trade Select Committee to investigate and fed into the government’s ‘AI Growth Labs’ initiative.  We also worked — and are continuing to work — to shape policy on workplace surveillance and AI-related job disruption.

Bookmark this: Bargaining on tech

As more and more unions are putting AI on the bargaining agenda, we’ll be sharing tools that are a useful starting point for officers and reps. These two essential resources bring together hundreds of collective agreements from across sectors and around the world:

• University of California’s ‘Negotiating tech’ database
• Public Service International’s Digital Bargaining Hub

Want more? On the 11 March, the TUC is hosting an in-person Bargaining on AI Forum for trade unionists.

The Bigger Picture: Is AI disrupting the labour market?

Every day new headlines announce that AI is costing workers their jobs. It’s a little more complicated than that.

The latest evidence indicates that AI may be contributing to a slowdown in hiring in some areas (like computer programming and freelance creatives) and among some young workers. But there is not (yet) evidence of generalised AI-driven widespread job displacement. This is a fast-moving picture. Most research heavily focuses on the USA, and on job quantities. We need both UK focused information, and an additional emphasis on job quality – as we certainly don’t want working lives further degraded. We also think plans can get underway without having to wait for massive disruption. The TUC is pushing the government on these points.

This year is going to be crucial as tech companies push rapid adoption of AI in the pursuit of profits from the eye watering investments made that have so far not yielded returns. Unions and workers need to be ready – at work and in politics – to have a say on whether and how AI adoption rolls out.

Need a primer on the debate so far? This podcast will give you a neat summary:

AI and the Future of Work: What You Need to Know (also on other platforms)

For a deeper-dive, check out this piece by tech critic Brian Merchant:

What’s really going on with AI and jobs?

Events etc

• ‘Data centres: The past we inherit and the future we build’: With a massive data centre planned for his constituency, the local MP and trade unionist Ian Lavery MP is convening a full day session. February 6^th, in person, Blyth, Northumberland.

• Reps training on AI by TUC Cymru: A new introductory course for workplace reps launched by the TUC in Wales.

• TUC ‘Bargaining on AI Forum’: We need to get AI on the bargaining table. This will be a full day session at TUC HQ for reps, officers and allies to share experiences and dig into negotiating and bargaining on AI. March 11^th, in person, Congress House, London.