Trade Unions in Transformation: Navigating Disruption and Shaping the Future of Work

ACTRAV info: the ACTRAV programme Trade Unions in Transformation speaks to a world of complexity, uncertainty and disruption. Why is this so important now?

Oliver Röpke: Trade unions are operating in a world where heightened complexity, uncertainty and disruption are no longer isolated shocks, but defining features of the world of work. Automation, artificial intelligence, climate shocks, demographic shifts, increasing informality, geopolitical instability and democratic backlash are unfolding at the same time, creating profound challenges for workers and their organizations.

For workers and their organizations, the question is not only how to react to change. The real question is how to anticipate and shape it. If disruption has become the new normal, then the capacity to navigate disruption must also become the new normal.

This is the core of ACTRAV’s Trade Unions in Transformation programme. It supports unions to navigate change effectively, act with foresight, innovate and strengthen their role as powerful actors advocating for workers’ rights and social justice.

The programme is especially timely in light of this year’s International Labour Conference. At the ILC, workers and employers’ organisations and governments worldwide will discuss social dialogue as the vehicle to navigate change. It will consider standard-setting on platform work, one of the major transformations in labour markets. It will discuss the transformative agenda for gender equality, peace and resilience, and the Director-General’s report will focus on artificial intelligence.

These are not separate debates. They are part of one larger question: how can workers and their organizations navigate major transformations in the world of work, shape the future of work, protect labour rights and ensure decent work for all workers, today and tomorrow?

ACTRAV info: How does this connect with the ILC Recurrent Discussion on Social Dialogue and Tripartism?

Oliver Röpke: Social dialogue is one of the main vehicles for navigating transformation. But it must be meaningful, inclusive and supported by strong, representative organizations.

Its foundations are clear: freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining. These are fundamental rights. They are also enabling rights. Without them, trade unions cannot organize, represent workers or engage effectively in social dialogue.

Yet these rights are under pressure in many countries. Too many workers, often those in the most vulnerable situations, still do not have real access to them. If social dialogue is to remain relevant, freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining must become a reality for workers in emerging sectors, in the informal economy, in supply chains or for migrant workers.

Social dialogue helps societies manage turbulent times. It brings different interests together, especially in polarized environments. It helps workers, enterprises and governments manage transitions with foresight. We already see collective bargaining addressing technological change and climate transition, but the full potential of social dialogue is still far from being realized.

Social dialogue is also a building block of democracy and directly connected with democracy at work. Workers having a voice in the decisions that shape their working lives is the foundation of just and inclusive societies.

We also see new spaces for social dialogue emerging: sustainable development chapters in trade agreements, supply chain due diligence laws, forced labour and child labour initiatives, international framework agreements, responsible public procurement and sectoral approaches. Most of these are grounded in ILO standards.

But none of this will work without strong, independent and future-ready unions. That is why trade union transformation is so closely linked to the future of social dialogue.

ACTRAV info: The ILC will also discuss standard-setting on the platform economy, and the Director-General’s report will focus on AI. What does this mean for trade unions?

Oliver Röpke: The platform economy and AI are testing the boundaries of labour protection, worker representation and collective bargaining.

They raise very practical questions. Who is the employer? Who controls the algorithm? What is the employment or contractual status of workers? How can workers organize when they are dispersed, isolated or managed through digital systems?

These questions are at the heart of a changing world of work. They are also at the heart of trade union transformation. Platform workers must be able to effectively enjoy freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining. This is not only a platform economy issue. It is a broader question of how unions organize vulnerable workers in emerging sectors and new forms of work.

AI raises similar concerns. We need to understand which jobs, sectors and economies are exposed to AI. But we must go further. What does AI mean for wages, working conditions, skills development, labour rights, surveillance, algorithmic management and inequality?

The impact of AI on labour markets is only beginning, but it will be significant. The key question is what unions do about it. Trade unions need to be involved in consultations on structural technological change. They need to bargain on worker data protection, human control over algorithmic management, transparency, skills, social protection and regulation that ensures AI supports decent work.

Union action and collective bargaining are already starting to incorporate these issues. The ACTRAV programme helps unions build the strategic capacity to address these issues more systematically.

ACTRAV info: The ILC agenda also includes gender equality, peace and resilience. How does ACTRAV’s work on Trade Unions in Transformation speak to those debates?

Oliver Röpke: Transformation must be human-centred and inclusive.

Gender equality, youth participation and the representation of workers in vulnerable situations must be at the centre of the trade union agenda. The ACTRAV Trade Unions in Transformation programme looks at exactly these questions. It focuses on inclusive union governance, diverse membership, innovative services and strong outreach.

The peace and resilience agenda is also highly timely and relevant. We are living through war, displacement, climate disasters and democratic backlash. In times of crisis, strong workers’ organizations and inclusive and effective social dialogue are essential. Trade unions are not only labour market actors. They are democratic institutions. They help keep societies together when disruption threatens social cohesion.

That is why the ACTRAV Trade Unions in Transformation Programme combines awareness-raising, research, knowledge development and training with the development of practical tools such as the Trade Union Future Readiness Self-Assessment or the Disruptive Futures Toolkit.

The goal is clear: to support trade unions worldwide to navigate disruption, think strategically, innovate and shape the future of work for all workers. The ILC agenda shows exactly why this work is urgent.