European Federation of Journalists

Three-day conference to discuss the impacts of the digital revolution on work, 27-29 June, Brussels


A three-day conference will be held on 27-29 June 2016 in Brussels on the theme: “Shaping the new world of work – The impacts of digitalisation and robotisation”. Organised by the European Trade Union Confederation and the European Trade Union Institute, the conference will bring together over 400 representatives of trade unions, research bodies, academia, civil society, EU institutions and international organisations to discuss how the world and nature of work and employment is being changed radically by the digital revolution.

Contrary to similar conferences, this event will not only focus on the quantity of work (‘will robots destroy our jobs?’) but also on the quality of work (working conditions, life-work balance, autonomy versus precarious jobs, impacts on social dialogue, health and safety at the workplace etc.) and the challenges of these trends for trade unions and workers. It will try to answer the question how trade unions and civil society can help define a path to a ‘social digitalisation of work and the work place’ which will support and even strengthen the overall well-being of Europe’s workers.

EFJ General Secretary Ricardo Gutiérrez will attend on Tuesday 28 June the Panel 11 on Work intensification as discussant. The full programme is available on the ETUI website.

 

For information on how to register for this conference, please send an email toconference@etui.org

MONDAY 27 JUNE 2016

11.00 – 13.00

Plenary A: Inaugural keynote speeches (Room: Belgium)

14.00- 15.30

Panel 1: Collaborative economy and platform capitalism
Panel 2: The future of industry in Europe
Panel 3: Digitalisation – more democracy in public services and public service workplaces?
Panel 4: Private services industry: at risk or new opportunities?
Panel 5: Future of jobs in the digital network economy

15.30 – 16.00: Coffee break

16.00-16.20

Keynote speech EU Commissioner (Room: Belgium)

16.30-18.30

Plenary B: The big picture (setting the scene) (Room: Belgium)

TUESDAY 28 JUNE

9.00-11.00

Plenary C: Technology
Plenary D: Employment

11.00-11.30 Coffee break

11.30-13.00

Panel 6: Organising and representing workers in the digital economy
Panel 7: Inequalities and labour market polarisation
Panel 8: Psychosocial risks of future forms of work
Panel 9: The Circular Economy as a driver for jobs and industrial development
Panel 10: Working time

13.00 -14.00 Lunch break

14.00 – 15.30

Panel 11: Work intensification
Panel 12: Workplace innovation in the second machine age
Panel 13: Data protection for employees
Panel 14: Amazon

15.30 – 16.00: Coffee break

16.00 – 18.00h

Plenary E: Working conditions

WEDNESDAY 29 JUNE

09.00 – 10.30

Panel 15: Skills and training in the 4th Industrial Revolution: what do companies need? What can workers hope?
Panel 16: Basic income
Panel 17: Working conditions in the sharing economy – crowdwork
Panel 18: New forms of work and labour market policies
Panel 19: Negotiating the new world of work – what role for collective bargaining?

10.30 – 11.00: Coffee break

11.00 – 12.30

Panel 20: How governments tackle the digitalisation challenge
Panel 21: Back to the future: is the sharing economy an opportunity for trade unions?
Panel 22: Dealing with Change: New roles and capabilities for trade unions
Panel 23: How to organise the process of digitalisation of the work places?
Panel 24: Workers’ participation and the introduction of new technology

12.30 – 13.30: Lunch break

13.30 – 15.30

Plenary F: How to re-think labour law? (Room: Belgium)

15.30-16.00 Coffee break

16.00-18.00

Plenary G: The way forward (Room: Belgium)