The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) once again celebrates its historic founding date of 3rd October by organising an International Action Day, which this year takes place under the slogan:

United in action and struggle, we demand:

• science and technology in the service of humanity and not of monopolies and the oligarchy of wealth;
• work with rights for the satisfaction of the contemporary needs of workers and an economy for progress and not for war and destruction.

Technological achievements and the resulting production capacities are undoubtedly at the most advanced, complete, and promising level humanity has ever witnessed. The technological progress of the last 100 to 200 years has unprecedentedly strengthened the productive potential of society. The enormous level of today’s productive forces are a globally acknowledged reality and constitutes a point of reference in academic and scientific discourse, in economic technical forums, as well as in the analyses of international organisations. It has undoubtedly created the conditions for covering all basic and contemporary needs of the world’s population.

In practice, however, within the framework of the capitalist system, technology is exploited for the profit of the few rather than the needs of the many. Instead of utilising the expansion of human productivity to reduce working hours and improve working conditions, we are seeing a deepening of flexible and unregulated forms of employment as yet another method of intensifying the exploitation of cheap, unprotected labour.

The growth of the platform economy and the outsourcing market are often used to conceal the employer–employee relationship behind temporary employment agencies or to label workers as “partners”. Although remote work is often presented as a modern, employee-friendly form of work, in practice it leads to longer working hours and a more intense workload, while blurring the boundaries between work and personal life and increasing work-related stress and feelings of isolation.

In addition, the growing presence of artificial intelligence, robotics and digitalisation is having a significant impact on labour relations. Automation and the practical application of AI in production are displacing human labour, de-skilling work and creating job insecurity, thereby threatening workers’ jobs and wages.

The utilisation of new technologies within the framework of capitalism results in the deprivation of workers’ basic rights, such as stable working hours and wages, paid holidays, unemployment benefits, social security and other fundamental achievements. At the same time, this affects all workers, as it contributes to the further decline in union membership and the reduction of workers’ bargaining power.

Today, even though all the objective conditions for decent work and a decent standard of living are in place, workers nevertheless face poverty, misery, war and displacement.

Workers have the historical experience to deal with these changes. They are also aware that technological innovations, which promise a huge increase in productivity, are not a problem by themselves. New technologies are fundamentally neutral. They are neither good nor bad for people or human labour. Their potential impact always depends on how they are used and who controls them.

The issue therefore, is to ensure that technological progress is integrated into a framework that serves the interests of workers and the social majority and leads to dignified work and living conditions.

On the occasion of the 81^st anniversary of the WFTU, the class-oriented labour movement calls on militant unions and workers across the globe to actively participate in the established International Action Day.

Let’s intensify our struggle for the use of technology that serves workers, significant wage increases, stable work with full rights, 35 hours of work per week,  seven hours of work per day, health and safety in all workplaces, public and universal systems of healthcare, education and social security, a high quality work and living environment for a world in which the contemporary needs of the popular strata will be met, for a society in which those who create wealth will harvest its fruits. Let’s use this day of action to send the message that workers are resisting and fighting for their rights, that we will not allow them to put their profits before our lives, and that we will not tolerate their wars and exploitation.