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Workers' Union Says We Should Have Four Day Working Week And Be Paid More

Workers' Union Says We Should Have Four Day Working Week And Be Paid More

According to the TUC employers should use new technologies, such as AI, to make workers' lives easier

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

A union reckons that the UK working week should be cut to four days and wages should be raised - finally something we can all get behind eh?

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has said that rather than worrying that the recent growth in technology will lead to job cuts, we should be using things such as AI, robotics and automation to give us all better working conditions, the Mirror reports.

TUC general secretary, Frances O'Grady.
PA

Currently, workers in the UK have the third longest working hours in Europe, behind Austria and Greece and if that's not rubbish enough, we're also working £31billion worth of unpaid overtime each year, with around five million people saying they work about seven hours unpaid every week. Very grim.

These shocking statistics have prompted the TUC to call on the government to consider a four-day week and to introduce technologies, like AI, in a way that positively impacts workers.


via GIPHY

TUC general secretary, Frances O'Grady said: "Workers are having a hard time. They've suffered the longest pay squeeze in 200 years. Millions of people are stuck in insecure jobs and stressed out. And too many employers are using tech to treat workers unfairly.

"Bosses and shareholders must not be allowed to hoover up all the gains from new tech for themselves. Working people deserve their fair share - and that means using the gains from new tech to raise pay and allow more time with their families.

"When the TUC's first Congress took place 150 years ago, people worked ten hours a day with only Sunday off. But in the last century we won a two-day weekend and limits on long hours. This century, we must raise our sights to reduce working time again."


The TUC's report claims that 74 percent of worker would be happy to have new technologies help out and gain a better work/life balance, while eight out of 10 said they'd like to reduce their hours.

At the moment in the UK laws dictate that people should not work more than 48 hours a week, but it's possible to opt out of this and work more. Workers are also entitled to 11 hours consecutive rest in a 24-hour period and one day off a week.

Featured Image Credit: Fox

Topics: uk news