Ethics in the digital workplace
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns.
Österreichische Post, the majority state-owned Austrian postal service provider, is to hire 100 additional postmen and -women.
Before this decision, intensive negotiations between the workforce and management had taken place, which culminated in the threat of a strike. The reason was that on February first, the delivery areas were to be extended and the workforce feared even higher pressure and the extension of working hours.
After an agreement between the union leader Köstinger and the Post CEO Pölzl on 29 January 2013, the unions withdrew their threat of strike and the Post offered to hire 100 additional employees to compensate for the increased workload. Changes in delivery areas will be evaluated within two months.
In addition, a new system was introduced in January, which records the postal staffs working time electronically – a move that had resulted in protests.
Eurofound (2013), Österreichische Post, Internal restructuring in Austria, factsheet number 74851, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/74851.