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.
Italian electricity company, Tirreno Power, has announced that it will cut 315 jobs by the end of 2014. According to the sources, 127 jobs at the Vade Ligure power plant in Savona will be lost. Additionally, 188 jobs will be cut elsewhere at the company.
The source reports that the job cuts in the Vado Ligure coal power station are a result of a temporary stoppage which was ordered by a court order on 11 March 2014. This stoppage was due to the plant exceeding the pollution emissions limit. The Italian Ministry of the Environment has suspended the Integrated Environmental Authorisation (IEA) (Autorizzazione Integrata Ambientale, AIA) for the facility. According to the source, this will further delay the reopening of the facility. According to the source, these dismissals could affect up to 1,000 jobs in the region and in their supplier companies. The source notes that the company announced its intention to invest 180 million euro in order to reduce polluting emissions and safeguard jobs. The unions called for a meeting to be held on 19 June and have also asked the government to revoke the suspension of the IEA and discuss viable alternatives.
Update 3 July 2014: On 1 July 2014, in a meeting held in Rome, the Ministers of Environment and of Economic Development announced that they would grant a new Integrated Environmental Authorisation for Vado Ligure power plant. The new IEA should be drawn up by the middle of September at the latest. According to the sources, Tirreno Power has pledged not to take any unilateral decisions on the future of the plant until the end of September.
The source reports that the trade unions have asked the company to withdraw the redundancies and ensure a social safety net to protect workers. Meetings at the local branch of Confindustria to discuss on social security benefits for (direct and indirect) workers will be held in the coming days.
Update 7 July 2014: Tirreno Power and the trade unions have reached an agreement in order to reduce the level of redundancies from 315 to 111. The source reports that the redundancies will be on a voluntary basis. Employees have until August to join the voluntary redundancy plan and redundancies will be finished by the end of 2014. The remaining 204 workers will benefit from a wages guarantee, designed to reduce job losses at the site.
Eurofound (2014), Tirreno Power, Closure in Italy, factsheet number 77204, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/77204.