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.
Meridiana, an Italian flight operator based in Olbia, has enacted a mobility procedure for 1,634 employees.
The decision is part of a restructuring plan aimed at overcoming financial difficulties. Redundancy will affect 1,478 employees of the Meridiana fly airline (262 pilots, 896 flight assistants, 320 ground personnel) and 156 workers of Meridiana Maintenance (the in-house company in charge of repairing the fleet); 900 of whom have been benefitting wages guarantee fund since 2011, when the company first announced its intention to reduce the staff number.
Trade unions expressed concerns for the social impact of the decision and accused the company of negligent management policies. As reported, Italian Transport Workers’ Federation (Federazione Italiana Lavoratori Trasporti, FILT-CGIL) sued the company for fraud, alleging a misuse of wages guarantee fund. According to the trade union, the company has been using services operated by subsidiary or subcontracting firms in place of redundant workers.
Eurofound (2014), Meridiana, Internal restructuring in Italy, factsheet number 77605, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/77605.