Union opposes AI in public sector jobs
The trade union Fórsa, representing over 100,000 civil and public sector workers, pledges to oppose AI implementation in the public sector. They demand worker protections are assured.
The union’s stance comes as the Government considers plans to replace middle management and administrative roles with AI technology, as revealed by the Irish Daily Mail.
Fórsa will tell the Oireachtas committee on AI that no AI system will be implemented that displaces workers, deskills their work, or undermines the quality of public services.
The union is opposed to AI being deployed without worker voice, without benefit-sharing, and without accountability, and views using AI to reduce headcount as a cuts agenda using AI cover.
Fórsa criticized the HSE for publishing its “AI for care experience” document without prior consultation with unions, despite wider stakeholder engagement, and said this must not be repeated.
They insist that where AI delivers genuine time savings and productivity gains, these gains must be shared with workers and the public. They point to areas such as reduced working time and improved work-life balance as ways the benefits from AI can be passed on.
Research on 4,300 workers on the island of Ireland found that while almost one third use AI in their jobs, less than a fifth have seen increases in pay from it, according to Ryan McKinney, the Fórsa lead on AI policy.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he did not envisage any public sector worker being displaced as a result of advances in AI. He announced the creation of a new forum, the Labour Employer Economic Forum (LEEF), to explore the impacts of AI on the workplace.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) general secretary Owen Reidy will tell the committee that ICTU wants responsibility for AI policy to be transferred from the Department of Enterprise to the Department of the Taoiseach, saying it should be viewed as a whole-of-government issue.
Owen Reidy will say ICTU believes the focus should be on technology for exploration rather than exploitation, and that the union represents 500,000 workers.
