Let workers control robots – Jeremy Corbyn
2 min read
Workers should be allowed to own and work robots rather than their bosses, the Labour leader will say.
The Labour leader will warn the growth in automation will lead to "a more rapacious and exploitative form of capitalism".
He will also call for “gig economy” services provided by companies like Uber to be replaced as co-operatives.
Earlier this year, a study by accountancy firm PwC said robotics and artificial intelligence could affect almost a third of UK jobs by the 2030s, with "more manual, routine jobs" which "can effectively be programmed" the most at risk.
Speaking to the Co-operative Party Conference in London on Saturday, Mr Corbyn will return to his warning made in Labour's conference about the possible impact on workers.
The Labour leader will say the policy does not have all the answers but adopts “radical thinking” to combat a growing threat to low-income workers.
To prevent "the rise of the robots" only benefitting "a powerful and wealthy few", the report suggests "putting the ownership and control of the robots in the hands of those who work with them," he will say.
"The technology of the digital age should empower us both as workers and consumers, allowing us to co-operate on a scale in a way that wasn't possible in the past," he will add.
"And yet too often it has given rein to a more rapacious and exploitative form of capitalism."
Mr Corbyn will also criticise the wages and conditions offered by apps like Uber and Deliveroo.
Spokesmen for both companies appearing in front of MPs this week, claimed their workers were deemed self-employed in order to allow them flexibility over working hours.
Mr Corbyn will say: "Imagine an Uber run co-operatively by their drivers, collectively controlling their futures, agreeing their own pay and conditions, with profits shared or re-invested.
"The biggest obstacle to this is not technological, but a rigged economic system that favours wealth extractors not wealth creators."
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
