Six Recommendations to secure human value and worker rights in the AI era

Introduction: AI is a reality we must shape

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is more than just a new technology—it fundamentally challenges what it means to be human and how we define the value of our work. It is a reality we must confront head-on, for three things are certain:

• AI will happen: The technology is here and developing faster than we can say «algorithm.»
• AI will be smarter than human: In many areas, AI will surpass human capabilities.
• Mistakes will happen: With great power comes great responsibility. Complex systems will make mistakes, and we must minimize the risk of the consequences.

AI’s impact on jobs and skills is nuanced: Some jobs will disappear, many jobs will be changed, and new jobs will emerge.

Our dream in WOW is clear: We want to enrich jobs rather than replace them. We believe that AI will primarily change our work rather than eliminate it. Our way forward is through dialogue, employers and employees must strengthen this development together.

To ensure that AI technology serves humanity, WOW strongly endorses the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act. We recognize the Act as one of the best and most well-written guidelines seen so far, specifically for its efforts to ensure AI systems used in the EU are safe and uphold fundamental rights. We appreciate the balanced, risk-based approach, which prohibits ‘unacceptable risk’ AI (systems that manipulate people) and imposes strict regulations on ‘high-risk’ systems (e.g., critical infrastructure, education). Crucially, we acknowledge that the EU’s approach is human-centric, prioritizing the individual’s unique and inalienable moral status.

While the EU AI Act establishes a crucial legal safety floor for AI systems and products, it does not fully address the reality of AI in the workplace, nor does it guarantee the human-centric development of work itself. Therefore, building on this strong EU foundation, WOW advocates necessary legislative and collective measures to secure human dignity and complete control over the labour process, guided by these core principles:

• Value alignment: The goals and behavior of AI systems must always align with human values.
• Human dignity: AI must respect ideals of human dignity, rights, and diversity.
• Human control: Humans must choose which decisions they will delegate to AI.

We have to be aware that the effect of technology on society is an economic and political question. We can want machines to perform tasks for us because they are cheaper to operate than humans, or we can want them to perform tasks to free us up, so that we can spend our time caring for each other and realizing ourselves. WOW choose the last one

Six strong recommendations to secure human value and control
To ensure a development where AI enriches jobs rather than replaces them, the World Organization of Workers issues the following concrete recommendations to EU legislators and national policymakers:

Recommendation 1: Right and duty to lifelong AI learning
WOW recommends: The EU establishes a dedicated AI upskilling fund that ensures mandatory, continuous, and fully funded programs in digital and fundamental AI learning for all employees in Europe.

Goal: All European workers gain the basic skills to use AI sensibly and critically evaluate AI output.

Recommendation 2: Strengthen critical thinking as the defense of democracy
WOW recommends: The EU mandates that digital source criticism, ethical AI understanding, and media literacy become a permanent, compulsory element in all educational levels—from primary school to adult education.

Goal: To equip all citizens with the critical mindset that serves as our best defense against misinformation, manipulation, and fakenews in an increasingly digital world.

Recommendation 3: Collective security and investment in labour market policy
WOW recommends:

• Strengthen Worker Influence: An EU framework is developed that actively supports the right of trade union representatives to participate and have genuine influence in the decision-making bodies that set rules for AI, particularly in the implementation of the EU AI Act.
• Invest in Transition: EU funds for lifelong learning are significantly increased, and robust social security (income support) is established for workers who may be temporarily displaced by technology.

Recommendation 4: Statutory right to information and consultation on algorithmic management
WOW recommends: Legislation is introduced to ensure employers have a duty to inform and consult with employee representatives (shop stewards) upon the implementation of any AI system used to monitor, evaluate, or manage employee performance, productivity, or communication.

Goal: To increase job satisfaction and ensure human control, as data (ILO) indicates that involvement in AI implementation boosts employee engagement and satisfaction.

Recommendation 5: Collective agreements as the engine for a learning culture
WOW recommends: The EU politically and economically incentivizes that collective agreements actively incorporate provisions for employer-paid, continuous digital upskilling programs.

Goal: To establish a learning culture in the workplace where curiosity, self-study, and upskills are recognized and rewarded as actual working time.

Recommendation 6: AI well-being and psychosocial work environment responsibility
WOW recommends: The EU directives on occupational safety and health be updated and expanded to specifically address the psychosocial risks posed by AI implementation, including increased work intensity, performance pressure, and algorithmic management.

Goal: Employers must be mandated to conduct specific risk assessments of AI’s impact on stress and burnout in close cooperation with work environment representatives.

Policy Paper prepared by the European Board of World Organization of Workers (WOW) – October 2025