What do data rights do for workers? A critical analysis of trade union engagement with the datafied workplace

Abstract

There has been a substantial increase in calls for so-called workers’ ‘data rights’, including amongst trade unions. Unions see them as a way of tackling some of the challenges of the datafied workplace but questions have also been asked about their relation to employment regulation and wider efforts within the labour movement. In this article we draw on a review of trade union documents along with interviews with 15 trade unions in the United Kingdom to critically engage with data rights as an avenue for protecting and advancing workers’ interests. We argue that while trade unions see possible strategic gains through the pursuit of data rights, such rights are only fully meaningful if pursued in conditions that enable wider workplace democracy. In the absence of such conditions data rights can distract from efforts to foster worker power and may even serve to legitimise what are perceived to be oppressive technologies.