Protection of the Labour Rights in the Context of the Transition to the Forth Industrial Revolution: Ways to Overcome Precarious Employment

Abstract

The object of the study. Labour market in the period of the transition to the fourth industrial revolution.The subject of the study. Protection of social and labour rights of workers during the transition period.The purpose of the study is the assessment of the possibilities of Unions to reduce precarious employment.The main provisions of the article. The development of technologies of the fourth industrial revolution leads to radical changes in the labour market. Various new spheres of activity and forms of labour relations are emerging that are outside the statutory rules, which contributes to the growth of precarious employment and the violation of previous social guarantees of workers. The General trend towards individualization of work, which began at the beginning of the third industrial revolution, is becoming even more pronounced in the era of the Industry 4.0. Together with increased competition for jobs, this impedes the collective struggle of workers for their rights, which contributes to increased exploitation and social inequality. The response is a new type of workers ' movement, which often occurs spontaneously, on the basis of one-time protests of workers, who often do not interact with each other in the process of labour. The development of interaction within the framework of Internet platforms has shown its ambiguity in the case of the labour market: allowing more and more people to work remotely, the network has also given new possibilities to the organizations of workers in an environment where in the framework of the past organizational structures their importance fell. New professional communities with a horizontal structure, organized often by independent, but having common problems with the protection of their rights by employees, become a counterbalance to network business structures. Activists are now online negotiating future strikes, advising each other on legal issues, but the question remains: will they be able to achieve traditional social guarantees for their members in the changed economic conditions? As the number of remote, "flexible" jobs grows, the struggle for decent working conditions is often reduced to the struggle for decent pay. Only a few trade unions decide to demand retraining opportunities from employers, which is the most urgent need of workers in the conditions of forecasts about automation of up to 50% of jobs. For Russian trade unions, the problem of legislative restrictions on mass actions remains relevant, which unwittingly inclines many workers to individual struggle for their rights.A significant role in the revival of the labour movement is played by young people, who, according to the results of research under the grant of RPF № 16-18-10140, more often than other age groups are faced with the problem of precarious employment. Comparative analysis of foreign and Russian studies of the Millennials generation shows their sharp difference from all previous generations. Unions must find ways to attract, effectively organize and educate generation Y in matters of law to fight for their rights. The key to this can be the use some characteristics of this generation, like their desire for entertainment and will to contribute and differ from others. It is generation Y that will become the basis of the labour force in the active phase of the fourth industrial revolution, so it is crucial to provide them with tools to fight for their social and labour rights. Trade unions, which will not be able to attract them to their ranks, will remain in the past.