TUC Disabled Workers’ Conference 2025: Usdaw highlights the impact of new technologies and artificial intelligence.

Retail trade union Usdaw had a delegation of members, reps and officials attending the annual Trades Union Congress (TUC) Conference of Disabled Workers, 3-4 June in Bournemouth. Usdaw raised the impact the introduction of new technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), has on disabled workers.

250 disabled trade union activists from across the UK are meeting on 3-4 June for the TUC Disabled Workers Conference at Bournemouth International Centre, Bournemouth.   

Delegates attending the annual event are discussing issues including the rise of the far and populist right and lack of reasonable adjustments in workplaces; the importance of social security, disability employment and pay gaps; and the pressing need for disability related leave to be recorded separately from sick leave. 

Paddy Lillis – Usdaw general secretary said:

“The world of work and everyday life continue to dramatically change, and the pace and scale of this change is set to accelerate. Disabled workers are disproportionately affected by technological advancement. If designed in consultation with disabled people, technology has the potential to dismantle barriers; however when they are excluded, it can reinforce existing and create new obstacles, further marginalising disabled workers.

There is a sharp contrast between the benefits of new technologies at an individual level and the risks they poses to disabled people in the workplace and wider society. Unless unions, and specifically disabled workers, are properly consulted about the development, application and implementation of new technologies in the workplace, including AI, disabled workers will continue to be discriminated against and excluded.”

Usdaw also congratulated the TUC on the launch of their AI Bill projects and calls on the Government, policymakers and employers to:

• Ensure all decisions regarding new technologies include disabled workers and improve their access to, and experiences of, paid work.
• Introduce a statutory duty requiring employers to conduct and publish Equality Impact Assessments on the introduction of new technologies at work.