IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/indrel/v54y2023i1p20-39.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Technological changes in the era of digitalization: What do collective agreements tell us?

Author

Listed:
  • Véra‐Line Montreuil
  • Roland Foucher

Abstract

Unionized organizations are implementing more than ever technological changes to cope with an increasingly changing and highly digital environment. Despite the extensive literature on union responses to changes, there is not much evidence on how unions and employers draft provisions pertaining to technological changes in collective agreements. Therefore, this paper aims to conduct an in‐depth analysis of these provisions in over 500 collective agreements signed between 2000 and 2020. Specifically, this study focuses on office workers in two of the most important Canadian industries, namely, the healthcare and manufacturing sectors. The findings indicate that within the examined provisions, the regulation of technological change varies along a continuum that extends from no obligations to stringent obligations on the part of the employer. Moreover, the results show that these provisions have remained stable over the past two decades.

Suggested Citation

  • Véra‐Line Montreuil & Roland Foucher, 2023. "Technological changes in the era of digitalization: What do collective agreements tell us?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 20-39, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:indrel:v:54:y:2023:i:1:p:20-39
    DOI: 10.1111/irj.12389
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12389
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/irj.12389?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brougham, David & Haar, Jarrod, 2018. "Smart Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Algorithms (STARA): Employees’ perceptions of our future workplace," Journal of Management & Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(2), pages 239-257, March.
    2. Miller, Fiona A. & French, Martin, 2016. "Organizing the entrepreneurial hospital: Hybridizing the logics of healthcare and innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(8), pages 1534-1544.
    3. Yoko E. Fukumura & Julie McLaughlin Gray & Gale M. Lucas & Burcin Becerik-Gerber & Shawn C. Roll, 2021. "Worker Perspectives on Incorporating Artificial Intelligence into Office Workspaces: Implications for the Future of Office Work," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-15, February.
    4. Makarius, Erin E. & Mukherjee, Debmalya & Fox, Joseph D. & Fox, Alexa K., 2020. "Rising with the machines: A sociotechnical framework for bringing artificial intelligence into the organization," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 262-273.
    5. Vera GLASSNER & Maarten KEUNE, 2012. "The crisis and social policy: The role of collective agreements," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 151(4), pages 351-375, December.
    6. Wright, Scott A. & Schultz, Ainslie E., 2018. "The rising tide of artificial intelligence and business automation: Developing an ethical framework," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 61(6), pages 823-832.
    7. Florian MARIN, 2020. "Collective Agreement - A Tool For Strengthening Public Policies In The Area Of Social Responsibility," Business Excellence and Management, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 10(1), pages 41-60, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Arianna Marcolin & Stefano Gasparri, 2024. "Digitalization and employment relations in the retail sector. Examining the role of trade unions in Italy and Spain," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 30(2), pages 151-178, June.
    2. Evans N. N. D. Ocansey & Philomena Dadzie & Nicholas Bamegne Nambie, 2024. "Mobile Money Use, Digital Banking Services and Velocity of Money in Ghana," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 14(2), pages 218-233, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Byung-Jik Kim & Julak Lee, 2024. "The mental health implications of artificial intelligence adoption: the crucial role of self-efficacy," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    2. Zhou, Qiwei & Chen, Keyu & Cheng, Shuang, 2024. "Bringing employee learning to AI stress research: A moderated mediation model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    3. Feng, Cai (Mitsu) & Botha, Elsamari & Pitt, Leyland, 2024. "From HAL to GenAI: Optimizing chatbot impacts with CARE," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 67(5), pages 537-548.
    4. Bosse, Douglas & Thompson, Steven & Ekman, Peter, 2023. "In consilium apparatus: Artificial intelligence, stakeholder reciprocity, and firm performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 155(PA).
    5. Byung-Jik Kim & Min-Jik Kim & Julak Lee, 2024. "Code green: ethical leadership’s role in reconciling AI-induced job insecurity with pro-environmental behavior in the digital workplace," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-16, December.
    6. Chowdhury, Soumyadeb & Budhwar, Pawan & Dey, Prasanta Kumar & Joel-Edgar, Sian & Abadie, Amelie, 2022. "AI-employee collaboration and business performance: Integrating knowledge-based view, socio-technical systems and organisational socialisation framework," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 31-49.
    7. Wu, Min & Tsai, Nien En & Koh, Le Yi & Yuen, Kum Fai, 2025. "Maritime AI socialisation: Exploring the impact of digital enablers on human-AI collaboration and service and process innovation," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    8. Zirar, Araz & Ali, Syed Imran & Islam, Nazrul, 2023. "Worker and workplace Artificial Intelligence (AI) coexistence: Emerging themes and research agenda," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    9. Zhao, Jingyou & Hu, Enhua & Han, Mingyan & Jiang, Keshen & Shan, Hongmei, 2023. "That honey, my arsenic: The influence of advanced technologies on service employees’ organizational deviance," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    10. Wang, Siqi & Lim, Weng Marc & Cheah, Jun-Hwa & Lim, Xin-Jean, 2025. "Working with robots: Trends and future directions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    11. Ivy Munoko & Helen L. Brown-Liburd & Miklos Vasarhelyi, 2020. "The Ethical Implications of Using Artificial Intelligence in Auditing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 167(2), pages 209-234, November.
    12. Molla, M. M., 2024. "Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Fear of Job Displacement in Banks in Bangladesh," International Journal of Science and Business, IJSAB International, vol. 42(1), pages 1-18.
    13. Santana, Monica & Cobo, Manuel J., 2020. "What is the future of work? A science mapping analysis," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 846-862.
    14. Olimpia Ban & Irina Maiorescu & Mihaela Bucur & Gabriel Cristian Sabou & Betty Cohen Tzedec, 2024. "AI between Threat and Benefactor for the Competences of the Human Working Force," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 26(67), pages 762-762, August.
    15. Shivam Gupta & Shampy Kamboj & Surajit Bag, 2023. "Role of Risks in the Development of Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Digital Healthcare Domain," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 25(6), pages 2257-2274, December.
    16. Robertson, Jeandri & Botha, Elsamari & Oosthuizen, Kim & Montecchi, Matteo, 2025. "Managing change when integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into the retail value chain: The AI implementation compass," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    17. Michele Battisti & Christian Dustmann & Uta Schönberg, 2023. "Technological and Organizational Change and the Careers of Workers," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 21(4), pages 1551-1594.
    18. Livio Cricelli & Serena Strazzullo, 2021. "The Economic Aspect of Digital Sustainability: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-15, July.
    19. Kirimhan, Destan, 2023. "Importance of anti-money laundering regulations among prosumers for a cybersecure decentralized finance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    20. Zhong, Lina & Verma, Rohit & Wei, Wenqi & Morrsion, Alastair M. & Yang, Liyu, 2022. "Multi-stakeholder perspectives on the impacts of service robots in urban hotel rooms," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:indrel:v:54:y:2023:i:1:p:20-39. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0019-8692 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.