UK needs to adapt to industrial change - TUC

The UK government must have a strategy in place to deal with the industrial changes that will follow-on from automation and the emerging green economy, said the TUC on Monday.

Changes are expected to come from the evolution of industry and it must be treated as an opportunity to improve lives and “deliver better jobs”, according to the latest TUC report.

Union leaders at the TUC said that without strong guidelines and action at a local level, communities in industrial cities and towns could suffer.

The report, which was based on research conducted by the New Economics Foundation think-tank, said the UK should take after other places that evolved in response to the challenges posed by paradigm changes such as Bilbao in Spain and Iceland.

Westminster has already outlined plans for each part of the country to have a “local industrial strategy” by early 2020 but the TUC said these local strategies should play a vital role in ensuring a just transition to a green economy and putting the people first.

Ahead of the report’s launch Alice Martin, a researcher at the thinktank, said: “Given the critical juncture we are at with climate change and accelerating automation, leaving impacts on UK jobs and industries to the whim of global market forces will only deepen existing divides and inequalities.

“It is important now more than ever that politicians take steps to understand the nuts and bolts of industrial change in practice, and how it can be shaped by the state, employers and unions representing the workers and communities affected.”

Recently, the TUC also warned that the UK is facing a looming skills crisis after a study revealed a sharp drop in workplace training with workers receiving on average 10% less training a year than in 2011.

The TUC says that with automation and new technology changing the way many work, millions will need the chance to re-skill over the next 20 years.