ABSTRACT
The introduction of new technology has recently come to represent something of a catalyst for trade union activities, providing unions with an opportunity to reassess and redraw their policies on a much wider front. This potential for redefinition stems from the impact that new technologies are having on employment levels, the structuring of work and skills (including long-term occupational changes) and the prospects for different and possibly more stringent forms of organizational control. The response by the national union movements across Europe to these challenges has not been uniform; nor is there any single agreed strategy for handling them. Rather, unions have dealt with technological innovation at a number of different levels, without clear indications as to its direction, often with minimal expertise and quite often with the highly ambiguous notion that technology is both a long-term positive force and yet an immediate threat to their organization and the capacity for effective action.
