Drones in commercial settings: Bargaining recommendations

Drone technology and regulations are evolving rapidly in the commercial sector. These changes are driven by advancements in autonomous flight, beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) capabilities, and the emergence of purpose-built drones for commercial inspection of infrastructure.

Canada's regulations for BVLOS operations are currently less strict than those in the USA, but this is expected to change soon with establishment of regulatory reviews in the USA. This shift will likely encourage drone companies to expand rapidly into the Canadian market, particularly in remote areas, as current regulations favor such operations.

While a commercial drone license is generally required, regulations for drone use near workers remain underdeveloped. This creates a potential gap in worker safety and privacy protections.

The potential increase in the use of drones in the rail sector requires a proactive approach to regulation and policy development. These bargaining recommendations prioritize worker safety, privacy, and union involvement while recognizing the potential benefits of drone technology for inspection and safety purposes.

The Technology and Work report produced by UC Berkeley outlines principles for unions bargaining technology as it relates to surveillance and the use of data captured by devices in the workplace. These include:

• Employers are only allowed to use electronic monitoring for specific purposes, in a manner that affects the smallest number of workers.
• Employers must give prior notice of any electronic monitoring.
• Employers are prohibited from using electronic monitoring that results in a violation of labor and employment laws; records workers off-duty or in sensitive areas; uses high-risk technologies, such as facial recognition; or identifies workers exercising their rights under employment and labor law.
• Employers are prohibited from relying exclusively on data from electronic monitoring when making decisions like hiring, firing, discipline, or promotion. Instead, the employer must independently corroborate the data, and provide the worker with full documentation.
• Employers must conduct impact assessments of electronic monitoring systems, testing for bias and other harms to workers, prior to use.
• Productivity monitoring systems in particular must be documented and reviewed by regulatory agencies overseeing workplace health and safety before use.
• Workers must have a private right of action and be protected from retaliation for exercising their rights.

Internationally, the ILO and the ITF have been compiling strategies different unions are taking to stop the erosion of worker privacy and halting the expansion of employer rights.

Pushing back on the technologies in our workplaces centres on health and safety, safety for the public, data retention and security, national security, secure supply chains, and data privacy.

In addition to pushing back on the implementation of technology, Unifor locals should be creating committees and using union-employer structures in the workplace to drive a conversation about supportive technology that augments work to improve safety.