20 Jun 2024

 Tripartite social dialogue partners in the labour market have been urged to consider leveraging technology and not see it as a threat but an enabler to sustainable development.

Delivering a keynote address at the official opening of the third annual labour conference in Gaborone yesterday, Industrial Court president, Judge Diratsagae Molomo said the partners must seize an opportunity presented by the use of technology and create a future where innovation and humanity converge.

The tripartite partners in the social dialogue include government, labour force through their unions and the employment sector. 

He said the desired future driven by the advancing technology must be where every individual benefit. 

Though often feared for its potential to replace human workforce, Judge Molomo said technology was a powerful tool to use to unlock new avenues of employment.

“The key lies in our ability to harness these tools to enhance productivity, create new industries and evaluate the skills of our workforce,” he said.

He said the tripartite social dialogue plus partners’ conference was held at a time where it was important to harmoniously align the changing and advancing technology with commitment to sustainable and dignified employment.

Justice Molomo said in pursuit of economic progress fuelled by changing technology and the work environment undergoing profound transformation as a result of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digitisation presenting opportunities and challenges, custodians of justice and labour relations were forced to navigate the terrain for the dignity of labour to remain paramount.

He said it was important to invest in up-skilling and re-skilling of the labour force to be at par with the desired competencies for the job of tomorrow. 

Judge Molomo said when deployed responsibly, technology would contribute to safer work conditions. 

However, he said it would not only take the use of technology to create a desired and decent work environment, as achieving such would also require collaboration among social partners; be it government, workers and the civil society through a tripartite arrangement.

He further said the conference should be a forum facilitating solutions to challenges with direct bearing on the labour market.

Also, he said the conference must be a platform for actionable ideas and transformative change and drive the reaffirming of collective commitment to a job rich economy, which was inclusive, sustainable and built upon the principles of social justice and decent work.

Judge Molomo said the importance of social dialogues on labour issues would never be over emphasised as it was through such platforms where parties would engage and deliberate on issues of shared importance.

He said the Industrial Court as a custodian of labour relations was committed to fostering social dialogue and ensuring that the voices of all concerned stakeholders in the labour market were heard and concerns duly addressed.

The two-day labour conference is organised by Institute of Labour and Employment Studies under the theme; A Job Rich Economy: Leveraging Technologies for Sustainable Decent Work. Ends