THOSE who oppose new technologies are sometimes accused of being Luddites in a pejorative way — it’s a term thrown at those who simply oppose progress or change. 

However, as trade unionists, we should perhaps bear the mantle of Ned Ludd’s movement as it was originally intended by our radical working-class forebears. 

The movement’s response to the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI), whether in the creative industries or in the economy and society more broadly, merits the Luddite rallying call not to oppose change or progress but to tackle technology which was used, as they said “in a fraudulent and deceitful manner” to cut jobs, pay and undermine terms and conditions.