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If automation is going to work for us all, strong trade unions will be critical
Britain needs dynamic unions with a 21st-century manifesto for change, says Unite's SHARON GRAHAM

THE first industrial revolution gave birth to modern trade unionism, spawned in the factories and communities made by vast, revolutionary change. 

A new global order was taking root putting an end to feudalism. In its place stood new rulers. The industrialists with their mass production and the financiers with their borderless banks. All with almost unimaginable power to determine the lives of others.  

But with the advance of modern trade unionism came safeguards hard won by ordinary people. From growing wages to improved health and safety, ordinary workers created their own protection.

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