UoB-UNESP Future of Manufacturing Webinar Series: Labour Perspectives on the Future of Manufacturing

Technological innovations have changed industrial manufacturing since the 1900s. And while this is nothing new, in recent years digitalisation has been widely discussed by companies and governments as the new transformation of manufacturing as we know it. Industry 4.0 may not be the ideal term for the changes that are approaching, but given its widespread use, no substitute term is likely to gain traction. For the purposes of IndustriALL Global Union and from a labour perspective, Industry 4.0 is used as a label for the adoption of any of a range of emerging advanced and potentially disruptive technologies including, but not limited to, digitalisation and artificial intelligence.

There is always an interaction between technology, business interests, and social structures. However, it should not be assumed that it is always technology that drives change in a unidirectional fashion; on the contrary it is the entire picture that should be examined. What social and economic environment is the technological change taking place within? What possible pressures could it exert on society, the economy, or the environment? Sustainability will result from integrative thinking.

For the second in our University of Birmingham-UNESP 'Future of Manufacturing' webinar series, we are thrillled to be joined by Mr Valter Sanches, General Secretary of the IndustriALL Global Union, who will be sharing his thoughts on 'Labour Perspectives and the Future of Manufacturing'. 

Speaker profile

Valter Sanches was elected General Secretary of IndustriALL Global Union at IndustriALL’s 2nd Congress on 5 October 2016. He was previously Secretary of International Relations at Brazilian metalworkers’ national confederation, CNM/CUT.

Sanches, who holds a degree in geography, began as a metalworker in 1981 working as a mechanic at a machine-building firm in São Paulo, Brazil. In 1985, he joined Rolls-Royce Brazil in São Bernardo do Campo, later moving to Mercedes-Benz in 1988, where he was elected to the health and safety committee for the 1989-90 term.

He was also elected to the Mercedes’ Works Council in 1992 and acted as a coordinator from 1997 to 2007, while also being elected for the Union’s Shop Committee. Sanches was the Brazilian representative at the (then) DaimlerChrysler World Works Council between 2000 and 2007, representing workers from the four Brazilian plants. He was also a member of the executive council of the ABC Metalworkers’ Union (affiliated to CNM/CUT) between 2002 and 2005.

In 2004, Sanches was elected Organising Secretary of CNM/CUT and later elected General Secretary of CNM/CUT. In December 2009, he was elected CNM/CUT’s International Relations Secretary. From 2010 to 2016, Sanches was Communications Director for ABC Metalworkers’ Union and President of the Labour, Culture and Communication Foundation that operates two broadcast TV stations (Rede TVT) and two radio stations (Radio Brasil, Atual) in the metropolitan region of São Paulo.

Sanches was a member of the Supervisory Board of Daimler AG from 2007 to 2018, elected as Workers' representative.