Dr Buragadda Srinadh
A day born from the struggles of workers and the vision of thinkers like Karl Marx, May Day celebrates the dignity of labour. But today, in an age of Artificial Intelligence, robotics, and digital revolutions, it must also be a moment of reflection on how work itself is evolving, and how trade unions must evolve too.
May Day is rooted in history, but it must now look boldly to the future. Workers, entrepreneurs, and policymakers alike must confront a new reality.
Karl Marx and Machines
Karl Marx offered a blueprint to understand class struggle, capital, and labor. But Marx never imagined a world where machines replace not just muscle, but minds. From automated customer service to AI-driven research, workers today aren’t just losing jobs—they risk losing relevance unless they adapt.
It’s no longer simply about class. It’s about competence, coding, and connection to the digital revolution.
Marx warned against the exploitation of workers by rising capital. But he could never have foreseen a world where machines—not just capitalists—replace human labor altogether. In Marx’s time, the battle was for the 8-hour workday. Today, algorithms work 24/7 without rights, wages, or rest.
The Left must open its eyes—not to abandon its roots, but to redefine its mission. It’s no longer workers versus employers. It’s humans versus irrelevance.
From Red Revolution to Robotics
Once, revolutions painted streets red with the blood and sweat of factory workers. Today, the battlefield has shifted—from the factory floor to the digital frontier.
Robotics is reshaping industries with machines that don’t strike, don’t sleep, and don’t demand pay. What began as a movement of hands has become a contest of codes.
From Anti-Capitalism to Artificial Intelligence
The old ideological war was about land, factories, and wages. Today, power lies in data and algorithms.
Artificial Intelligence is indifferent to ideology—it simply evolves. While leftist thought battles corporate greed, tech giants are busy building digital empires.
If we cling to yesterday’s models while tomorrow’s intelligence is being coded, we risk becoming irrelevant. The challenge now is not who owns the factory—but who programs the future.
Darwin’s Law Applies to Systems Too
“Survival of the fittest” doesn’t just govern species—it governs systems and ideas.
Militant, rigid unionism that resists every reform and every technological shift is no longer a shield. It becomes a shackle. Investors flee militancy; jobs vanish. The very workers unions seek to protect are left unemployed, unemployable, and alienated.
“Adapt or perish” is not a cliché anymore. In an AI-driven economy, unions clinging to 19th-century tactics will lose both their relevance—and their members.
But unions that partner in managing change can safeguard jobs, boost skills, and ensure that the gains of the Fourth Industrial Revolution flow to workers too.
What Should Trade Unions Do in the Age of AI?
| Old Approach | New Vision |
| Strikes & shutdowns — | Skilling & upskilling drives |
| Opposing automation— | Negotiating safe transitions to tech-integrated jobs |
| Political agitation —- | Partnerships in policymaking for tech-era labor rights |
| Obstructing investment | — Attracting investors with skilled, disciplined workforce |
| Blanket wage demands | — Productivity-linked wages and performance growth |
Trade unions can still be powerful voices—but only if they speak for the future, not the past.
Why Traditional Militant Unions Backfire
Take West Bengal: once a hub of jute, manufacturing, and engineering, today, a case study in lost opportunity.
- Investor Anxiety: Frequent strikes and hostility scare away both domestic and foreign investors. In a world where capital moves at the click of a mouse, instability carries a heavy price.
- Job Creation Stagnation: Industries and tech hubs bypass union-hostile regions. Employment dries up, and workers suffer.
- Generational Fallout: Younger workers, alienated by an “us vs. them” culture, abandon unions altogether, leaving leadership vacuums.
What Should Trade Unions Do in the Age of AI?
Unions can still be powerful voices—but only if they speak for the future, not for the past.
A New World Order Is Emerging
AI is replacing coders. Robots are working in warehouses. Digital platforms are reshaping logistics, transport, even construction.
Tomorrow’s workers will need adaptability and foresight, and unions must help build that bridge.
May Day 2025 should not just be a commemoration. It must be a wake-up call.
Workers, unions, governments, and businesses must come together—not to resist the future, but to shape it. If unions remain stuck in the battles of the 1970s, workers of the 2030s will have no one left to lead them.
Let trade unions evolve—from tools of resistance to architects of transformation.
Happy May Day—toward a smarter, stronger, and fairer future for all.
