How to Build Bargaining Power in the Face of Education Digitalisation
By Beatriz García González, Secretary of the Education Sector, UGT Public Services and Marta Herráiz Portillo, Head of Public Education, UGT Public Services
The rapid digitalisation of classrooms and the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) represent some of the greatest regulatory, labour, and pedagogical challenges facing education trade unions worldwide. Rather than adopting a passive approach to technological change or reacting only after the fact, the Education Sector of UGT Public Services (Spain) has developed a trade union strategy based on teacher participation, evidence-based analysis, and collective bargaining to address the challenges posed by AI in education.
This methodological model can serve as a guide for other education unions and as an essential reference point for collective bargaining with public authorities. It highlights the urgent need to strengthen trade union power to ensure that teachers’ voices are placed at the centre of digital education policymaking.
For UGT Public Services, the digital transformation of education cannot be left solely to technology providers or unilateral administrative decisions. It must be embedded in collective bargaining and social dialogue, guaranteeing the effective participation of trade unions.
Below, we examine the key elements of the strategy developed by UGT Public Services.
The first step in strengthening trade union bargaining power is to establish a robust ethical, pedagogical, and political framework to guide collective action before engaging in technical or operational debates. The Education Sector of UGT Public Services has clearly defined its position in order to challenge the purely market-driven narrative promoted by large technology corporations:
Technology must serve pedagogy: Technology should be viewed as a support tool and remain strictly subordinate to the broader goals of education, the promotion of equity, and the improvement of teachers’ working conditions. It must never become an instrument of unilateral imposition that undermines job quality.
The irreplaceable pedagogical relationship: Human interaction and emotional connection between teachers and students are at the heart of learning, intellectual development, and personal growth. No tutoring software or AI system can replace the personalised support, empathy, and guidance provided by education professionals. Technology cannot substitute the pedagogical and human value of the educational relationship.
By adopting these principles, the union moves the debate beyond the unproductive extremes of technophobia and technophilia. The focus instead shifts constructively towards how technology is governed, regulated, and introduced, while safeguarding labour rights and the principles of social justice.
To challenge narratives that often downplay the risks associated with digitalisation, trade union proposals must be supported by solid empirical evidence. Guided by the principle of “building power through evidence”, UGT Public Services designed and distributed a large-scale survey between November 2025 and January 2026, gathering responses from 1,376 teachers across different education sectors, of whom 83.9% worked in public education.
The findings provided compelling evidence for collective bargaining and social dialogue:
The reality of increased workload: Contrary to corporate claims that AI would save administrative time, 83.93% of teachers reported that its implementation significantly increases their daily workload. This is due to new tasks such as monitoring plagiarism, verifying AI-generated content that may contain errors, and redesigning assessment methods to adapt to the new environment.
Asymmetrical use of AI tools: While 88.60% of teachers use AI systems, they do so with considerable professional caution. 71.65% use AI only during the planning and preparation stage of teaching materials. By contrast, only a small minority rely on AI for student assessment (11.26%) or guidance and counselling (10.10%), demonstrating a deliberate effort to preserve professional judgement.
Risks to student learning: Teachers expressed serious concerns about the impact of AI on students’ cognitive development. 86.70% warned that AI encourages plagiarism and reduces sustained cognitive effort, while 83.57% reported a decline in critical thinking and intellectual independence. In addition, 91.77% believed that unregulated AI can hinder the acquisition of key competencies and transversal skills.
The real value of evidence lies in its practical application. Building on the survey findings, the Education Sector of UGT Public Services developed a Ten-Point Charter of Demands, designed as a platform for negotiations with education authorities and social dialogue bodies.
Key demands include:
Guaranteeing teacher autonomy: Establishing regulatory frameworks that protect academic freedom and ensure that final decisions regarding teaching methods, content, and assessment always remain in the hands of teachers.
Public, continuous, and regulated training: Requested by 75.14% of respondents, training on both the technical and ethical use of AI should be provided directly by public authorities, free of charge, and within official working hours, rather than becoming an additional burden on teachers’ personal time.
Investment to bridge the digital divide: Since 45.78% of respondents fear that AI could deepen existing inequalities, UGT calls for targeted public investment in infrastructure and accessible licences for public schools, preventing new forms of educational segregation based on access to paid digital resources.
Data sovereignty and cybersecurity: With 48.54% of teachers concerned about minors’ privacy, the union advocates for the mandatory use of auditable public platforms that comply with European legislation and protect sensitive educational data from commercial exploitation.
Monitoring occupational health and wellbeing: Regular studies and psychosocial risk assessments should be conducted to measure the impact of technostress and digital overload on teachers’ physical and mental wellbeing. Tools shown to have negative effects on staff should be revised or withdrawn.
The experience of UGT Public Services demonstrates that trade unions cannot remain passive observers of the digital transformation taking place in education. The introduction of artificial intelligence in schools must be accompanied by a clear regulatory framework, ongoing social dialogue, and effective collective bargaining that ensures the participation of teachers and their representatives in all decisions affecting working conditions and education quality.
The evidence gathered through our study confirms that AI offers opportunities to improve certain educational processes, but also raises significant challenges related to workload, professional autonomy, equity, data protection, occupational health, and the development of critical thinking among students. Ignoring these issues would effectively shift the costs of technological transformation onto teachers, when technology should instead serve education—not the other way around.
UGT Public Services advocates for a responsible, ethical, and inclusive approach to digitalisation, in which technology complements—but never replaces—the essential role of teachers. Innovation is only meaningful if it strengthens education, improves the working conditions of those who make it possible every day, and guarantees quality education for all learners. This is the commitment we will continue to defend in every forum for negotiation and social dialogue.
