New Zealand Workers Protest Against Artificial Intelligence Tracking

Employees of The Warehouse, New Zealand's largest retailer, held a protest demonstration in Auckland and Christchurch, stating that they struggle to use the restroom during working hours because artificial intelligence tracks their toilet breaks.

According to reports by The New Zealand Herald, more than 300 employees affiliated with the Workers First Union took to the streets on Thursday to protest technological surveillance activities in the workplace and the handover of tasks to automation. Union officials stated that the company has used drones for inventory counting, robots for order packing, and artificial intelligence to monitor employees in recent months.

Union organizer Hayley Courtney told the public broadcaster that they have been fighting this issue for eight months. Courtney claimed that managers track employees all the way to the restroom and reprimand them for a basic right, leading to some accidents as personnel try to hold it in to avoid using the restroom outside of designated breaks.

The Warehouse Group firmly rejected the allegations. The company stated that the scanning devices used to track efficiency in distribution centers worldwide have nothing to do with restroom usage and that the union's claims regarding sanitation incidents do not reflect the truth.