"Orange’s AI rollout sparks strike and surveillance fears among French workers,"

French telecom giant Orange faced a nationwide strike on Tuesday, as unions accused management of using AI and geolocation systems to increase workplace surveillance and pressure employees.

The walkout called by the CGT FAPT and SUD-PTT unions during the company’s annual shareholder meeting centered on demands for higher pay, improved working conditions, and greater safeguards around the rollout of AI-driven management tools.

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However, union reps are now saying that Orange workers are becoming concerned that a “management-by-algorithm” culture is developing within the company...

A key issue among workers and their unions is a new geolocation program for technicians, internally referred to as the Field Service Management (FSM) project or the "Max Intervention" program.

The system is designed to geolocate field technicians and use AI to automatically organize work schedules and interventions.

According to the unions, the system risks creating permanent monitoring of workers, increasing mental workload, and reducing employee autonomy.

Concerns were first raised about this system by the Communication Workers’ Union, FO Communication, in a December-dated post titled: “Modernize, yes! Mistreat workers, no!”

It has been reported that Orange’s central social and economic committee has initiated legal proceedings to stop the scheme...

In a statement issued to Cybernews, the French telecoms giant rejected claims that the technologies are intended to intensify surveillance...