Fearing that artificial intelligence will take their jobs, workers are strategizing a long battle against technology

The current frenzy around artificial intelligence has spread like a shock wave.

It began among engineers inspired by A Research paper 2017. Then came venture capitalists eager to capitalize on the new boom. They were followed by government officials racing to Enforce regulations.

Now it’s time to get to work.

More than 200 union members and technologists gathered in Sacramento this week for a first-of-its-kind conference to discuss how artificial intelligence and other technology threaten workers and strategize for upcoming battles and potential strikes.

The “Making Technology Work for Workers” event was held by UCLA labor centers, unions and labor advocates and attracted people representing dock workers, home care workers, teachers, nurses, actors, state office workers and many other professions.

One of the most important lessons from the proceedings: Workers of all stripes are determined to fight — during contract negotiations and amid day-to-day operations — for the right to negotiate more control over how AI is deployed within companies. Union representatives detailed the ways in which AI threatens jobs, from screenwriting to taxi driving to calling people as a cashier.

It takes a toll on your physical and mental health when technology tracks your every move, said Lewis, an Amazon worker from California’s Inland Empire, who asked CalMatters not to use his last name due to fear of retaliation. He felt like he couldn’t stop moving or get help from co-workers when lifting heavy objects. This led to back pain that made it difficult to sleep at night, and feelings of depression and diminished self-worth.

“I couldn’t deal with being a robot,” he said, describing the reason for his resignation. He later returned to the job because he had no other opportunities.

Amazon spokesman Steve Kelly responded, saying: “Employees are encouraged to work with intent, not speed, and can take short breaks at any time to use the bathroom, get water, stretch, or step away from their screens. Additionally, no There’s something extraordinary about using cameras to help ensure employee safety, inventory quality, or theft protection—this is a common practice in almost every major retailer in the world. In general, employees with questions or concerns about any aspect are not allowed to do so This technology or their jobs, but they are actively encouraged Regularly, they submit it to their managers and are provided with several tools to support them in this process.

The rally comes as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to begin his second administration and shortly before the February 21 deadline to propose bills for the current session of the California Legislature. It is unclear specifically how Trump will respond to issues related to technology and workers. He has made some promises that appear favorable to Big Tech, such as pledging to reduce regulations he sees as harmful to innovation and promising to rescind an executive order his predecessor signed that placed safeguards on artificial intelligence.

But he also presented himself as an advocate for blue-collar workers left behind by tech elites: just that last month He described automation as harmful to workers. It has also left observers scratching their heads about exactly where the incoming president stands on issues like H-1B visas for foreign tech talent or how he might be influenced by senior advisor Elon Musk, the omnipresent tech billionaire.

The conference participants did not focus much on Trump. Instead, they have focused discussions on how to protect workers from technology that can exploit them or automate discrimination. Union representatives unanimously urged workers to negotiate how AI and other forms of technology will be used in the workplace when bargaining. Many have also urged workers to get more involved in technology issues by looking at how technology can be used to organize or lobby for committees where management should discuss technology with workers before implementation.

Nearly 150,000 members of the United Food and Commercial Workers union — people who work at stores like Kroger and Albertsons — and 100,000 members of the National Nurses Union Both will face major automation battles this year as they bargain for new contracts. Grocery workers will challenge the role of self-checkout platforms while nurses compete for artificial intelligence tools that they say could affect their duty of care and prioritize health care and insurance company profits over patients’ health.

Companies have long marketed AI to consumers and investors as a technology that will transform the world for the better. But gatherings like the one in Sacramento show that unions are also using AI as a way to motivate workers to organize their workplaces.

Guilds have a steep hill to climb Grow organic But including AI in collective bargaining negotiations is key, because there are a lot of use cases of AI in the workplace and workers tend to have strong opinions about it because they are experts, said Amanda Ballantyne, executive director of the AFL-CIO Technology Institute and Worker Power. in their own jobs and know better the safety implications of the new tool.

A number of union representatives at the conference argued that workers needed to gain and exercise power to respond to the spread of technology with the potential to exploit them, humiliate them, or take their jobs.

A a report The UCLA Latino Policy and Policy Institute, released earlier this year, found that 4.5 million Californians work in 20 industries classified as at high risk of job loss due to automation, and that more than half of the workers at high risk are Latinos. . Job-killing automation is a top concern for three out of four Americans, according to A A Gallup poll conducted last yearBut AI that makes predictions about workers, or manages workers, or… Attempts to track and measure their every movement This also represents a significant risk, said Annette Bernhardt, director of the Labor Center at the University of California, Berkeley. she he previously told CalMatters It is less concerned with AI getting jobs than with algorithms used in the workplace that treat people like machines.

AI has the potential to reduce discrimination and improve worker health and safety, but it also has the potential to cause job losses, help suppress labor organizing efforts, and intensify the demands placed on workers, a phenomenon It led to higher infection rates in Amazon warehouses.

SAG-AFTRA Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said AI underscores why organizing workers is important, because doing so could force employers to negotiate their use of AI during contract negotiation rather than unilaterally deciding to introduce the technology into… Workplace. But obtaining such contractual terms requires foresight on the part of union leaders, who must craft a message that can resonate among workers and the general public.

“We are up against the biggest corporate interests and the biggest political interests you can imagine, and working together in unity is certainly our strength,” he said. “Especially since we’re going to have a lot of challenges at the federal level, in California, we can use public policy to advance collective bargaining and use collective bargaining to advance public policy.”

Advocates say that much of the technology being introduced into the workplace is merely monitoring workers, and this is nothing new. “It’s the old boss with new tools,” said California Federation of Labor President Lorena Gonzalez. Three years ago, as an Assembly member, Gonzalez co-authored a law stating: Prevents algorithms from depriving workers of rest time Or worker safety violations.

Amid uncertainty about how the Trump administration will address union concerns about technology, Gonzalez told CalMatters last week that she is working with her counterparts in other states, including Oregon, Massachusetts, Washington and Wisconsin, to pass legislation to protect workers’ privacy in areas like break rooms and bathrooms and make sure they know when The employer collects data about them or monitors job performance.

Current California Privacy Agency Drafting rules that require companies to inform job applicants and workers when they use artificial intelligence Allow them to opt out of on-the-job data collection without any consequences. California will become the first state to enact such rules, but this regulation is still under negotiation. California Department of Civil Rights as well Formulate rules to protect workers from artificial intelligence that could automate discrimination.

Gonzalez said she does not like to rely on such rules because they can take a long time to finalize and implement, noting that Fight to keep workers safe from hot workplacesa battle that continued for the better part of a decade.

Meanwhile, people like Amba Kak see opportunities for workers to gain ground against technological threats, but said that may require picking the right battles strategically. Kak is a former counsel to the Federal Trade Commission and is the executive director of the AI ​​Now Institute, a nonprofit organization that researches the impact of technology on human rights.

Seizing these opportunities requires attention to issues that can build bridges between workers and other actors in the tech justice movement. For example, data center activism can bring together people who care about climate, business, and people in local communities who see data centers It consumes huge amounts of water and energy.

Kak told CalMatters that she plans to pay more attention to activism in state legislatures in places like California and New York, where Lawmakers are already thinking A bill that protects people from artificial intelligence in a similar way to California Senate Bill 1047, A controversial bill requiring AI safeguards was vetoed by Newsom last year.

She said: “Labour has been at the forefront of rebalancing power and ensuring that the public has a say in determining how and under what circumstances this technology is used.”

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