Unions Keep Pressure on Statehouses to Regulate AI, Protect Jobs

Unions say state lawmakers shouldn’t wait to confront potential threats from artificial intelligence despite vows in Congress that the federal government would act following a flurry of activity in Washington last week.

“I don’t think the states should hold back in pursuing state-level strategies,” said Amanda Ballatyne of the AFL-CIO Tech Institute in an interview, adding that federal activity can “set a tone and a framework for the states.”

“We’ve seen a lot of demand, both from state policymakers and also from our state federations and central labor councils, to start building educational strategies so that the labor movement can play a more active role in shaping state-level AI policy,” she said.

Organized labor can live with large language models, automated decision-making, and biometric data gathering as long as there are limits on how employers use to those tools replace, unfairly monitor, or otherwise abuse workers.

Business groups have signaled support for some AI regulation while emphasizing that it can create efficiencies that save money for employers and consumers. “AI promises to boost economic opportunity and incomes,” said Suzanne Clark, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in a March release on AI policy.

Unions have responded by positioning themselves to lawmakers as the go-to AI advocate for everyday people. Such efforts include highlighting public confidence in organized labor as a growing number of states including California, Texas, and Wisconsin begin studying artificial intelligence ahead of possible regulatory action.

In California, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters is calling on Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to sign a bill (A.B. 316) that would allow future testing of autonomous vehicles in trucking as long as a human operator is on hand in rigs weighing more than 10,000 pounds.

In New York, SAG-AFTRA is “directly lobbying” a key legislator on a bill (S.B. 7422) that would ban a lucrative tax break for any TV or movie production that uses artificial intelligence to replace workers, records show. Both Disney and NBCUniversal are eyeing the proposal ahead of the 2024 legislative session.

The Communications Workers of America is among the unions pushing for action by several state legislatures and in Congress to limit how employers use AI to monitor and discipline employees. The union also wants workers to have the right to appeal automated decisions, said CWA Director of Research Nell Geiser, in a statement.

“This is an all-hands-on-deck moment for policymakers and unions to rein in corporations and Wall Street by setting good policy and supporting workers’ collective bargaining rights to negotiate over AI adoption,” said Geiser.

‘Tired of Being Guinea Pigs’

Labor groups are also looking to protect recent legislative wins in addition to securing new ones. For example, a 2020 New York law that restricts outsourcing of tech-related jobs needs union’s attention to make sure companies do not shift such work to AI, said Keith Hogarty, an organizer with the New York City-based CWA Local 1101, whose members include workers for Verizon and AT&T.

“We got a lot of protections in legislatures over the years, definitely in New York, to fight for call center bills and to make sure the work stays in New York and it’s not going overseas,” he said in an interview. “I think as the years come, we’re going to be doing the same thing [with AI] whether it be legislative or contracts—union contracts—to protect that work as well.”

The memo for an August poll sponsored by AFL-CIO said, “Voters believe unions can also help on this front to protect jobs from being replaced by AI.” The survey found 59% of respondents who said they were concerned about AI believe “unions can help protect workers from being replaced by artificial intelligence.”

“Public support for unions is at near record highs because workers are tired of being guinea pigs in an AI live experiment. The labor movement knows AI can empower workers and increase prosperity—but only if workers are centered in its creation and the rules that govern it,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a statement.

Federal action on artificial intelligence is welcome, said Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union, in an interview, but that does not mean states cannot follow the suggestions of organized labor on protecting workers from job losses, workplace surveillance, and potential abuses.

States have preempted federal action on complicated policy topics like marijuana legalization and should do so again, Appelbaum said. Partisan gridlock might thwart congressional action, despite comments from key lawmakers like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) that Congress would address AI.

“We agree with the use of technology to improve work and make it more efficient, but not if it dehumanizes workers, or undermines the right to freedom of association or comes at the expense of worker health and safety,” Applebaum said. And unfortunately, the way AI has been implemented has led to all sorts of problems.”