How labor unions are putting checks on AI

Nov 20, 2023

PROGRAMMING NOTE: We’ll be off for Thanksgiving this Thursday but back to our normal schedule on Monday, Nov. 27.

QUICK FIX

COMING TO TERMS: Unionized workers are starting to win guardrails on the use of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies as Washington is still coming to grips with the fast-moving field.

The protections range from advance notice before an employer can introduce certain technology into the workplace to limits on the use of so-called generative AI, which threatens creative fields and other white-collar jobs, or requiring a person’s consent before a given tool can be used.

“People are realizing the ways in which artificial intelligence can be used to change the way that they work,” Matthew Scherer, senior policy counsel at the Center for Democracy & Technology, said in an interview. “If you start treating people like automatons using artificial intelligence and electronic surveillance, that drives down their wages in the long run because you’re essentially forcing people into less skilled roles.”

Organized labor has attempted to fill that void, leveraging the tight job market and strong public support for unions to extract concessions from businesses.

Hollywood has been at the center of the action as the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA, which represents actors, went on monthslong strikes after their contracts expired. Both unions made concerns about the use of AI one of their key priorities, with some members speaking about the issue in existential terms.

The WGA came away from a nearly 150-day strike with assurances that AI cannot be used to “undermine” a writer’s credit and requirements for Hollywood studios to disclose if any material provided to a writer was produced by AI, while allowing writers to individually use AI tools if they choose.

For SAG-AFTRA, the tentative agreement reached this month would require studios to seek an actor’s consent before a “digital replica” of their voice or likeness could be used, and receive compensation for when that facsimile is used similar to as if the performer were on set. Several members of the guild’s board have criticized the deal for not doing more to keep AI at bay — or prohibit its use entirely — and have urged others to vote against ratifying its terms.

The writers overwhelmingly approved their contract terms in October, while SAG-AFTRA members are still voting on theirs. A spokesperson for SAG-AFTRA declined to comment.

Separately, the union representing Las Vegas hospitality workers this month secured additional protections, building on their previous contract negotiated in 2018. The tentative agreement calls for advanced notification if an employer planned to bring AI, robotics or other tech into their properties, as well as guarantees surrounding retraining if jobs were shifted due to automation or technology, among other provisions.

The union also said it won the right to bargain over surveillance tools used to monitor employees on the job, and members are due to vote on ratification ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

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On the Hill

FDIC TUMULT: House Republicans are bearing down on FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg following reports of the agency’s fratty and hostile workplace culture, our Eleanor Mueller reports.

GOP lawmakers led by House Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) told Gruenberg in a letter they will use the panel’s “full arsenal” of oversight and investigative tools, including compulsory measures, “to ensure that our banking system remains safe and sound.”

An FDIC spokesperson said the agency will “be fully transparent and cooperative with the committee.” The FDIC has also enlisted an outside law firm, BakerHostetler, to conduct an independent review.

CLEARING THE BAR: United Auto Workers members at each of the Big Three appear to have voted to approve their tentative agreements with the car companies, our Olivia Olander reports for Pros.

Of the three, General Motors was the closest with just shy of 55 percent of hourly workers in favor of ratification, according to the union’s public results tracker. Ford and Stellantis came in a few days later last week and both were around 70 percent.

Once finalized, the ratifications will likely be a major boon to UAW President Shawn Fain, whose profile rose immensely during the weekslong strike and the surrounding media coverage, as the union seeks to expand its footprint at other automakers and continue making gains in sectors like higher ed.

Already, Toyota, Honda and Hyundai have announced increased pay and benefits to their non-unionized workers, though executives have denied they were an attempt to quell employees’ desire to unionize.

More union news: “Detroit Casino Council reaches tentative deal for 5-year contract with Detroit casinos,” from the Detroit Free-Press.

Around the Agencies

WAIVE AWAY: The Office of Personnel Management wants to grant federal agencies more authority to waive caps on recruitment and relocation incentives used to entice workers to fill key employment gaps, the Government Executive reports.

Normally agencies can offer a recruit up to 25 percent of the base pay as an inducement if the applicant agrees to stick around for a designated period of up to four years. But if there is a “critical agency need” then those incentives can be doubled, though there is a cap equal to 100 % of the basic pay.

OPM currently is the one who evaluates those waiver requests, but it proposed a change allowing the agencies themselves to handle that work with OPM reviewing things after the fact.

“The reason for the planned change is twofold: First, to make it easier and faster for agencies to hire people in difficult to fill positions; and second, to offload some of OPM’s more transactional work and allow the agency to focus more on governmentwide HR policy,” Government Exec reports.

In the Workplace

THE BIDEN DISCONNECT: A host of economic indicators point to a robust economy that has grown during President Joe Biden’s term in office, yet that has not trickled down to public sentiment as a slew of recent articles demonstrate.

Case in point: Retailers and small business owners are fretting how this holiday season will shake out, according to the Associated Press.

“When we talk to retailers there’s a lot of uncertainty,” Max Rhodes, the CEO of the online wholesale marketplace Faire told the AP. "The combination of higher inflation and rising interest rates are making consumers nervous which in turn makes retailers nervous. It continues to be a weird economy. The data looks good, but nobody feels good about it.”

The New York Times, meanwhile, pointed to social media — TikTok in particular — as both demonstrating those sentiments and creating a feedback loop that exacerbates the unease.

“In those videos, influencers compare how easy it was to get by economically in 1930 versus 2023. The videos are misleading, skimming over the crucial fact that roughly one in four adults was unemployed in 1933, compared with four in 100 today. And the data they cite are often pulled from unreliable sources,” the Times reports.

IMMIGRATION

ANOTHER BLUE STATE BACK DOWN: The University of California system is pushing off a plan to allow undocumented students to work on campus, our Blake Jones reports for Pros.

UC President Michael V. Drake said the system’s board would postpone a vote that had been set for later this month while officials further evaluate potential legal ramifications.

Such a policy would inevitably invite legal challenges and stand in violation of federal law, though some proponents have argued the prohibition doesn't apply to states.

The pause comes on the heels of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul saying that the state would not pursue a way to issue its own work authorizations for immigrants over similar concerns.

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