{"id":18259,"date":"2026-07-26T22:53:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T17:53:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=18259"},"modified":"2026-07-26T22:53:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T17:53:27","slug":"unionized-workers-are-bargaining-with-the-bots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=18259","title":{"rendered":"Unionized workers are bargaining with the bots"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/SYb_NrNCLvCTaSvfUxaGx7ZPxZY=\/smart\/2023\/12\/12\/005735-1702342655905.gif\" \/><\/p>\n<p>With Congress on the sidelines, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/columbus\/2025\/12\/11\/union-support-jenis-dispatch\" target=\"_blank\">union contracts<\/a> are among the strongest guardrails American workers have against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/technology\/automation-and-ai\" target=\"_blank\">artificial intelligence<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why it matters:<\/strong> Nearly 90% of the U.S. workforce lacks <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/04\/25\/trump-unions-federal-workforce\" target=\"_blank\">union<\/a> representation, leaving <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bls.gov\/news.release\/union2.htm\" target=\"_blank\">about 130 million workers<\/a> without that leverage as companies use AI to rewrite job descriptions and cut jobs.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>What they&#8217;re saying:<\/strong> The only meaningful guardrails around workplace AI are happening &#8220;at the bargaining table, where workers are showing up and demanding protections,&#8221; NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss tells Axios.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;AI is something we can negotiate,&#8221; Schleuss says. &#8220;Without a contract and without a union, you have no say.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Former FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya notes that union-negotiated rules could easily map onto federal policy \u2014 if Congress ever finds the political will.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Case in point: <\/strong>The NewsGuild currently has between 85 and 90 contracts with explicit AI provisions, Schleuss says.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>At Politico, unionized reporters forced management into arbitration after the newsroom <a href=\"https:\/\/cwa-union.org\/news\/journalists-shut-down-ai-slop-politico\" target=\"_blank\">introduced<\/a> inaccurate AI reporting tools without the union&#8217;s permission. Management dismantled the tools.<\/li>\n<li>Entertainment union SAG-AFTRA negotiated protections that prohibit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sagaftra.org\/sites\/default\/files\/sa_documents\/TV-Theatrical_23_Summary_Agreement_Final.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">AI replicas<\/a> replacing actors without the actors&#8217;s consent.<\/li>\n<li>A union representing workers at ZeniMax, the Microsoft-owned video game company, won contract <a href=\"https:\/\/cwa-union.org\/news\/zenimax-workers-reach-agreement-microsoft-contractors-and-ai\" target=\"_blank\">provisions<\/a> requiring AI to support \u2014 not replace \u2014 workers. The agreement also requires management to notify the union and negotiate before deploying new AI tools.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The big picture:<\/strong> AI protections are gaining ground fastest in industries with longer histories of unionization and repeated threats to workers&#8217; livelihoods, including manufacturing, journalism and entertainment.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>White collar workers like those in Big Tech with high wages and corporate perks had something of an &#8220;illusion of protection&#8221; that made them avoid organized labor, TechEquity&#8217;s Tim Newman says.<\/li>\n<li>Now, companies are using AI as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/san-francisco\/2026\/06\/12\/coinbase-layoffs-ai-job-losses-san-francisco-tech-workers\" target=\"_blank\">pretext for layoffs<\/a> to appease Wall Street, shattering that illusion.<\/li>\n<li>Sean Fern, a principal infrastructure engineer at NAVA PBC and a member of its bargaining committee, notes a &#8220;large groundswell&#8221; of tech workers organizing after realizing &#8220;even a good performing engineer can sometimes lose their job overnight, given no fault of their own, and they don&#8217;t see themselves as quite so special anymore.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Between the lines: <\/strong>Existing<strong> <\/strong>labor statutes like the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dol.gov\/agencies\/eta\/layoffs\/warn\" target=\"_blank\">1988 WARN Act<\/a> were built for 20th-century mass factory closures \u2014 not remote tech workers, gig economy contractors or quiet algorithmic layoffs.<\/p>\n<p> <strong>By the numbers:<\/strong> About 16.5 million U.S. workers were represented by unions in 2025, the highest number<strong> <\/strong>in 16 years, according to an Economic Policy Institute <a href=\"https:\/\/www.epi.org\/publication\/workers-resolve-drives-increase-in-unionization-in-2025\/#:~:text=In%202025%2C%2016.5%20million,up%20from%2011.1%25%20in%202024.\" target=\"_blank\">analysis<\/a> of federal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bls.gov\/news.release\/union2.htm\" target=\"_blank\">data<\/a>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>That amounts to just 11.2% of workers, but the rate varies drastically by industry and job.<\/li>\n<li>About 36% of education, training, and library employees are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bls.gov\/cps\/cpsaat42.htm\" target=\"_blank\">unionized<\/a>. Just 4.4% of workers in computer occupations are represented by unions.<\/li>\n<li>In finance, it&#8217;s a mere 1.1%.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Zoom out:<\/strong> Some states have begun to regulate AI&#8217;s role in the workplace.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>But Congress has made little progress. Too many elected officials are &#8220;taking a lot of credit for holding a roundtable, and that is not where we should be right now,&#8221; says Bedoya.<\/li>\n<li>Federal progress amounts to &#8220;baby steps,&#8221; says Lauren McFerran, a former National Labor Relations Board chair who now leads the AFL-CIO Tech Institute. She blames massive lobbying budgets: &#8220;It&#8217;s kind of a classic people versus money issue.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>The Tech Institute backs several bills, she says, including the <a href=\"https:\/\/deluzio.house.gov\/media\/press-releases\/deluzio-bonamici-moylan-restart-push-protect-workers-ai-and-robot-bosses\" target=\"_blank\">No Robot Bosses Act<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/bonamici.house.gov\/media\/press-releases\/deluzio-bonamici-reintroduce-stop-spying-bosses-act-protect-workers-privacy\" target=\"_blank\">Stop Spying Bosses Act<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/119th-congress\/senate-bill\/1367\" target=\"_blank\">No Fakes Act<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/pressley.house.gov\/2025\/12\/03\/pressley-clarke-markey-reintroduce-ai-civil-rights-act-to-eliminate-ai-discrimination\/\" target=\"_blank\">AI Civil Rights Act<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The bottom line: <\/strong>America is quickly becoming a patchwork of protections. Those with a union contract have a say in their technological future.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Those who don&#8217;t may be on their own.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Go deeper:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/san-francisco\/2026\/06\/12\/california-ai-workforce-displacement-newsom-order-employment-data-worker-safeguards\" target=\"_blank\">How California is preparing for AI workforce disruption &#8211; Axios San Francisco<\/a><\/p>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With Congress on the sidelines, union contracts are among the strongest guardrails American workers have against artificial intelligence. Why it matters: Nearly 90% of the U.S. workforce lacks union representation, leaving about 130 million workers without that leverage as companies use AI to rewrite job descriptions and cut jobs. What they&#8217;re saying: The only meaningful&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18260,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/SYb_NrNCLvCTaSvfUxaGx7ZPxZY=\/smart\/2023\/12\/12\/005735-1702342655905.gif","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}