Posts tagged Artificial Intelligence
SAG-AFTRA Confronts a Fran-less Future
August 21, 2025 // But now, with another tough contract negotiation on the horizon, SAG-AFTRA is going to have to push forward without its erstwhile leader from Queens. This time around, Drescher has decided against running for president. In her place, another celebrity, Lord of the Rings and Rudy star Sean Astin, and a rank-and-file performer, New England Local board member Chuck Slavin, are battling it out for the job. The stakes are high, given that the candidates face a darker and more foreboding landscape than the one that even Drescher confronted when she entered office in 2021 during the pandemic.
Unions rally in Pittsburgh against Trump’s cuts to worker protections and research funding
July 23, 2025 // The event was a stop on the AFL-CIO’s “It’s Better in a Union: Fighting for Freedom, Fairness & Security” bus tour. Labor leaders including AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, USW International President David McCall and Allegheny/Fayette Central Labor Council President Darrin Kelly took the mic to address the impacts of the administration’s cuts to university research funding, Medicaid and the firing of workers at the Department of Veterans Affairs, both in Pittsburgh and across the country. After the speeches, volunteers handed out a sheet of paper with a phone number to reach the House of Representative and a QR code with a prewritten email in support of a discharge petition to force a vote in that chamber on the Protect America’s Workforce Act, a bill that aims to reverse Trump’s executive order that eliminated collective bargaining rights for federal workers.
Amazon asks corporate staff to relocate or quit without severance
June 26, 2025 // The company is encouraging employees to relocate to key hubs, such as Seattle, Arlington, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., sometimes requiring them to move across the country. The change comes as the company continues its embrace of artificial intelligence (AI). CEO Andy Jassy even acknowledged that its work with AI will shrink its workforce over time.
Why unions won’t be participating in the U.S. manufacturing boom
May 27, 2025 // "Unionization policy in the United States is based on an adversarial relationship between management and labor," James Hohman, director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, told Newsweek. "This means that the unions are not looked at as an asset to improve production; they are looked at as an extra cost and extra liability—which is why we see often, but not exclusively, U.S. states with less union concentration are the ones who are adding more employment.
JPMorgan Chase CFO issues stern warning to employees
May 20, 2025 // During JPMorgan Chase’s annual Investor Day presentation, the company’s CFO, Jeremy Barnum, said that managers have recently been instructed to wind down hiring, pushing them to work better with their current employee headcount, according to a recent report from Business Insider. "At the margin, we're asking people to resist head count growth where possible and increase their focus on efficiency," said Barnum.
Workday lays off 1,750 employees, or about 8.5% of its workforce
February 5, 2025 // Workday is cutting about 1,750 jobs, or 8.5% of its workforce. In a Wednesday memo to employees, published in a securities filing, Workday CEO Carl Eschenbach said the layoffs were necessary for ongoing growth efforts at the company — including a particular focus on artificial intelligence investments.
With Port Strike Averted, Dockworkers Draw New Curbs on Automation
January 12, 2025 // The pact would allow operators of automated equipment at ports in New Jersey and Virginia, where multiple machines are managed by a single dockworker at a time, to continue to use the semiautonomous cranes, according to people familiar with the matter. But the agreement says that companies that add semiautonomous equipment must hire one dockworker for each new crane added, the people said. That means that a gateway such as the Port of Virginia, which operates 116 semiautonomous cranes, will have to hire one extra dockworker for each of 36 new semiautonomous cranes it plans to add over the next few years. “That’s a pretty significant gain,” said a shipping industry official familiar with the contract talks.
How AI Is Impacting Labor Relations—and Why Employers Need to Pay Attention
October 25, 2024 // One key takeaway from the DOL guidelines is the importance of worker involvement. In unionized workplaces, rolling out AI without worker input is risky. Unions are already pushing back, trying to ensure that AI doesn’t replace jobs or erode working conditions. Employers should expect collective bargaining proposals that set clear parameters around AI usage, from performance monitoring to task automation. Industries like entertainment are leading the charge, with unions such as SAG-AFTRA and the WGA negotiating limits on AI-generated scripts and digital replicas. At ports, the International Longshoremen’s Association is resisting fully automated systems. These are clear signs that AI’s impact on labor is at the top of many unions’ minds.
Patrick Pizzella: There Is Always Dignity in Work
September 2, 2024 // We honor work itself as a noble pursuit. All work. Any kind of work. In hard work itself there is meaning, calling and purpose. People want to work! And we as a culture, as a country, should be recommitting ourselves to recognizing the dignity of work, whether you work on Main Street, Wall Street, under the street, sweeping the street, or paving the street.
Unpacking Kamala Harris’ record on federal workforce issues
July 26, 2024 // As vice president, Harris led a White House task force that made recommendations for how agencies could reduce barriers for public and private sector workers to organize or join a union. In the year after agencies began implementing these recommendations, the number of federal employees who are dues paying members of a union increased by 20%. “We are fighting to protect the sacred right to organize. We are protecting the sacred right to organize because we know when unions are strong, America is strong,” Harris said at a Service Employees International Union convention in May.