Posts tagged automation
GM has two weeks before a strike could hit Silverado and Sierra production
June 2, 2026 // Dauch Corp is responsible for the production of axles and other driveline parts that are essential to the production of GM's truck lineup, which, as we know, are some of the most popular and best-selling models in the brand's lineup. According to the report, GM has about two weeks of axle inventory to keep building trucks unhampered; this was confirmed by two people familiar with the matter to Reuters. GM is said to be monitoring the situation closely and assessing any potential impact, while Dauch Corp called the work stoppage a disappointment.
SoFi Stadium workers set to vote on strike ahead of World Cup
June 1, 2026 // The union has made demands that include, according to The Athletic: –A guarantee that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will not be allowed on venue grounds during the World Cup, saying their presence could jeopardize employee safety. Government officials have said ICE agents would be on hand with security and not immigation enforcement their primary duty. –Restricted use of subcontractors. –No use of automation or artificial intelligence that could cause the loss of union jobs. –Release of information to the union that would detail things such as work hours or the distribution of tips and service charges.
Unions Attack AI for Menacing Human Jobs
May 1, 2026 // Last week, the leaders of some of the largest trade unions in the US came together for a conference with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Axios reports. Together, they presented a united opposition against tech companies pushing AI and robotics into labor, renewing Sanders’ call for a pause on AI development until there are ample safety nets in place to catch workers whom labor leaders fear will be displaced. “We are here to sound the alarms on AI,” president of stories AFL-CIO Liz Shuler said at the press conference. “This race that everybody seems to think we’re in to advance AI at all costs — with no guardrails or protections for people — is reckless and dangerous.”
Opinion GOP’s fatal attraction to unions is the start of a bad romance
April 21, 2026 // Instead of offering flowers and chocolates, they aim to impress labor by slicing up the PRO Act and feeding it piecemeal to the rest of the GOP. The Faster Labor Contracts Act, sponsored by Hawley and Rep. Donald Norcross (D-NJ), is the first portion. It would allow federal mediators to essentially write union contracts for newly organized workplaces, if businesses and unions can’t agree on terms within four months of a union’s workplace-election win.
The Looming Legislative And Labor Push Against Artificial Intelligence
April 10, 2026 // Meanwhile, the Minnesota legislature is presently considering legislation that would, if passed, impose new limits on all employer use of AI. Senate File 4689 seeks to regulate the use of what it calls “Automated Decision Systems” (ADS). It would essentially cover all employment-related decisions relating to the implementation of AI. It would require advance notice of, and employee consent to, the use of ADS, would impose significant recordkeeping obligations, and employees would have the right to know when and how ADS influenced “adverse” employment decisions.
Op-ed: White House wrong to push Railway Safety Act
March 10, 2026 // “The legislation would mandate minimum two-member crews (one conductor, one engineer) on freight trains. There is no evidence that such a mandate would make trains any safer, but it would prohibit attempts to further automate them. Railroad companies have reduced crew sizes for decades while also reducing accident rates. The two-crew rule exists solely for the benefit of unions that represent railroad workers. If there is any form of transportation that should be on the leading edge of automation, it is trains, which have a natural safety edge because they don’t use public roads or the skies.”
Commentary: Back to the Dark Ages? Unions Push Bills to Slow Workplace Technology
March 10, 2026 // In practice, introducing AI in unionized workplaces could require union approval. The bill also requires companies to hire a state-approved auditor to test AI systems for bias before deployment. If disparate impact is found, the system cannot be used until the Labor Commissioner signs off on corrective measures. Businesses would effectively need a government permission slip to deploy their own software. The legislation goes even further by limiting how state agencies may use artificial intelligence, requiring legislative authorization before purchasing or deploying many AI systems. Rather than encouraging innovation, the default posture treats AI as suspect unless expressly approved. At the same time, Senate Bill 438 would regulate self-checkout machines in grocery stores.
UPS Is the Symptom, Not the Disease: How Labor Policy Shapes Long-Run Worker Outcomes
February 18, 2026 // The question, then, is not whether the gains are real, but how the trade-offs unfold. Why do headline-grabbing contracts so often coincide with downsizing, automation, and job losses in sectors governed by exclusive, monopoly bargaining arrangements? When short-run wage gains are secured through monopoly bargaining power, where do the adjustments occur—and who ultimately bears the costs?
Trump administration slow-plays decision on expanding automated railroad inspection technology
November 18, 2025 // “The idea is, that while the train is in normal operations, this system is constantly scanning the track for defects, so the waiver would allow the use of this technology,” he stated. “The Department of Transportation’s Volpe Center, which is their kind of in-house think tank, has been clamoring for exactly this type of thing for decades, and now the technology has arrived that allows carriers to actually do it.” Scribner noted that the Biden administration was sued multiple times by rail carriers for, like Trump, slow- walking automated track inspection waivers, claiming that was “a situation where Railway Labor had had really captured a safety regulatory agency, which should be very, very concerning to the American public.”
Commentary: California’s Fast-Food Minimum Wage Hike Is Killing Jobs
November 13, 2025 // "On April 1, 2024, California raised its minimum wage from $16 to $20 per hour for fast-food workers employed at chains with more than 60 locations nationwide," Jeffrey Clemens, Olivia Edwards, and Jonathan Meer write in a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper that was first addressed by Reason's Peter Suderman in the November print issue. "Our median estimate suggests that California lost about 18,000 jobs that could have been retained if AB 1228 had not been passed."