How AI is infiltrating labor union contracts, in Pittsburgh and beyond – PublicSource

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PublicSource, with Technical.ly, is exploring the landscape of work in Pittsburgh — famed for its industriousness and intense union-management conflict and collaboration — as it is pressure-tested by changes in governmental policy, technology and economics.

With the rise of AI tools in the workplace, workers across sectors are wondering how it might impact their livelihoods.

Workers in industries with strong unions, meanwhile, are recognizing the necessity of proactively addressing potential threats AI poses to job security by leveraging their bargaining power.

The key is striking a balance between encouraging employers to adopt new technologies to be competitive and protecting workers from new technologies that could erode workplace safety or job security, said Kim Miller, assistant to the international president of the United Steelworkers [USW].

While workers in some trades are embracing AI, those in more creative fields are cautious about new tools. Union experts told Technical.ly there’s no one-size-fits-all approach, but there are key things unions can start doing now, like getting workers to the bargaining table.

“Having workers at the table is very important upfront, and we always encourage that,” Miller said. “I will say that in the best-case scenario, we are working with the employer well before any technology is implemented.”

USW knows this because, despite “steelworkers” in its title, the organization’s breadth expands far beyond that.

U.S. Steel workers rally outside the company’s Clairton Coke Works in support of the company’s sale to Nippon Steel on Dec. 12. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource).

It represents 850,000 workers across North America in industries ranging from metals, mining, rubber and chemicals to paper, oil refining and more. The union also represents workers in the service, public, healthcare and higher education sectors. Last year, USW expanded its local reach by becoming the representative for over 6,000 faculty at the University of Pittsburgh and then over 1,000 grad students.

Some unions are ready to embrace AI in cases in which it doesn’t currently present downsides for represented workers.

Matt Spence, director of media for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers [IBEW], believes AI is benefiting the workers his union represents.

IBEW represents roughly 750,000 workers and has had a presence in Pittsburgh since 1897. Today, electricians are benefiting from the additional work related to maintaining or modernizing energy generation and transmission systems that support large-scale tech projects or energy demands related to AI, Spence said.

Several pro-business groups did not respond to Technical.ly’s requests for comment.

Creative fields grapple with AI content takeover

Unions in fields like news, academia and content creation view generative AI as a real threat to job security, fearing it could devalue the work their members create.

Zack Tanner, president of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, which represents faculty at Point Park University and striking journalists from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, said AI hasn’t yet been part of contract negotiations for the workers he represents since other high-level issues currently take precedent, but “it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.”

While the union does not currently have any formal policies surrounding the use of generative AI in the workplace, Tanner said the Guild has already fought against the replacement of human-made work with AI-generated content.

Zack Tanner, president of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, leads a Zoom and in-person meeting at strike headquarters in the United Steelworkers Building on April 18. Listening are, from left, guild members Ed Blazina, Steve Karlinchak, Emily Matthews and Randy Stoernell. (Courtesy of Steve Mellon/Pittsburgh Union Progress)

In the future, Tanner anticipates AI will be addressed on a case-by-case basis.

There have been some AI tools released in the last couple of years, like transcription software or upgrades to Photoshop, that have helped unionized workers do their best work, Tanner said. However, other generative AI tools “spit in the face” of the time workers have invested in developing their creative skills, he said.

For now, Tanner sees the rise of AI in the workplace as a “traditional labor battle, just with a brand new technology.”

“[We have to] make sure that our creative input and our work is valued to the extent that it should be,” Tanner said, “and not let management publish a bunch of AI slop and garbage that hasn’t been vetted or edited by somebody that would otherwise have the talent to do such a thing.”

Union strategies can focus on upskilling workers, policy advocacy

Other strategies unions can employ when raising concerns about AI include making sure current workers are upskilled when new technologies are introduced in the workplace and using collective bargaining power to ensure job retention, Miller said.

Along with advocating for retraining programs, workers and unions can push for government policies that protect workers on a national scale, said Lou Martin, a professor and expert on labor and working-class history at Chatham University.

Chatham University faculty Jennie Sweet-Cushman, center, and Lou Martin, right, sign cards during a union campaign event in January 2024 at East End Brewing in Larimer. The faculty drive was successful, though the organizers eventually ended their fight for recognition. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)

Efforts to strengthen the social safety net for displaced workers have been made before, Martin said. The consequence of automation in the 1950s spurred support for the War on Poverty, ultimately leading to the creation of crucial social support programs like Medicare and the bolstering of Social Security benefits.

“As a society, we should have a more humane policy for displaced workers,” Martin said. “It’s oftentimes people who suddenly lose their livelihood who are the most desperate, depressed, angry, and we just don’t need any more people to go through that. So, we should have policies that watch out for these folks and make sure that they have the time and support they need to get through that transition.”

AI is a new frontier — but the conundrum isn’t new

Union strategies to protect workers in the face of new technology aren’t from an entirely new playbook. Technological changes are constantly changing labor dynamics.

“I think there are a lot of parallels between automation of manufacturing and mining in the 1950s and the potential for AI over the next 10 or 20 years,” Martin said.

During the 1950s, automation was introduced as an opportunity to increase productivity and wages. While it did do that to some extent, automation also caused mass unemployment and layoffs in manufacturing and mining.

This time, white-collar, college-educated, knowledge-based professions might be the most vulnerable to disruptions from AI tools, according to both Martin and Tom Mitchell, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science.

Tom Mitchell, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science, stands for a portrait outside his office at Carnegie Mellon University on Feb. 24. (Photo by Quinn Glabicki/PublicSource)

AI is not a passing fad; advancements and adoption of the tools will continue, per a November report mandated by Congress on the workforce implications of AI, to which Mitchell contributed. The report also concluded that while it’s difficult to predict the exact timeline, nature or specifics of these advances, the impact will be widespread across industries.

The biggest wild card question that remains, Mitchell said, is which jobs will be automated, meaning fully replaced by AI, versus augmented, enhanced or supported by emerging tools.

For example, some toll booth jobs have been fully automated with the rise of computer vision software, while radiologists’ work has been augmented by AI systems that analyze X-rays to enhance diagnostic accuracy.

What can workers and unions do, as jobs are redefined by the tasks that AI does better than humans and vice versa? Both Mitchell and Martin say workers should start planning for possible changes now by learning how the tools could be used in their workplace.

“While AI is the conversation of the moment,” said Miller, of USW, “workplace change and new technologies, this is something that’s been kind of a constant in our union for a very long time.”

Alice Crow is the Pittsburgh lead reporter for Technical.ly and can be reached at alice@technical.ly.

This story was fact-checked by Bella Markovitz.

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