Unionized workers are bargaining with the bots
Summary
Many American workers rely on union contracts to protect them from the effects of artificial intelligence (AI) at work. Since most U.S. workers are not in unions, only those with union support can negotiate rules about AI use, like preventing job cuts or unfair AI tools.Key Facts
- About 90% of U.S. workers are not in unions, leaving approximately 130 million workers without AI protections through collective bargaining.
- The NewsGuild union has 85-90 contracts that include specific rules about AI.
- Some unions have stopped companies from using AI tools that replace workers without agreement, such as SAG-AFTRA protecting actors from AI replicas.
- AI protections are growing mostly in industries with strong unions, like manufacturing, journalism, and entertainment.
- Tech workers are increasingly organizing after realizing AI and layoffs threaten their jobs, even if they perform well.
- Current labor laws were created before AI and remote work, making them less effective for today's challenges.
- In 2025, only about 11.2% of U.S. workers were unionized, with large differences between industries.
- Congress has made little progress on AI workplace rules, while some states are starting to create their own laws.
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