The nation’s largest labor federation is releasing the movement’s first principles for the future of AI technology
(Washington, D.C.)—The AFL-CIO launched today the “Workers First Initiative on AI,” the first comprehensive labor movement agenda establishing principles on artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The Initiative provides a blueprint for how employers and legislators should advance AI implementation in the workplace to the benefit of America’s working people and economy.
Developed with input from workers and unions across industries and public services, the Workers First Initiative on AI is designed to ensure that working people reap the benefits of AI technology and its use in the workforce. The Initiative includes first-of-its-kind guiding principles and resources for the responsible development of AI and its use in the workplace and a nationwide education and mobilization program. It also will be integrated with the AI task force the AFL-CIO launched this summer to fight for commonsense, strong AI safety policy at the state and local level.
“No one understands how to build the future of work better than America’s labor movement,” said Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO. “We reject the false choice between American competitiveness on the world stage and respecting workers’ rights and dignity. We know that for AI—or any other technology—to truly boost our economy, it needs to benefit everyone, not just a select few at the top. That’s why I’m thrilled to launch the Workers First Initiative on AI, which will advance the labor movement’s vision for this technology and a path forward for equitable, human-centered innovation in our workplaces and communities.”
Across the country, there is consensus around the need for strong, worker-centered AI safety. Some 80% of Americans across both parties want the government to have strong rules in place for AI safety and data security. Red and blue states alike are prioritizing AI safety measures, with all 50 states having introduced regulations related to AI, with around 40 passing legislation.
“Our country has a choice to make: a future where we harness the power of AI to make work easier, safer and more productive. Or, a future where workers in every sector are subjected to brutal production quotas set by algorithms, where robots threaten their very careers, and where their data and their privacy are violated by digital overlords both at work and home. President Trump and Vice President Vance have already given billionaire tech executives the green light to bulldoze the rights and jobs of working-class families,” said Chrissy Lynch, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and co-chair of the AFL-CIO State Federation Artificial Intelligence (AI) Task Force. “That’s why it is critical that states and workplaces draw the line between tech innovation and tech domination. These principles give lawmakers and employers a clear road map on how to ensure rapidly evolving technology like AI doesn’t leave the working class behind.”
“Unregulated AI poses an existential threat to workers, the public and humanity. That is why our labor movement has endorsed this AI agenda to supercharge our task force’s efforts in the states to protect working people,” said Lorena Gonzalez, president of the California Federation of Labor Unions and co-chair of the AFL-CIO State Federation AI Task Force. “We will stand up to the Big Tech corporations pushing a dangerous deregulatory agenda and building AI systems that harm workers without accountability.”
The largest technology companies have responded by launching a multimillion-dollar lobbying blitz, urging policymakers to act against the public interest and let them unleash unregulated and untested AI on workers without guardrails in place to protect them from its harms. So far, many politicians have been eager to oblige Big Tech—with some members of Congress and the White House pushing to shield the AI industry from liability and government oversight under the guise of being “pro-innovation.” The Workers First Initiative on AI will serve as a bulwark against corporate greed and set the agenda for technological advancement and the future of work.
“Technological progress and human dignity can and should advance together. Centering workers’ voices in an AI policy agenda ensures a future where America both innovates and creates good jobs and opportunities for everyone,” said Ed Wytkind, interim executive director of the AFL-CIO Technology Institute. “The AFL-CIO Workers First Initiative on AI advances a positive vision for new AI-enabled technologies—one rooted in good union jobs, high-quality public services, safety, racial justice and strong workers’ rights.”
The Workers First initiative on AI is the latest project by the AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor federation representing 63 unions and nearly 15 million workers, to put working people at the center of the AI revolution. Since AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler created the AFL-CIO Technology Institute in 2021, it has worked with unions, government, civil society, universities and employers to ensure that the benefits of technology are broadly shared, creating good union jobs in communities, strengthening democracy and equity, and advancing worker protections that meet the needs of working people in a modern economy.