Policy

Empowering Workers in the Age of AI and Emerging Technology

The AFL-CIO Tech Institute serves as a vital bridge between technological innovation and worker prosperity. Our policy proposals reflect our commitment to centering worker voices, expertise, and rights in shaping the future of work. These materials represent our  work and l framework for building a worker-centered tech economy.

Issue Brief: Protecting Workers from Federal Overreach

Critical analysis of attempts to ban state-level AI safeguards

This issue brief exposes the dangerous implications of federal preemption efforts that would strip states of their ability to protect workers from harmful and dangerous AI applications. The analysis reveals how proposed federal moratoriums on state AI regulation would leave workers vulnerable to algorithmic discrimination, unsafe working conditions, and unchecked surveillance while preventing states from addressing local concerns and emerging harms.

A Vision for Centering Workers in Technology Development

Collaborative research on worker expertise in innovation ecosystems

This article, co-authored by Carnegie Mellon University's Jodi Forlizzi and Tech Institute’s Amanda Ballantyne and Crystal Weise, argues that workers are the missing experts in our innovation ecosystem. Drawing on successful union-university partnerships in transportation and hospitality, it demonstrates how worker-centered R&D leads to safer, more effective technology. The piece offers concrete policy recommendations and showcases why taxpayer-funded innovation must include the voices of those who use technology every day.

Crafting an Innovation Ecosystem That Works for Working People

Comprehensive analysis of worker-centered technology transformation

Published in the New England Journal for Public Policy, This Tech Institute report examines how rapid technological change is reshaping workplaces and threatening workers' economic security. The authors argue that workers and unions must have an equal voice in shaping innovation—from influencing public research funding to participating in technology design. The paper shows how automation imposed without worker input causes job loss, deskilling, and inequality, and offers strategies from transit, hospitality, and tech sectors to build worker-centered innovation that benefits working families over Big Tech. 

Written Comments for AI Insight Forum on Innovation 

Congressional testimony on centering workers in AI policy

In Senate testimony, former Tech Institute Executive Director Amanda Ballantyne argues for centering worker voices in AI development to avoid repeating past mistakes like free trade that devastated communities. She highlights successful union-university partnerships in transit and hospitality showing how frontline expertise improves technology, and calls on Congress to make unions co-equal partners in AI innovation to ensure public investments create good jobs rather than worsen inequality.

Partnership Models for Innovation

Case studies in successful labor-tech collaboration

Explore groundbreaking partnerships between unions, universities, and tech companies that demonstrate how worker involvement improves technology outcomes. From the Carnegie Mellon bus driver study, to the historic AFL-CIO-Microsoft agreement, to exploring algorithmic management and the hospitality industry with Unite Here, these models provide a roadmap for organizations seeking to implement worker-centered R&D practices. These collaborations show that when workers are included early in the development process, the resulting technologies are not only more effective and safer, but also more likely to augment rather than replace human expertise.

Protecting Workers from Dangerous 'Bossware' Technologies

Op-eds on state-level action against workplace surveillance

In separate Op-eds by the Tech Institute in collaboration with Massachusetts AFL-CIO president Chrissy Lynch and Connecticut AFL-CIO president Ed Hawthorne, these pieces expose how "bossware" technologies enable unprecedented workplace monitoring—from keystroke tracking to AI-analyzed communications to remote webcam activation. Drawing on worker experiences across sectors and research showing overwhelming bipartisan support for transparency in workplace monitoring, these op-eds examine state legislative solutions like the Massachusetts FAIR Act and similar protections.  States can lead in protecting worker privacy and dignity where federal action lags. Co-authored by Amanda Ballantyne and the Center for Democracy and Technology’s Matt Scherer.

Privacy Act Modernization: Response to Congressional RFI

Recommendations for protecting government data in the AI era

Submission to Representative Trahan's Privacy Act Request for Information addresses the urgent need to update 50-year-old privacy protections for the digital age. Drawing on real-world examples of data misuse and the unique vulnerabilities created by AI systems, this response offers concrete legislative solutions to protect workers from surveillance, discrimination, and unauthorized data exploitation. 

These represent just a portion of our ongoing work. We regularly update this collection to reflect the rapidly evolving landscape of workplace technology and worker advocacy. For additional materials or partnership inquiries, please contact us at [email protected].