As one union leader pointed out, we are in a new industrial revolution spurred on by advances in high tech, including in the field of artificial intelligence (AI).
Just this past week, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union in the U.S. went on strike, targeting strikes in three locations against the big three auto makers: General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis, which owns Chrysler, Jeep and Ram. Now, while the strike by the UAW is about the usual contract items such as wages and benefits, there is one additional item — the preservation of union jobs as they ramp up electric vehicle manufacturing and as the industry shifts to batteries. Because they have fewer parts, electric cars can be made with fewer workers than gasoline vehicles. Plants that make mufflers, catalytic converters, fuel injectors and other components that electric cars don’t need will have to be overhauled or shut down.
In another instance, back in the spring, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Again, the main issues are related to fair compensation. Shortly after, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) went on strike in July, joining the WGA. This is the first time that both the WGA and SAG have been on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers at the same time since 1960. Again, technological changes are among the issues at hand for both groups, including changes to the entertainment environment due to streaming and the potential use of AI in screen productions and script writing.
Madeline Janis, executive director of Jobs to Move America, an advocacy group that works closely with the U.A.W. and other unions, noted: “The U.A.W. is really taking a stand for communities across the country to make sure this transition benefits everybody.” Declaring this as the dawn of another industrial revolution, she highlights that the strike is probably the first of many to come in sectors where unions are faced with significant technological changes, including in mainstream media as regards journalism, the trucking industry with respect to self-driving vehicles, etc., etc. In the past, robotics and automation dominated many of the unions’ concerns. Now, a whole new era has begun. One has to believe that workers are ready to take a firm stand, as well as employers who are faced with stift competition, often from non-unionized companies. As a result, such strikes could be long and nasty.
There is little that governments can do to prevent the prolongation of strikes during the current environment, especially when it comes to technological changes driven by global market forces. We have yet to see the full impact of AI on employment and the workplace as it is still in its infancy stages. There are a lot of difficult questions that need to be asked. As in the past with respect to technological change, the union movement will be among the first to seek out the answers. For this reason, I look forward to witnessing and analyzing the outcomes of these confrontations.
FROLITICKS 
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