Tech Workers Call for Protection and Transparency as Schumer Discusses AI Regulation with Industry Leaders

Labor Groups Demand Legislation against Employer Surveillance and Exploitative Practices; Schumer's Meeting Marks Second AI Forum Involving Tech Investors and Key Executives

• As Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer meets with top AI leaders for regulatory discussions, tech and AI workers' unions and labor watchdogs send an open letter demanding protections and labor rights specific to their sectors.
• The labor groups’ letter accuses companies like Amazon, Google, and Walmart of exploitative practices such as using AI to monitor employees, suppress union activities, and promote harmful work environments with high quotas.
• One significant concern raised is the use of automated hiring and firing systems, which the labor groups believe could be biased against groups who have historically suffered discrimination in the workplace.
• The labor groups further criticized the tech sector’s practice of treating workers as contractors rather than employees, and claimed tech and AI workers often suffer low wages, wage theft, intense surveillance, retaliation against organizing, and harsh punishments with no recourse.
• The coalition of tech and workers’ rights advocacy groups argue that robust protections related to workplace technology and a balance of power between workers and employers could guide tech innovation towards more equitable and sustainable outcomes.

3 Articles

The Hill The Messenger The Verge