Pressure to speed up and micromanage your work may come disguised as a new technology to make your job easier or more "efficient." But efficient for whom? Learn how you and your co-workers can decode the boss's plans, recognize the danger signs, and resist.
New technology and software can threaten your job security, working conditions, and union strength. How can you identify your power before management implements its plans? From robots to A.I. “spyware” to GPS, we'll explore how to prepare and organize co-workers to bargain and take action over tech changes, including using the "continuous bargaining" approach. We'll consider an example from longshore workers who fought the use of automated equipment, RFID, and logistics software.
Semiconductor production in the U.S. is set to triple in the next decade, with hundreds of billions in private investment and federal and state subsidies. But these new chip factories bring with them exploitation of workers and toxic byproducts that can contaminate our air, water, and land. We’ll share reports from the front lines of struggles in the semiconductor industry and talk about building worker and community power to make sure these companies are good employers and neighbors.
Robotics at Amazon is just getting started, but already it's intensifying work, degrading jobs, and displacing workers. Hear how robotics and A.I. are reshaping the relationship between workers and bosses.
Your boss isn’t using A.I. just to write emails. Hear from workers across industries about what happens when employers use A.I. to surveil, transform, and automate work, and learn how workers and unions are defending their dignity and autonomy.
Build practical skills for bargaining in this hands-on workshop. We'll examine how employers use technology and its effects on work, then work through a structured exercise to define a bargaining problem, draft targeted information requests, and develop enforceable demands and contract language. We'll draw on examples from the UC Berkeley Labor Center's Negotiating Tech inventory to highlight real-world provisions and bargaining strategies.
