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Crafting an Innovation Ecosystem That Works for Working People

New England Journal of Public Policy

Volume 34, Issue 1 The Future of Work, Article 11

7-10-2022

Amanda Ballantyne

AFL-CIO Technology Institute

Patrick Woodall

AFL-CIO Technology Institute

Katie Corrigan

AFL-CIO Technology Institute

Edward Wytkind

*AFL-CIO Technology Institute *

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Recommended Citation Ballantyne, Amanda; Woodall, Patrick; Corrigan, Katie; and Wytkind, Edward (2022) “Crafting an Innovation Ecosystem That Works for Working People,” New England Journal of Public Policy: Vol. 34: Iss. 1, Article 11. Available at: https://scholarworks.umb.edu/nejpp/vol34/iss1/11

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks at UMass Boston. It has been accepted for inclusion in New England Journal of Public Policy by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks at UMass Boston. For more information, please contact [email protected].

1. Abstract

Abstract

The rapid pace and expanding scope of technological change is reshaping work and the workplace. These innovations can benefit workers by improving safety, reducing physical or repetitive burdens, or creating new types of jobs. But automation and new technologies can also eliminate workers, deskill occupations, reduce autonomy and job satisfaction, and erode economic stability for working families that contribute to the rising economic and racial inequality. These technologies do not fall from the sky; they are incubated in an innovation ecosystem shaped by public policy and public-research funding that is driven largely by an oligopoly of Big Tech companies and universities that develop and impose new technologies on workers without their consent or input. The AFL-CIO, America’s largest federation of labor unions, formed the Commission on the Future of Work and Unions, which launched the AFL-CIO Technology Institute to be a voice for workers and the labor movement to confront and shape the technological change that generates tremendous profits for technology titans without providing equitable benefits for working families. Workers and labor unions warrant an equal seat at the table to help shape the policies that drive public research, craft the development of more effective workplace technologies, and collectively bargain to safeguard the interests of workers.

Amanda Ballantyne is the Executive Director at the AFL-CIO Technology Institute; Patrick Woodall is the Research Policy Director at the AFL-CIO Technology Institute; Katie Corrigan is a Senior Advisor at the AFL-CIO Technology Institute; and Edward Wytkind is a Senior Advisor at the AFL-CIO Technology Institute, The AFL-CIO Technology Institute is a new initiative of the US labor movement. The institute was created out of the AFL-CIO Commission on the Future of Work and Unions and is dedicated to convening labor unions to educate and mobilize around technology and the future of work with a focus on building union and worker expertise and strategic collaboration on technologyrelated issues.

The current wave of emerging technologies poses profound disruptions to the economic and social fabric. The widespread integration of digital technologies like artificial intelligence, advanced robotics, big data, and social media are changing the economy, workplaces, and our everyday lives. These changes are contributing to the yawning economic and racial inequality, sharpening political polarization, and posing significant threats to our economy and democracy. New technologies reshaping society and work could help solve these problems or amplify them—the choice is really up to us. Working people, and their unions, play an essential role in determining this future.

There is much at stake in this moment. Technological changes are too often imposed on workers, people, and communities without their consent or input. This has led to workers losing their jobs and economic security, the hollowing out of industries and communities, and a corrosion of social discourse and civic life. Many technologies have made work safer and easier and created new occupational opportunities, but the current raft of digital innovations and automation requires a much closer examination by the labor movement. Working people are justifiably concerned about the speed and scope of technological change in the workplace and society. More than onefourth (27 percent) of US workers worry that automation, robots, or artificial intelligence will eliminate their jobs¹ and two-thirds of workers believe that the increasing use of these technologies will reduce the number of high-paying jobs in the future.²

But the technologists pitch a rosy future that too often leaves working people out of the picture altogether. These are not innovations that fell from the sky; they are the result of choices made by big business leaders and government officials that prioritize the profits of tech and other companies over the needs of workers and people that now imperil our democracy, our civil rights, and our children’s futures in ways that many of us never anticipated.

The Big Tech firms have an increasingly tight grip on the entire economy, pushing their products, software, and innovations onto employers, workers, and people. This has propelled the stock market and minted a new crop of tech billionaires, but workers and communities have not gained a fair share of the economic benefits of the inventions and technologies. Instead, workers’ economic stability, job quality, and job satisfaction have been in decline amid these rapid transformations.

Labor unions have been the bulwark that has enabled workers to navigate economic and social turmoil for decades by advancing workers’ interests and promoting social justice for all. They have also played a key role in helping working people transition as new technologies and innovations have taken hold and changed the nature of work. Today, they have a vital role to play in technological transformation—to build the changes we need from the ground up. Workers must have a co-equal voice along with businesses, regulators, and researchers in shaping the technological changes that are sweeping society and the workplace.

Centering worker voices through the inclusion of labor unions in every aspect of the innovation process generates both immediate and longer-term benefits. Meaningful worker involvement in the innovation ecosystem creates more effective new technologies because the worker end-users can help craft approaches that meet real-world workplace needs. Collective bargaining can shape how or whether new technologies are brought to the workplace and can train and prepare workers to foster a less disruptive and more effective adoption of workplace technologies. It is also critical to ensuring that the prosperity generated by coming waves of technological change is shared widely and equitably without further eroding civic, social, and economic life.

Unions and allied worker organizations are the only institutions with the structural power and worker-centric focus to help workers navigate the deluge of technological changes through bargaining, public policy advocacy, and training. The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the largest US labor federation representing fifty-seven unions and nearly thirteen million workers, launched its Technology Institute to be a hub for developing and implementing multidisciplined strategies. This new institute, together with AFLCIO affiliates, will be a central voice for workers and the labor movement to confront and shape the technological transformation. Our goal is to foster an inclusive, sustainable, and democratic future that creates union jobs and generates shared prosperity.