From artificial intelligence to algorithmic surveillance, recent tech advances are rapidly reshaping the workplace. South Bay labor leaders are alarmed — and drawing together an industry-spanning coalition intended to give workers more say in how these technologies are deployed.
Dozens of workers gathered in front of San Jose City Hall on Tuesday to unveil the People’s Tech Coalition, which includes an array of South Bay unions, community-based organizations, nonprofits, youth groups and residents. Organizers said the group — which will advocate for legal protections at the state and local level — is a response to growing worker fears over displacement, as well as other workplace disruptions that have resulted from the haphazard rollout of high-tech tools.
“We must be the ones who decide how technology is used in our workplaces, our schools, our hospitals, in our street — not corporations, not CEOs,” Maria Noel Fernandez, executive director of San Jose advocacy group Working Partnerships USA, said at the rally. “We believe that by coming together, we can decide how technology makes our lives better, not worse.”
The coalition is demanding more control over workers’ personal data, stronger guardrails around AI tools in the workplace and guarantees that workers will have input into decisions around new technologies.
As one of its first campaigns, the coalition is supporting state bills that aim to set guardrails around the use of AI management tools, Fernandez said. For example, Senate Bill 947, the “No Robo Bosses Act,” prohibits the use of AI systems to make discipline or termination decisions without human oversight.
Over the course of the rally, a series of workers described other uses of new high-tech tools that they said are already changing their jobs for the worse.
Security officer Tajinder Singh, who serves on the board of SEIU-USWW, said security companies track guards throughout their shifts using mobile apps as well as cameras installed in their cars.
“We have no privacy. If you have a conversation in the car, they can listen to it,” Singh said during the rally. “They can have such surveillance on us, it feels unsafe for the driver. They feel scared when driving. This is not freedom. It feels like being in jail. My officers need to feel safe, so we can focus on the safety of others. That’s our job.”
Organizers said the coalition will also aim its advocacy work at technology concerns raised outside of the workplace. They pointed to data collection tools used to set rental prices, as well as the use of automated license plate readers to surveil drivers, a controversial practice that has pitted law enforcement authorities against privacy rights advocates.
“Everyday people are incredibly worried about the impact of AI and technology on their everyday lives,” Fernandez told San José Spotlight. “They just don’t know what to do about it. So the tech coalition is about talking to people, having conversations in our communities, in our workplaces, and then moving to action and actually demonstrating to our elected officials that they need to act now.”
As protracted contract negotiations drag on between San Jose administrators and several of the city’s public unions, a key sticking point has been workers’ demands that the city offer guarantees that new AI tools will not be used to downsize the workforce.
Meanwhile, under pressure from labor groups, Santa Clara County is conducting a comprehensive study of AI usage across its departments. The findings will guide administrators as they draw up new rules governing the technology’s deployment.
Richard Barnes, a Safeway worker and member of UFCW5, said the chief focus for grocery store employees has been concerns linked to the rapid expansion of automated self-checkout kiosks. But he said Tuesday’s rally has opened his eyes to the plight of workers in other industries who are facing their own struggles with automation.
“This is a wake-up call, not just for the unions, but for our communities,” Barnes told San José Spotlight. “We need those guardrails put up. We should have been way ahead of this, and now we’re playing catch up.”
This story was written by Keith Menconi for the San José Spotlight. The original version of the story can be read here.
Contact Keith Menconi at keith@sanjosespotlight.com or @KeithMenconi on X
