The labor movement is critical in shaping the future of work. Strong unions advocate for the rights of working people and help create good jobs by allowing working people to have a voice on the job to achieve the economic security they deserve. Unions remain the most effective way to quash inequality and ensure working people receive a fair return on work, now and in the future.
Advances in technology are constantly redefining the work landscape, creating new categories of jobs where none existed, and making current jobs safer and better. But technological advances also can erase once-vital and -vibrant industries. This is nothing new. Unions have been addressing and adapting to changes in the workplace—including job displacement caused by automation and digitization—for more than a century. But, all too often, technological advancements are used as cover by the rich and powerful to concentrate their wealth and turn good, family-supporting jobs into insecure, low-wage or precarious jobs.
"Through the labor movement, we will beat back corporate greed and harness artificial intelligence to create higher wages, good union jobs, and a better future for this country."
- AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler
Of those who will see their jobs erased in the next 10 years, nearly 80% could make less than $38,000 annually—with working women and people of color experiencing the worst outcomes.