WHEREAS:
Improvements in technology and artificial intelligence (AI) have accelerated over the last decade, receiving widespread industry, media and public attention, especially in the last four years. AI is a machine-based system that uses objectives defined by humans to make predictions, recommendations or decisions influencing real or virtual environments; and
WHEREAS:
H.R. 1, the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, is causing state and local budget shortfalls and increasing the burden on state and local government workers, leading many officials to use the availability of AI tools as an excuse to reduce service levels, eliminate jobs and outsource public services, while tech companies are pursuing federal, state and local governments as markets for their products, promoting their AI systems and products as replacements for public employees; and
WHEREAS:
Workers are the experts concerning the systems and processes they use to do their jobs. Decisions around whether and how to use workplace AI that do not include workers’ voices are counterproductive. It leads to systems that do not work and cause waste and harm to public services; and
WHEREAS:
State and local government employers contend that the use of technology and AI in the workplace is a management right, in an attempt to limit bargaining over AI; and
WHEREAS:
AI systems have been found to regularly fabricate statistics, examples and information, to rely on biased data that results in discriminatory outcomes, and even to cheat, manipulate and blackmail; and
WHEREAS:
Governments collect, store and use sensitive data about people, businesses and institutions. Data collected by governments could cause harm if used inappropriately or without critical data security and privacy guardrails; and
WHEREAS:
Federal, state and local governments are responsible for providing essential services to the public. Decisions that determine rights or benefits, such as those made around public services eligibility, law enforcement and public safety, and education and training opportunities, must be made and carried out fairly and accurately, and with transparency and oversight; and
WHEREAS:
Tech companies are lobbying President Trump and Congress to stop states and local governments from enacting worker and consumer protections against AI harms and abuses and Trump has issued an executive order seeking to preempt virtually all state and local AI laws; and
WHEREAS:
Tech companies that develop and deploy AI products and systems are among the richest companies in the world; and
WHEREAS:
Tech companies are building larger and larger data centers in the United States to handle their AI systems. These data centers consume enormous amounts of electricity and water, placing a strain on local resources; and
WHEREAS:
Data center developers and operators demand outrageous and unnecessary subsidies from state and local governments costing taxpayers billions of dollars every year, and since many states do not disclose the amount of revenue lost each year from data center subsidies, the actual amount of revenue lost from these subsidies is even higher than reported; and
WHEREAS:
There is growing opposition to the construction and operation of data centers, with the public concerned about harms that come to the communities where they are built, including noise, air and water pollution and the rising costs of electricity and water; and
WHEREAS:
The billions of taxpayer dollars spent each year to subsidize the construction and operation of data centers is jeopardizing the funding available to provide critical public services.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
That AFSCME will insist that artificial intelligence and technology use are recognized as mandatory subjects of bargaining for federal, state and local government workers; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME will oppose AI making rights-determining decisions; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME will educate members about the use of AI in the workplace and the importance of guardrails to protect our work and public services we provide; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME will oppose government and tech industry efforts to use AI and technology as excuses to eliminate public service jobs; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME will advocate for data privacy and security regulations for the data collected by public sector agencies, including the data collected about public service workers, at all levels of government; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME will oppose the federal preemption of state and local regulation of AI and will work in support of state and local legislation and policies that establish important limits around the use of AI; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME will continue to advocate that workers have access to opportunities that AI creates through education and training, and where workers’ jobs are impacted by the technology, they receive protections, support and retraining as needed to prevent the loss of living standards and dislocation from the labor force similar to the Trade Adjustment Assistance program. AFSCME will also advocate for taxes on the AI industry to fund these programs that address the harms it causes; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:
That AFSCME will oppose the race-to-the-bottom approach that has led state and local governments to hand out massive subsidies to data center developers, with little to no transparency, at the expense of public services and communities.
SUBMITTED BY:
International Executive Board
Llibertat Ros, President and Delegate
Chuck Pirtle, Secretary and Delegate
AFSCME Local 1181, Council 28
Washington