Generative AI is already in use across nearly 70 percent of US government agencies, according to an Ernst and Young survey. As public employers adopt the technology, unions are negotiating protections for workers, including retraining, human review and safeguards against surveillance and job losses.
Unions are negotiating over how AI affects workers
Recent agreements and policy decisions show several approaches to workplace AI. In Oakland, IFPTE Local 21 secured retraining programs instead of AI-related layoffs after a strike vote in October.
In Pennsylvania, Governor Josh Shapiro guaranteed SEIU Local 668 human oversight during a pilot of OpenAI's ChatGPT Enterprise. The agreement addresses how AI is used in a specific workplace pilot, while placing people in the oversight process.
The Transport Workers Union in Ohio won veto power over autonomous vehicles. Together, these examples show unions seeking a role in decisions about whether and how automated systems are introduced.
Protections also address surveillance and displacement
Some measures focus on how employers monitor or manage staff. California Governor Gavin Newsom banned AI surveillance software, often called "bossware," along with automated firings in September.
New York has protected state employees from AI displacement by law since late 2025. These protections speak to a broader concern: automation can change jobs and workplace oversight, not just the tools employees use to complete tasks.
The examples differ in scope. Retraining responds to the possibility of job losses, human oversight applies to an AI pilot, and limits on surveillance or automated firings constrain specific uses of technology.
Labor leaders call for human control
Labor researcher Kung Feng at UC Berkeley says employers are pushing automation to cut costs. That motive helps explain why unions are pressing for protections as agencies and other employers introduce AI systems.
Union leaders Liz Shuler of the AFL-CIO, Lorena Gonzalez, and TWU's John Samuelsen support AI safety systems where they help workers. They also insist on mandatory human control over every AI application in the workplace, the Guardian reports.
The principle is that people should retain authority over how AI is applied at work. Safety systems may assist workers, but union leaders want human control to remain part of every workplace application.
What the current wins show
The reported actions range from local bargaining to state-level rules. They do not all cover the same technology or workplace decision, but they point to a shared effort to give workers protections as AI adoption grows.
For public-sector employees, the issues include whether automation leads to layoffs, who reviews AI use, and whether software can monitor or dismiss workers. The agreements and policies described here address parts of that landscape through retraining, oversight, veto power and restrictions.
With nearly 70 percent of government agencies already using generative AI, these negotiations place labor protections alongside adoption. The central question for unions is how to make sure people retain a meaningful role in decisions shaped by AI.