CWAer Brings AI Expertise to Senate Briefing

 
CWA Local 7621 Secretary-Treasurer Jeanna Schow (right) testifies before Senate staff with Amanda Ballentyne of the AFL-CIO Technology Institute.

On Tuesday, Jeanna Schow, Secretary-Treasurer of CWA Local 7621 in Idaho Falls, Idaho, briefed senators and senate staff on how AI automated feedback tools result in an acceleration of work; expanded monitoring and discipline associated with surveillance; increased workplace stress; and lower job satisfaction.

Senators Bob Casey (D-Penn.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) hosted a briefing for senators and their staff on “AI and Automated Management at Work: Understanding and Addressing Impacts on Workers” on Capitol Hill.

Schow, with 23 years of experience with the ways that AI and other technologies have shaped call center work at Lumen Technology, shared how constant AI surveillance has made the job more stressful and how AI monitoring tools have introduced bias against workers when the program fails to recognize certain pronunciations and speech styles.

“Let’s use AI to make jobs better and advance societal goals, not squeeze workers even harder, monitor their every move, and cut jobs,” Schow said.

CWA has endorsed the Stop Spying Bosses Act and the No Robot Bosses Act, bills introduced by Senator Casey to protect and empower workers by creating transparency and guardrails for employers using AI technologies to surveil or manage workers. CWA has been a leader among unions, putting forward AI principles to guide our bargaining strategy and policy positions.