Voters Demand AI Guardrails and Trust Labor to Lead

New polling released by the AFL-CIO and Data for Progress shows an overwhelming, bipartisan demand for clear, enforceable guardrails to ensure that technology serves as a partner to progress rather than a risk to workers' rights. The data reveals that voters trust the labor movement far more than employers or Silicon Valley billionaires to protect them from workplace AI harms. This reinforces the importance of the AFL-CIO's Workers First Initiative: For AI to truly boost our economy, it must be developed through genuine labor-management collaboration—not workplace exploitation.

Key polling insights:

  • Transparency: 85% agree workers must know if they are being monitored by AI.
  • Human Oversight: 79% insist AI shouldn't be used without meaningful human oversight.
  • Economic Fairness: 78% believe workers should share in the profits AI creates.
  • Worker Voice: 72% of voters want workers to have a voice in how AI is implemented on the job.

States and Cities: The Frontlines of AI Accountability
On April 30, union members from across Washington state gathered for the Washington State Labor Council (WSLC) AI Summit, growing knowledge and sharing strategies to ensure that workers' voices are heard and their rights are protected as AI continues to impact jobs across every industry. Lauren McFerran, Executive Director of the AFL-CIO Tech Institute, joined the summit to emphasize that AI should be a tool that works for people, rather than a mechanism to monitor or replace them. Harmful AI outcomes are not inevitable—they are a series of human choices. While Big Tech may attempt to dictate the terms of workers' digital future, McFerran reminded attendees that workers have the power to steer the ship. Through collective bargaining, legislative guardrails, and a commitment to Worker-First AI Principles, labor is building a worker-centered economy where technology can benefit everyone.

Unfortunately, the critically important work being done in Washington and states across the country is under attack, as the White House and federal lawmakers continue their crusade to stop states from regulating AI. The Tech Institute is helping lead the fight to protect responsible AI rules. At a recent online event hosted by the Center for American Progress (CAP), Crystal Weise, Policy & Programs Director, joined a panel of experts from Public Citizen, Public Knowledge, and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights to raise awareness about the dangers of federal AI preemption. Weise argued that states and cities currently serve as laboratories of democracy, often proving more agile than federal bodies in responding to the emerging harms of AI. Labor's position is clear: federal law must not nullify state and local standards that protect workers from algorithmic discrimination, privacy violations, and other risks that AI presents to the economic security of everyday families.

This demand for robust guardrails at every level of governance is backed by a broad coalition of experts. Last week, the Tech Institute partnered with the Economic Policy Institute, We Build Progress, Workshop and a coalition of over 40 labor and civil rights organizations in a letter to Congress urging them to reject the administration's push for federal preemption. In the letter, the organizations explain that states must be able to address systems that "jeopardize workers' rights, put workers at risk of discrimination, violate privacy rights, and dramatically impact the economic stability of working families."