Make your voice heard on Election Day in our fight against Big Tech
October 11, 2024
As Teamsters we aren’t afraid of a fight, and as the election approaches, now is the time to make our voices heard in our fight against Big Tech. Greedy corporations want to replace working people with robots and Big Tech is pouring billions of dollars into a plan to outsource good middle-class jobs to machines run by artificial intelligence (AI). Their goal is simple, but disturbing. Big Tech wants to build AI machines to eliminate jobs so big business can outsource our jobs to robots—all with the self-serving goal of lowering labor costs to increase their already-excessive corporate profits.
When we hear the word “outsourcing,” we think of jobs being sent overseas, or domestic outsourcing— where work is shifted to other parts of the country or to independent contractors that undercut wages and benefits. But the reality is that the most dangerous outsourcing is happening every day under the guise of “technological innovation” when working people get replaced by AI machines and robots.
Those who say technological advancement is inevitable have it all wrong. The truth is, technology develops based on choices by those in power, and it follows that those powerful people who make the decisions benefit the most from the technological change. That’s why we can’t afford to leave the decision of AI technology to the CEOs of the big corporations who want to use it for their own benefit. Without a doubt, they will choose profit over people.
Now is the time to fight back. Working people need to take back our power and choose for ourselves how AI technology is being deployed in our communities. We need to make our voices heard and demand elected officials enact legislation that ensures responsible guardrails are placed on AI technology so that as middle-class working people we can see the benefits of this emerging technology while also limiting its potentially disastrous consequences.
Technology that enhances and supplements our work can be a positive. Technology such as autonomous vehicles or warehouse robots that completely eliminate jobs is a direct attack on all of us. We need to elect lawmakers who put our interests first, not the profits of Big Tech and greedy corporations.
As Teamsters we vote, and on Election Day this November, let’s send a strong message to all politicians that they need to stand with us in our fight to protect the good paying jobs that Teamsters members depend on.
