As the patron saint of this blog, Jerry Shulman, always had the same answer when asked why he required his employees to work on Labor Day. Aside from proving to local famers we were working for them 24/7, he claimed Labor Day meant we should honor the concept by working on the nation's collective day off. HaHa.
As unions finally exercise their muscle after 60 years of decline in the Labor movement it is worth asking what leaders should be asking their members to do in the third decade of the 21st century. The rise of AI will increasingly reach into the workplace as management seeks to replace troublesome workers with robots who will work around the clock for no remuneration. White collar workers, traditionally anti union will feel the pinch also. Long before Skynet comes for us, many, if not most jobs will be performed by AI. What is to be done?
A lot of pundits say not to worry, new jobs will be created by the AI revolution. However, if artificial intelligence can do all the old jobs, by definition it will surely be able to do all the new jobs better than humans. Handled well, the transition to a no work world should lead to a golden age for humanity. It is up to people like today's labor leaders to manage the transition and advocate for their members as the change accelerates.
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