Signal AFL-CIO Workers First AI Summit / SAG-AFTRA & WGA AI Renegotiations 2026

Summary

The AFL-CIO's Workers First AI Summit, hosted by the AFL-CIO Tech Institute, took place March 26, 2026, building on the federation's "Workers First Initiative on AI" launched October 15, 2025. The initiative opposes algorithmic dismissal and surveillance, stating that "allowing an algorithm to secretly determine whether a worker should be hired, promoted, disciplined or fired is a recipe for discrimination and unfairness." The summit featured a panel with CWA President Claude Cummings, Ford Foundation's Jose Garcia, WGA East's Jason Gordon and Amazon worker/RWDSU's Isaiah Thomas, moderated by Ed Wytkind. Cummings noted that "the same flawed AI that surveils and manages people at work is being used to decide their credit scores or whether they are approved for a mortgage." Around the same period, Michigan labor groups and lawmakers pushed the RAISE Act (Responsible AI Security Employees Act) to protect workers from algorithmic surveillance, harassment and wage theft. SAG-AFTRA and the WGA separately reopened AI provisions in their own 2026 negotiations.