Solidarity Sunday: And Here's Our Chance
As we approach Labor Day, I've been thinking a lot about AI lately, and labor's role in it…and honestly, what the end game is supposed to be.
We're spending billions building data centers so computers can think faster, companies can operate with fewer people and machines can do more of what human beings have traditionally done.
Maybe it'll make all our lives better. Who knows. I hope it does.
But I wonder who ultimately benefits from all that productivity. Because history tells us it probably won't just 'trickle down' to working people.
There's an interesting irony here for the building trades unions. The technology that may eventually eliminate jobs currently needs an incredible number of our skilled people to build it.
Right now, they need us.
That gives us leverage. But it also creates a problem.
When there's this much data center work, it's tempting for contractors to go where the work is plentiful and the margins are good. Meanwhile, we're sometimes having trouble getting contractors to bid other important work in our jurisdictions.
We see examples here in Georgia with projects like the Rivian plant, the Gulch, and South Downtown projects in Atlanta among many others. I suspect locals all across the southeast and the country are seeing versions of the same thing with manufacturing plants, hospitals, infrastructure and other projects.
We can't let a boom in one market cost us market share everywhere else. That ought to be part of the conversation when contracts come up.
Yes, strengthen wages and pensions. Invest in apprenticeship and training. Protect our work as prefab, automation and technology changes how it gets done.
But maybe we also need to ask what our contractors need from us to aggressively pursue the work we're currently leaving on the table.
That doesn't mean giving anything away. It means recognizing that this moment gives us an opportunity to grow our membership, our contractors, and our market share.
I don't know where AI ultimately takes us. Nobody does. But a whole lot of whatever comes next is being bid and built in our jurisdictions right now.
We should get more out of this moment than just man-hours and more overtime. And here's our chance.
Hope everyone has a happy and safe Labor Day. Let us never take it for granted.