The Volkswagen plant would boost UAW's flagging membership, way down because of plant closings and automation. It represented more than 1 million people at auto assembly plants in the 1980s, but only 155,000 at GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler today.
The issue of automation is bigger than the ILWU-PMA contract,” said Herrera, “it’s about the community, the economy and ultimately the future of the middle class.”
Despite huge financial losses, widespread worker anger and global strikes, investors continue to pour money into two ride-hailing companies that have never turned a profit. Because, as the magical thinking goes, soon Uber and Lyft won’t need drivers.
One group who won’t benefit much from Uber’s IPO: its drivers, who numbered 3.9 million at the end of last year. They are likely to see their pay worsen as the company strives to become more profitable while facing public shareholder pressure.
AI in daily life, war, repression, surveillance, and work; historians on Twitter
Automation often seems like a scary new problem, but it’s neither entirely scary nor entirely new.
In this interview about his latest book, David Graeber discusses the role of unions, the challenges posed by automation and “the revolt of the caring classes.”
This week I am going to talk about trade unions and automation, and why we should put the labour movements money into shaping automation for our use.
“We have regular emergencies on the buses,” said John Samuelsen, president of the Transport Workers Union. “Folks have heart attacks on buses, children get lost on buses. Every aspect of life in America, the bus and subway are microcosms of it. A robot’s not going to help."
America has a long, complicated track record of dreading that robots would take our jobs.
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