Today, 40 organizations led by the Economic Policy Institute, We Build Progress, the AFL-CIO Tech Institute, and Workshop delivered the letter below urging Congress to center workers in federal AI legislation.
Dear Member of Congress:
Employers’ increasing use of AI systems has the potential to affect the lives and livelihoods of workers across the country. Without appropriate guardrails, employers’ integration of these technologies may jeopardize workers’ rights, put workers at risk of discrimination, violate privacy rights, and dramatically impact the economic stability of working families.
These risks posed by technological change are not new. For years, employers have used algorithmic or automated systems and similar technologies in ways that harm workers. Now, the pervasive and growing integration of AI into the workplace is amplifying these risks. These impacts on workers are further exacerbated by persistent power imbalances in the labor market that favor employers.
It is urgent that Congress take action. It has been nearly two years since the Bipartisan Senate AI Working Group released its roadmap for AI policy, but the Senate has yet to consider comprehensive legislation. AI adoption is moving forward at breakneck speed, and America’s workers cannot afford to wait.
We applaud members of Congress who have introduced worker-focused legislation addressing issues like civil rights, surveillance in the workplace, and improvements to labor market data. Efforts at broader federal reform must also center the impacts of AI on workers. Under these circumstances, we urge the newly formed House Democratic Commission on AI and the Innovation Economy to center the recommendations of members with expertise in workers’ need for strong labor protections and AI’s impact on the economy.
The urgency of this moment is further compounded by the Trump administration’s decision to prioritize corporate capture over the public good. In December, after Congress again declined to preempt critical state efforts to regulate AI, President Trump issued an Executive Order that purports to block states from protecting their own residents—a move that blatantly infringes on states’ rights while offering no federal alternative. The administration has doubled down with a national AI legislative framework that would severely curtail states’ ability to regulate AI. Rather than respecting states’ authority to protect their own residents, the administration is doing the bidding of tech oligarchs.
The AI industry, venture capitalists, and lobbyists spent hundreds of millions of dollars last year pressuring Congress to pass legislation that would prevent state lawmaking. These attempts have failed multiple times because a significant number of members across both parties recognize the dangers posed by AI, while industry actors continue to push for deregulation.
This is not what the public wants. Recent polling shows a bipartisan consensus in support of AI safety measures: 88% of Democrats and 79% of Republicans favor maintaining existing rules for AI security. Many people want more guardrails on AI: Majorities of both parties are in favor of new regulations to protect society, including 63% of Democrats and 59% of Republicans.
Federal action is necessary, but it must also leave states room to innovate. Not all states are taking action, so Congress must provide a baseline of protection for people across the country, with a core focus on workers’ rights and livelihoods.
But federal legislation should be a floor, not a ceiling. Locking the U.S. into a static, insufficient federal framework would guarantee that protections will swiftly become obsolete. It’s important that policymakers do not build a framework that is so narrow or rigid that it fails to keep up with constantly changing AI risks and shifting economic conditions, leaving workers vulnerable to new risks from new tools and practices.
A strong federal framework can create a reinforced system of guardrails to help working people navigate the growing use of AI. Congress has a responsibility to act now—the well-being of our workers and communities depends on it.
Sincerely,
AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO Tech Institute
AFT
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
Americans for Responsible Innovation
California Initiative for Technology and Democracy
California School Employees Association
Care in Action
Center for Democracy & Technology
Center for Oil & Gas Organizing
The Century Foundation
Communications Workers of America (CWA)
Consumer Federation of America
Data & Society
Economic Policy Institute
Encode AI
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility
Jobs With Justice
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Legal Aid Justice Center
Louisiana Progress
National Action Network
National Association of Voice Actors
National Black Worker Center
National Domestic Workers Alliance
National Employment Law Project
National Employment Lawyers Association
National Institute for Workers’ Rights
National Partnership for Women & Families
National Women’s Law Center
Open MIC (Open Media and Information Companies Initiative)
Public Citizen
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
TechTonic Justice
United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry
United Food and Commercial Workers International Union
We Build Progress
Working Partnerships USA
Workshop
Writers Guild of America West