ACTU’s AI ultimatum sets stage for showdown at productivity summit

The ACTU has come out swinging with a new AI enforcement proposal just weeks from the government’s productivity roundtable, setting the stage for a clash at the August meeting.

Just yesterday (29 July), Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) assistant secretary Joseph Mitchell announced that at the highly anticipated Economic Reform Roundtable, ACTU representatives set to be in attendance will propose tougher AI regulations on employers that befit their “pro-worker agenda”.

The union will call for a new set of mandatory enforceable agreements that, in their words, would “compel employers to consult with their staff before new AI technologies can be introduced into workplaces”.

Mitchell went as far as claiming that employers who failed to adhere to these enforceable “AI implementation agreements” should have their government funding stripped or be ineligible for government funding.

These proposed agreements would include guarantees around job security, transparency over technology use, privacy and data collection and use protections.

“We can realise the potential productivity benefits of AI while protecting the Australian fair go in the AI age. But we can’t wish away the major disruptions and social risks that the bad use of AI and other new tech poses, through massive job losses and the theft of creative and intellectual property by big tech companies,” Mitchell said.

“AI can bring benefits if it is brought in by workers who are well-trained and well-supported in the use of AI. This can’t happen without the knowledge, experience, creativity and skills of workers being brought into the implementation process.

“Working people will not embrace AI if their key concerns, such as job security, are left unprotected.

“… If an employer does not have an AI implementation agreement in place with their workers, that company should not be eligible for government funding, such as research and development incentives or government contracts.”

Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) chief executive Innes Willox – who will also be attending the roundtable – was quick to call out the union’s proposal, claiming it is indicative of what the meeting is supposed to address.

“The ACTU’s demand for a union-led regulatory regime on artificial intelligence should be given short shrift,” Willox said.

“Apart from burying industry in another layer of red tape and regulation, the proposal would stifle innovation, further undermine productivity, and rob the Australian community and economy of the benefits of changing technologies.

“The adoption of AI and the transformation that it will create in workplaces and the economy will, of course, pose some challenges for some businesses and workers, as well as opportunities.

“However, if we are to navigate the path ahead successfully, the last thing we need is a complicated and cumbersome regulatory regime that lets unions determine whether and in what ways Australian industry can adopt AI.

“The idea that government procurement practices should be weaponised to regulate the adoption of AI is particularly flawed. We certainly shouldn’t misuse public money to prop up businesses that strike union deals over the use of AI. We need to let businesses make decisions about how they run their operations, with as little impediments from the government as possible.”

When the roundtable was first announced, Willox praised the government, showing cautious optimism around what the roundtable could achieve. A shadow of doubt, however, from employers set to attend the roundtable is beginning to grow, as Willox fears it could manifest into unions platforming “new ways to undermine” productivity.

“The ACTU’s proposal, which seeks to embed union oversight into AI implementation, must be recognised as a stalking horse for what is yet another push to increase the power and influence of union officials at the workplace,” he said.

“The real risk is that this roundtable becomes a catalyst for a further wave of damaging, productivity-killing industrial relations changes at the direction of the union movement.

“Industry will be understandably frustrated if the ACTU’s self-interested proposal to seize the reins on AI gets airtime while real issues – like fixing the complexity and unworkability of our workplace laws – are not even part of the discussion.

“Along with others, we are working in good faith to develop proposals at the roundtable that will enhance the prosperity for all Australians by enabling productivity growth to make us more competitive and investment-friendly and to create a pathway to jobs that are relevant and in a rapidly changing global environment.”