Discourse in the future of work: How do business organizations and labor unions view automation?

Abstract

Within the future of work discourse, there is a growing public and scholarly concern about the displacement of jobs via automation and artificial intelligence. This article asks how actors such as business organizations and labor unions frame automation. An in-depth qualitative and computational topic modeling approach is used to capture the sentiment regarding automation from business federation (Business Roundtable, National Association of Manufacturers, US Chamber of Commerce) and labor union (AFL-CIO and other industry/ occupational unions) websites. The finding is that business federations are broadly supportive of automation, citing the needs for US companies to remain competitive producers internationally and bemoaning the lack of skilled workers to operate new technologies. Labor unions have exhibited mixed views on technology, with the national federation endorsing it as long as labor retains a voice. Some industry unions cast technology as a labor-displacing threat, others emphasize the opportunities for unions to provide job training, others reflect more mixed views. These divergent views reflect the underlying class conflict, where business interests benefit more from technology than organized labor and business power is more pervasive due to their uniform position on automation. Businesses promote an effectively dystopian future of work vision, while unions attempt to avert dystopia.