Witnesses urge federal guardrails as AI surveillance spreads in workplaces
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Summary
Labor advocates told a House subcommittee that AI-powered surveillance can erode privacy and chill union organizing; they urged mandatory disclosure of monitoring, stronger enforcement of labor laws, and increased funding for agencies.
At a House Education and Workforce subcommittee hearing, Sarah Stevens, director of worker power at We Build Progress, told members that ‘‘AI powered surveillance makes it harder for worker to find private spaces to organize or to share safety and wage concerns,’’ urging mandatory disclosure and stronger enforcement of existing labor protections.
Stevens said employers already use tracking tools ‘‘from tracking their bathroom breaks to checking the tone of their voice,’’ and argued AI amplifies those invasive practices. She warned such systems can enable retaliation against workers who seek to organize and recommended stricter worker privacy protections, limits on what data employers may collect and share, and more funds for enforcement agencies such as the Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board.
Ranking Member Omar backed those concerns, arguing ‘‘we cannot rely on big corporations and executives to properly regulate the use of AI tools alone’’ and called for guardrails that center workers. Witnesses and members discussed existing protections under the National Labor Relations Act and other statutes, but noted penalties can be insufficient and enforcement backlogs limit remedies.
Stevens cited employer surveillance use cases and called for transparency measures so workers can know what is collected and how it is used. The subcommittee did not adopt any rules at the hearing; members said they would pursue follow-up questions and could introduce legislation or fund enforcement changes in future work.
The hearing record remains open for 14 days for additional written material.
