{"id":2939,"date":"2025-02-05T18:07:08","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T01:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/bateman\/?p=2939"},"modified":"2025-02-05T18:07:08","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T01:07:08","slug":"public-employees-could-collectively-bargain-over-ai-use-under-new-bateman-legislation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/bateman\/2025\/02\/05\/public-employees-could-collectively-bargain-over-ai-use-under-new-bateman-legislation\/","title":{"rendered":"Public employees could collectively bargain over AI use under new Bateman legislation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/app.leg.wa.gov\/billsummary\/?BillNumber=5422&amp;Year=2025&amp;Initiative=false\">New legislation<\/a> introduced by Sen. Jessica Bateman (D-Olympia) would allow public sector unions representing public sector employees to collectively bargain over the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in government workplaces.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWorkers deserve to have a voice at the table when their employers introduce new AI technologies in their workplace,\u201d Bateman said. \u201cAI is like fire \u2014 it can be good or bad, help us or hurt us. Including AI implementation as an allowable topic in collective bargaining processes will help protect our dedicated public servants. \u00a0We can move forward with new technology responsibly, ensuring it both benefits our state employees and all residents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Public sector employers whose employees have elected to have union representation are required to bargain when making decisions that impact hours, wages, or working conditions, with some exceptions such as the \u201cuse of technology\u201d. <a href=\"https:\/\/app.leg.wa.gov\/billsummary\/?BillNumber=5422&amp;Year=2025&amp;Initiative=false\">Senate Bill 5422<\/a> would make AI adoption bargainable if hours, wages, or other employment conditions are affected.<\/p>\n<p>Under this bill, public employers and public sector unions would not be required to enter a full round of contract bargaining to adopt a new AI technology. In cases where a new AI implementation is being proposed in between bargaining cycles, management and unions would have the opportunity to negotiate a memorandum of understanding that would allow the use of AI to go forward without fully reopening the collective bargaining agreement.<\/p>\n<p>The bill is currently scheduled to be heard in the Senate Labor &amp; Commerce Committee on Tuesday, February 11th, at 10:30 a.m., which can be <a href=\"https:\/\/tvw.org\/video\/senate-labor-commerce-2025021237\/?eventID=2025021237\">watched on TVW here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New legislation introduced by Sen. Jessica Bateman (D-Olympia) would allow public sector unions representing public sector employees to collectively bargain over the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in government workplaces. \u201cWorkers deserve to have a voice at the table when their employers introduce new AI technologies in their workplace,\u201d Bateman said. \u201cAI is like fire \u2014 it can be good or bad, help us or hurt us. Including AI implementation as an allowable topic in collective bargaining processes will help protect our dedicated public servants. \u00a0We can move forward with new technology responsibly, ensuring it both benefits our state employees&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":1240,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-release"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Public employees could collectively bargain over AI use under new Bateman legislation - Sen. Jessica Bateman<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/bateman\/2025\/02\/05\/public-employees-could-collectively-bargain-over-ai-use-under-new-bateman-legislation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Public employees could collectively bargain over AI use under new Bateman legislation - Sen. Jessica Bateman\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New legislation introduced by Sen. Jessica Bateman (D-Olympia) would allow public sector unions representing public sector employees to collectively bargain over the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in government workplaces. \u201cWorkers deserve to have a voice at the table when their employers introduce new AI technologies in their workplace,\u201d Bateman said. \u201cAI is like fire \u2014 it can be good or bad, help us or hurt us. Including AI implementation as an allowable topic in collective bargaining processes will help protect our dedicated public servants. \u00a0We can move forward with new technology responsibly, ensuring it both benefits our state employees...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/bateman\/2025\/02\/05\/public-employees-could-collectively-bargain-over-ai-use-under-new-bateman-legislation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sen. 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