Stories and links that are of interest or relevance to union leaders, strategists, campaigners and organisers.
Unions, workers and the economy
It’s always “we live longer our retirement age should be higher” and never “our productivity per hour is multiplying we should retire earlier”
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Starbucks shareholders approve review of labor union practices
Starbucks shareholders approved a proposal for the coffee chain to conduct an independent assessment of its labor practices as it contends with hundreds of newly unionized U.S. cafes, according to voting results filed on Wednesday.
Under Biden, U.S. sees unions as key ally in democracy agenda
The importance of organized labor in the life of democracies and how to bolster unions were main themes on the last day of the Summit for Democracy.
Union growth
The Undercover Organizers Behind America’s Union Wins
At Starbucks, Amazon.com and other big employers, activists known as “salts” have been a key to labor success. And they say they’re just getting started.
Unionization increased in the US by 200,000 in 2022: Tens of millions more wanted to join a union, but couldn’t
What this report finds: Recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Labor Relations Board show an uptick in union organizing activity in 2022. There is further evidence that many more workers would like to form a union but face barriers to doing so.
Workers of Color Made Up 100% of Union Growth in 2022 in the US
Another reminder that “kitchen table issues” and “social” issues are one and the same.
AI and the future of work
Pause Giant AI Experiments: An Open Letter
We call on all AI labs to immediately pause for at least 6 months the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4.
The New Dark Age
The long read: Artificial intelligence in its current form is based on the wholesale appropriation of existing culture, and the notion that it is actually intelligent could be actively dangerous
New MIT Research Shows Spectacular Increase In White Collar Productivity From ChatGPT
New study by MIT students finds that ChatGPT improves white collar productivity by 37% or more, increases quality, and reduces effort.
GitHub Copilot X: The AI-powered developer experience
GitHub Copilot is evolving to bring chat and voice interfaces, support pull requests, answer questions, and adopt OpenAI’s GPT-4.
HR-GPT Arriving Now. The Generative AI Revolution in HR.
The HR industry is one of the early adopters of AI and large language models. This is starting with recruitment and hiring but will soon shift rapidly to HR management.
ChatGPT is making up fake Guardian articles. Here’s how we’re responding.
The risks inherent in the technology, plus the speed of its take-up, demonstrate why it’s so vital that we keep track of it, writes the Guardian’s head of editorial innovation, Chris Moran
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Google and Microsoft’s chatbots are already citing one another in a misinformation shitshow
AI chatbots are running a massive game of misinformation telephone.
Campaigning, organising and digital/social media
How John Fetterman’s campaign used Slack to crowdsource memes and engage volunteers
The Pennsylvania Senator’s campaign had over 9,000 superfans in its Slack workspace by Election Day
Meta-Analysis: Social Media Does Little to Inform Citizens
A review of 76 studies that investigate “the relationship between social media use and political knowledge” finds little to no effect.
Digital strategy
A Campaign Aide Didn’t Write That Email. A.I. Did.
The swift advance of artificial intelligence in politics is already blurring the boundaries between fact and fake.
“Unfortunately, I think people are going to figure out how to use this for evil faster than for improving civic life.”
“Unfortunately, I think people are going to figure out how to use this for evil faster than for improving civic life.”
The Facebook MAGA mills are open for business
Massive right-wing Facebook networks are growing rapidly ahead of 2024
