| | | | |  | | By Olivia Olander | | | BLS TAKING IT SLOW WITH AI: If you’re anxiously awaiting catastrophic employment projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics stemming from generative artificial intelligence … don’t hold your breath. The BLS’ employment projections office tracks emerging technologies and how they might affect the labor force. And experts in that office say they’re factoring in generative AI with the same conservatism that they’ve used on other emerging tech, while hedging that there’s always a chance that this time could be different. There’s “often been talk in the past about how such and such is going to obliterate an industry,” but those projections often haven’t panned out, said Frankie Velez, who works in the employment projections office at BLS. New technologies typically take longer to make a lasting impact on jobs than expected, “if they even have an effect at all,” he said. It’s not clear if or how the tech will show up in the next employment projections, slated for September, Velez said, as there wasn’t a lot of time to process the rapid developments in AI this year for the upcoming projections. Michael Handel, a social scientist who previously worked with BLS, in a July article posited that there’s “little support” in BLS data of occupations popularly considered at-risk “for the idea of a general acceleration of job loss or a structural break with trends pre-dating the AI revolution.” After hearing about ChatGPT, Handel briefly wondered if it might break that generalization — but its capabilities thus far seem too limited to cause the widespread workforce changes many others fear, he said in an interview Friday. Still: “It’s really on our radar, and I think it’s going to consume a lot of our bandwidth going forward,” Velez said of new AI technology. GOOD MORNING. It’s Monday, June 12. Welcome back to Morning Shift, your go-to tipsheet on labor and employment-related immigration. Send feedback, tips, and exclusives to NNiedzwiadek@politico.com and OOlander@politico.com. Follow us on Twitter at @nickniedz and @oliviaolanderr.
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| | LOOKING FOR (VOTES IN) ALASKA: Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski isn’t jumping at the opportunity to bail out President Joe Biden and Senate Democrats by voting for Labor secretary nominee Julie Su’s confirmation, our friends at West Wing Playbook report. That, despite the fact that Su’s allies are “frantically looking for the votes,” they note. Democrats at the moment are proceeding as if Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is a no, they report according to several people familiar with the matter. Asked how she’d vote on the floor, the Alaskan sometimes-ally of the president passed the buck back across the aisle: “I’m wondering what the Democrats are going to do.” WWPB notes: “[S]he’s flipped on Su before (backing her nomination for deputy secretary when it came before the committee in 2021 only to oppose her on the floor), giving hope to Senate Democrats, White House officials and outside labor supporters.” FOXX REBUFFS HEARING REQUEST: House Education and the Workforce Democrats want a child labor hearing, but Republicans aren’t biting: Chair Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) said in a statement to Shift that the ask “is all for show.” The committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), and Rep. Alma Adams (D-N.C.) on Tuesday sent Foxx a letter requesting a hearing on child labor this month, as well as the bills currently introduced to combat it. That letter also said those Democrats plan to introduce soon “a comprehensive bill to toughen penalties for child labor violations,” as well as research and track child labor hazards. Foxx in her statement said committee Republicans asked the Labor Department for a briefing on the issue, following acting Labor Secretary Julie Su’s appearance before the committee last week. GOP members of the committee have sought to pin rising child labor issues on the Biden administration and at times Su herself as she awaits a confirmation vote. “When you weigh the seriousness of Committee Democrats’ request for a hearing on child labor violations, consider this: they spent four hours sitting in a room with Acting Secretary Su and not once did they ask a pointed question about the DOL’s failure to address this problem,” Foxx wrote.
| | ISO: PREGNANT WORKER REGULATIONS: Sen. Bill Cassidy (La.), the Senate HELP Committee’s top Republican, on Friday chastised the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for not yet releasing regulations fleshing out protections in the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, Nick reports. Because the law is set to take effect June 27 — and the EEOC has not released a proposal, having just begun circulating draft language this spring — “the law is virtually guaranteed to kick in without the accompanying regulations, potentially creating uncertainty for businesses and workers on how the PWFA will be enforced,” Nick notes. The bipartisan-passed statute requires businesses with 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations to workers limited by pregnancy or childbirth. More workplace news: “Offensive Music Ruling Guts ‘Equal Opportunity Harasser’ Theory,” from Bloomberg Law. Even more: “Hazardous air quality leaves some workers gasping for help,” from CNN.
| | | ANOTHER FLRA NOM: President Joe Biden plans to nominate Nancy Anderson Speight, a former FLRA regional director in Atlanta, to serve as a member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority, Olivia reports on the White House announcement. Also of note: The president last week nominated Suzanne Elizabeth Summerlin to be general counsel of the FLRA, an administrative agency for federal labor disputes. Summerlin is currently deputy general counsel and deputy executive director for the Federal Education Association, which represents faculty and staff in the DoD school system.
| | WH BACKTRACK: The White House on Thursday apologized to Insider Union for crossing the editorial workers’ online picket line, according to the union’s strike publication, Business Outsider. The statement from White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre published by Business Outsider also included mentions of other striking journalists at Gannett and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The administration had circulated an Insider story about the economy in a press release Thursday, crossing the do-not-click digital picket line set by the striking workers. Workers at Insider are organizing with Communications Workers of America, a union that represents journalists at publications including POLITICO. Insider and POLITICO also share common ownership under the company Axel Springer. CHAMBER CHIMES IN: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Friday asked President Joe Biden to “intervene immediately” in the labor talks at West Coast ports, our Caitlin Oprysko reports in POLITICO Influence. Chamber President and Chief Executive Suzanne Clark also asked the president to appoint an independent mediator in the protracted talks, which risk nationwide economic disruptions. More union news: “As UPS union plans vote on strike, drivers broil in trucks lacking AC,” from The Washington Post.
| | | PENSION RESTRICTION ROLLBACKS? Two new bills in New Jersey would open the pension system to select workers, rolling back restrictions that were put in place to fiscally help the underfunded system, our Matt Friedman reports. “One bill, which has bipartisan sponsorship, would allow government business administrators back into the pension system,” Matt reports. The other seems aimed at allowing a local council member “to retire from the government job he’s held for 30 years and begin collecting a pension while he remains in elective office,” he notes. Also in New Jersey: “Public sector unions oppose Scutari bill on health benefits,” from our Daniel Han. More state news: “Tesla, Schwab Penalized Under Colorado Job Ad Pay Disclosure Law,” from Bloomberg Law.
| | | DACA DATA: DACA’s first recipients, who have grown 11 years older since then-President Barack Obama announced the program this week in 2012, are increasingly participating in the labor force and economy, according to a new report from pro-immigration organization FWD.us. In 2012, 60 percent of initial DACA recipients — largely young people — participated in the workforce, compared to 86 percent with active DACA status in the workforce this year, FWD.us found. “[T]oday’s DACA recipients differ little from U.S. citizens of similar ages with respect to demographic and economic contributions,” the report said, citing similar figures for workforce participation for both groups ages 25-33. The program, which allowed undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to work and remain in the U.S., has faced court challenges, including a Texas-based U.S. district judge who found it unlawful two years ago.
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | | | — “Meta employee morale is low. Mark Zuckerberg is touting AI to fix that,” from The Washington Post. — “This Summer, Lifeguards Have Better Job Prospects Than Office Interns,” from The Wall Street Journal. — “Trader Joe's Union Accuses Company Of Illegal Firing,” from HuffPost. THAT’S ALL FOR SHIFT! | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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