{"id":435689,"date":"2024-08-15T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-15T07:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/?p=435689"},"modified":"2024-08-15T08:00:48","modified_gmt":"2024-08-15T15:00:48","slug":"unions-protect-jobs-technology-legislation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/_es\/commentary\/2024\/08\/unions-protect-jobs-technology-legislation\/","title":{"rendered":"Unions try to protect jobs in California with legislation to limit use of digital technology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cuando el industrial revolution<\/a> erupted in 18th century Britain \u2014 replacing handwork with machinery in the manufacture of goods \u2014 many of the affected textile workers responded by attacking and disabling the machines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rebels became known as Luddites<\/a>, so named for \u201cGeneral Ned Ludd\u201d or \u201cKing Ludd,\u201d a mythical figure living in Sherwood Forest. In the more than 200 years since, the moniker has been applied to anyone who resists introduction of new technology, particularly in the workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the last half-century digital technology has driven a new industrial revolution, completely changing the nature of work as it destroyed old economic sectors and created new ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I began my career in journalism 64 years ago, I and other reporters wrote our stories on paper, using cast iron Underwood typewriters, after which the \u201ccopy\u201d was read and sometimes altered by an editor with a lead pencil. It was then set in metallic type by a composing room worker and transformed into a metallic printing plate by other workers who installed it on an immense printing press to produce newspapers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today I\u2019m writing this column on a Hewlett Packard computer. Virtually all the information being cited in the column was gathered from online sources, including details of a bill from the Legislature\u2019s website<\/a> and videos from CalMatters\u2019 Democracia digital<\/a> archives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I\u2019m finished, the column moves electronically to an editor using the same digital technology and the finished product then is electronically published on the Internet. CalMatters exists because of technology, while newspapers still producing paper copies are struggling due to competition for advertising<\/a> from digital rivals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

California has played the seminal role in the new technological revolution, but it\u2019s also a center of resistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill to which I referred earlier is Proyecto de ley del Senado 1446<\/a>, which sailed through the Senate earlier this year but is now enmeshed in a clash between labor unions and retailers, particularly grocers, in the Assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, supermarket operators have introduced kiosks in which customers can check out themselves without lining up to have a clerk physically process the contents of their carts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In years past, checkout clerks would have to know the price of each item, if it wasn\u2019t marked, or refer to a paper price list. Technology, in the form of barcodes, sped up checkouts by cashiers, but also allows customers to scan their own items and pay with credit cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some stores have experimented with having scanners determine total purchases without processing individual items and\/or identifying customers by scanning their hands and linking them to a pre-designated credit card.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tLeer siguiente<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Technology\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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Las compensaciones entre tecnolog\u00eda y mano de obra crean un dilema para la econom\u00eda de California<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tby<\/span> Dan Walters<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/article>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\n

Supermarket technology has reduced the numbers of workers needed to process checkouts, and SB 1446 aims to protect unionized jobs by limiting use of self-service kiosks and setting specific staffing levels. It also requires grocers and other retailers to give 60-day notice before introducing new technology, such as \u201cself-checkout robotics, wearable sensors, and scanners that eliminate, automate, or electronically monitor the core job functions of an employee.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legislation\u2019s author, Senadora Lola Smallwood-Cuevas<\/a>, a Los Angeles Democrat and former union organizer, and the bill\u2019s sponsors contended during an online news conference Wednesday that it\u2019s needed to protect the safety of employees from thieves and aggressive customers, but it\u2019s clearly aimed at protecting store workers from being replaced with machines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grocers, meanwhile, say the legislation would limit customer choices and mandate operational costs that would be reflected in grocery prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not the first time such legislation has surfaced. For instance, recent appropriations for upgrading port facilities have contained prohibitions on installing labor-saving automation.<\/a> The advent of artificial intelligence will likely lead to more such clashes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luddism is apparently not confined to 18th century Britain\u2019s textile industry.

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\n\t\t\t\t\tMore on jobs and technology<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\u00bfPodr\u00eda\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\tTecnolog\u00eda<\/a>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\u00bfPodr\u00eda la IA rechazar tu curr\u00edculum? California intenta prevenir un nuevo tipo de discriminaci\u00f3n<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Riesgos,\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\tExplicadores<\/a>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

Riesgos, recompensas y robots: el futuro del trabajo en California<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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