An internal divide among unions on AI impacts the Wisconsin gubernatorial race

Positions on AI data centers are upending the gubernatorial race in Wisconsin with David Crowley, the Democratic nominee for governor, caught between union supporters and union opponents of proposed data centers, reports Wisconsin Public Radio.

Republican gubernatorial nominee Tom Tiffany accuses Crowley of being in the pocket of “data center special interests,” a reference to some building trades unions, who have endorsed Crowley providing financial support for his campaign.

Anne Lofaso, a professor in the Donald P. Klekamp College of Law at UC, spoke with Wisconsin Public Radio, about the schism among union members: some in building and trades see additional jobs with the construction of data centers and other industries worry that AI encroachment will lead to job loss.

She says many other labor unions are more skeptical, she added, “because they feel it’s going to ultimately take away jobs because (data centers are) creating AI, and AI will automatize many jobs.”

Lofaso explains that many prominent labor unions are internally navigating how to seize on the opportunity of data centers while pushing for safeguards against things like increased energy costs, reports Wisconsin Public Radio.

That includes the AFL-CIO, the country’s largest union umbrella organization, which recently passed a resolution calling for promises that the technology companies behind data centers must pay commensurate energy and water costs.

Working with sympathetic lawmakers can help unions accomplish those goals, said Lofaso.

Lofaso teaches employment law, employment discrimination law and constitutional law. She is also a former attorney for the National Labor Relations Board.

“Legislation is the floor of rights in which unions can bargain,” Lofaso told Wisconsin Public Radio. “So, the better the legislation is, in terms of workers’ rights, the more bargaining power the union has.”

“He’s saying we want these jobs, but we’re going to have them safe,” says Lofaso.

Read the Wisconsin Public Radio story online.

Featured top image shows an aerial view of a data center being constructed inside "Data Center Alley" in Ashburn. Northern Virginia is the largest data center market in the world. Photo/Istock.