<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="">Report online here:</div><div class=""><a href="https://aflcio.org/worker-centered-digital-agenda" class="">https://aflcio.org/worker-centered-digital-agenda</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/afl-cio-wants-bigger-say-us-digital-trade-deals-workers-2023-02-07/" class="">https://www.reuters.com/technology/afl-cio-wants-bigger-say-us-digital-trade-deals-workers-2023-02-07/</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><h1 data-testid="Heading" class="text__medium__1kbOh heading__base__2T28j text__text__1FZLe article-header__title__3Y2hh text__heading_3__1kDhc heading__heading_3__3aL54 text__dark-grey__3Ml43">Exclusive: AFL-CIO wants bigger say in U.S. digital trade deals for workers</h1><div class="">By <a href="https://www.reuters.com/authors/david-lawder/" rel="author" class="author-name__author__1gx5k">David Lawder</a></div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><p data-testid="paragraph-0" class="body__full_width__ekUdw text__text__1FZLe body__large_body__FV5_X text__large__nEccO text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr article-body__element__2p5pI" style="font-size: 20px;">WASHINGTON,
Feb 7 (Reuters) - The Biden administration has made digital trade the
centerpiece of its trade negotiations, and the AFL-CIO wants a bigger
say in how the U.S. Trade Representative's office sets goals in this
area, arguing they are too often dictated by big technology companies.</p><p data-testid="paragraph-1" class="body__full_width__ekUdw text__text__1FZLe body__large_body__FV5_X text__large__nEccO text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr article-body__element__2p5pI" style="font-size: 20px;">The
largest U.S. labor organization on Tuesday issued a set of principles
that it says is needed to protect workers, the public's privacy and
governments' ability to regulate a rapidly evolving sector as the USTR
negotiates digital trade agreements.</p></div><div class=""><p data-testid="paragraph-2" class="body__full_width__ekUdw text__text__1FZLe body__large_body__FV5_X text__large__nEccO text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr article-body__element__2p5pI" style="font-size: 20px;">The
USTR is expected to soon propose text on the digital chapter in
negotiations for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, the Biden
administration's signature economic agreement.</p><div class=""><p data-testid="paragraph-4" class="body__full_width__ekUdw text__text__1FZLe body__large_body__FV5_X text__large__nEccO text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr article-body__element__2p5pI" style="font-size: 20px;">"To
date, U.S. 'digital trade' agreements have sought to expand market
access for large technology companies by granting broad digital data and
intellectual property rights while narrowly constraining the ability of
governments (of both the United States and our trade partners) to adopt
measures to adopt measures to address the economic transformation," the
AFL-CIO said in its plan.</p><p data-testid="paragraph-5" class="body__full_width__ekUdw text__text__1FZLe body__large_body__FV5_X text__large__nEccO text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr article-body__element__2p5pI" style="font-size: 20px;">The
heart of the organization's demands involve ensuring that digital trade
agreements are subject to strong and enforceable labor standards, the
AFL-CIO said, discouraging the "exploitative" use of "gig" workers who
often are deprived of benefits and subjected to difficult working
conditions, and discouraging the offshoring of back-office or
telemedicine jobs to countries with low labor standards.</p><div class=""><p data-testid="paragraph-6" class="body__full_width__ekUdw text__text__1FZLe body__large_body__FV5_X text__large__nEccO text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr article-body__element__2p5pI" style="font-size: 20px;">But
the AFL-CIO's demands also push back against a key component of recent
U.S. trade deals that prohibit countries from imposing "data
localization" policies to require data to be stored locally. The
renegotiated North American free trade deal, which went into effect in
2020, included such provisions, and USTR has sparred in recent years
with countries including India over their plans for such policies,
arguing that U.S.-based data platforms should be free to operate
anywhere in the world.</p><p data-testid="paragraph-7" class="body__full_width__ekUdw text__text__1FZLe body__large_body__FV5_X text__large__nEccO text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr article-body__element__2p5pI" style="font-size: 20px;">The
AFL-CIO said that not all data is created equal and in some cases,
governments should have the ability to require that individuals'
sensitive personal information, such as medical or biometric data, be
kept on-shore to ensure it is safe.</p><h2 data-testid="Heading" class="text__medium__1kbOh heading__base__2T28j text__text__1FZLe text__heading_5__2krbj article-body__heading__33EIm text__dark-grey__3Ml43 heading__heading_5__2A2g-" style="font-size: 24px;">DIGITAL ECONOMY RULES</h2><p data-testid="paragraph-8" class="body__full_width__ekUdw text__text__1FZLe body__large_body__FV5_X text__large__nEccO text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr article-body__element__2p5pI" style="font-size: 20px;">The
principles also call for negotiating strong safeguards against
misappropriations of voices, images or likenesses that could be used in
digital content generated by artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.</p><p data-testid="paragraph-9" class="body__full_width__ekUdw text__text__1FZLe body__large_body__FV5_X text__large__nEccO text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr article-body__element__2p5pI" style="font-size: 20px;">"Corporations
shouldn't dictate the rules of the global digital economy with no
regard for working people," AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a
statement. "Their drive to monetize data frequently violates crucial
privacy rights and exploits workers."</p><p data-testid="paragraph-10" class="body__full_width__ekUdw text__text__1FZLe body__large_body__FV5_X text__large__nEccO text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr article-body__element__2p5pI" style="font-size: 20px;">Other AFL-CIO demands for digital trade negotiations include:</p><p data-testid="paragraph-11" class="body__full_width__ekUdw text__text__1FZLe body__large_body__FV5_X text__large__nEccO text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr article-body__element__2p5pI" style="font-size: 20px;">-
Requiring governments to enact strong policies to safeguard
individuals' personal data as opposed to the current largely voluntary
"self-regulation" model that has proven inadequate.</p><p data-testid="paragraph-12" class="body__full_width__ekUdw text__text__1FZLe body__large_body__FV5_X text__large__nEccO text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr article-body__element__2p5pI" style="font-size: 20px;">-
Facilitate meaningful oversight of source codes and algorithms to
ensure compliance with labor laws. The labor group says automated
employee monitoring systems and other AI-enabled tools can undermine
workers rights and promote discrimination.</p><p data-testid="paragraph-13" class="body__full_width__ekUdw text__text__1FZLe body__large_body__FV5_X text__large__nEccO text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr article-body__element__2p5pI" style="font-size: 20px;">-
Address "abusive" employment practices in the technology sector, to
discourage the use of contractors and require firms to eliminate labor
abuses in their own operations and supply chains.</p><p data-testid="paragraph-14" class="body__full_width__ekUdw text__text__1FZLe body__large_body__FV5_X text__large__nEccO text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr article-body__element__2p5pI" style="font-size: 20px;">-
Protect and promote economic security of creative professionals in the
United States, including motion picture, television and music industry
workers by aggressively addressing the stolen or unlicensed use of
copyrighted content on digital platforms.</p><p data-testid="paragraph-15" class="body__full_width__ekUdw text__text__1FZLe body__large_body__FV5_X text__large__nEccO text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr article-body__element__2p5pI" style="font-size: 20px;">-
Address the rise of cybercrime by state and private actors by requiring
improved cybersecurity standards and a common enforcement agenda.</p></div></div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div style="margin: 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;" class=""> <u class=""></u></span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0in;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; color: black;" class="">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;" class=""><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;" class=""><u class=""></u> <u class=""></u></span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; color: black;" class="">AFL-CIO Unveils First-Ever Policy Agenda on Digital Economy and Trade</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;" class=""><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;" class=""><u class=""></u> <u class=""></u></span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0in;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; color: black;" class="">(Washington, D.C., Feb. 7, 2023)</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; color: black;" class="">—As the Biden administration continues to remake U.S. trade policy through the lens of producing good-paying jobs and empowering working people across America, the AFL-CIO released its recommendations for creating a worker-centered digital trade agenda today. This is the first comprehensive proposal for safeguarding workers’ rights in the evolving digital economy. </span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;" class=""><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;" class=""><u class=""></u> <u class=""></u></span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0in;" class=""><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; color: black;" class="">“The voices of working people must be at the table in shaping the direction of digital trade policy,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “Corporations shouldn’t dictate the rules of the global digital economy with no regard for working people. Their drive to monetize data frequently violates crucial privacy rights and exploits workers. The power of technology can be harnessed to build a fairer digital economy, produce economic growth that is shared by everyone and create life-sustaining opportunities for every working person far into the future.”</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;" class=""><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;" class=""><u class=""></u> <u class=""></u></span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0in;" class=""><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; color: black;" class="">The AFL-CIO proposal comes at a time when corporations are continuing to operate with little oversight on digital trade practices, having a broad, and often negative, impact on workers’ rights. Employers are increasingly using artificial intelligence technology to restrict organizing efforts and surveil workers. Companies also are using technology to foster discrimination in the hiring process, outsource good-paying jobs, erode workers’ mental health and lower wages. The proposal, jointly released with the </span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;" class=""><a href="https://aflcio.org/press/releases/afl-cio-launches-technology-institute" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://aflcio.org/press/releases/afl-cio-launches-technology-institute&source=gmail&ust=1675892075970000&usg=AOvVaw01itAB-X0fpQh_QkCGKXE1" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class="">AFL-CIO Technology Institute</a><span style="color: black;" class="">, is in line with the Biden administration’s worker-centered trade policy and will help inform upcoming negotiations on trade and economic agreements in key regions. </span><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;" class=""><u class=""></u> <u class=""></u></span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0in;" class=""><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; color: black;" class="">The proposal includes recommendations on how digital trade policy can better enable governments to enforce domestic policies to regulate new technologies, protect consumer data, compel corporate transparency about the use of artificial intelligence and allow officials to open industry-wide investigations. The paper also outlines commitments governments must make to address the challenges digital transformation poses to workers’ rights, including international data regulation and the offshoring of jobs, and calls for the reinforcement of high-road labor standards, copyright protections, and accountability from state and private actors for cybercrime. </span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;" class=""><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;" class=""><u class=""></u> <u class=""></u></span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0in;" class=""><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; color: black;" class="">“Digital trade rules must not block the growing efforts to rein in the digital economy’s downsides that workers face on the job and at home,” said Patrick Woodall, policy and research director of the AFL-CIO Technology Institute. “A worker-centered digital trade agenda can safeguard workers’ rights and ensure that digital technologies do not undermine workplace safety, exacerbate employment discrimination, or undermine the right to form unions.” </span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;" class=""><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;" class=""><u class=""></u> <u class=""></u></span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0in;" class=""><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; color: black;" class="">Click </span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;" class=""><a href="https://aflcio.org/worker-centered-digital-agenda" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://aflcio.org/worker-centered-digital-agenda&source=gmail&ust=1675892075970000&usg=AOvVaw0-i2txYn5RQR9EJlXbENQX" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class="">here </a><span style="color: black;" class="">to read the full paper. </span><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;" class=""><u class=""></u> </span></div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><br class=""><div class="">
Arthur Stamoulis<br class="">Citizens Trade Campaign<br class="">(202) 494-8826<br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class="">
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