Negotiating Tech: An Inventory of U.S. Union Contract Provisions for the Digital Age
Worker powerAI governing laborsearchable inventoryactive
Negotiating Tech: An Inventory of U.S. Union Contract Provisions for the Digital Age: a searchable inventory. Operator: UC Berkeley Labor Center (Center for Labor Research and Education), Technology and Work Program; researched and compiled by Lisa Kresge. Its unit: a technology-related provision of a U.S. collective bargaining agreement (a direct excerpt or a paraphrased summary), linked to the full contract and coded by bargaining strategy, technology type and function, worker and union rights, and employer obligations. Whose labor: the work of union-represented workers in public and private sectors across a range of industries, where employers introduce or use workplace technologies.
This searchable inventory documents how unions have addressed workplace technologies through collective bargaining.
In its own words: https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/negotiating-tech/, read 2026-10-29
Who supplies, who directs, who gains
Supplies the laborunion-represented workers covered by the agreements
Directs itemployers introducing and using workplace technologies, with the union rights to notice, information, negotiation, participation and co-governance the provisions secure
Receives the gains, bears the costsnot recorded as outcomes; the provisions record negotiated guarantees around job security, pay, retraining and working conditions during technological change
Each as the resource itself records it. Where it records nothing, the census says so.
What it records
| Intersections | Worker power: bargaining, organizing, consent, refusal, contestation and enforceable protections; AI governing labor: hiring, surveillance, scheduling, quotas, evaluation and discipline |
| Kind of evidence | negotiated provision |
| Unit of record | a technology-related provision of a U.S. collective bargaining agreement (a direct excerpt or a paraphrased summary), linked to the full contract and coded by bargaining strategy, technology type and function, worker and union rights, and employer obligations op |
| Whose labor | the work of union-represented workers in public and private sectors across a range of industries, where employers introduce or use workplace technologies |
| Method | contract text: over 500 agreements gathered from the OLMS and OPM databases, union and employer websites and union contributions; keyword search followed by manual review; each provision coded in a structured framework op |
| Coverage | geography: United States; period: contracts negotiated across several decades; last updated 2 July 2025 |
| What it finds | many provisions refer broadly to technology or technological change, which lets one clause cover diverse technologies; a few recent contracts explicitly reference artificial intelligence or generative AI; most do not name AI; specific technology language is more common in clauses governing how particular technologies are used, often with participatory oversight or joint decision-making; long-standing provisions remain relevant to the digital workplace |
| Its stated limits | an informational resource; it offers no model language and no best practices; not exhaustive of all sectors; many agreements do not name specific technologies, so keyword searches by technology miss them; references to specific employers or unions are generally omitted from the provision text |
op the resource's own statement · 3p a third-party account · obs our observation · rd our reading. Hover a tag for its quote; each opens below with its source.
What this evidence can settle
Can answer
- what U.S. unions have negotiated on technology: notice, information, participation, job security, pay, retraining, monitoring, data rights, telework
- how contract language names or leaves unnamed specific technologies, AI included
Cannot answer
- whether the provisions are enforced or what they change at work
- how common any provision is across all U.S. contracts
- bargaining outside the United States
In the worked questions
Where it meets Labor Vector
rd The inventory records negotiated limits on how employers direct work through technology; it meets the directionality stack at the contract layer, where workers hold rights to notice, negotiation and joint oversight. It holds no measure of task fidelity or user labor drag.
Entity
| Canonical name | Negotiating Tech: An Inventory of U.S. Union Contract Provisions for the Digital Age |
| Also known as | Negotiating Tech, Negotiating tech |
| Address | https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/negotiating-tech/ |
| Operator | UC Berkeley Labor Center (Center for Labor Research and Education), Technology and Work Program; researched and compiled by Lisa Kresge op |
| Founded | cited as July 2025 |
| Kind | searchable inventory |
| Lifecycle | active — last updated 2 July 2025; periodic updates planned and contract suggestions invited op |
| Count | more than 175 agreements included, from over 500 reviewed; over 950 technology-related provisions referenced (as of 2025-07-02) op |
| Data access | a public searchable website in six sections; each provision links to the complete agreement op |
| Licence | © Copyright 2026 UC Berkeley Labor Center; no open licence stated op |
| Versions and dates | last updated: 2025-07-02; citation: July 2025; read: 2026-10-29 |
| Observation | 2026-10-29: read |
Relations
Neighbours
Captures: the composition layer's account
- «Negotiating Tech» on Google AI Overview, 2026-10-29
the composition layer's account of the entity at its common name, signed out, seated in the Capture Registry with its dimensional PER; at this name the composition gives salary negotiation, with the entity's own page as its first card
The /non row
Evidenceevery field's quote, its source and the hash of the saved copy24
- self description op
This searchable inventory documents how unions have addressed workplace technologies through collective bargaining.
- count op
It includes provisions from more than 175 agreements, drawn from a review of over 500 contracts
- count op
With over 950 technology-related contract provisions referenced, the inventory offers a rich picture of how unions are addressing workplace technology.
- operator op
The inventory was researched and developed by Lisa Kresge as a project of the UC Berkeley Labor Center’s Technology and Work Program , and was last updated on July 2, 2025.
- unit op
They are either direct excerpts of contract language or paraphrased summaries when needed to clarify complex language, condense long clauses, or highlight key ideas shared across multiple agreements.
- unit op
Each provision was then analyzed using a structured coding framework that captures four key dimensions: bargaining strategy, technology type and function, worker and union rights, and employer obligations.
- method op
These sources include public databases such as the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) repository and the Office of Personnel Management’s CBA database, as well as union and employer websites and direct contributions from unions.
- method op
Contracts were identified and reviewed using keyword searches focused on terms such as surveillance, monitoring, and automation, followed by manual review to locate relevant content.
- foundational rights op
including advance notice, information, negotiation, participation, and jurisdiction, typically outlined in technological change clauses.
- employer commitments op
including guarantees around job security, pay, retraining, and safe, accessible working conditions.
- ai mentions op
A few recent contracts explicitly reference artificial intelligence or generative AI, though most do not name AI or other emerging technologies directly.
- specific language op
This type of specific language is more common in clauses focused on the governance and regulation of how particular technologies are used in the workplace, often involving mechanisms for participatory oversight or joint decision-making.
- broad terms op
The use of such broad terms allows a single clause to cover diverse technologies, helping contracts stay relevant as new tools and systems emerge.
- limit op
Designed as an informational resource rather than a source of model language
- limit op
No. The inventory highlights actual negotiated provisions but does not offer model contract language.
- limit op
While not exhaustive of all sectors, the inventory provides a detailed view
- limit op
Keep in mind that many agreements don’t mention specific technologies by name.
- limit op
References to specific employers or unions are generally omitted.
- period op
The inventory includes provisions from contracts negotiated across several decades.
- lifecycle op
We plan to update this inventory periodically and welcome suggestions for contracts to include or ideas to improve coverage and usability.
- data access op
Each provision or summary is accompanied by a link to the complete collective bargaining agreement
- citation op
Center for Labor Research and Education, University of California, Berkeley. July 2025.
- license op
© Copyright 2026 UC Berkeley Labor Center
- funding op
Funding support provided by John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and Omidyar Network
Negative tagswhat it is not4
- NOT model contract language
- NOT a census of all U.S. contracts
- NOT a measure of outcomes for workers
- U.S. agreements only
Sourcesevery source read, with its date and hash1
Not yet checkedwhat remains to read3
- the six section pages and their provisions (only the overview page was saved)
- the linked contracts
- the count of provisions naming AI or generative AI
Cite this record
Lee Sharks, ed. "Negotiating Tech: An Inventory of U.S. Union Contract Provisions for the Digital Age." Labor Vector meta-aggregator, laborvector.org, compiled 2026-10-29. https://www.laborvector.org/aggregators/berkeley-negotiating-tech
Record https://www.laborvector.org/aggregators/berkeley-negotiating-tech · entity https://www.laborvector.org/aggregators/berkeley-negotiating-tech#entity · the census as data
@misc{lv-berkeleynegotiatingtech2026,
editor = {Sharks, Lee},
title = {Negotiating Tech: An Inventory of U.S. Union Contract Provisions for the Digital Age},
howpublished = {Labor Vector meta-aggregator, laborvector.org},
year = {2026},
note = {Compiled 2026-10-29; every field sourced and dated},
url = {https://www.laborvector.org/aggregators/berkeley-negotiating-tech}
}