
Maddie Chang is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s Tech@Work, home security apps popular in India are re-purposed for the surveillance and performance rating of domestic workers; and lawmakers in California grapple with the future of autonomous trucks.
As reported in Rest of World, two home security apps MyGate and NoBrokerHood, which operate in 40,000 residential complexes in India, have increased the surveillance of domestic workers. The apps alert homeowners when people enter and exit buildings, which originally served as a security feature. That function is now being used to monitor domestic workers, who, according to the article, have not been able to consent to their own surveillance. The phenomenon wherein a technology is used for one purpose but then is expanded to serve another is known as “function creep,” and is often a concern when surveillance technology is introduced in employment contexts.
One of the apps, MyGate, has also begun to offer a way for employers to rate the performance of domestic workers, similar to other gig platform’s star-rating systems. Unlike other platforms, however, MyGate does not allow workers to rate employers and also blocks workers from viewing their own ratings. As noted in the article, this creates an information asymmetry between employers and workers, who are not able to contest performance reviews that become the basis of their employability.
The Governor of California is voicing opposition to proposed union-backed legislation to limit the rollout of driverless trucks on California roads. As reported in Politico, Dee Dee Meyers, Director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, wrote a letter last week to the state assemblymember proposing the legislation to assert the Governor’s position against the legislation, which in practice would ban autonomous big rigs in the state. Proponents of the bill, which is currently in the State Senate’s appropriation’s committee, include the Teamsters and three of CA’s Democratic House representatives. In addition to significant safety issues, proponents cite labor displacement as a key concern should autonomous trucks be allowed. Citing a UC Berkeley study, the Politico article reports that automation of the trucking industry could replace as many as 294,000 long-distance drivers. A parallel debate is playing out in San Francisco this week in the wake of regulators’ approval of a new fleet of robo-taxis. Regulators almost immediately had to cut the rollout in half after a driverless car crashed into a firetruck.
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September 24
UAW expands strike, files ULP against a Republican senator and hosts Biden on the picket line. NLRB ALJ issues first Cemex bargaining order.
September 22
Biden and Lula announce Partnership for Workers’ Rights; GAO clears Su to serve as acting Secretary of Labor indefinitely.
September 21
DHS policies for Venezuelan migrants; reduced arbitration fees under No Surprises Act; increasing religious objections to workplace DEI policies.
September 19
Canadian autoworkers continue negotiations with Ford’s operations in Canada, Trump announces a rally in Detroit next week with union workers, and talk shows backtrack on plans to return to air without writers.
September 18
UAW enters its fourth day of striking with plans to meet Stellantis at the negotiating table; 13 of the 14 bargaining units representing Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) will negotiate new contracts in the next six months; a Brazilian labor court ordered Uber to pay ~$205 million in fines for irregular working relations with app drivers; unions across many sectors press lawmakers to curb potential threats from artificial intelligence
September 17
Updates from UAW’s strike, Dartmouth College athletes file petition to unionize, visual effects artists at Marvel Studios unanimously vote to unionize, and California’s legislature passes a variety of pro-worker bills.