The agreements will include guarantees around job security, skills development and retraining, transparency over technology use, genuine privacy, as well as data collection and use protections.
“If an employer does not have an AI Implementation Agreement in place with their workers, that company should not be eligible for government funding, such as research and development incentives or government contracts,” said Joseph Mitchell, ACTU assistant secretary, in a statement.
The ACTU’s proposed measure comes as some employers, such as Amazon, announce that they are seeing potential workforce cuts amid AI adoption.
In Australia, Telstra Chief Executive Officer Vicki Brady said in May that it is also expecting its workforce “to be smaller” as the company embraces AI.
Mitchell said the ACTU’s AI Implementation Agreements will ensure that employers engage in the responsible uptake of the technology.