Ten months after being urged to change the labour code to address artificial intelligence, the B.C. government is still considering its response.<\/p>\n
In February 2024 the province asked a three-person panel to review the B.C. Labour Relations Code and propose needed changes.<\/p>\n
Their report included recommended changes that would give unions more power to require consultation with employers over the introduction of\u00a0AI\u00a0tools.<\/p>\n
And while the panel and some unions are urging the government to take action, it says it\u2019s not ready to discuss\u00a0AI\u00a0legislation until a public consultation process is complete.<\/p>\n
The labour code currently requires collective agreements to contain provisions for regular union-employer consultations to \u201cpromote the co-operative resolution of workplace issues, to respond and adapt to changes in the economy, to foster the development of work related skills and to promote workplace productivity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The panel \u2014 chaired by Michael Fleming, a mediator-arbitrator and former associate chair of the BC Labour Relations Board, and including lawyers Sandra Banister, representing worker interests, and Lindsie Thomson, representing employer interests \u2014 said that should be changed as\u00a0AI\u00a0affects workplaces.<\/p>\n
\u201cWork reorganization, productivity [and] technological change\u201d should be added as topics for consultation, it recommended.<\/p>\n
But Banister, in a dissenting opinion, said these changes aren\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n
She called for additional measures that would encourage more consultation on artificial intelligence between employers and unions.<\/p>\n
The labour code already requires employers to notify unions of changes that would affect working conditions or job security within 60 days, and to meet to try to find solutions.<\/p>\n
She suggested in the review that the B.C. government should require employers to consult with unions at least 120 days before introducing artificial intelligence tools into a workplace.<\/p>\n
The provision would not block employers from bringing\u00a0AI\u00a0tools into workplaces, she said, but it would force employers to consider ways to protect employees, negotiate measures like severance pay and consider alternative options.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven the speed with which generative\u00a0AI\u00a0is developing, we think that the province should get on that tout de suite,\u201d Banister told The Tyee. \u201cIt\u2019s all pretty scary, particularly for employment and the security of employment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cArtificial intelligence has really profound, widespread implications and somebody\u2019s got to get a handle on it,\u201d she said. \u201cCanada seems to be behind the eight ball and it\u2019s very concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sussanne Skidmore, president of the BC Federation of Labour, said the panel\u2019s suggestions are \u201cbasic immediate actions\u201d the province can take to protect workers from negative impacts of\u00a0AI.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government needs to act on this quickly, to make sure that we\u2019re actually protecting workers and their jobs,\u201d she said. \u201cIt really won\u2019t take long before this is impacting every level of our economy, and the government should be out in front of this instead of trying to play catch-up.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said B.C. unions are pushing for the province to add \u201cguardrails\u201d to protect workers from the harshest labour impacts of artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n
Skidmore said she supports the panel\u2019s recommendation that the province consider updating its employment, privacy and human rights laws to protect all British Columbians\u2019 jobs \u2014 not just unionized workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cAI\u00a0is reshaping workplaces faster than the law can respond to it,\u201d Skidmore said. \u201cUnions are doing some of what they can at the bargaining table, but there also needs to be a legislative floor brought in for all workers.\u201d<\/p>\n
The labour code suggestions would affect only the approximately 30 per cent of British Columbian workers with collective agreements, leaving out workers in industries like software and finance, sectors in which fewer than 10 per cent of all workers are unionized.<\/p>\n
The provincial government received the panel\u2019s recommendations on Aug. 31, 2024, but released them only at the end of June. It\u2019s now seeking public comments until Sept. 19.<\/p>\n
Asked how the B.C. government plans to address artificial intelligence in the workplace, Reece Mack, a public information officer with the Ministry of Labour, told The Tyee \u201cit\u2019s too early\u201d to discuss the province\u2019s approach. He noted the current consultation on the panel\u2019s report.<\/p>\n
Banister said she understands the provincial government has been preoccupied with a provincial election and then trade threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
She added she applauds the province for taking the time to consult the public on new legislation.<\/p>\n
Still, she said, she\u2019s concerned about the pace at which the government is moving.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m somewhat pessimistic about when they\u2019re going to get around to dealing with these proposals,\u201d Banister said. \u201cIn terms of\u00a0AI, for many jobs, it could just be too late.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ten months after being urged to change the labour code to address artificial intelligence, the B.C. government is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28630,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[62,276,277,49,48,61],"class_list":["post-28629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28629\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}