{"id":66249,"date":"2026-09-02T08:44:33","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T12:44:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/?post_type=victories&#038;p=66249"},"modified":"2026-09-02T08:44:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T12:44:34","slug":"book-workers-ratify-new-contract-with-artificial-intelligence-protection-clause","status":"publish","type":"victories","link":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/actions\/victories\/book-workers-ratify-new-contract-with-artificial-intelligence-protection-clause\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Workers Ratify New Contract With Artificial Intelligence Protection Clause"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>No artificial ingredients:<\/strong>\u00a0Book sellers Ruth Orundiarumo, Hector Castillo Abreu, Sophia Lipman, and Shop Steward Ben Lieberman strike a power pose after the ratification.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Employees at Solid State Books in Washington, D.C., approved a strong three-year agreement earlier this summer. The contract that covers the seven&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ufcw400.org\/\">UFCW Local 400<\/a>&nbsp;members at the chain\u2019s H Street location&nbsp;includes specific wording to protect them from job loss due to the use of artificial intelligence (AI).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The clause, supplied by staff in the UFCW International\u2019s National Bargaining Department, states that AI may enhance the work performed by bargaining unit employees but cannot replace or displace human labor.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It reads: \u201cNo bargaining unit employee shall be terminated, laid off, demoted, or suffer a reduction in regularly scheduled hours as a result of the introduction, implementation, or expansion of any AI Technologies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe parties recognize that video surveillance or other electronic monitoring may be conducted for a variety of mission support purposes, including but not limited to safety and internal security reasons. The Employer agrees to respect and protect employee privacy when utilizing video surveillance or other electronic monitoring in carrying out its mission (e.g., positioning cameras in areas where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy).\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Additionally, the agreement includes guaranteed annual pay increases, recall language for laid-off workers, more flexible scheduling processes, and increased minimum staffing levels at the District\u2019s black-owned independent bookstore, which also has a Logan Circle location.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shop steward Ben Lieberman said he now feels more connected to his workplace. \u201cBeing in the union makes me feel empowered as a worker. I appreciate that the new contract has clarified our wage structure, and I&#8217;ve found that going from ten to fifteen minute breaks makes a big difference.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The staff of Solid State Books&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ufcw400.org\/2023\/04\/11\/the-staff-of-solid-state-books-have-unionized\/\">unionized with UFCW Local 400 in 2023<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ufcw400.org\/2023\/07\/27\/solid-state-books-workers-ratify-first-union-contract\/\">ratified their first contract<\/a>&nbsp;a few months later. They were the second unionized bookstore in the District of Columbia to ratify a collective bargaining agreement, after&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ufcw400.org\/2022\/09\/06\/politics-and-prose-workers-ratify-first-union-contract\/\">Politics and Prose workers did so in 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>No artificial ingredients:\u00a0Book sellers Ruth Orundiarumo, Hector Castillo Abreu, Sophia Lipman, and Shop Steward Ben Lieberman strike a power pose after the ratification. Employees at Solid State Books in Washington, D.C., approved a strong three-year agreement earlier this summer. The contract that covers the seven&nbsp;UFCW Local 400&nbsp;members at the chain\u2019s H Street location&nbsp;includes specific wording [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":436,"featured_media":66253,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[369,638],"tags":[334],"class_list":["post-66249","victories","type-victories","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bargaining","category-booksellers","tag-ufcw-local-400"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Book Workers Ratify New Contract With Artificial Intelligence Protection Clause - The United Food &amp; Commercial Workers International Union<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Book Workers Ratify New Contract With Artificial Intelligence Protection Clause\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/actions\/victories\/book-workers-ratify-new-contract-with-artificial-intelligence-protection-clause\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Book Workers Ratify New Contract With Artificial Intelligence Protection Clause - The United Food &amp; 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