BOSSWARE COMES TO CALIFORNIA

Earlier this month, impacted workers, labor and community advocates from across California—joined by L.A. City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez—gathered at Los Angeles City Hall to release a new report and call on local leaders statewide to build on the California Federation of Labor Unions’ recent victories, get ahead of the AI tech rollout, and protect workers, the community, and our economy. 

The report, Bossware Comes to California: The Impact of New Management Technologies on Workers and the Need for Policy Regulation, draws on a large body of existing social science and legal research, as well as 25 in-depth interviews with California workers in industries including hospitality, health care, warehousing, sanitation, transportation, security and janitorial services, delivery, and software engineering. 

The evidence makes clear that the risks of unchecked bossware are not merely speculative; they are already reshaping working conditions, undercutting established labor protections, and shifting power toward employers—often without workers’ knowledge or consent.