What will we celebrate on Labor Day in 2050?

Op Ed By Haney Hong

What will we celebrate on Labor Day in 2050?  Or Labor Day in 2100? I, for one, hope we will have figured out by then the role of human labor vis-à-vis machines and avoid the dystopia of science fiction hits like Terminator, Battlestar Galactica, and the Matrix!

To answer these questions, we have to start with what we honor today.  And then we consider some of the big changes before us and ask this: how will the everyday American laborer make a buck in the future?

According to the website of the US Department of Labor, this holiday is about the American worker and his or her social and economic achievements.  We recognize the labor movement and reflect on its successes for the American worker.  

And we all owe a debt of gratitude to organized labor.  I wouldn’t take the holiday if I felt otherwise.

This might sound funny coming from me as the chief executive of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association.  One, I’m often wary of the influence of public employee unions. I share Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s perspective that public employees have a responsibility to the citizenry first. 

To reiterate with case-in-point – and in an attempt to inspire civil dialogue and not harassment -- I understand why as a Navy Reservist that we in the military are prohibited by law from organizing for purposes of collective bargaining.  When our public leaders say we have to go to war, we go to war -- no questions asked. That’s how civilian control of the military works. Anything other would be constant fear of the military not being willing and able when the Nation calls.

There’s a second reason why my being grateful for organized labor may sound funny.  In today’s world of identity politics, our evolutionary “us versus them” tendency is on high alert.  And as the head of a taxpayer watchdog, I’m often binned with business interests as against labor, even when that is not the case.  

So you’re wondering why I’m grateful for organized labor.  Well, let’s take this moment of cognitive dissonance to really reflect.  We owe organized labor our thanks because through the 20th century, they successfully fought against the forces of exploitation.  We don’t have in our country today little kids toiling away for twelve hours straight without bathroom breaks in hot factories.  Women and men are able to live healthy, productive lives and raise families without living in chronic poverty. You don’t have to have a college education now to live a middle-class life.  Organized labor was a big part of this, and my friends in the business community should honor that -- especially if they take the holiday, too.

But let’s not confuse my gratitude as suggesting that labor sits on its laurels and continue the old familiar fights.  Continuing this stream of surprising consciousness, let’s ask ourselves what this holiday will mean in 2050 or in 2100 in the context of machine learning, automation, and robotics.  What will we celebrate about the labor movement going forward?

Technology is increasingly taking the economically productive role that man or woman has traditionally had in the factory or any other business activity requiring consistent quality.  Organized labor advocated for the worker and defended that productive role in the 20th century.  But when many can picture big robot arms making cars and bottling beer, will organized labor fight for the productive role of machines?  Think about fast food joints and coffee houses. Automation is creeping its way into the workplace. Even medical doctors are on notice right now, as some research shows machines better diagnose our ailments than human beings with years of training and multiple board certifications.  Will labor fight for algorithms when there are fewer human beings doing the work? Seems silly.

Yuval Noah Harari, probably one of the most talked about historians of late, would likely share my thanks to organized labor on beating the forces of exploitation in the 20th century.  He also points out though that there’s something even more insidious in the 21st: the forces of irrelevancy.  The question is this: what does organized labor do when there will be literally fewer workers for whom to advocate?

Now I’m not a member of a union, and I’ve never really fought alongside organized labor.  So far be it for me to offer answers to these questions. I defer to the leaders of today’s labor movement.

But as the taxpayer guy, I do want to talk about labor’s answers, and these are questions that we as a country need to face with eyes wide open.  There are huge public implications about these much-bigger-than-you-and-me economic forces.  

And let’s talk about the role of the future American laborer: how will he or she make a buck when there are robots, algorithms, and other machines hanging out with us in the breakroom?