On May Day, Democratic Gubernatorial Frontrunner Francesca Hong Releases “Labor SHIFT” Policy to Protect Workers in the AI Age
New plan adds to Hong's CONTROL-ALT-DELETE framework for regulating AI data centers and positions Wisconsin to lead on AI policy while Washington stalls.
MADISON, Wis. — Democratic gubernatorial frontrunner Francesca Hong today released a new policy called “Labor SHIFT: Workers First in the AI Age,” a four-pillar framework that gives Wisconsin workers control over how artificial intelligence shapes their jobs, their wages, and their futures.
“Bosses and corporations are barreling ahead with AI adoption, but our labor laws were shaped by the 20th century,” Hong said. “We need new, forward-looking labor policy that builds upon what already works to meet the moment and ensure that workers, not algorithms, decide the future of work in Wisconsin.”
The plan is built on four pillars, all within state authority:
- No Robo Bosses: A human must be involved in every hiring, firing, and promotion decision. Workers gain the right to know when AI is being used and how. Off-the-clock surveillance and algorithmic wage-setting are banned.
- No Layoffs on the Public Dime: If companies take state tax credits and use AI to lay off Wisconsin workers, they must create equal or better Wisconsin jobs to keep the deal. Public dollars come with public obligations.
- Workers at the Table: AI surveillance, scheduling, and wage-setting tools become mandatory subjects of collective bargaining. The state stands ready to step in when federal labor enforcement falls short.
- Control the Future of Work: Unemployment insurance is extended for workers displaced by AI. Retraining and education are funded for workers in transition.
The name Labor SHIFT reflects the shift already underway in the American workforce, and signals the next keystroke in Hong’s AI regulatory framework, launched last December with CONTROL-ALT-DELETE — her policy calling for a moratorium on AI data center construction until Wisconsin communities are protected from the environmental, energy, and ratepayer costs.
Employers cited AI in nearly 28,000 announced job cuts in the first quarter of 2026 alone — more than double the same period last year. Companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Block, and Oracle have explicitly tied their layoffs to AI deployment. The disruption is no longer confined to tech: finance, consulting, logistics, retail, and manufacturing have all reported AI-driven layoffs in 2026.
“Whatever the pace of AI adoption, and to whatever extent it meaningfully remakes the workforce here in Wisconsin, the abuses these tools enable are happening now and need to be addressed now,” Hong said.
No other candidate in the Wisconsin governor’s race has released a comparable plan addressing AI’s impact on labor. States like Illinois have begun regulating AI in employment decisions through laws like the Illinois Human Rights Act, and other states are introducing piecemeal legislation. But no state has yet assembled a comprehensive framework covering surveillance, layoffs, collective bargaining, and worker transition together. Labor SHIFT is intended to put Wisconsin in a leading position on protecting workers in the AI era.
“Wisconsin workers fought and bled for the 8-hour workday. We invented unemployment insurance. We’ve spent 140 years showing the country how to put workers ahead of corporations,” Hong said. “Now AI is being used to take it all back: to fire workers, surveil them, set their wages by the algorithm, and replace them with software trained on their own labor. The bosses have new tools. Workers need new protections.”
The full plan is available at francescahong.com/labor-shift.
Francesca Hong for Wisconsin
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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