How the Pennsylvania government and a major union agreed to AI protections for state employees

In March 2025, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro published a letter outlining commitments regarding AI, including eight AI protections and provisions for state employees, most of whom serve in positions represented by unions. Simultaneously, the Governor’s Office of Administration negotiated a binding “side letter” agreement with SEIU Local 668 (available as an Annex on p. 15 of the Case Study), which represents nearly 10,000 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania employees. The letter formally establishes a Generative AI Labor and Management Collaboration Group and offers further key AI protections for workers.

To understand how durable AI labor agreements like this one get made, from both union and employer perspectives, PAI spoke with leadership on both sides of the table, including officials from the Pennsylvania Office of Administration and the president of SEIU Local 668.

• Key Insight No. 1: Build on established labor-management trust to make AI negotiations more productive — and use AI negotiations to deepen that trust.
• Key Insight No. 2: Involve workers as experts to produce AI policies that improve outcomes for both employees and the organization.
• Key Insight No. 3: Defining AI as a tool, not a replacement, establishes a foundation for addressing risks of worker displacement while enabling organizational innovation.
• Key Insight No. 4: Ongoing labor-management collaboration helps AI governance adapt as technology evolves.

We also uncovered additional insights based on the unique perspectives of leaders from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and SEIU Local 668:

• Key Insight No. 5: (from Commonwealth of Pennsylvania leaders): Include workers from the start to make AI-supported services accessible and efficient.
• Key Insight No. 6: (from SEIU Local 668): Engage proactively when AI is introduced, even if unions have not been invited to the table.
• Key Insight No. 7: (from SEIU Local 668): Seek broad, high-level agreements to protect a wider range of workers, and use “patterning” or “impact bargaining” to extend protections across unions.

Download the full case study to explore what Pennsylvania and SEIU Local 668 got right, and what it means for the future of AI governance in the public sector.