09/30/2026
ACROSS THE LOCAL
AI AND THE FUTURE OF PRINT: PROTECTING THE HUMAN HAND BEHIND THE WORK
Artificial intelligence is changing the workplace at a remarkable pace, and few areas may feel that change more directly than the printing and graphic-design industries.
For years, skilled graphic designers have taken an idea and turned it into something ready for the press. They understand layout, typography, color, resolution, branding, prepress requirements, and—most importantly—the customer.
Today, generative AI can produce logos, illustrations, advertisements, layouts, and other graphics in seconds.
That may sound like progress.
But for union members working in print, we need to ask an important question:
Will AI be used as a tool to help skilled workers—or as a way to replace them?
That question is no longer hypothetical.
A September 2026 report from The Guardian described graphic designers increasingly being asked to repair AI-generated logos, packaging, and other material. Data cited in the report showed job listings involving correction of AI errors climbing sharply, while earlier research found declines in freelance work exposed to automation after generative-AI tools entered the market.
Within the commercial-printing community, printers are also reporting another problem: AI-generated artwork may look impressive on a computer screen but arrive at the print shop at low resolution or otherwise unusable for professional production. The skilled worker who was supposedly no longer needed suddenly becomes the person required to make the file actually work.
But we cannot assume that will always protect the job.
As AI improves, employers may see an opportunity to reduce staffing, combine classifications, outsource creative work, or turn a skilled graphic-design position into someone simply correcting what a machine produces.
That is why this issue belongs at the bargaining table.
And other union print workers are already taking it there.
SEIU Local 1000's Printing Trades Unit 14 has made protecting graphic designers from generative AI and image-generation tools one of its bargaining priorities.
Within our own union, CWA has developed an AI Bargaining Toolkit and is encouraging locals and bargaining units to negotiate enforceable protections governing how AI is introduced and used.
We've already seen what strong language can accomplish.
CWA members have won protections that address layoffs and salary reductions caused by generative AI, require advance notice of proposed AI use, provide human oversight, and give workers a voice in how these technologies enter their workplaces.
That is where our strength as union members matters.
We cannot simply depend on an employer saying:
“Don't worry. AI isn't going to replace anyone.”
If protecting our jobs matters, put it in writing.
If AI is going to be introduced, bargain over it.
If AI increases productivity, workers should share in those benefits.
If technology changes a classification, the union should have a voice in that change.
And if AI is capable of performing bargaining-unit work, our contracts need protections against using it to eliminate the people who currently perform that work.
This isn't about being afraid of technology.
The printing industry has always changed with technology—from movable type to offset printing, from paste-up to desktop publishing, and from film to computer-to-plate.
Our members adapted every time.
AI can be another tool.
But there is a tremendous difference between giving a graphic designer a better tool and deciding that the tool means we no longer need the graphic designer.
That line needs to be drawn before the jobs disappear—not afterward.
As CWA members, our greatest protection isn't hoping corporations will use AI responsibly.
It's having a strong union contract that requires them to.
Technology will continue to change.
Our contracts must change with it.
AI should assist the worker—not replace the worker.
Stay informed. Stay involved. Stay united.
