The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that major unions are trying to codify language around artificial intelligence and layoffs into collective agreements, a push that is facing resistance from employers, who see the technology as integral to transforming their work forces. The Globe's Vanmala Subramaniam writes that a number of federal public sector unions currently negotiating new contracts have proposed specific changes to existing collective agreements that state AI should not be used as a justification by management to reduce staffing. Such clauses have become a subject of much contention. "Our collective agreements have not kept pace with technology, so we are pushing to change that, but it's an uphill battle," said Sean O'Reilly at the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada. PIPSC is negotiating a new agreement with the government on behalf of 20,000 information technology professionals across the federal public service. A recent agreement concluded by Unifor on behalf of 3,000 Bell Canada clerical workers included a clause related to setting up a joint committee to "oversee the impact of AI on the workplace," but the agreement fell short of including language around AI and layoffs.