California Labor President Lorena Gonzalez Speaks in Rome as the Sole Voice for Workers in Global Discussion on AI and the Future of Work

Release Date: May 5, 2026

Media Contact: Shubhangi Domokos, [email protected]

California Labor President Lorena Gonzalez Speaks in Rome as the Sole Voice for Workers in Global Discussion on AI and the Future of Work

Embassies to the Holy See of the United States, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, and Australia Sponsor Global AI Conference with Tech Companies, AI Experts, and Catholic Church

ROME, ITALY - (Tuesday, May 5, 2026) - Today, Lorena Gonzalez, President of the California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO, made remarks in Rome, Italy, as the sole representative for workers at the "AI and Future of Work" conference sponsored by the United States, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, and Australia Embassies to the Holy See, Georgetown University, Catholic Institute of Technology, and Catholic University's Leonum Institute for AI & Emerging Tech.

"I'm proud to be representing the American Labor Movement, and the interests of working people everywhere, as part of this much needed global discussion on artificial intelligence and the future of work," said Lorena Gonzalez, President of the California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO and National Co-Chair of the AFL-CIO State Federations Taskforce on Artificial Intelligence. "If nations do not stand up to tech companies and fail to create strong guardrails around new technologies, it's workers - and our jobs, our cost of living, our livelihoods, our humanity - that will suffer the most. The stakes couldn't be higher."

As a California labor leader coming from the birthplace of Big Tech, President Gonzalez addressed conference participants which included tech company leaders, AI experts and economists, representatives of the Holy See and Catholic Church, and other foreign dignitaries at the Gregorian Pontifical University and at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See. Her full remarks are available here.

"Working people and our unions should be in the driver's seat when it comes to driving the discussion around how artificial intelligence impacts our jobs so technology actually benefits workers and makes us safer, instead of replacing us," President Gonzalez added. "We must center our collective values as part of these conversations - most of all, the values of dignity in work and original human thought, judgment, and connection."

President Gonzalez is representing the AFL-CIO at the conference, which is made up of 15 million working people in the United States, Canada, and territories including Puerto Rico and Guam. The AFL-CIO is also an affiliate of the International Trade Union Confederation, a worldwide union network that represents 207 million workers in 163 countries and territories.

The conference concludes on May 6 at the Vatican. In the fight to center workers in discussions around how artificial intelligence will impact our society, Pope Leo XIV has been a powerful voice, moral leader, and ally of working people all over the world.

"Human beings are called to be co-workers in the work of creation, not merely passive consumers of content generated by artificial technology. Our dignity lies in our ability to reflect, choose freely, love unconditionally and enter into authentic relationships with others," said Pope Leo XIVlast December.

His Holiness emphasizes the undeniable importance of dignity of work and has consistently warned of the dangers that unregulated new technologies pose to our society.

"The Church therefore calls all builders of AI to cultivate moral discernment as a fundamental part of their work - to develop systems that reflect justice, solidarity, and a genuine reverence for life," said Pope Leo XIV last November.

President Gonzalez's participation in an otherwise business and tech company-driven discussion highlights the absolute importance of including working people's voices in driving how AI policy is developed and how it shapes the world, our jobs, and the future of work.

The California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO has led the way in the United States as the national AFL-CIO andother state labor federations have made the fight against Big Tech and the campaign for common sense guardrails on artificial intelligence a top priority for 2026 and beyond. Earlier this year, the California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO introduced the most ambitious legislative package in the country on regulating Big Tech and employers' use of AI in the workplace.

The California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO's AI Principles released in 2023 can be seen here. The AFL-CIO's AI Principles released last year can be seen here.

For more information, or to set up an interview with Lorena Gonzalez to discuss her remarks at the global AI conference in Rome, please contact Shubhangi Domokos, [email protected].

The California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO represents over 1,300 affiliated unions in California with over 2.3 million union members in trucking, retail, hospitality, janitorial, construction, health care, local and state government, education, arts and entertainment, warehousing and logistics, manufacturing, and every other sector of the economy.

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