Friend or Foe?
Unions Agree That Tech in Construction Should Focus on Helping Workers. The Dangers Lie in How It Could Be Abused by Employers.
A member of Roofers and Waterproofers Local 40 works on St. Dominic’s Catholic Church. The photo was taken by a drone owned by Local 40 and is an example of how new technology can be useful for the trades. | Photo Courtesy Local 40
After Engineering News-Record Future Tech 2025 — a national conference about technology in construction — took place last month in San Francisco, a number of leaders from trade unions working in the City said they’re concerned that tech innovators and general contractors aren’t involving unions in enough conversations about how new tech will impact the trades. Unions are interested in exploring how recently developed devices, software, and practices will encourage worker retention, increase safety, and reduce the number and difficulty level of time-intensive tasks.
“I support anything that’s going to make our jobs safer and more efficient,” said Rudy Gonzalez, secretary–treasurer of the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council. “Yet there’s a tension point — we know that technology developers and general contractors want to save money. If that means eliminating workers, we need to discuss that at the bargaining table.”
Peter Lang, business manager for Roofers and Waterproofers Local 40, agrees with Gonzalez. He said that tech is always pitched to the construction industry as progress, but he doubts that proposition.
“Progress for who?” Lang asked. “Any technology that reduces the amount of labor and hours for a job shrinks the crew.”
At the same time, certain devices — drones, for instance — have proved valuable to unions.
“It’s dangerous to work high up,” Lang said. “Drones allow us to see what’s going on via aerial videos and photos without putting people at risk. We also use drones for compliance. We keep up with who’s on the job, locate supplies and areas of concern, and are able to promote the quality of our work.”
New tech becomes a concern when an employer takes the position that payroll is the only cost that can be controlled, said John Doherty, IBEW Local 6 business manager and financial secretary and SF Building Trades Council vice-president.
“I often hear general contractors and tech developers want to create tools that will save a few seconds on a task,” Doherty said. “They see all of those seconds adding up over time and saving them thousands. None of this costs any more in wages and benefits.”
Union members already know that devices like wearable sensors to track human movements are being abused.
“At one site, an employer asked workers to wear an Apple watch to track their steps,” Doherty said. “It looked as if he was trying to see whether workers were wasting time moving around the jobsite. Workers said no. Our union had to remind him that you can’t force this on workers.”
Unions are particularly wary of devices that strip workers of privacy. They want to prevent employers from collecting and sharing sensitive information such as conversations between coworkers.
“That’s why we want to be in on the discussion. We want to take a look at the tech, see what the [general contractor’s] intent is, understand how it would be used, and get a taste of it,” Doherty said. “This should all happen before we agree to it or it appears on a worksite.”
Unique Potential for San Francisco Unions
Being one of the most tech-friendly and tech-aware spots in the world, San Francisco presents a number of opportunities for unions, general contractors, and tech innovators to accomplish more with tech than in many other locations.
Unions, general contractors, and even government agencies in the City are more aware of trends in tech and new tech tools than their counterparts elsewhere. They can be less hesitant to adopt them and more familiar with who created them, as well as better understanding of the reasons why innovators developed them.
This means the City’s unions are uniquely positioned to test and share the advantages of tech for construction. It also gives them chances to A/B test things and explain how tech actually works in practice — and how it needs to be improved to better serve its clients.
Unions can formally communicate this information to receptive and interested audiences in the media, the City, and the tech business community. They can also share it informally with friends, family, and colleagues in the tech sector.
In addition, San Francisco is home to a wide array of construction, renovation, and retrofitting projects for which tech is useful. This includes accounting, planning, visualization, and monitoring for work on historic and older structures throughout the City.
Tech is also helpful to design and improve tall and creative projects on the City’s southern waterfront. Some of these need to be planned carefully and optimized for cost because the upper layers of soil consist of unstable fill from the 1906 earthquake. Others need to be built with the understanding that sea level rise will affect the area. Since San Francisco experiences earthquakes, tech that charts safety in framework and incomplete structures could also reduce the number and severity of injuries during these events.
San Francisco sees a high rate of property theft and vandalism. Technological devices and practices associated with them have the potential to help unions reduce incidents of theft, trespassing, vandalism, and littering on and near job sites, including areas where workers park their vehicles.
“Certain parts of town like the Tenderloin are very tough,” Doherty said. “We have so many break-ins and nearby hazards. People set fires, leave used needles, and defecate right on or right next to the fence. We’ve seen union members’ tools stolen and building materials taken from inside locked gates.”
The Bay Area Roofing and Waterproofing Joint Apprenticeship Program trains members to use tools like SketchUp to read 3D blueprints and lay out tapered insulation systems for better water drainage. | Screenshot via YouTube @rwprogram
Another issue in the City — and nationwide — is the aging and shrinking workforce of the construction trades. Lang said tech can help by tracking generational turnover and highlighting where targeted recruitment is most needed.
“That’s something we and our International are paying close attention to,” Lang said.
He added that Local 40 members are interested in tech that supports ergonomic safety and extends members’ longevity on the job.
“While some innovations like exoskeletons show promise in lifting, they can be bulky and less practical in our line of work, where we’re often on steep slopes, in tight spaces, or below grade,” Lang said.
Locals are also interested in apps that deliver educational training for the trades.
“Many union guys are old-school — their kids and grandkids show them how to use apps,” Lang said. “That’s why we’ve started incorporating platforms like Autodesk Construction and Procore into our leadership programs at the apprenticeship level, and we offer upgrade classes for journeymen, too.”
Apps and devices can help workers navigate the City’s complex urban landscape. San Francisco is filled with Wi-Fi dead zones, from main roads like Market Street to remote areas in the high hills. Tech that increases internet connectivity is welcome. So are apps and devices that help trades workers avoid hazards such as overhead power lines and blind spots.
“This is in the interest of unions and general contractors,” Doherty said. “The GCs see lower insurance rates if there are fewer accidents on a jobsite.”
Tech like improved headset communication devices also proves useful to unions. Such tools can lower the level and amount of noise on jobsites. The relative quiet is welcomed by workers who want to focus on their tasks as well as neighborhood residents and businesses. More silence or lower levels of noise work and relationships with everyone from pedestrians to pop-up vendors who gather, live, work, or play near active jobsites.
Topics and Companies at the Conference
ENR Future Tech 2025 featured a multitude of tech sponsors offering a diverse array of products and services. These ranged from software programs like Procore, an app to manage the logistical details and financial aspects of construction projects, to Tough Leaf, an app to find and work with subcontractors. Also present was AlignOps, which develops software to locate smart tools on a jobsite, and ConstructivIQ, a developer that makes AI-driven software to lower project costs and risks.
Companies that make devices, such as Dusty Robotics, were on hand. This business uses a small mobile robot called FieldPrinter to map a construction site floor. The device then prints digital models of the site. Another hardware and software company present was Perry Weather, which develops software and weather stations to monitor real-time lightning strikes, wind speeds, and temperatures.
Local data-capture companies were in attendance as well. Remote Optix, a San Bruno-based software and professional services company, uses drones to map construction jobsites. Also present were San Francisco-based engineering and design firms such as Stantec, as well as general contractors like Nibbi Brothers.
Local unions didn’t have a significant presence at the conference, yet there were companies present whose reps expressed interest in talking to union trades members.
One of them was Gabe Rodriguez, founder and CEO of San Francisco-based Puppet Robotics, who said he hoped to soon talk with union members who work at heights.
“I am building a pair of remotely controlled robotic arms to assist workers on scaffolding, on lifts, and at the top of booms,” Rodriguez said. “The goal is for the person who’s operating the arms to feel what the arms feel and do certain tasks with less risk.”
Right now, Rodriguez’s device consists of a backpack rig equipped with a set of open-source 3D-printed robotic arms to be worn by a worker and simulation software that recreates the remotely controlled arms and jobsite. The worker wearing the rig could stay on the ground and remotely control what the arms are doing at heights.
Rodriguez hopes to build a usable pilot of the arms and trial it in the Bay Area by the end of 2025.
“I want to hear what union workers could use the arms to accomplish,” he said. “The hardest thing right now is to develop very fine motor skills and grasping dexterity. For example, it’s difficult for a robot arm’s ‘fingers’ to screw in a nut. Any time there’s a tool involved, like a drill, a welding iron, or a saw, it becomes easier for the robot arm to do the job.”
AI is likely to help advance the device. This is because algorithms in the software can learn from watching a worker perform a task.
Still, there’s no immediate substitute for the hands-on skill, experience, and precision that Local 40’s members bring to jobs like the re-roofing of St. Dominic’s Catholic Church, a historic Gothic-style building from 1928 in Lower Pacific Heights. This building is roofed in traditional slate.
Restoration means carefully handling the slate shingles, the deck, and the fasteners. The fasteners attach the shingles to the deck. When the work is done right, the roof can remain water-tight for decades so long as the shingles don’t suffer damage.
“Roofing and waterproofing are trades shaped by generations of craftsmanship,” Lang said. “The kind of work we do, often on steep slopes, in difficult conditions, and at dangerous heights, takes experience and care. A project like this reminds people just how important skilled labor still is.”
There are already links between some San Francisco locals and tech developers. Operating Engineers Local 3 (OE 3), which consists primarily of heavy-equipment operators, is currently working collaboratively with Built Robotics. The San Francisco-based company develops software and hardware that automates AI-powered construction equipment to install solar energy farms. OE 3’s members review and refine designs for machines like excavators and pile drivers.
At the conference, presenters and attendees talked at booths, had discussions over lunch, and enjoyed lively exchanges in Q-and-A sessions. They discussed topics ranging from tech wearables like sensors to digital twins, defined as virtual representations of tools and locations like jobsites.
San Francisco-based Puppet Robotics is currently developing remotely controlled robotic arms and a device to assist with height work. | Images courtesy Puppet Robotics
SF Building Trades Council Secretary–Treasurer Gonzalez said that San Francisco locals should embrace tech in order to become the most productive and competitive labor force possible.
“Working with developers effectively means unions position themselves to become the best-trained human operators of particular pieces of equipment,” he said.
“What really concerns me is the possible abuse of tech in non-union workplaces. I could see that being used for everything from surveillance of workers to unlawful ways to restrict workers.” This explains why Gonzalez declared that the SF Building Trades Council supports a new piece of legislation, California Senate Bill 7, the “No Robo-Bosses Act.” The bill was authored by California State Senator Jerry McNerney (D–Pleasanton). It would prohibit the use of automated decision systems involving code like AI algorithms to hire, fire, and discipline workers. The California Federation of Labor Unions is the lead sponsor of SB 7.
At the moment, it might seem rather far off in the future until we see a device such as a smart tool and paired software counting the number of nails a laborer spoils, for instance.
“Yet some employers have already tried to tie factors like the number of steps a worker walks to healthcare premiums,” Gonzalez said. “That’s why we have to come out in front on issues like this. We want to make sure no workers are expendable and that everyone has a voice.”