Teamsters rally in Boston to boost scholarship fund to fight AI threat

The head of the 1.3 million union delivered his warning this weekend at the scholarship fund-raiser in the Seaport.

“With the threat of AI and automation some of those jobs everybody is going to school for can be replaced by AI and we have to make sure there are still peoole who can swing a hammer, wire a house, drive a truck that’s what we’re focused on,” O’Brien said at the packed event.

He’s urging his union members to keep pumping up the scholarship fund for the children of Teamsters members to have at the ready to send them to college or vocational school to prepare for the next generation of jobs.

The keys, he said, are identifying what is sustainable, what has a future, and what is a career path.

The Teamsters Scholarship Fund has given away more than $14.5 million — including $1.2 million handed out last year through 600 one-time scholarships for students attending a four-year college or university, or a community college, trade school, or vocational school.

“There’s a lot of opportunity out there,” he said before addressing the membership Saturday night, “but we have to be prepared. because this next onslaught of AI will see some white-collar jobs like accountants, lawyers, doctors completely get wiped out.”

Those workers, he said, will need to retool and possibly join a union.

“We have to be razor-sharp focused,” O’Brien said, adding jobs create a “strong middle-class” and in turn a strong U.S. economy.

U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan (D-3rd), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, spoke about her dad being a longtime Ironworkers’ union member who taught her before he died last year to “make the most of every chance given” — and to always have the back of a fellow member.

“Watch your family and grind,” she added, praising the union buddies who helped her family right up until her father’s funeral. “We need far more of those folks in this country.”

That was the overriding theme of the night from O’Brien to scholarship recipients who said a strong work ethic can overcome any obstacle.

“Failure is not an option,” O’Brien added as he announced the event had raised another $3 million for the scholarship fund. He also stressed the union does not accept any donations from employers to send a signal that the Teamsters take care of their own and to “empower the new generation.”

Cape Cod Potato Chips

O’Brien also said the loss of another business in Massachusetts, with the announcement that Cape Cod Potato Chips will no longer be made in Hyannis come this spring, erodes the state economy.

“We must do whatever we can to keep businesses here,” the Boston native said. “We’ve got to protect jobs, industries and especially developers.”

As reported, Cape Cod chip parent company Campbell’s, the soup maker, announced that it will be shutting down its Hyannis facility in April and moving production to facilities in North Carolina, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. The closure of the facility is also resulting in the elimination of 49 jobs after over 40 years of operations on Cape Cod.