Smalls links labor organizing to international solidarity and warns AI threatens jobs

Chris Smalls said the labor movement's future depends on solidarity that extends beyond national borders, criticizing unions that he said speak up selectively and remain silent on Palestine. "If Chris Smalls don't get up and get on a flotilla to Gaza, what other labor leader in this country is gonna do it?" he asked, saying his international activism has led to cancellations and being banned from Israel.

He also warned about artificial intelligence displacing jobs and said unions must 'step up to the plate' to protect workers. "In the next few years, artificial intelligence is coming for everybody's job," Smalls said, urging organizers to create new unions where necessary and to hold established unions accountable for defending workers' interests.