The Teamsters of California is calling for the suspension of Waymo\u2019s operations in the state amid growing safety and job security concerns. <\/p>\n
The union, which has 250,000 members across dozens of industries, called on the California Public Utilities Commission on Monday to indefinitely suspend the driverless car company\u2019s license to operate. The demand comes less than two weeks after a Waymo self-driving taxi struck a child near a Santa Monica elementary school, triggering a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation. <\/p>\n
In a statement, Teamsters California co-chairs Peter Finn and Victor Mineros called the incident a \u201chorrifying wake-up call for California policymakers who have repeatedly ignored the growing list of red flags concerning robotaxis.\u201d<\/p>\n
The child, who ran out from behind a large SUV to cross the street, wasn\u2019t injured in the collision. The Waymo had been traveling at 17 miles per hour before the child appeared and reduced its speed to 6 miles per hour before contact was made. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are committed to improving road safety, both for our riders and all those with whom we share the road,\u201d Waymo said in a statement last week about the accident. \u201cOur peer-reviewed model<\/a> shows that a fully attentive human driver in this same situation would have made contact with the pedestrian at approximately 14 mph.\u201d<\/p>\n Waymo has been the subject of previous NHTSA investigations<\/a> and recalls<\/a> following collisions. In December, motionless Waymo vehicles clogged San Francisco streets after a power outage. <\/p>\n \u201cImagine a scenario where more and more of these vehicles are on the street and there\u2019s an earthquake,\u201d said Finn of Teamsters California in an interview. \u201cThere\u2019s people trying to evacuate, there\u2019s emergency response, and these things can\u2019t move at all.\u201d<\/p>\n Waymo also poses a threat to Californians who depend on driving jobs for their livelihood, Finn said. As the race to master autonomous vehicle technology heats up<\/a>, the union is concerned that companies will eliminate human jobs to lower labor costs. <\/p>\n A statewide poll conducted last year by Teamsters California found that more than 80% of respondents were concerned about the impact of AI and automation on job availability. <\/p>\n \u201cThis incident is emblematic of the broader goal Big Tech companies have to replace skilled human labor with AI … and force our communities to reckon with the fallout of automation\u2019s shortcomings,\u201d the Teamsters\u2019 statement said. <\/p>\n