Within Uber-Waymo split, a key labor battle over AVs is being waged in the nation's capital

In pushing back against mass autonomous vehicle deployment efforts, labor unions have found an unlikely ally — Uber.

A controversial bill currently being considered by the Washington, D.C. Council is a prime example of where this emerging political alliance is being tested.

The D.C. bill, known as the "Autonomous Vehicle Deployment Authorization Amendment Act," would allow widespread use of autonomous vehicles to transport passengers and goods in the District. This proposed change has been subject to immense scrutiny from organized labor due to growing concerns surrounding the effects of autonomous-driving technologies on wages and overall job opportunities for drivers. Concerns among Americans about safety have also contributed to pushback against AV rollouts across the U.S.

The economic issues are especially acute in Washington, D.C., where an estimated 35,000 people have found work as gig work drivers, making up around 9% of its labor force based on the most recent available data, though much of the work is part-time. At a time when the D.C. metro area has lost over 100,000 jobs in the span of a year, largely due to federal job cuts, autonomous taxis have become a red-hot point of division. 

"I cannot understand why, when D.C. is in the middle of an unemployment crisis, the council is considering bringing Waymo, a company that will put thousands of drivers like myself out of work and devastate the local economy," said Crystal Middleton, a part-time rideshare driver and member of 32BJ SEIU, at a mid-July public comment session for the legislation.

"Robotaxis also don't pay taxes. They don't raise families here. They don't vote. They don't make judgment calls when someone is in trouble. This isn't just a public safety issue. It's all about profit, profits that won't get reinvested into the district, but instead go straight to Silicon Valley," she added.

From labor villain to ally

Uber, historically, has been a major supporter of the expansion of AV technology for its business interests, and some of its recent comments regarding the D.C. issue seem to line up with its long-held views. 

"AVs have the potential to make our roads safer, accelerate electrification, expand access to transportation, and lower costs," stated Harry Hatfield, director of AV and AI policy at Uber, in prepared testimony at a mid-July public comment session. "We support the extension of autonomous vehicles, and we appreciate the council's willingness to engage on this issue."

The San Francisco-based rideshare giant has placed itself on the frontlines of this emerging technology, with a pronounced focus on its own AV capabilities throughout the past year. Uber Autonomous Solutions, founded this past February, was created to help bring autonomous platforms to market, including training data, enriched mapping, and enhanced navigation technology. The company also set aside $7.5 billion for robotaxi fleet development over the years to come, according to the Financial Times, and an additional $2.5 billion designated for equity investments in other AV developers, such as WeRide and Nuro. 

And yet, $10 billion in capital expenditures notwithstanding, Uber has lined up squarely on the unions' side in the D.C. bill debate. 

"The future of transportation is not a binary choice between human drivers and autonomous vehicles," Hatfield said in his testimony. "It will be hybrid, [with] human drivers and autonomous vehicles operating side by side, each filling different needs and making the overall transportation system more resilient. ... The bill largely ignores the workforce transition," he continued. "Workforce disruption is not a reason to stop innovation, but we should be honest about the trade-offs."

He cited studies from San Francisco and Los Angeles, where drivers compete with AV-only fleets, and driver utilization and earnings declined last year. "One AV in California now performs the work of roughly four drivers," Hatfield said.

These California-based AV expansions and their aftereffects were also stressed by union leaders and members throughout the D.C. hearing. Many, however, argued that, when it came to cities across the country, Uber was the new-age disruptor of economic activity, displacing cab drivers as operations scaled.

"I was here when Uber came into the marketplace. If we were to pretend we didn't see a loss of earnings for taxi cab drivers, we wouldn't be honest," said Charles Allen, the D.C. Councilmember sponsoring the AV bill. "At the end of the day, it's a net benefit to my transportation choices in the city. But I can't say I didn't see people who had earned a living as a taxi driver see their income diminished," he added.

Across U.S., bills pit rideshare drivers vs. robotaxis

The D.C. bill isn't the only instance in which this Uber-union alliance has been seen. In New Jersey, Uber lobbyists have circulated legislation that would require human drivers to carry out 85% of all rideshare work on all platforms offering robotaxi services over the next three years. If enacted, legislation of this kind would fundamentally alter the business model of companies like Waymo, giving them no choice but to turn to human drivers in order to stay afloat in local markets. 

It is striking for Uber to be siding with organized labor in a major employment-focused debate based on recent history. The company's clashes with unions date back years, with battles over employment status, arbitration proceedings, working conditions, and more rendering it a marquee villain in the eyes of labor advocates. 

Perhaps the most prevalent example of this was California's Proposition 22 in 2020. Following the enactment of statewide legislation that would have classified app-based drivers as employees rather than independent contractors, Uber spent over $59 million — the single largest donation on either side — lobbying for Prop. 22, a ballot measure that sought to overturn the statute. On election day, Golden State voters overwhelmingly backed the repeal. 

That win did not sit well with labor leaders throughout the country, who had hoped to expand upon their already-vast California union ranks through organizing rideshare drivers. 

"It is dishonest and disrespectful that these multibillion-dollar corporations are denying workers much-needed benefits so they can skip out on taxes and make workers and taxpayers foot their bill," said Teamsters President Sean O'Brien in a statement ripping Uber by name once the approved measure cleared its final legal hurdles. "Prop. 22 is an obvious example of how Big Tech companies will spare no expense … to bleed working people dry to pad their own profits." 

But a few things have changed.

Waymo is exploring options to end its partnership with Uber, a partnership that has allowed Waymo to offer rideshare trips under the Uber platform as far back as 2023. The FT recently reported on a "souring" relationship between the two. Deals for Austin and Atlanta, specifically, are slated to end in 2028, according to CNBC reporting. In addition, Uber sees its efforts as something of a last line of defense against total Waymo monopolization of local rideshare markets. 

"We are responding to misguided legislation that had NO path of succeeding and would have resulted in NO AVs," said Uber CFO Balaji Krishnamurthy in an X post replying to a critique of Uber's strategy. "In NJ, the bill under consideration before Uber's advocacy would have banned BOTH Tesla and Zoox. In DC, it would have banned hybrid networks ENTIRELY."

For Uber, being able to preserve a hybrid rideshare network structure through rigid enforcement is essential, something stressed by Hatfield at the D.C. hearing. A mandatory hybrid structure, Uber argues, is the only practical, reasonable way to transition towards greater AV incorporation. Without these strict guardrails, it claims, driver-operated vehicles would be phased out entirely, almost immediately. 

Waymo sees the situation differently. Its public comments argue that the D.C. legislation, and similar legislation in other parts of the country, would not have restricted hybrid networks. Additionally, it does not believe that there should be any external constraints imposed on which type of market – hybrid or not – exists in a given place. In Waymo's view, that should be entirely up to the riders. But a Waymo spokesperson told TechCrunch, "We would welcome changes clarifying that different types of networks can operate in the District."

Waymo remains optimistic about its expansion prospects, particularly in D.C. "We look forward to working collaboratively with this committee, the Department of Transportation, and local stakeholders to build a safer, more equitable transit ecosystem," Matthew Walsh, Waymo's regional head of state and local public policy for U.S. East, said in an email statement to CNBC. 

In terms of employment effects, the Alphabet subsidiary has held firm that it has no plans to shy away from investing in the D.C. area, including in the job market. Earlier this month, Waymo told Axios that it planned on hiring hundreds of new employees in D.C. if the city council were to approve the bill. 

Despite being on the same side of the current debate, the goals of Uber and the labor movement are distinct, and unions have not welcomed Uber with open arms. Unions have largely ignored the warring tech factions, focusing their pitch solely around ground-level effects, and they're not buying into Waymo's assurances. 

"Expansion of AVs in the DC region will cause hundreds, if not thousands, of workers to lose their job[s], and these additional single-occupancy vehicles will further worsen congestion issues," a spokesperson for ATU Local 689 told CNBC. "Individual rideshare AVs could lead to autonomous heavy freight trucks, school buses, or public buses, which the Union believes are fundamentally dangerous."