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.

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.

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.