Even more pushback over self-driving vehicles has come from union representatives. As Congress considers the bills, the Teamsters have lobbied for a cautious approach, pushing for more deliberation, fewer changes to the current vehicular regulations, and, ultimately, for slower adoption of self-driving vehicles. Raising concerns about workplace safety and job losses, they successfully pushed the House to exclude large commercial vehicles from its bill. The 1.4 million member union includes 600,000 people whose job takes place behind a wheel.

To better understand the Teamsters’ position on the evolving legislation and discuss how the union is preparing for a more automated future, Pacific Standard spoke to Sam Loesche and Kara Deniz, respectively the Teamsters’ legislative representative and spokesperson.
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