Coalition of unions, councilors fight against driverless cars in Boston

BOSTON — A coalition of union workers rallied for a proposed ordinance by city councilors, pushing back on self-driving cars in Boston.

The coalition, known as the Labor United Against Waymo, rallied at city hall plaza Tuesday afternoon alongside councilors Erin Murphy and Henry Santana.

The two councilors are sponsoring the ordinance that, the union says, “initiates a public study on the potential negative impacts of driverless vehicles on Boston’s jobs and economy.”

It would also create an advisory board to oversee the study of Waymo and other driverless ride technologies.

“Boston refuses to be a testing ground for robo-taxis in winter conditions,” said councilor Santana at Tuesday’s rally to hundreds in the crowd.

Councilor Murphy added afterwards, “We’ll continue to fight for the workers.”

Inside, dozens of union drivers flooded city council chambers for a hearing.

Union leaders spoke in front of the council sighting health, safety, economic concerns and more over the new technology.

Steve South of Local Teamster 25 said to the city council, “If these executives can eliminate them, they can make more billions, and maybe trillions for them, their shareholders, and their executives in big tech.”

Several communities advocating for people with disabilities also spoke at the hearing Tuesday. They claim the “robo-taxis” could give them new independence.

Carl Richardson of the Bay State Council of the Blind’s been legally blind and hard of hearing since he was in his 20’s.

“One of the barriers to employment, education, healthcare, entertainment, is transportation,” Richardson told Boston 25. “[Driverless car technology] means going to visit my mother in a nursing home without my wife. It means my mobility, my independence, and my freedom.”

Waymo said Tuesday they have had success with their technology in US cities like Phoenix and San Francisco. They claim it has not negatively impacted ride share app employees in those areas.

The city council expects to have more testimony regarding the proposed ordinance. They claim to be in the early stages of their research.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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