Newsom Reconfirms His Commitment to Corporate Profit Over Good Jobs, Public Safety

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) – In response to California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s draft regulations for autonomous trucks on Friday, coming just one day after the state legislature passed Teamsters-backed autonomous vehicle human operator bill Assembly Bill 2286 (AB 2286) with strong bipartisan support, Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien released the following statement:

“Autonomous vehicles have brought chaos to California roads, yet Gov. Newsom is welcoming 80,000 pound driverless trucks onto state roadways with open arms. These dangerous actions threaten good jobs and public safety and will only serve to enrich the Governor’s friends in Big Tech. The proposed autonomous trucking regulations are a slap in the face to the legislators who have done right by workers to pass AB 2286 two years in a row. The regulations are an insult to California workers who already fear losing their jobs to automation. The Teamsters will continue to push back on Gov. Newsom’s corporate-first agenda, and we will do everything in our power to protect our members’ good-paying union jobs in California.”

AB 2286, formerly Assembly Bill 316 (AB 316), would require a trained human operator behind the wheel of self-driving trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds, preserving hundreds of thousands of good union jobs and keeping California roads safe. The bill passed the California legislature with over 90 percent support in 2024 and as AB 316 in 2023.

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.3 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and “like” us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.

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