Legislation is Critical to Protecting Worker Free Speech, Keeping Calif. Streets Safe

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) – Three Teamsters-supported bills that would ensure greater freedom of speech and safety for Californians have cleared procedural votes in the Assembly and Senate Appropriations Committees – as well as their chambers of origin – and now head to floor votes. The bills include autonomous vehicle safety legislation in both Assembly Bill 3061 (AB 3061) and Assembly Bill 2286 (AB 2286), which will head to a vote on the Senate floor, and Senate Bill 399 (SB 399), which contains captive audience protections and will be voted on in the Assembly.

“Working people are the backbone of California, and its past time they have equal rights as these greedy corporations try to silence them. Whether its Big Tech companies trying to push 80,000 pound autonomous trucks onto our roads without a trained driver behind the wheel or union-busting employers attempting to scare workers out of organizing through captive audience meetings, the Teamsters will continue to fight for California workers,” said Lindsay Dougherty, Teamsters Western Region International Vice President and Director of the Teamsters Motion Picture and Theatrical Trade Division. “We applaud the Appropriations Committee for passing AB 3061, AB 2286, and SB 399 and call on all of California’s elected leaders to ensure this legislation becomes law.”

AB 3061, introduced by Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-17), would require AV companies to publicly report any vehicle collisions, traffic violations, disengagements, assaults, or harassment involving their vehicles to the Dept. of Motor Vehicles (DMV). The bill is critical to ensuring public transparency and accountability, especially as AV companies fail to publicly report major incidents on California roads. The California DMV has not tracked at-fault data for collisions involving AVs for several years. 

AB 2286, introduced by Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-4), would require a trained human operator behind the wheel of self-driving trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds and force companies in California to publicly report any vehicle collisions, traffic violations, disengagements, assaults, or harassment involving their vehicles to the DMV.

The third bill, SB 399, would protect California workers from facing adverse action if they choose not to participate in an employer’s captive audience meetings, a tactic often used by companies to union bust and dissuade workers from organizing a union. The bill does not prevent the employer from holding these meetings, but instead bars them from requiring employees to attend the meetings as a condition of their employment. Connecticut, Oregon, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Washington, Hawaii, and New York have already adopted similar legislation.

“Each year companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars on scare tactics like captive audience meetings, trying to dissuade workers from joining a union. SB 399 is critical to fixing this backwards system and protecting workers in their fight for a voice on the job,” said Chris Griswold, Teamsters International Vice President At-Large and President of Teamsters Joint Council 42. “Gavin Newsom needs to follow the lead of governors who have already signed similar legislation. Stand up to big business, stand with working people, sign the bill.”

The Teamsters-supported autonomous vehicle safety legislation continues to secure growing support amid a backdrop of widespread AV safety incidents, including robotaxis nearly hitting school crossing guards in San Francisco, and no significant safety measures implemented by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the DMV. In spite of the lack of safety protocols, Waymo will begin testing driverless robotaxis on San Francisco freeways this week. 

“While the CPUC and DMV continue to prioritize Big Tech over the California public by greenlighting the expansion of AVs on our roads, our elected leaders have made one thing clear: we need more safety regulations for AVs. The Teamsters applaud the Assembly for passing AB 3061 and AB 2286 and prioritizing public safety over dangerous technology,” said Peter Finn, Teamsters Western Region International Vice President and President of Teamsters Joint Council 7. “This is common sense legislation that the Teamsters will continue to fight for until workers and their families are protected, and our streets are safe.”

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  to learn more. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and “like” us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share via email