Teamsters charge Waymo with violating San Francisco anti-corruption law

Teamsters are calling on the San Francisco Ethics Commission to investigate Waymo, the autonomous vehicle (AV) subsidiary of Google, after several of the company’s employees illegally failed to register as lobbyists for meetings with San Francisco International Airport (SFO) officials. Waymo was pressuring the officials for access so their driverless cars could “map” the airport.

“These companies know that their products are unpopular, unsafe, and bad for working families, so they’re trying to steamroll policymakers and the public by putting AVs on the road before anyone has a chance to find out just how dangerous they are,” said Peter Finn, Teamsters Western Region International Vice President and President of Joint Council 7. “These things should be nowhere near an airport. It’s disgraceful that Waymo is trying to sneak into SFO without even bothering to follow the law.”

Waymo has invested heavily in preventing AV restrictions from coming to California – last year, the company was the eighth-largest spender on state lobbying. The efforts have paid off: California Governor Gavin Newsom has consistently allied with Big Tech on AVs despite well-documented safety problems and widespread public opposition to them. Most recently, he moved closer to allowing for the expansion of driverless trucks.

“The city’s lobbying law is meant to prevent government decisions of this sort from happening behind closed doors so that the public is informed and aware of who our government officials are speaking with on issues that go to the heart of the public interest,” the union said in a letter to Ethics Commission Enforcement Director Olabisi Matthews. “By ignoring these rules, Waymo displayed an intent to hide its actions from public scrutiny.”

Waymo went viral in San Francisco at least twice in the past three months – once after its vehicles kept residents awake late at night because the AVs couldn’t stop honking, and again after two men stopped a Waymo so they could harass a woman inside of the car. Waymo’s closest competitor, Cruise, was recently required to enter into a consent order with federal authorities following a notorious incident where one of its AVs dragged a pedestrian for 20 feet.

Teamsters Joint Council 7 represents 100,000 members in 18 local unions across Northern California, the Central Valley, and Northern Nevada. Joint Council 7 members work in freight, delivery, construction, dairy, beverage, food processing, rail and ports, parking, solid waste/recycling, hotels, bus driving, schools, public services, and many other industries.