For years, Uber and unions have fought over how drivers are classified, how disputes are handled, and workplace protections. If passed, the proposal would let self-driving cars and delivery vehicles operate broadly across Washington. Against a backdrop of growing friction between Uber and Alphabet's Waymo, the fight over the D.C. measure has become a sharp new split.
Harry Hatfield, Uber's director of AV and AI policy, said during a public hearing in mid-July: "We support the extension of autonomous vehicles, and we appreciate the council's willingness to engage on this issue." He argued the bill largely ignores the workforce transition.
In 2024, roughly 35,000 gig drivers worked in the city, about 9% of D.C.'s workforce. The wider Washington region shed more than 100,000 jobs over the past twelve months, mostly tied to federal layoffs. National safety worries have also fueled public resistance to self-driving deployment.
Crystal Middleton, who drives part time for a ride-hailing app and belongs to 32BJ SEIU, stated the worry directly. "I cannot understand why, when D.C. is in the middle of an unemployment crisis, the council is considering bringing Waymo, a company that will put thousands of drivers like myself out of work and devastate the local economy," she said.
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Even sponsor Councilmember Charles Allen admits the transition will hurt some people. "I was here when Uber came into the marketplace. If we were to pretend we didn't see a loss of earnings for taxi cab drivers, we wouldn't be honest," he said.
"At the end of the day, it's a net benefit to my transportation choices in the city. But I can't say I didn't see people who had earned a living as a taxi driver see their income diminished." Several hearing participants pointed to Uber's own history as a disruptive force, saying it pushed taxi drivers aside as its business grew.
Hatfield pointed to research in San Francisco and Los Angeles showing that when drivers went up against all-autonomous fleets, their usage and income fell in 2024. "One AV in California now performs the work of roughly four drivers," he said.
Back in 2020, Uber put more than $59 million into backing California's Proposition 22, the biggest contribution on either side of the race; the initiative aimed to repeal a law that would have made app drivers employees, not freelancers. California voters approved that repeal by a wide margin. Labor chiefs nationwide were displeased, having wanted to build on their large California membership by unionizing ride-hail drivers. Teamsters President Sean O'Brien singled out Uber in a statement: "It is dishonest and disrespectful that these multibillion-dollar corporations are denying workers much-needed benefits so they can skip out on taxes and make workers and taxpayers foot their bill."
The Uber-union alliance extends beyond D.C. Uber lobbyists in New Jersey have floated a proposal forcing every robotaxi service to use human drivers for 85% of trips on each platform for the next three years. Passing such a measure would reshape how companies such as Waymo operate, essentially forcing them to hire human drivers if they want to remain in those markets.
In February, Uber set up a division called Uber Autonomous Solutions to accelerate the launch of self-driving products, supplying training data, detailed maps, and navigation software. According to the Financial Times, Uber has committed $7.5 billion over the coming years to robotaxi fleet development and has earmarked another $2.5 billion for equity stakes in autonomous-vehicle startups like WeRide and Nuro.
That is the trade-off at the center of the debate.
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