GM’s autonomous vehicle technology division, Cruise, recently announced that it signed the driverless car industry’s first labor union agreements. The agreements are with two local union chapters in California, with members set build and staff Cruise vehicle charging facilities. The announcement is particularly noteworthy given the contentious relationship between labor and automation services.
According to a recent report from Reuters, the new agreements were signed between Cruise and a pair of local San Francisco union chapters, specifically the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 6 and Service Employees International Union Local 87. Union members will provide electrical work and janitorial services at Cruise car-charging facilities.
“Cruise is creating new job opportunities for our members and providing valuable on-site experience for our apprentices,” said IBEW Local 6 business manager John Doherty.
The new agreements follows concerns voiced by autoworkers that the broader industry transition to all-electric vehicles will result in fewer jobs, given EVs require fewer overall parts to produce. The United Auto Workers (UAW) labor union is currently engaged in contract negotiations with the Big Three Detroit automakers, including General Motors.
Cruise is currently operating 400 fully autonomous robotaxis in seven U.S. cities, including Nashville, Tennessee; Miami, Florida; Phoenix, Arizona; and three cities in Texas, specifically Austin, Dallas, and Houston. Cruise is also offering services in San Francisco, California, which served as the company’s original testbed. Cruise recently celebrated passing 3 million driverless miles driven across its fleet.
Cruise is now looking to deploy thousands of units of the Cruise Origin AV, the company’s fully autonomous all-electric robotaxi. Unlike the upgraded Cruise Chevy Bolt EVs currently in service, the Cruise Origin AV was designed from the ground up as a fully autonomous vehicle. Cruise is currently waiting on approval from the NHTSA, which will decide if vehicles designed specifically for operation by computers alone must also include the same equipment as human-piloted vehicles, such as a steering wheel, mirrors, and windshield wipers.
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Comments
Of course the move to EVs will result in fewer jobs. Jist like the transition from horses to cars reduced the number of blacksmiths. Get over it
Can’t wait for the lawsuits to start pouring in from Miami. Bump and goes, stepping off the curb, If anything it’s going to be interesting.
Have you experienced the human drivers in Miami? This will eventually be a huge improvement over what I’ve seen there. The most entertaining was being passed on the right shoulder by a Ferrari as I stopped at a red light. Yeah, the Ferrari driver ran the light. A miracle he didn’t hit another car or pedestrian.