San Francisco – Protesters gathered outside of Cruise’s San Francisco headquarters on Labor Day calling for its shutdown in order to protect workers.
The protest also comes after the San Francisco Fire Department claimed two robotaxis impeded an ambulance in August, which was carrying a patient who later died.
When organizers tried to speak out in front of the Cruise location, loud music began playing. However, it stopped after someone talked to security from Cruise.
“Behind this gate, there’s security, and they were choosing to be disruptive. Now, these are immigrants, low-income, security workers, minorities, and they were choosing the side of the corporation by playing circus music, rap music with foul language,” Edward Escobar, from the Alliance for Independent Workers, said.
Escobar, a Bay Area Uber driver and the director of the Alliance for Independent Workers, orchestrated the Labor Day protest to convey their concerns about the potential impact of robotaxis on their jobs.
“There isn’t any dialogue happening. It’s pretty much one-sided. It’s being dictated by the tech titans, Waymo, which is Google, and General Motors, which is Cruise. And they’re pretty much dictating the terms, and the CPUC is allowing that to happen,” Escobar said.
Cruise, however, insists that it is taking steps to protect workers through partnerships with local labor unions.
In a statement, the company said, “Cruise was proud to sign industry-first jobs agreements with local labor — IBEW Local 6 and SEIU Local 87 — whose workers will install chargers and support our facilities across San Francisco.”
Cruise also highlighted its commitment to the community by emphasizing that the construction of a major EV charging facility on Cesar Chavez Street was carried out by 100% Bay Area union labor. It included electricians, carpenters, and ironworkers, representing over 100 jobs.
Despite these efforts, Escobar remains deeply concerned about the future of drivers like himself.
“We’re looking at automation, self-driving technology in the new age of AI and looking at permanent displacement of many workers. If you look at transport workers alone in the state of California, UC Berkeley came out with a study, and they said approximately 600,000-plus transport workers in California will be displaced.”
This protest unfolded just two weeks after the California Public Utilities Commission granted approval for the expansion of Cruise and Waymo robotaxi services, a decision that ran counter to the Fire Department’s rejection due to safety concerns.
