The labor laboratory of California is a place where unions lobby for what they can’t achieve at the bargaining table. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is most notorious for these tactics and pushed for the passage of AB 1228, which created the illusory Fast Food Workers Union after SEIU failed at organizing these workers by traditional means. More recently, the SEIU-affiliated California Gig Drivers Union (CGDU) reached the threshold for certification after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law giving rideshare drivers a path to unionize, and he did the same with a bill that made the Fast Food Union possible.
That last lobbying “win” by SEIU swiftly led to significant job losses in the fast food industry. There, employers were financially “squeezed” by overnight wage boosts and leaned into automation and leaner scheduling to stay afloat. Whereas it’s too soon to know the CGDU’s fate, we can guess that drivers will feel frustration at their unchanged classification as independent contractors, who will soon be bound by a union constitution and the dues that come with it.
In these instances, the union “won” but, at least where AB 1228 is concerned, workers were harmed, and the jury is still out on CGDU.
The back-scratching relationship between unions and California politicians isn’t holding up for one current battle. That would be the Teamsters’ newly filed lawsuit against the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). The union alleges that the “agency circumvented laws requiring the agency to study and publicly disclose the economic impacts” of autonomous vehicles (AVs). Here, the Teamsters had already attempted to pull off SEIU’s California strategy. After Newsom declined to sign bills pushed by this union, the DMV went forward with its rulemaking, and the Teamsters are hopping mad.
Newsom punted to the DMV
In 2023, the Teamsters joined with the California Labor Federation in urging the passage of AB 316, which they argued put highway safety first and protected workers’ jobs. The legislation made it through the state’s Senate Transportation Committee, and Teamsters President Sean O’Brien declared that Newsom “needs to prove that he cares about workers by signing AB 316.”
Well, Newsom vetoed the bill and explained, “Considering… the existing regulatory framework that presently and sufficiently governs this particular technology, this bill is not needed at this time.” He further explained, “My Administration remains open to working with… [Autonomous Vehicle] stakeholders on the right approach to safely test and deploy this evolving technology in California, while also addressing and mitigating any potential impacts to jobs.”
That didn’t stop the Teamsters. In 2024, the union backed the reintroduced version of the same bill, repackaged as AB 2286, which Newsom also vetoed with the same rationale, given that the DMV was already in the midst of rulemaking on heavy-duty autonomous trucks. The Teamsters kept pushing the issue while taunting Newsom repeatedly over his vetoes, but repeating their strongarm act simply didn’t work.
The DMV’s rulemaking and another Teamsters tantrum
On April 28, the agency formally adopted “the most comprehensive AV regulations in the nation,” which were “the result of an extensive public comment and review process.” These rules provided a heavily scrutinized process for AV manufacturers to apply for testing permits in compliance with zoning and safety specifications. The regulations further contained sections for testing and deployment, enforcement, restrictions, emergency response, and data reporting.
The Teamsters’ lawsuit alleges that the DMV took shortcuts and bypassed an economic impact study that the union argues was necessary. The union further claims that these rules could cost the state 200,000 jobs while Newsom countered that preventing testing phases for autonomous vehicles would harm the state’s economy by stifling innovation.
It’s not lost on us that the Teamsters are ignoring how SEIU’s ceaseless lobbying for AB 1228 caused job losses of its own. The Teamsters have tried and failed twice at the same legislative “win,” and now, the union is hoping that a judge will deliver what California politicians declined to do.
Conclusion
We’ll be watching to see how the Teamsters’ lawsuit against the DMV concludes, but what’s telling at this moment is that the Teamsters thought that they could stamp their feet and get laws passed that ultimately grease the wheels for future organizing drives. When those laws end up harming workers, it becomes clearer that, in California, aggressive unions are playing checkers, not chess by pursuing short-term strategies that backfire on workers even when those union plans are successful.
As discussed above, SEIU claimed victory, and fast food workers paid for it. The Teamsters can’t even get that far, so their next move is court.
