The NLRB’s joint employer shuffle will soon impact an array of industries. At least it’s a headache that shouldn’t affect the ailing auto manufacturers as heavily as some businesses. Still, further down the line, the trucking industry is facing this hurdle and more.
Let’s run down the current twin concerns for this industry that literally fuels our economy:
The board’s new joint employer final rule goes into effect on Dec. 26 and has prompted worries about increased trucking costs due to workers who contract with multiple carriers. Concerns are running high over the NLRB’s broad definition of “essential terms and conditions of employment” that an employer has the contractual ability to control. To qualify as a joint employer, companies only need to share one term, including the following: compensation, supervision, hiring, scheduling, and so on.
Are two carriers sharing even one of these terms? Yep, joint employers.
As a result, carriers will undoubtedly be diving headfirst into contract-review mode, and trucking contracts frequently overlap with federal health and safety standards, too. So, there’s a lot of potential for getting caught up in a joint employer mess. If a jointly liable carrier is dealing with unfair labor practice charges or a unionized workplace, that “joy” will spread. Joint employers could even be dragged into union negotiations despite keeping their own workplaces union-free.
Cue those rising costs, which will be yet another reason why it’s important to nip union activity in the bud everywhere before it takes root. Whew.
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are also causing a trucking tug-of-war:
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom surprisingly vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have banned any AV truck over 10,000 pounds without a driver in the vehicle. The Teamsters were not pleased but did celebrate news of an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration into the safety of GM’s Cruise robotaxi line.
- Around 600 GM Cruise cars – with no steering wheels or brake pedals – were in operation as part of an in-testing AV robotaxi line. These cars have been involved in multiple high-profile accidents that allegedly caused grievous injuries in San Francisco and Austin. California’s DMV has suspended the Cruise deployment and the permit for its driverless testing.
- The Teamsters sprung into action while lobbying U.S. regulators against granting a Cruise safety exemption. The union also helped orchestrate an LA protest calling for action on AV taxis. Union officers also testified before lawmakers about this “direct threat to” jobs.
This dilemma has plenty to do with overall AI anxiety in the workplace, but it’s useful to note how unions are capitalizing upon workers’ fears for their own ends. Do they really care about workers losing jobs or more about their own dues-paying headcount?
It’s not hard to figure out the answer to that question, but it’s also fair to say that, in this case, the AI in question might not be the greatest messenger. Perhaps the Teamsters are actually in the right here, but then there’s that saying: broken clocks, occasionally true… you know the drill. That’s unfortunate, but if businesses want the world to warm up to AI, robotaxis could use a reboot before showtime.
