SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California’s Assembly Bill 33 (AB33) passed through the state’s Committee on Transportation following a hearing and testimonies on Tuesday, April 21, 2025. AB33 would require a trained human operator in any autonomous vehicle (AV) used to deliver commercial goods directly to residences or businesses.
California Teamsters are celebrating the bill’s latest move toward approval and calling on all state lawmakers to support the legislation.
“It’s obvious what’s driving the investment in AV technology — the desire to increase profits at the expense of public safety and middle-class careers,” said Peter Finn, Teamsters Western Region International vice president and president of Joint Council 7.
“Lawmakers have a duty to protect Californians from the chaotic instability that Big Tech unleashes on society, and the commonsense guardrails that AB 33 implements will go a long way toward fulfilling that obligation,” he continued.
According to an April 22 statement from the Teamsters, the push for passage of the bill comes on the heels of a poll conducted by Tulchin Research. The report, published in January, shows California voters overwhelmingly support efforts to regulate driverless cars and trucks, as well as artificial intelligence (AI).
Previous efforts to regulate driverless vehicles in California have received broad support from voters and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle.
“Silicon Valley might not be concerned with the fate of millions of people who could lose jobs to automation, but everyone else is,” said Chris Griswold, Teamsters International vice president at-large and president of Joint Council 42.
“AV regulation is popular because people understand the risks,” he continued. “This is essential to protecting jobs and preventing billionaires from steamrolling an entire workforce in its reckless push for profit.”
Greg Cumulat, a Teamsters Local 150 member, testified at the committee hearing.
“The route I drive for work is in the same community where I live and where I’m raising my son,” Cumulat told state legislators. “This bill would protect workers in the supply chain like me, out of recognition of the need for good jobs and public safety.”
Linda Garner-Bunch has been in publishing for more than 30 years. You name it, Linda has written about it. She has served as an editor for a group of national do-it-yourself publications and has coordinated the real estate section of Arkansas’ only statewide newspaper, in addition to working on a variety of niche publications ranging from bridal magazines to high-school sports previews and everything in between. She is also an experienced photographer and copy editor who enjoys telling the stories of the “Knights of the Highway,” as she calls our nation’s truck drivers.
