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ADCU stages protest against Uber driverless rollout outside Wayve headquarters
The App Drivers’ and Couriers’ Union (ADCU) held a protest outside Wayve Technologies’ London headquarters on Saturday night, opposing the rollout of Uber’s driverless cars in the UK.
The union’s Day of Action took place between 11am to 1pm at Wayve’s London headquarters. ADCU had called on members, their families and supporters to attend.
ADCU said autonomous vehicles threaten members’ jobs and livelihoods, arguing that workers should not be expected to bear the costs of technological change while technology companies benefit. The union also framed automation as a wider employment issue that could affect workers in other sectors.
The protest focused on safety and accountability as well as employment. ADCU raised questions about who would be liable if an autonomous vehicle were involved in a collision, how vulnerable passengers would be protected, and how safety incidents, near misses and system failures would be reported.
The union said Wayve and Transport for London (TfL) had confirmed that licensed private hire drivers remain legally responsible even when the autonomous system is driving. ADCU argued this leaves drivers carrying legal and financial risks for technology they do not control.
ADCU called for an immediate halt to autonomous vehicle trials until there is a clear and enforceable transition plan for drivers, full transparency on safety incidents and interventions, and independent oversight of testing.
Its other demands include legal protections for human safety drivers and clear accountability for accidents and incidents involving autonomous vehicles. The union said workers should not be expected to carry the risks of systems they do not control.
