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Uber robo-cab rollout ‘PREMATURE’ without plan to protect drivers, warns GMB Union
- Perry Richardson
- 29 minutes ago
- 2 min read
GMB Union has warned that plans to expand autonomous passenger services in London are “premature” without measures to protect professional drivers from potential economic disruption.
The warning follows the launch of supervised autonomous rides by Uber and Wayve in the capital, which allows passengers booking selected Uber services to be matched with an autonomous Ford Mustang Mach-E.
The vehicles currently operate with a trained Transport for London licensed private hire driver onboard to supervise the journey. However, the technology is being developed towards autonomous operation, raising longer-term questions about employment across the taxi and private hire sector.
GMB said policymakers should address those consequences before services progress towards vehicles operating without drivers.
David McMullen, GMB Senior Organiser, said: “With hundreds of thousands of people who work as drivers every day, we need to be really careful with the roll out of driverless cars unless we are prepared to see unprecedented levels of social and economic disruption.
“GMB has called on TfL and the Government to urgently take responsibility for developing a plan that protects drivers and holds operators accountable for the disruption that these services will ultimately cause.
“Until a plan is put in place to manage this transition and support drivers, it is premature to move to ‘driverless’ services.
“It’s vital that we consider the implications of this before it’s too late.”
The comments places employment and transition planning firmly alongside safety and regulation as major issues surrounding London’s emerging autonomous private hire market.
Uber and Wayve launched supervised autonomous rides in London this week. Customers requesting UberX, Uber Electric or Uber Comfort can potentially be matched with an all-electric vehicle equipped with the Wayve AI Driver. Passengers can choose whether to accept the autonomous vehicle before it arrives.
Uber says more than 140,000 London customers have already opted in through its Trip Preferences feature to increase their chances of being matched with a Wayve vehicle.
The initial deployment involves a small number of vehicles and does not immediately remove private hire driving roles because a TfL-licensed driver remains onboard. The longer-term employment question would become more significant if autonomous vehicles are permitted to carry paying passengers without a supervising driver.
GMB’s demand also raises the question of who should carry the cost of any employment transition. The union wants operators held accountable for disruption caused by autonomous services while calling on both TfL and central Government to take responsibility for developing protections.
The Government has so far presented autonomous vehicle deployment as an opportunity for investment, skills and economic growth, while acknowledging the existing transport workforce.
Speaking as the Uber and Wayve service launched, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: “As this technology develops, we want to support new opportunities for investment and skills, while recognising the important role that those working in the sector today will continue to play.”
The competing priorities are likely to become increasingly significant as supervised trials progress. For regulators, the challenge will be balancing investment and technological development against passenger safety, licensing requirements and the potential effect on existing livelihoods.
