The coalition, which includes the Teamsters, Illinois AFL-CIO and the Chicago Federation of Labor, raised concerns about the bill, saying they fear it could jeopardize public safety and the jobs of some or all of its hundreds of thousands of workers with problematic technology.
Sponsored by Democratic state Rep. Kam Buckner of Chicago and Republican state Rep. Jeff Keicher of Sycamore, the legislation would authorize autonomous vehicle pilot programs in a handful of Illinois counties, including Cook, before opening the door to statewide legalization of self-driving cars three years later. It is among several high-profile measures taken up by lawmakers this spring that respond to technological innovation during the advent of artificial intelligence.
The bill hasn’t gained any traction, however, remaining stuck in the House Rules Committee, which means it’s unclear whether it’s going to advance through the legislative process anytime soon. Other bills that would regulate these pilot programs also remain in limbo.
The debate comes as Waymo, the self-driving car company already operating fully autonomous robo-taxi services in cities in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and other U.S. cities, has been pushing to expand into Illinois. Company representatives have said Waymo “strongly supports” the Buckner-Keicher legislation.
Dozens of union members or advocates held signs, some of which read “AI DOESN’T VOTE. WE DO,” before a news conference urging lawmakers to take a pause on the legislation.
“Putting an autonomous vehicle in any form takes away a job. You keep eliminating jobs, who’s going to buy your goods? We’re not going to have the money. So, as they get greedier, we step backwards,” said Keith Hill, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 241, which represents Chicago Transit Authority and Pace employees. “If you introduce it now, it’s a major domino effect against the middle class. The middle class is all that America’s got. It’s going to be lost and forgotten. We’re here to say, ‘Hell no, we’re here to stay.'”
Rashonda Hudson, who represents Chicago paratransit drivers for Teamsters Local 727, said driverless vehicles cannot replicate the care that human drivers provide to riders who are seniors with disabilities.
“In Illinois, transportation is just not about getting from Point A to Point B. It’s also about the care, the judgment and the human connection,” she said. “They (paratransit passengers) need a ride and they need a person to talk to. They need help getting in and out of the vans. They need help, someone to walk them inside to their appointments. They also need someone to say, ‘I’m here to pick you up.’ A driverless vehicle cannot do that.”
The Buckner-Keicher legislation also requires self-driving vehicles in Illinois to be covered by motor vehicle liability coverage or insurance. The Illinois Department of Transportation could authorize statewide deployment three years after the bill takes effect if the pilot programs are deemed successful.
Waymo argues that it brings jobs to new markets and said legalization would give the company “the certainty it needs to invest millions of dollars in the local jobs and infrastructure to support our service.”
“We’ve engaged with labor organizations in Illinois and are happy to continue those discussions, because we want to invest in Chicago and bring our service’s safety and accessibility benefits to the city,” the company said.
Waymo also says its own data show that its vehicles are involved in 92% fewer crashes that cause serious or fatal injuries and 92% fewer crashes involving pedestrian injuries compared with human-driven cars. At the end of last year, Waymo said its vehicles could handle freezing temperatures and hail, but that it was still “validating our system to navigate harsher weather conditions” — the kind common in Chicago. The company has since been testing vehicles in the city with human assistance.
But recent high-profile safety incidents involving Waymos have drawn scrutiny. In San Francisco, a Waymo vehicle struck and killed a bodega cat in the city’s Mission District last fall, infuriating residents. Federal regulators more recently opened an investigation into the company after one of its vehicles struck a child, who suffered minor injuries, near a school in Santa Monica.
“This has happened in cities where inclement weather doesn’t exist. Can you imagine how much worse it would be in the city of Chicago with (the) winters that we have?” Tom Stiede, president of the Teamsters Joint Council Local 25, said at the statehouse news conference. “Driverless cars and trucks are nowhere close to having the same capabilities as a trained human operator, and they probably never will.”
In a statement Tuesday, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office said it “shares the concerns of transit workers and commercial drivers regarding market interruptions and risk of job loss posed by the introduction of this technology.”
Johnson’s office also indicated the city would oppose any automated-vehicle legalization efforts that would prohibit Chicago from regulating self-driving cars on its own.
Before the news conference, Keicher downplayed concerns about job losses, saying “there’s going to always be a place for those union employees to work.” But he said the legislation has to proceed carefully.
“Let’s dip our toe in the water, let’s see how it works here in Illinois because there are some legitimate concerns about our weather here, right? Snow, ice, slippery roads,” said Keicher. “We need to see what that is because whether we like it or not, it’s either five, 10, 15 years down the road, it’s going to be here, whether we do or don’t want it today.”
_____
(Soglin reported from Chicago.)
_____
©2026 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
