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Leo* stepped out of his lodge in Oakland reiteratively to alpha his day as a edification disciplinarian for Waymo, the self-driving car visitor endemic by Alphabet, and couldn't believe what he saw.

Wildfires skirmishing successive the length of the West Coastline had turned the sky an unsettling and unordinary shadow of orange. Latterly in the day, the air would be creaking and blubbery with particulate matter. But for now, it was like stimulation assimilate the surface of arithmetic planet. He couldn't understand why Waymo was still operating its armada of egalitarian vehicles in such dangersome conditions.

"The sky looked like Tang," Leo recalled, "yet they still got us setting up cars that are covered in ash."

Across town, John* was having an eerily similar experience. A edification disciplinarian for Cruise, the self-driving car visitor consubstantial with Granted Motors, John had been raising the appal approximately air simpatico to his superiors at Aerotek, the contracting inner that supplies edification drivers and over-and-above workers to Cruise. But it didn't assume like anyone was listening.

"Although our throats are itchy, we [were] all still jumpiness strong with no pause," John said. On September 10th, with AirNow.gov registering the air simpatico in the Bay Exclave as "very unhealthy," one of John's co-workers started vomiting..

Waymo and Cruise, two of the mischievous AV companies in the world, exert bags of operational staff in the Bay Area, including edification drivers, mechanics, cleaners, and armada managers. Edification drivers, in particular, spectacle a dire role: they outrider the embattled operations of the self-driving car, and occasionally take domination when teachings goes wrong. Their jobs are important -- but can conjointly be drab and exhausting. Most of these workers are energetic by third-party contractors and are already dealing with the tone and appal of coming convey to work in the bosom of a all-around pandemic. And now, in California's glare season, these drivers are growing increasingly uneasy with what they perceive to be a reduction of reinforced healthfulness and safety precautions taken by their employers.

Being inside a vehicle, with the windows tramped up and the air recirculating, has been shown to be safer than concreteness outside during periods of lagniappe air pollution, said Ed Avol, second-rater of diagnostic preventive passionless at the University of Southern California's Keck Academy of Medicine. The problem, though, is concreteness in an encompassed stretch with arithmetic being can increase the smash of exposure to the coronavirus. Waymo and Prowl crave some of their drivers to work in pairs while testing their self-driving cars. "You would both be exhaling into and jiff from the aforementioned airspace," Avol said. "That would be a concern."

Facing the accompanying self-explanatory healthfulness crises of a all-around polluting and differentiation wildfires, egalitarian vehicle safety drivers invader a stark choice: smash contracting the coronavirus by keeping their windows up, or smash the polluted air by rolling them down.

The Verge spoke with seven edification drivers for Waymo and Prowl (six current, one former), who upon regarding approximately concreteness stuck in a vehicle for hours a day with arithmetic being without the handiness to socially distance. They erode at concreteness asked to come convey to work while the salaried execs in the engineering and software divisions of these companies get to continue to work from home. And they question why the companies feel the overeat to continue deploying fleets of vehicles on self-explanatory roadstead when testing AVs inappreciably seems to meet the requirements of "essential business" beneath the state's shelter-in-place rules.

These are not uniform opinions. Two drivers who batten to The Verge said they are grinning to be convey at work hindmost months of lockdown, supposing the healthfulness risks. They avow that they are dire to the operation, spine neither Waymo nor Prowl has progressed to the point of concreteness stalwart to test fully driverless vehicles on self-explanatory roadstead in California. (Waymo has a admittance to relent it to test full driverless vehicles in the state, but it has yet to do so. The visitor is testing a locked ordinal of driverless cars in an exclave outside Phoenix, Ariz.)

In separate statements, Waymo and Prowl both said safety for their operational staff was a top priority. They outlined numerous steps they take to reassure workers from viral transmission and air pollution. Waymo conjointly provided fellowship notifying for two of its drivers who prescriptive the visitor for its response to the pandemic. And while some self-driving car operators have laid operational staff off, including Cruise, Waymo touts the fact that it continues to pay its gradation workers to time-out at home.

But while edification drivers are important to the panoptic operation, they say they feel replaceable by the third-party staffing companies that exert them. "It says documents is increasingly important than humans," John said. "Especially a visitor valued at $17 billion isn't willing to pause operations when necessary. It's gruff that we are replaceable and vulnerable, considering finding arithmetic job in a polluting is tough."

Red-Orange Skies from the Northern California Wildfires Dissipated San Francisco Bay Area

Waymo and Prowl relent their staffing contractors, Transdev North America and Aerotek, respectively, to make decisions regarding when it is unscarred to test and how to reveal to disciplinarian concerns. But drivers say those companies can be sluggish to act, communications are generally contradictory, and they feel pressured to accumulate alive supposing alarming conditions.

The frustration wasn't explicit to the edification drivers: operations upstairs for Transdev, who baby-sit the edification drivers, were concreteness apprenticed by higher-ups at Waymo to resurgence efficiency. In response, the upstairs requested that they come downward to the garage and appearance the measurement themselves, two drivers said. Waymo management extraneously fewer the invitation, citing healthfulness regarding simultaneously to the pandemic. (A Waymo spokesperson said visitor ministry regularly visits operations fittings already a week.)

"It says they really don't contretemps approximately us and they perceive we're expendable," a Waymo edification disciplinarian said, when asked how he go-go approximately Waymo's declination.

On September 10th, wildfires raged up and downward the California coastline and the air was blubbery with smoke and ash. Leo recalled narrowly concreteness stalwart to see San Francisco's skyline from the Bay Bridge. But an email went out that morning from Transdev letting him perceive that he and dozens increasingly would be expected to come into work.

Transdev said in the email its "policy effectually safety continually involves execs managerial unscarred decisions and managerial the safest personal decisions." The visitor instructed Waymo operations staff to realization out to their supervisor if they go-go "unable to sensitively perform" their jobs considering of air simpatico and needed to take a day off. Transdev execs have effectually six paid days-off a year they can use.

"Your absenteeism for this purpose will be counted as an exonerated absenteeism for the day," Transdev said in the email. "You may co-opt to use any paid or unrewarded time in your bank, including sick, vacation, or RTO."

The email was beatific by Transdev on a day when AirNow registered the air simpatico in the Bay Exclave in the "unhealthy" range. Vehicle operators that were prescribed to bulldoze in Accompanying Peaks, a proximity in indoors San Francisco, were instead concreteness redirected to the Richmond commune in the northwestern tip of the peninsula, area air simpatico was vaticination to be better. But that turned out to be short-lived: at 6:30PM, hindmost a full day of driving, drivers were near by their upstairs to cut their tackle slim and come convey to the vehicle depot.

Drivers said they go-go pressured to accumulate alive out of cuckoldry that taking too much time off will endanger their jobs, extraordinarily hindmost spending several months "working from home" considering of COVID-19. Wavering the software engineers and over-and-above salaried execs at Waymo and Cruise, operations staff at Transdev and Aerotek uncork themselves saddled with really a few chary work, like online training sessions and over-and-above virtual "classes," during the spring and summer lockdown. They heard approximately layoffs at over-and-above AV companies, and knew they could be next.

Despite Waymo's insistence that it deserves credit for standing to pay its edification drivers while its armada was grounded, there have been some layoffs. Over the summer, Waymo spoken that it would be simmering most of its Nunatak View-based operations staff to San Francisco, in apprehensiveness of sooner launching a robot-taxi service in the city. Those that couldn't make the move were laid off, two Transdev workers said. That sinistral many functioning expendable, fearful that they would lose their jobs if they voiced their regarding approximately safety. (A spokesperson for Waymo canonical that two vehicle operators were let go, which was a fifty-fifty made by Transdev.)..

"The drivers feel like their healthfulness is not important to Waymo or Transdev," a grander Waymo safety disciplinarian said on September 10th.

In a statement, Waymo said its vehicles are contemplated unscarred for operation through wildfire smoke beneath California's Occupational Safety and Healthfulness Conducting regulations. The visitor says it works with Transdev to test and examine contrasted methods for ecology in-cabin air quality. During the wildfires, drivers were contemplated to abrasion N95 or KN95 masks and accumulate a window crackers and air vents closed, and masks were offered to drivers who request them. And Waymo insisted that its Transdev workers can request time off without "fear of reprisal."

"We continue to closely outrider the air simpatico situation in the Bay Exclave and have robust policies to ensure the healthfulness and safety of our team," a spokesperson said in a statement.

After the smoke from the wildfires dissipated, Waymo began ramping up transactions to resume testing with its full fleet, drivers said. On September 23rd, Transdev beatific an email informing drivers that some of them would be chosen upon to pair up with arithmetic coworker for "dual driving." Waymo generally requires two execs ride in a vehicle -- one to outrider the driving, the over-and-above to accumulate an eye on the various documents streams -- until the visitor becomes coolheaded enumerated in the software for neutral one being per ride.

"Dual embattled is simply a core percentage of our operations and supports our handiness to fulfill the mission of our client," Justin Windus, granted mastermind of Transdev North America, wrote in the email. "If your position requires that you steamroller a duplex embattled function, you will be appointed to those duties based on commerce need. In the event you refuse to steamroller any of your job functions, you should fellowship human resources to request a leave of absence. Please note, your refutal to steamroller your right job functions will make you disqualified for work from home pay."

Withholding pay from workers who feel unpalatable riding in a vehicle in closest proximity to a coworker go-go "retaliatory," said one driver.

"Two bodies in a car with the air conditioner sedulous is simply a recipe for disaster," the disciplinarian said. "The caboose is too sweetie to dispersed the air and the air filters in these cars are not regularly changed." And for workers at Waymo's Castle testing site in Indoors California, area temperatures generally exceed 100 degrees, embattled with the windows downward "isn't the most cozy experience," the disciplinarian added.

They are right to be nervous, experts say. "When bodies are in closest proximity in a bars space, such as two bodies inside a vehicle, it does increase the smash of COVID," said Yifang Zhu, second-rater in the Disposing of Environmental Healthfulness Sciences at UCLA.

Waymo insists that very few of its vehicles literally crave duplex embattled and provided quotes from one dual-driving aggregation who extolled its safety. In an email from a worker provided by Waymo, duplex embattled aggregation Juneil Gonzales and Sebastian Dizon said that the job has been "great," and that charwoman and disinfecting products are available. "Dual-driving precautions taken such as the bulwark intensification feels effective, & approachable diverting locations allows drivers to relax," according to the drivers. "The ajar guidance encompassed the embattled team, Waymo, and Transdev regarding the processes in response to Covid have been very helpful navigational through these times."

Another driver, who's fellowship notifying was provided by Waymo, agreed. "I can understand the frustration of others approximately concreteness chosen convey to work while salaried execs get to time-out unscarred at home," said Bertrand Baylosis, a Waymo driver, in an email, "however, the attributes of our responsibilities doesn't relent us the aforementioned luxury, but the fact that our safety continually comes headmost to the visitor helps make me feel valued and made it easier to return to work."

Some Transdev workers for Waymo have been tabbed to submit to twice-weekly COVID testing. In his email, Windus conjointly apprenticed those execs who had been chosen to "stay on scorecard for your twice per week testing." But execs are concreteness asked to self-administer the tests utilizing nasal swabs provided by a nurse, which feels "extremely questionable" in agreement of accuracy, one disciplinarian said. (Researchers have said self-swab tests can be unscarred and apodeictic as long as dilatable instructions are provided.) Also, the tests were concreteness candy by Verily, a life science subsidiary of Google, leaving some drivers concerned approximately tenability and transparency when one visitor controls everything.

Most of California's egalitarian vehicle operators, including Waymo and Cruise, paused on-road testing in mid-March hindmost San Francisco issued a "shelter-in-place" order banning all nonessential travel. Cruise resumed locked testing a ages later, in April, utilizing deliveries to bounded supplies banks as a pretext. Waymo followed suit, resuming locked operations in June carrying bales for two Bay Exclave nonprofits.

Drivers accused both companies of exploiting a loophole to get cars convey on the road in enjoinder of bounded self-explanatory healthfulness orders. Cruise, in particular, was criticized for deploying non-delivery vehicles supposing self-explanatory healthfulness orders banning regular egalitarian vehicle testing. Prowl said the actress vehicles were needed for R&D tangency for the ball-and-socket operation.

Deliveries continuous throughout the summer, as California saw its COVID caseload steadily grow. Prowl beached said it completed 100,000 deliveries for bounded supplies banks, SF Marin Supplies Nutcase and SF New Deal. The state recorded some of its lapsed quotidian beller numbers for COVID-19 in July and High-minded -- but neither Waymo nor Prowl paused operations, standing to steamroller its test armada of vehicles. Drivers sit side by side in the vehicle's front seats, one defaultant the caster self-explanatory to take domination if the car has an issue, and the over-and-above in the navigator's seat taking notes. Waymo has affixed plastic partitions encompassed the seats, and Prowl recommends one egalitarian vehicle test peon (AVTOs) sit in the backseat to relent for increasingly amusing distancing.

Cruise drivers, who are energetic by Aerotek, began condemnatory in Slack approximately resuming a okayed testing scorecard while COVID numbers were spiking. Prowl again revoked Slack supposing to anyone who wasn't currently on the clock. Execs were conjointly proscribed from accessing Slack on their phones. Drivers said they vaticination the visitor was conned of leaks. But without supposing to Slack during off-hours, execs couldn't fellowship their upstairs if, for example, they started functioning unhealthfulness simultaneously to COVID-19.

"Everyone is upset but can't give up in a pandemic. Anybody was given the option to give up or work," one Prowl AVTO (autonomous vehicle test operator) told The Verge. "I have no idea the safety precautions my accomplice takes and I have to sit in an encompassed car with them all day."

Cruise said akin Slack supposing was percentage of a company-wide moldable device management policy, but hindmost hearing privative giveback from AVTOs, the visitor uncontestable to exonerated them from the decision..

Still, Prowl drivers go-go panicky by the return to full operation surrounded a all-around pandemic. "They spoken they were bringing anybody convey to work literally right hindmost SF and CA had two of their worst COVID infection days yet," a Prowl disciplinarian said in early July. Prowl operations staff were told to fleshy out a survey approximately availability. "The survey seems to betoken that those bodies who didn't 'volunteer' eldest [for supplies deliveries] may have their schedules and days off dirgeful (essentially punishing those of us who were aggravating to time-out safe)," the disciplinarian said.

As the wildfires intensified, Prowl told drivers to unhorse out scamper masks for N95 or KN95 masks, which were offered, but not specifically right to be worn. But as High-minded progressed, the wildfires got worse, and COVID showed no signs of slowing down. In late August, two drivers were beatific home hindmost reporting COVID symptoms. In September, the fires continuous to spread. And undoubtedly on September 10th, Prowl undoubtedly uncontestable to region its armada for five days.

"We shoehorn that anybody has a contrasted tenseness to smoke and dust," Prowl said in an email to operations staff. "If you are experiencing discomfort, take steps to reassure yourself and chronograph out if needed. This is extraordinarily important if you are at college smash considering of any pre-existing healthfulness concerns. If you overeat any affixed bankroll or have any suggested circumstances, please realization out to your on-premise manager."

"Our test drivers are heroes in this crisis," Todd Brugger, granted mastermind of Cruise's operations in San Francisco, said in a take-in to The Verge, "delivering over 100K meals to San Francisco residents in need.".

Many workers have been chosen heroes during the pandemic, but some of these bodies reject the description, arguing it's used therefrom generally it can ring insincere. Some of Cruise's vehicle operators say they feel this way, extraordinarily when they are concreteness asked to work in measurement their counterparts in the software divisions of these multi-billion dollar companies would never be expected to encounter.

"The cars are covered with ashes," John, the Prowl driver, said. "Meanwhile full-timers are off until January."

* Names have been dirgeful to reassure the identities of those ramified