Unity Launcher is hard to access with auto-hide enabled
Try changing the Launcher Reveal Pressure. The default is 20. You might consider setting it at 1 and systematically try other settings to pick the ideal one.
You can get to this configuration through CCSM (the CompizConfig Settings Manager).
Click on Desktop -> Ubuntu Unity Plugin -> Launcher and change the 'Launcher Reveal Pressure'.
You may have to install it. This can be done by:
sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager