Overview
- The Public Employment Relations Board told organizers that the California Gig Workers Union has secured the minimum support needed under state rules to move toward representation of app-based drivers.
- The union must complete a verification and waiting process before formal certification and says it plans to begin bargaining with Uber and Lyft over pay, deactivation policies, and how company algorithms affect work.
- Both Uber and Lyft have issued statements committing to engage in the process and to negotiate in good faith as the certification and bargaining steps proceed.
- Organizers and SEIU local leaders put the active rideshare workforce at roughly 350,000 drivers in California and say drivers will not be charged union dues until a collective-bargaining agreement is ratified.
- The change follows last year’s passage of Assembly Bill 1340, which created a new legal pathway for independent contractors to seek collective bargaining, and it follows similar state-level moves that could shape policy in other states.