Overview
- The Public Employment Relations Board told the California Gig Workers Union on Aug. 7 that it had secured support from at least 30% of active Uber and Lyft drivers, meeting the legal threshold to seek statewide representation.
- A 30-day waiting period now precedes formal certification and, if no competing group qualifies, CGWU would become the exclusive bargaining representative for drivers across the state.
- Uber and Lyft have issued statements saying they will engage in good faith as the process proceeds and prepare to negotiate under Assembly Bill 1340, the law that created this bargaining route.
- The union and SEIU say they will press companies on pay, driver deactivations and the effects of algorithmic management, and CGWU has pledged not to collect dues until a contract is ratified.
- About 350,000 drivers are estimated to be active in California, making this a large potential bargaining unit and a national precedent following recent moves in Massachusetts and Illinois.