Overview
- The Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations certified the App Drivers Union on Monday, May 25, after finding 32% support among active rideshare drivers, exceeding the 25% threshold set by voter-approved Question 3.
- The union says it represents nearly 70,000 drivers across the state and will seek to negotiate with platforms including Uber, Lyft, Via, UZURV and SilverRide.
- Under the law, the state will oversee bargaining for six months before mediation or binding arbitration can be invoked, and any agreement must pass a majority vote of drivers who completed at least 100 rides in the prior three months and be signed by the labor secretary.
- Organizers plan to press for higher net pay, reimbursement for expenses, an appeals process for deactivations, and protections against automation, while Uber and Lyft have said they will engage in good faith and stress preserving driver flexibility and existing benefits.
- The move creates a first-of-its-kind model for unionizing independent contractors that could influence other states, but organizers face logistic hurdles organizing a dispersed, multilingual workforce and open questions about how higher pay would be financed through fares, incentives, or platform margins.