BOSTON — The efforts to unionize rideshare drivers continued Tuesday as organizers presented the last remaining signatures needed to ensure a place on the November ballot. Their initiative asks state voters to approve a drivers’ union and secure a seat at the table to bargain for better working conditions, salary and benefits.
The 12,429 signatures were surrendered to Secretary William Galvin by the Drivers Demand Justice Coalition just one day before the July 3 deadline. If the question is approved by voters, drivers will be authorized to form a union with collective bargaining rights.
Wilson Perez, a Worcester-based driver, doesn’t make enough driving for the company to meet his monthly bills. He works as a rideshare driver because he needs to support his wife and children.
Edward Calderon also works as a rideshare driver based in Worcester. He likes the work, which allows him to set his own schedule and be more flexible in his work life. However, in the time he has driven for the companies, he found they take advantage of their drivers.
To ensure high-paying rides, drivers invest in expensive vehicles, and the companies have been taking greater shares of each fare, more than 50%, Calderon said, leaving drivers unable to make their car payments. And like Perez and Calderon, unable to make it to the end of the month.
Roxana Rivera, assistant to the president of 32BJ SEIU, one of the unions supporting rideshare drivers, said the coalition will continue to push for the right despite recent developments surrounding the employment status and compensation for app-based workers.
“Union protections, a right for millions of Massachusetts workers, are denied to the rideshare drivers by Uber and Lyft,” Rivera said. By putting the question to Massachusetts voters, millions who favor unions for all workers, the coalition is confident that the ballot question will be approved.
“No driver should have to work 70 hours and have to choose which bills to pay,” said Michael Vartabedian with District 15 of the International Association of Machinists. “Drivers deserve respect, deserve a living wage, not disrespect and poverty wages.”
The organizers continue their push despite recent developments in Massachusetts concerning the status of rideshare drivers.
On June 27, the state Supreme Judicial Court allowed six questions pertaining to the rideshare industry to be placed on the November ballot. On the same day, Attorney General Andrea Campbell settled a 4-year-old lawsuit filed by her predecessor against Uber/Lyft.
The settlement reached by Campbell and the technology companies that control the applications directing rideshare drivers prompted the companies to abandon their five ballot questions. Those offered drivers different ranges of benefits while asking Massachusetts voters to decide whether the drivers are employees or independent contractors.
The sixth ballot question authorizes unionization.
Gov. Maura Healey sued the technology companies in 2020 in her role as AG, claiming they had falsely classified the drivers as independent contractors. In her suit, Healey contended that, under state law, they were employees. That classification denied the drivers the basic rights enjoyed by all Massachusetts workers: a minimum wage, now at $15 an hour, the right to accrue paid sick time, health insurance, family leave, workers' compensation and unemployment benefits.
The classification also cost the state millions. Employers pay into the state’s unemployment and worker compensation insurance. An April report released by the state auditor Diana DiZoglio estimates that the state lost more than $20 million in unemployment payments for 2023 and another $17 million in workers' compensation.
The New Jersey department of labor settled a similar claim against Uber in 2022. The company paid the state $100 million. Currently, New Jersey is pursuing a claim against Lyft, stating that the company falsely classified its drivers and owes the state $17 million for unemployment, temporary disability and family-leave contributions.
In Massachusetts, the agreement between the AG and Uber and Lyft does not address the question of employee classification. However, the two giants in the app-based economy did concede to pay Massachusetts $175 million, $148 million from Uber. Those funds will be pooled and distributed to drivers and former drivers as restitution, as they have been underpaid, according to the AG.
“For years, these companies have underpaid their drivers and denied them basic benefits. (Today’s) agreement holds Uber and Lyft accountable and provides their drivers, for the very first time in Massachusetts, guaranteed minimum pay, paid sick leave, occupational accident insurance and health care stipends,” Campbell said in a prepared statement. “I want to thank my team, whose hard work has secured a standard of dignity for every driver across the state, and our labor allies and the drivers themselves for the tireless work and advocacy.”
The two companies have also agreed to institute a $32.50-an-hour minimum wage while drivers were actively engaged, starting from the moment they accept a fare through to leaving them at their destinations. There is no guaranteed income while drivers wait for fares.
Included in the agreement is the ability to earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours a year. Drivers will receive a stipend to buy into the state’s paid family and medical leave act and even health and occupational accident insurance.
“A union is the only way to defend against future mistreatment of the drivers by Lyft and Uber. It ensures them a voice in their jobs, a seat at the table to bargain for better working conditions, benefits and wages,” Rivera said, calling the proposed ballot question the driver’s Declaration of Independence.
The AG's agreement, she said, serves as a base to build on; a union will ensure the drivers will not be exploited again.
“Our settlement with Uber and Lyft secured an unprecedented package of minimum wage, benefits and protections for workers,” Campbell said. “It’s a strong foundation that can and should be built upon. I’m proud to support this ballot question, which if passed would empower and allow workers to collectively bargain for even greater pay and benefits.”
Other benefits included in the agreement include wage transparency, allowing drivers to get detailed rate information about accepted trips. The companies are also barred from discriminating and retaliating against drivers.
The companies will provide in-app chat support in four languages — English, Spanish, Portuguese and French — and provide reasons for deactivation as well as an appeals process to challenge the deactivation.
The AG’s office will monitor the companies to ensure compliance with the agreement.
State lawmakers have filed bills that would create a pathway to unionization, legislatively, for the drivers. Time to act on the bills is eroding as the legislative session ends July 31.
The Legislature also empaneled a special joint committee to review all ballot initiatives proposed for November; there were 10 in all in the spring. Despite testimony and sometimes acrimonious interactions between lawmakers and proponents of the questions, the lawmakers failed to make any changes. Their choices included passing legislation, replacing ballot questions with similar proposals, or doing nothing.
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