Rideshare drivers want union organizing option on Mass. ballot

BOSTON, Mass. (WWLP) – Uber and Lyft drivers are fighting to get a question on the November ballot that would allow them to form and join unions.

Uber and Lyft drivers and stakeholders gathered on Beacon Hill Tuesday to commemorate turning in the final 2,000 signatures they need to get their question on the November ballot.

The ballot question is backed by labor groups and would allow drivers to unionize. One union leader says organizing labor is essential for keeping Uber and Lyft drivers safe and to make sure their wages are fair.

“Underpaid, dangerous job, sometimes attacked by the customers or the people getting in the car, all the expenses of the business are really on the workers,” explained Michael Vartabedian, assistant directing business representative at District 15-IAMAW. “And all Uber and Lyft does is collect the money.”

In western Massachusetts, most drivers pick up riders in Springfield and the surrounding areas.
Driver John Garcia from Longmeadow says he is not able to see his driving destination until the passenger is already in the car.

“It’s a safety issue that we have in western Mass,” said Garica. “Having a union is having an equal opportunity like the other employees in the state of Massachusetts have.”

Garcia says a union could also help western Massachusetts drivers have more job security, as they are not contracted by rideshare companies.

Once Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin verifies the newly-submitted signatures, the question of allowing Uber and Lyft drivers to unionize will officially be on the November ballot.

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