Massachusetts voters on Tuesday approved a ballot measure that would allow ride-share drivers to form a union, becoming the first state to allow drivers for app-based companies like Uber and Lyft to do so.
According to the Associated Press, with 94% of precincts reporting, 53.9% of voters supported a new framework that would allow ride-share drivers, whom the companies treat as independent contractors, to organize and bargain collectively over wages and benefits. Will allow. Voting begins mid-morning Wednesday.
Supporters have said the ballot measure could provide a model for other states to unionize Uber and Lyft drivers and inspire efforts to organize them across the US.
Roxana Rivera, assistant to the president of SEIU, the 32BJ affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, who led a campaign to pass the proposal, said its approval shows that Massachusetts voters want drivers to be protected against the growing power of apps. Get meaningful investigation. -based companies.
“Working people in Massachusetts have won a major victory with Question 3,” Rivera said in a statement.
massachusetts vote was latest front There has been a years-long battle in the US over whether ride-share drivers should be considered independent contractors or employees entitled to benefits and wage protections.
Studies have shown that using contractors can cost companies 30% less than using employees.
Drivers for Uber and Lyft, including about 70,000 in Massachusetts, do not have the right to organize under the National Labor Relations Act, a federal law that covers only actual employees.
Under the Massachusetts measure, known as Question 3, drivers could form a union after collecting signatures from at least 25% of active drivers in Massachusetts.
Under the measure, companies can form unions to allow them to jointly negotiate with the union during state-supervised negotiations.
The measure was backed by the Service Employees International Union and the International Association of Machinists and supported by several top political leaders, including the state’s Democratic Attorney General Andrea Campbell.
Campbell reached a settlement with Uber and Lyft in June that required them to adopt a $32.50-an-hour minimum wage standard for Massachusetts drivers and pay $175 million to resolve claims that the drivers were mistreated. were treated unfairly as independent contractors rather than as employees.
As part of the agreement the companies dropped support of a since-removed ballot measure that would have codified into law the status of drivers as contractors.
But the agreement stopped short of declaring the drivers as employees.
Uber and Lyft chose not to campaign against Question 3, although both said they had some concerns about some of the language and were hopeful they could be addressed by the state legislature.
In a statement Wednesday, Uber said the proposal was “simply hush-hush,” even though Massachusetts is a “deep blue, pro-union state.”
“It is clear that voters object and it is now up to the legislature to address their concerns,” the company said.
Lyft said in a statement: “With the passage of this ballot measure, we look forward to working collaboratively on its implementation and addressing some of the language concerns we have during next year’s legislative session.”
Question 3 was put forward before the industry dropped its separate ballot proposal, and its supporters argued that it provided the best path for drivers to secure better working conditions after the settlement.
Question 3 divided the local labor movement, with some activists saying it did not go far enough.
Some opponents also argued that it might conflict with federal law and be open to legal challenge.
