Most rideshare workers are independent contractors or freelance. They enjoy the independence of making their own hours but also miss out on some benefits that employee status can bring.
But should these drivers be allowed to form unions? You’ll have a say this November.
Ballot Question 3 seeks to allow drivers to form unions with other drivers as well as with workers from other rideshare companies. So if it passes, drivers for Uber and Lyft would be able to organize unions together to collectively bargain with those companies.
This is called sector-based bargaining.
The proposed law change would set procedures for determining which drivers are active, based on having driven a certain number of rides in the preceding six months. Active drivers would be the ones signing union cards.
The question does not cover other gig workers, like those who deliver food and services.
The ballot question is endorsed by several unions and Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell.
A study by Tufts shows that sector-based bargaining is relatively untested in the United States, from a legal standpoint. And it would likely raise the cost of rides.
“Sector-based bargaining requires a complex and detailed regulatory framework,” the Tufts report reads. “And some of the minute regulatory choices could prove pivotal. As an example, the number of drivers needed to create a union is very low—roughly 12.5 percent—which simplifies organization but risks the emergence of an unpopular union with limited driver support.”
The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance tried unsuccessfully to keep the question off the ballot.
A “Yes” vote would change state law to allow rideshare drivers to form unions.
A “No” vote keeps the law the same, not allowing rideshare drivers to form unions.