BOSTON (news agencies) — Drivers for ride-hailing companies in Massachusetts are pushing ahead with what they describe as a first-of-its-kind ballot question that could win them union rights if approved.
The push comes despite a landmark settlement last month guaranteeing that Uber and Lyft drivers will earn a minimum pay standard of $32.50 per hour in Massachusetts.
Supporters of the measure last week delivered the final batch of signatures needed to land a spot on the November ballot.
April Verritt, president of the Service Employees International Union, said the tens of thousands of Uber and Lyft drivers working in Massachusetts deserve the collective bargaining benefits of unions.
“This would be the first in the nation to establish a union for drivers in this way,” she said. The group is working on a similar effort in California.
Attorney General Andrea Campbell, who secured the settlement — which included what she described as “an unprecedented package of minimum wage, benefits and protections” — is also backing the ballot question.
“It’s a strong foundation that can and should be built upon,” Campbell, a Democrat, said of the settlement.
Verritt said labor laws in the country aren’t written to take into consideration gig workers, something the ballot question would begin to remedy in Massachusetts if voters support the question — and drivers ultimately form a union.
“We fundamentally believe that workers are workers,” she said. “All workers deserve a union, a way to come together with their coworkers to have a say in their livelihood.”
Yolanda Rodriguez has driven for Lyft for about six years and says she’s convinced that having union rights would benefit her and other drivers.
The 33-year mother of three who lives in Malden, just outside Boston, said she begins most days at about 3 a.m., with many of her trips involving driving people to Logan International Airport.
Rodriguez said about a year ago her account was canceled when she was pregnant. She said she went for five months before it was restored and she could begin earning an income again.
“I don’t want that to happen to other women or men because there are often children behind the cancellations,” she said through a translator. “If I had a union, I would be able to turn to them and work with them.”
Under a policy Lyft announced earlier this year, the company said their goal is to make drivers feel supported and respected when a temporary hold is placed on a driver’s account during an investigation — including a streamlined, in-app button for drivers to appeal deactivation decisions.
But not everyone thinks the question goes far enough — if they support it at all.
Henry De Groot, 28, of Boston, has driven for both companies on and off for five years but says the ballot proposal question isn’t a fair deal.
“I’m 100 percent pro-union and I’m 100 percent opposed to the ballot question,” he said.
De Groot said the question doesn’t create a democratic system where all drivers have rights. He said no rights are included in the initiative beyond basic collective bargaining, including details on how dues are spent.
“You can’t have a regular union and not let workers have a vote,” he said. “There is no driver control over leadership. It’s about the basic democratic rights that other unions have. It’s a top-down organization.”
Kelly Cobb-Lemire, an organizer with Massachusetts Drivers United, which she describes as a grassroots, driver-led campaign, said other app-based workers including delivery drivers are left out of the ballot question.
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