Unionizing Massachusetts rideshare drivers: What to know about Question 3
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
Thousands of rideshare drivers in Massachusetts could get to unionize if voters approve Question 3 next month.
Why it matters: Supporters want one of the most pro-union states to extend the option to rideshare drivers, who currently can't organize because they're independent contractors.
- Why? More protections to fight for higher pay and health benefits.
The big picture: If successful, the ballot measure would involve sector-based bargaining, a practice that's rare in the U.S. but common elsewhere.
- Supporters say this could empower rideshare drivers, who they say still don't make the $15/hour minimum wage when factoring car repairs, gas and other costs.
What they're saying: Prisell Polanco, a Massachusetts resident who started driving for Uber in 2020, says he was booted off the app for months without explanation. It was only when he got the union 32BJ involved that his account was reactivated.
- "As a single driver, when they disconnected my account, I didn't have a voice. Who am I to a billionaire company?" Polanco tells Axios.
- The ballot measure could help him find "somebody to look out for my benefits."
The other side: Opponents say a "yes" vote would likely lead to higher fares, though there is no official campaign against the ballot measure.
- Even if successful, the ballot measure would likely be challenged in court, as have similar efforts in other parts of the country (i.e. Seattle's 2015 measure).
This ballot measure is separate from previous efforts to have rideshare drivers classified as employees as opposed to independent contractors.
How it works: A yes vote would create an exception to collective bargaining restrictions in Massachusetts, letting the drivers unionize despite being independent contractors.
- The proposal would let Massachusetts create a system managing relations between drivers and their employers.
- The state labor secretary would oversee the system, but creating the union would be up to active drivers.
Zoom in: The most active drivers — those who had completed more than the median number of trips in the last quarter — would have the power to decide whether to form a union (or later dissolve the union) and who would run it.
- Drivers who have completed more than 100 trips in the last quarter — would be able to vote on a contract.
- Then it would go to the labor secretary for approval.
Rideshare companies don't share how many drivers work with them, so there's no way of knowing how many workers this covers.
- The Yes on 3 campaign estimates there are 35,000 active drivers, close to half of all drivers with accounts.
- They are performing 90% of all rides, per the campaign's estimates.