Massachusetts' real ride-hailing unionization fight comes in 2025
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SEIU 32BJ Union leader Roxana Rivera and rideshare drivers rallied for months for Question 3. Photo: M. Scott Brauer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The real fight over ride-hailing drivers unionizing in Massachusetts is just beginning.
Why it matters: The unionization ballot question's passage in the fall won't deter ride-hailing companies, who kept quiet during the campaign, from pushing Beacon Hill leaders to change the law.
The big picture: If it survives, the ballot measure stands to test a first-in-the-nation collective bargaining system for ride-booking drivers overseen by a state agency.
- If it doesn't, the experiment could die before it begins — and contracted drivers' ability to legally unionize along with it.
State of play: Uber and Lyft told CommonWealth Beacon they want to see lawmakers change the law as written.
- Uber spokesperson Freddie Goldstein raised questions about the threshold of "active drivers" needed to support the creation of a bargaining unit, saying it's below the national standard threshold of 30%.
- Lyft told CWB: "There are several technical issues we have with the ballot language."
- While the law has taken effect, that doesn't stop lawmakers from revising it as they have after other successful ballot measures (e.g. cannabis legalization).
Between the lines: What makes the bargaining process approved by voters so unusual is it allows for independent contractors to unionize — a rarity in the United States.
- The ballot question never addressed whether the drivers should be classified as employees, as previous ride-hailing-related ballot measures had.
Flashback: A $175 million settlement between ride-hailing companies and Attorney General Andrea Campbell this summer ended a years-long legal fight over driver classification.
- The settlement requires ride-booking drivers to be paid at least $32 an hour.
The latest: Thousands of drivers have signed in favor of organizing the App Drivers Union in the last two months, per a statement by labor leaders Roxana Rivera and Mike Vartabedian.
- The group needs 5% of all drivers to agree to unionize, and 25% of "active drivers" need to support the creation of a bargaining unit.
- Labor organizers declined through spokespeople to say how many signatures they have collected.
What we're watching: What will come first, action from lawmakers or lawsuits from ride-hailing companies — and whether the new law can live on into 2026.