In August 2016, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against the city of Seattle over the landmark law which allows Uber and Lyft drivers to unionize. Seattle passed the law last year, making it the very first U.S. city to pass a law giving drivers for ride-hailing apps, taxi drivers and for-hire drivers the right to have a union and collectively decide on what’s the appropriate pay and working conditions.
Fortune.com reported that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce - a federation of more than 3 million businesses, filed a lawsuit in March and asked a Seattle federal judge to suspend the ordinance. However, a court ruling by the U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik dictated that it was not possible to suspend the ordinance since it was yet to take effect at that time. The Judge’s pronouncement also included the fact that the Chamber of Commerce had no right to sue since it wasn’t directly affected.
Following the success of the move in Seattle, nearly 14,000 Uber and Lyft drivers in New York have already signed up to join the local branch of the Amalgamated Transit Union. The union has announced plans to hold a rally at the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) headquarters. The center of the rally would be to demand a formal vote on unionizing.
What it Would Mean For Uber
As we all know, issues are already being raised about what level of benefits are owed to workers in the so-called “Gig Economy.” There have been a couple of lawsuits arguing for the need to classify Uber drivers as employees. Uber and Lyft negate this argument stating that existing federal labor law do not allow for this classification and that stand should trump local legislation. Uber and Lyft are not in support of this unionizing since it will give more weight to driver movements and protests.
What it Means For Uber and Lyft Drivers
Being able to get a union together would make rideshare drivers a huge threat in no time. They would be able to speak with one, strong voice on issues and demand for better benefits due to them that ride sharing companies like Uber and Lyft easily ignore. The possibility that this would shake the rideshare industry is very high. This would work out great for Uber drivers as they can possible be classified as workers. If you are an Uber fleet owner, this will not be the case. An Uber fleet owner has vehicles registered on the Uber platform but do not drive for the Uber. Rather, Uber drivers can indicate interest to drive for Uber fleet owners. If you want to know how to start an Uber Fleet, you can read this post here
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