Sacramento, California
—
More than 800,000 drivers for ride-hailing corporations in California will quickly find a way to be part of a union and discount collectively for higher wages and advantages underneath a measure signed Friday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Supporters stated the new regulation will open a path for the largest enlargement of personal sector collective bargaining rights in the state’s historical past. The laws is a big compromise in the yearslong battle between labor unions and tech corporations.
California is the second state the place Uber and Lyft drivers can unionize as impartial contractors. Massachusetts voters handed a poll referendum in November permitting unionization, whereas drivers in Illinois and Minnesota are pushing for related rights.
Newsom introduced the signing at an unrelated information convention at University of California, Berkeley. The new regulation will give drivers “dignity and a say about their future,” he stated.
The new regulation is a part of an settlement made in September between Newsom, state lawmakers and the Service Employees International Union, together with rideshare corporations Uber and Lyft. In trade, Newsom additionally signed a measure supported by Uber and Lyft to considerably reduce the corporations’ insurance coverage necessities for accidents attributable to underinsured drivers.
Lyft CEO David Risher stated in September that the new insurance coverage charges are anticipated to save the firm $200 million and will assist cut back fares.
Uber and Lyft fares in California are constantly greater than in different components of the US due to insurance coverage necessities, the corporations say. Uber has stated that almost one-third of each trip fare in the state goes towards paying for state-mandated insurance coverage.
Labor unions and tech corporations have fought for years over drivers’ rights. In July of final yr, the California Supreme Court ruled that app-based ride-hailing and supply companies like Uber and Lyft can proceed treating their drivers as impartial contractors not entitled to advantages like time beyond regulation pay, paid sick depart and unemployment insurance coverage. A 2019 regulation mandated that Uber and Lyft present drivers with advantages, however voters reversed it at the poll in 2020.
The collective bargaining measure now permits rideshare employees in California to be part of a union whereas nonetheless being categorized as impartial contractors and requires gig corporations to discount in good religion. The new regulation doesn’t apply to drivers for supply apps like DoorDash.
The insurance coverage measure will cut back the protection requirement for accidents attributable to uninsured or underinsured drivers from $1 million to $60,000 per particular person and $300,000 per accident.
The two measures “together represent a compromise that lowers costs for riders while creating stronger voices for drivers — demonstrating how industry, labor, and lawmakers can work together to deliver real solutions,” Ramona Prieto, head of public coverage for California at Uber, stated in an announcement.
Rideshare Drivers United, a Los Angeles-based advocacy group of 20,000 drivers, stated the collective bargaining regulation isn’t robust sufficient to give employees a good contract. The group wished to require the corporations to report its information on pay to the state.
New York City drivers’ pay elevated after the metropolis began requiring the corporations to report how a lot a mean driver earns, the group stated.
“Drivers really need the backing of the state to ensure that not only is a wage proposal actually going to help drivers, but that there is progress in drivers’ pay over the years,” stated Nicole Moore, president of Rideshare Drivers United.
Other drivers stated the laws will present extra job security and advantages.
Many who assist unionization stated they’ve confronted a slew of points, together with being “deactivated” from their apps with out an evidence or honest appeals course of when a passenger complains.
“Drivers have had no way to fight back against the gig companies taking more and more of the passenger fare, or to challenge unfair deactivations that cost us our livelihoods,” Ana Barragan, a gig driver from Los Angeles, stated in an announcement. “We’ve worked long hours, faced disrespect, and had no voice, just silence on the other end of the app. But now, with the right to organize a strong, democratic union, I feel hope.”