Less than a year after the Minnesota Legislature passed a sweeping bill raising wages for Uber and Lyft drivers, two Democrats announced plans to create a path for drivers to unionize.
Because they’re treated like independent contractors and not employees, Uber and Lyft drivers aren’t able to unionize under the federal labor law.
“Right now, labor law claims that these drivers don’t have the right to form a union like most workers, denying them the best path forward to fix the industry,” said Sen. Zaynab Mohamed, DFL-Minneapolis, during a Tuesday news conference with drivers and leaders from the Service Employees International Union. “The best way to hold these companies accountable is to give drivers a seat at the table.”
The bill is modeled off a law in Massachusetts, which became the first state to allow drivers on apps like Uber and Lyft to unionize through a ballot initiative passed by voters last November.