![]() ![]() In 2020, then-Attorney General Maura Healey filed a lawsuit against Uber and Lyft, alleging that the companies were denying drivers protections like a minimum wage by improperly classifying them as independent contractors rather than employees. Massachusetts policymakers have been trying to get a handle for years on what the relationship should be between platforms like Uber and Lyft and the gig-economy drivers, with labor advocates and the tech giants on different sides of the issue. ![]() “It’s time that Uber and Lyft - huge, profitable companies that are exploiting their workforce - are held to account,” Lewis said. Miranda and Lewis said rideshare drivers deserve the same collective bargaining rights as all other workers in Massachusetts. The bill also would guarantee a minimum pay rate and protections like paid sick leave and workers’ compensation. ![]() That coalition backs the unionization bill, filed in the House by Lawrence Rep. Gonnell is affiliated with the Drivers Demand Justice Coalition, a group whose members include Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union, the International Association of Machinists, the Chinese Progressive Association, the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, the Merrimack Valley Project, the Union of Minority Neighborhoods and Latinos Unidos in Massachusetts. "That is frustrating for me because I took this career just to take care of my kids and have time and flexibility for them, but now I don't have even that,” Gonnell said. She said she used to be able to work fewer hours and earn the same amount of money. Uber driver Betania Gonell said she’s been using the platform for seven years, usually working 60 to 70 hours a week. Organizers said more than 500 people participated in Tuesday's event, gathering at a Dorchester parking lot before driving to the State House. It’s a push that’s gone on for more than two years on Beacon Hill, with a union just one of a handful ideas raised by competing groups in the fight over how to legally treat rideshare drivers’ employment. Honking their horns and cheering as they circled the State House in a caravan, Uber and Lyft drivers rallied with labor groups and other advocates Tuesday to again press Massachusetts lawmakers to pass a bill that would let the drivers unionize and offer other worker protections.īill supporters say that a union would help drivers negotiate for better pay, benefits and working conditions. ![]()
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