The App Drivers Union received state certification Monday to represent roughly 70,000 rideshare drivers in Massachusetts, marking the first recognized union for Uber $UBER and Lyft $LYFT drivers in the United States.
The App Drivers Union will represent roughly 70,000 independent contractors and can now bargain for higher wages with Uber, Lyft, and others
ROBYN BECK / Getty Images
The App Drivers Union received state certification Monday to represent roughly 70,000 rideshare drivers in Massachusetts, marking the first recognized union for Uber $UBER and Lyft $LYFT drivers in the United States.
According to NBC News, no private-sector workforce has seen its union formally acknowledged on this scale since Ford $F employees became members of the United Auto Workers back in 1941. State labor officials determined that 32% of active drivers had backed the union — exceeding by seven percentage points the minimum support level the law requires for certification.
"It's one of the biggest organizing union victories in the last century," said App Drivers Union executive director Autumn Weintraub.
The union, backed by the Service Employees International Union and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, can now collectively bargain on behalf of drivers with Uber, Lyft, and several smaller platforms. No collective bargaining agreement between drivers and rideshare companies has ever been reached, the union said. Under the terms set by the law, if the two sides have not reached a deal within six months, either party may call in mediators and arbitrators to resolve the impasse. Ratification requires a majority vote among every driver in the state who has logged at least 100 rides over the preceding three months, and the agreement cannot take effect unless the labor secretary also gives approval.
A 2024 ballot question giving rideshare drivers the right to organize won passage with 54% of the vote, NBC News reported. The measure allows unionization without requiring workers to be classified as employees — an arrangement that is rare in U.S. labor history.
According to a National Employment Law Project analysis reported by the Boston Globe, the platforms took about 40% of each fare on average last year. In some cases, Uber or Lyft kept as much as 65% to 70%. Drivers say they want a bigger share of earnings and protections against account deactivations and the introduction of autonomous vehicles.
Lyft spokesperson CJ Macklin said the company was "committed to engaging in good faith." Uber's Katie Franger cited the company's 2024 resolution with the attorney general — which delivered health coverage, sick leave, and a $34.48 hourly wage floor to drivers — as evidence of what cooperation can achieve, pledging to preserve the gains drivers have already won.
Governor Maura Healey described the certification as "a historic moment for workers, for fairness, and for the future of our economy." Union leaders say that similar organizing efforts in California and Illinois may move faster because of the result in Massachusetts.
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