Source: The Sacramento Bee
Lawmakers struck a deal on legislation that would allow Uber and Lyft drivers to unionize, giving the bill a big boost and an endorsement from Gov. Gavin Newsom ahead of a critical Friday vote in the statehouse.
Assembly Bill 1340 would allow rideshare drivers, who are classified as independent contractors, to unionize and collectively bargain. It would be the most significant change to labor laws governing the ride-hailing industry since the California Supreme Court upheld most of the industry-backed Proposition 22 last year. In a compromise with the industry, companies will be on the hook for far less in accident insurance coverage.
Currently, companies and their drivers need to carry $1 million of insurance for uninsured and underinsured motorists. Under Senate Bill 371, it would be $60,000 for uninsured motorists and $300,000 per incident.
Legislative leaders said this change would help keep rideshares more affordable for consumers.
“This is a historic agreement between workers and business that only California could deliver,” Newsom said in a statement. “Labor and industry sat down together, worked through their differences, and found common ground that will empower hundreds of thousands of drivers while making rideshare more affordable for millions of Californians. It’s proof that California can do big things, tackle tough issues, and improve peoples’ lives.”
Speaker Robert Rivas and Senate President pro Tem Mike McGuire also supported the deal.
‘Historic victory’ for 800,000 drivers Tia Orr, executive director of SEIU California, a major labor union, called AB 1340 an historic victory for the roughly 800,000 rideshare drivers.
“Gig workers have been fighting, organizing and advocating for years, because for too long, the industry’s giants have handed workers a raw deal: you do all the work and take all the risks, while corporations make all the decisions and reap the lion’s share of the rewards,” Orr said.
“Sacramento has come together around the need to make rideshare more affordable in California, and we’re encouraged to see these two bills advancing in tandem,” said Ramona Prieto, Uber’s head of public policy for California. “Together, they 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 that reflect how people live, work, and move today.”
The agreement was announced the morning of the Legislature’s suspense file hearings, when hundreds of bills are either released to the floor for final debate and votes or killed in a secretive decision-making process.
“We need to be able to bargain for fair pay, basic protections and real benefits,” Mike Robinson, a Southern California Lyft driver, said during an online press conference. “Rideshare drivers like me are the backbone of the industry.”