California Uber and Lyft Drivers Near Union Vote

California Uber and Lyft drivers are moving toward union representation after organizers said they cleared a major threshold under a new state law. The California California Public Employment Relations Board notified the California Gig Workers Union on Aug. 7 that the group had gathered support from at least 30% of active rideshare drivers, putting the California Uber and Lyft drivers union effort on track for certification after a waiting period.

Organizers say the union could become the largest rideshare drivers union in the world. The state has more than 800,000 registered drivers, and labor estimates place the active workforce at roughly 350,000. The California Gig Workers Union is expected to be certified as the exclusive bargaining representative for Uber and Lyft drivers statewide after a 30-day period, unless a competing group qualifies to challenge it.

The effort comes out of AB 1340, which set up a collective-bargaining system for app-based rideshare drivers. That matters because Uber and Lyft drivers are generally treated as independent contractors, not employees, which has long left them outside the kind of traditional bargaining rights enjoyed by many other workers. The new law followed years of organizing by drivers and the Service Employees International Union, which supported CGWU.

After the law took effect, organizers gathered authorization cards in more than a dozen languages using social media, texts, emails and in-person outreach. David Green, president and executive director of SEIU 721, said in the union’s announcement that the effort took more than a decade and grew through what he called the courage of gig drivers. The union’s backers say that persistence is what pushed the campaign over the line.