SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) – Question 3 on the Massachusetts ballot will ask you to decide whether rideshare drivers can unionize. When you get into an Uber or Lyft, you probably haven’t questioned whether your driver is an employee of the ridesharing company. It turns out your driver is an ‘independent contractor’ under a law passed during the Trump Administration, according to Western New England University Political Science Professor Tim Vercellotti.

“Well, it’s ‘Who are they?’ It comes to the crux of the question. Are they primary contractors providing services for a fee or employees of a company?” Vercellotti asked.

One of these independent contractors is John Garcia, who depends on his work for a living through Uber and Lyft. Currently, drivers like Garcia have no bargaining power to defend becoming official employees of Uber and Lyft, despite logging 80-hour work weeks just to make ends meet.

“Up until a year and a half ago, if you worked 40 hours you’d probably make a decent amount of money, but now you work 80, 75 (hours) and you’ll probably make the same amount of money. Money,” Garcia said.

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell reached a settlement with Uber and Lyft in August that promised some wages, benefits and protections to drivers found violating the state’s wage and hour laws. Regardless, Garcia said that wasn’t enough for him and that there were more than 70,000 rides, as well as countless passengers who didn’t even know they were pulling the short stick.

“When you pull up to my car and say, ‘Oh, John charged me $30 for two miles,’ that’s not John. John will only get four and seven dollars from this trip. Garcia stated that Uber and Lyft hid this money.

According to the ‘Yes to 3’ campaign, passing Question 3 would allow drivers to ‘take the wheel’ and give them tighter control over holding transport network companies accountable when it comes to fair pay, safety protections and benefits for any full-time employees will provide. We must wait.

“They need it badly. They’re underpaid, they have security issues, they disconnect frequently, they have issues not being able to contact someone when their app is shut down. This group really needs a voice in the workplace,” said Mike Vartabedian, Machinists Union District 15.

What impact would you see if you voted to allow rideshare drivers to unionize? Vercellotti said passengers and their wallets could suffer if the law passes.

“The argument is that overheads will be more expensive. Therefore, the fare for Uber or Lyft will increase and the passengers will feel it,” Vercellotti said.

However, ‘Yes on 3’ advocates assured us that rideshare companies should be pocketing enough money after taking a larger share of fares as their booming business continues to grow in the Bay State’s urban areas.

“Uber and Lyft have a lot of money and need to stay competitive. Otherwise they will lose their services to taxi services, so we believe this will not result in greater costs for consumers and will actually create better experiences for both,” Vartabedian explained.

We reached out to Uber for their reaction to Question 3, and they said in part: “While we have some concerns about the language used in the ballot measure and plan to push the changes through the legislature in the next session, Uber is leading a campaign opposing Question 3.”

It will take time for ridesharing companies to move this measure to the parliamentary agenda, but in the meantime, drivers like Garcia will get the representation they’ve lacked for years and finally bring the companies they work under to the negotiating table. .

“We need a fair contract. I don’t think that’s too much to ask,” Garcia said.

We also reached out to Lyft for their response to Question 3, but they never got back to us.

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