Close to home: Time for gig workers to unionize

App-based gig companies like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Instacart employ 1.4 million workers in California. The companies paint these jobs as glowing: “side gigs” that complement their 9-to-5 jobs, offering decent pay, autonomy and flexible hours. The reality is very different.

Because gig workers are classified as independent contractors, they are not covered by state minimum wage and overtime protections, nor are they eligible for state unemployment benefits or workers’ compensation benefits. Most gig workers are employed full-time or must juggle multiple part-time and temporary jobs to pay the bills.

In short, casual work is precarious employment. These workers are now organizing for better pay, improved working conditions, and the right to join a union.

A new report by researchers at the UC Berkeley Labor Center collected data from 1,100 trucking and food delivery drivers in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago and Seattle. They found that trucking drivers in California earned an average of $5.79 an hour without tips and $7.63 with tips. Delivery drivers earned even less, at $4.98 without tips and $11.43 with tips — well below California’s $16 an hour minimum wage.

The calculations are based on the median net hourly wage after taxes and mandatory Medicare and Social Security contributions. Drivers are also responsible for vehicle costs, including gas, maintenance, repairs, insurance, and smartphones. These expenses take up half of gross earnings. In addition, drivers are not paid for time spent traveling to hubs where they pick up passengers.

Uber and Lyft say many drivers only make a few family-car trips a week, so their additional costs are minimal. A report from the Labor Center shows that most of the trips are taken by drivers who work 20 or more hours a week and drive 10,000 to 20,000 miles a year for the app companies. Full-time drivers (32 hours a week) account for almost half of the passenger trips.

In 2018, researchers from the UCLA Labor Center interviewed hundreds of drivers in Los Angeles County. They found that nearly half of workers surveyed drove full time, more than half reported app-based driving as their sole source of income, two-thirds drove to support themselves and their families, and one-third supported a family with at least one child. Half of Los Angeles’ drivers were new immigrants.

Most of the temporary workers are from low-income families who can’t make ends meet. As a result, ride-hailing drivers have formed advocacy organizations to take legal action and lobby for legislation to improve their pay and working conditions.

In 2023, the New York Taxi Workers Alliance won a $328 million lawsuit settlement that included a settlement of driver wage theft claims, a $27.86 hourly minimum wage, and nine days of paid sick leave. In 2024, the Minnesota Uber/Lyft Drivers Association successfully lobbied the legislature and governor for a minimum wage and mileage rate that, according to a Service Employees International Union analysis, is $34.58 per hour.

The California Supreme Court recently upheld Proposition 22, a 2020 referendum initiative that classified drivers as independent contractors, though the court found the provision banning unionization to be unconstitutional.

In November, Massachusetts voters will consider a referendum initiative to allow commuter drivers to unionize, which could open the door to unionization in other states. In California, 30,000 drivers have formed the SEIU-backed California Gig Workers Union, an advocacy organization. Ultimately, only through collective bargaining can temporary workers earn family-living wages and comprehensive benefits and systematically address the exploitation of workers by app-based gig workers. If Massachusetts app drivers unionize, California will undoubtedly follow.

Martin J. Bennett is a retired instructor at Santa Rosa Junior College and a consultant for UNITE HERE Local 2.

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