Rideshare drivers take another step towards unionization
Photo | Courtesy State House News Service
Labor advocates and app-based drivers rally outside the State House in 2022 to demand the right to collectively bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions.
Gathering tens of thousands of signatures from registered voters looms as the largest obstacle en route to putting a question on the ballot, and one of the contenders in the 2024 field is about to claim success.
Workers for Uber and Lyft who want the right to unionize, and the organized labor leaders who support them, plan to announce Thursday they have collected significantly more than the 74,574 signatures needed to advance their proposal to the next phase of the process, MASSterList has learned.
So far, the campaign backed by 32BJ SEIU and the International Association of Machinists isn't saying exactly how many signatures they've collected, but they will invite press to observe them drop off "thousands" to Boston City Hall this afternoon -- a full 20 days before the deadline to file signatures with local officials for certification.
It's not exactly a surprise that the pair of powerful unions is plowing ahead toward the 2024 ballot undeterred, but by crowing success early, they are showing confidence in the campaign and slowly turning up the pressure on lawmakers to take them seriously.
The 41 other potential ballot questions certified by Attorney General Andrea Campbell are, ostensibly, still at various phases of the signature-gathering process.
A bid from Auditor Diana DiZoglio to make explicit in state law her ability to audit the Legislature has drawn a diverse range of supporters. The right-leaning Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance watchdog group put its weight behind gathering signatures for that measure, and a constellation of progressive activists calling themselves the Coalition to Reform Our Legislature is on board, too.
Rep. Mike Connolly's push to get voters, rather than his colleagues, to revive local option rent control on Wednesday announced endorsements from United Auto Workers Region 9A, Harvard Graduate Student Union, and the Alliance of Cambridge Tenants, adding some depth to the campaign's signature gathering forces.
Each initiative petition that receives enough certified signatures will head to the Legislature in January, where lawmakers can approve the measures, propose substitute versions or decline to take action. If nothing happens in the House and Senate by May 1, 2024, campaigns need to file another 12,429 signatures with local officials by June 19 to qualify for the ballot.
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