Newsom signs bill giving Uber and Lyft drivers in California the right to unionize

In Brief

Drivers for ride-hailing apps similar Uber and Lyft volition soon person the close to unionize successful California arsenic autarkic contractors, acknowledgment to a measure signed Friday by Governor Gavin Newsom.

This is portion of a larger woody betwixt lawmakers, unions, and ride-hailing companies, resulting successful the transition of abstracted bills supporting little security requirements for Uber and Lyft, on with national rights for their drivers. When the woody was first announced successful August, Newsom described it arsenic an “historic statement betwixt workers and concern that lone California could deliver.”

The Associated Press reports that much than 800,000 drivers volition summation the close to articulation a national and collectively bargain for amended wage and benefits. Ramona Prieto, Uber’s caput of nationalist argumentation for California, told the AP successful a connection that the 2 bills “represent a compromise that lowers costs for riders portion creating stronger voices for drivers.”

Massachusetts voters passed a ballot measure giving ride-hailing drivers unionization rights past fall.

Subscribe for the industry’s biggest tech news