Rideshare drivers would get power to unionize under Minnesota bill that faces long road
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Rideshare drivers in Minnesota would be able to unionize under a bill DFL state lawmakers plan to introduce.
It’s the latest effort to bring more job protections to operators who often use their own vehicles but rely on popular phone-based apps to drum up business.
Last year, lawmakers passed a bill to give a set a minimum pay level for rideshare drivers. The drivers are not able to unionize under federal law because they are treated like independent contractors and not employees.
Greg Nammacher, president of SEIU Local 26, said the law adopted last year comprised the first steps and now is the time for Uber and Lyft drivers to have negotiating power over pay and working conditions.
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“Without that voice, these problems are going to continue to come back to the Legislature, and the Legislature does not need to be the HR of huge multimillion dollar global corporations like Uber and Lyft,” Nammacher said.
Uber spokesperson Freddi Goldstein questioned the rationale for the bill.
“Over the last few years, drivers, rideshare companies, and legislators worked collaboratively on addressing what drivers themselves established as their own priorities,” Goldberg said in a written statement. “It is not constructive to have late-to-the-game parties show up to risk what’s been achieved to advance their own interests.”
Lyft didn’t return messages.
Sen. Zaynab Mohamed, DFL-Minneapolis, said the proposal builds off the law approved in 2024. Bill sponsors said they hope to have the plan ready for committee consideration soon.
“That bill that we passed last session did give these drivers a lot more than what they had in the past,” Mohamed said. “I think the issue here is that right now they're not even able to negotiate with these companies on what their future pay rates are going to be like or what their future working conditions are going to look like.”
Mohamed and Rep. Samakab Hussein, DFL-St. Paul, said they are working on drumming up support from their colleagues before formally introducing the bill. The House would need at least one Republican to vote for the bill given the need for 68 votes to pass.
Democrats currently hold 66 seats but a special election next month might bring the House to a 67-67 tie.
There is no assurance that all DFLers will be on board. The 2024 law came a year after Gov. Tim Walz vetoed his first and only bill, which included a minimum level of pay and job protections for drivers. The two main companies had threatened to leave the Minnesota market if it became law.