After more than ten years of fighting to get recognized as a union and be able to fight collectively for better pay and benefits, including health insurance, around 60, 000 Californian Uber and Lyft individuals won a historic victory.

Difficulty of the digital platform economy ( Gig economy ) and of various cultures and languages: English, Spanish, Mandarin, Hindi, Punjabi, and Spanish raised their fists in triumph.

Marvin Meléndez, a pilot from Nicaragua, told La Opinión," I have worked for Uber and Lyft for eight years. I used to work four to six hours per day, making between 400 and 500 money, but now I only make between 250 and 300 dollars per day and have to put in more than 12 days.

Meléndez noted that maintenance and gas prices have increased substantially without any compensation for the repayments made.

He said," I hope that a new deal will increase my income and that of my coworkers, giving me more time to work on my home and other things. "

The platform economy vehicle organizing success in California currently has the potential to be the biggest fresh worker organizing victory in current labor history.

Exceedingly underdeveloped

According to David Green, president and CEO of SEIU 721, vehicles for Uber and Lyft are among the most utilized in the country.

He said," An unfairness against one is an injustice against all," adding that it is unheard of that the multimillion-dollar corporations in the industry "want to reduce the income and labor rights of these individuals to become richer, while the staff become poorer. "

The triumph for California's wheeled drivers comes in the wake of a growing push for union rights in the industry. Governor of Illinois next year These drivers have been given the right to organise by B. Pritzker, while Massachusetts voters recently approved a measure that grants them collective bargaining rights.

Early this year, the Massachusetts flat individuals union received certification, joining a growing wave of SEIU organizing work by these workers nationwide. In the United States, there are more than 2 million SEIU users.

David Green told La Opinión," I wish I could tell you that this marks the end of abuse, but we know that it continues to exist everywhere. " That these employees have a message at the table and fight for a great deal, one that includes the value we just mentioned, has been one more step in the direction of justice.

Uber and Lyft drivers won thanks to AB 1340, which was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom and constitutionally codifies the right of all these workers to voice their opinions at the desk, something that Proposition 22 forbade them from doing.

A driver who preferred privacy claimed that" that fatal law [Proposition 22, passed in 2020] was a scam by Uber, Lyft, and Doordash for citizens. We were classified as independent contractors and no regular workers, but this prevented employers from providing us with conventional job benefits, such as poverty coverage.

In fact, Uber and Lyft spent more than$ 200 million to put Proposition 22 on the ballot in November 2020, promising better pay and benefits for employees. That was not the case.

strewn, but united

Software drivers are geographically dispersed throughout California, do not have a typical work environment, or follow standardized schedules or shifts, which made workforce organization extremely challenging.

However, drivers created a strong action across the condition and overcame obstacles to gain collective bargaining rights and a voice in their work.

Before joining this union battle, he remembered that before becoming a ride-hailing drivers for Uber and Lyft in Fresno, he believed the issues he faced were his left.

He became aware, however, that drivers ' payment systems with Uber and Lyft were isolated and disassociated from one another.

I came away from my struggles as we spoke with individuals all over the state and encouraged them to mark their union license cards. Hundreds of these discussions led to our success, which will quickly become the largest ride-hailing drivers ' federation on the planet under the leadership of the owners themselves.

Their work was done online through social media, film calls, text messages, phone calls, and home visits over the past ten months, in cafes and car washrooms, and in cafes and car washrooms.

In these conversations, driving leaders, like Vikar, were created who worked to mobilize and inspire more of their peers, overcoming the oppressive constraints imposed by the apps, and establishing social union power.

In fact, individuals who organized through the organizations SEIU 521, SEIU 721, and SEIU 1021 founded the California Gig Workers Union ( CWGU), challenging Proposition 22 both at the ballot box and in court cases that have been heard by the California Supreme Court.

AB 1340 was passed last time, establishing a legal framework for California ride-hailing vehicles to form a coalition and agreement collectively with ride-hailing companies, thanks to vehicle campaigning.

The Public Employment Relations Board ( PERB ) gave a notification to the CGWU on August 7 that it had passed the state-level minimum requirements for drivers representation.

After a 30-day waiting time, California's CGWU is expected to become certified as a collective bargaining representative for Uber and Lyft vehicles.

According to Margarita Pealosa, an Uber and Lyft driver based in Los Angeles," We built this movement because drivers on digital platforms talked to one another. " We overcame fear and the hundreds of millions of dollars that businesses in the market spent to devalue our voting rights, and we demonstrated that our popular demand is for workers in the software market to be treated with dignity and fair compensation.

The California Gig Workers Union (CGWU) is the collective voice of thousands of app drivers across the state, including those who work for companies like Uber and Lyft. After a decade of organizing with the unions SEIU 521, SEIU 721 and SEIU 1021, these drivers have fought to expand labor protections and guarantee the right to collective bargaining.

In 2025, the CGWU managed to establish a legal path for ride-hailing drivers in California to unionize and negotiate, at the state level, for better wages, benefits and working conditions.

“With a new contract I expect a better salary and benefits like any other worker,” said Manuel Díaz, a 31-year-old Peruvian driver and father of a daughter, who previously earned between 2,000 and 2,500 dollars every two weeks, but now he doesn't even make it to a thousand.”

For his part, Nolberto Cruz, originally from Puerto Cortés, Honduras, denounced that the Uber and Lyft platforms “are taking 82% of what consumers pay,” but he decided to continue working with both companies because they allowed him to do other jobs.

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