Massachusetts Is Not For Sale
In a major win for more than 51,000 Massachusetts gig workers, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) struck down a ballot question that would have allowed companies like Uber, Lyft, and Doordash to classify gig workers as independent contractors instead of employees. Ballot question "Massachusetts App-Based Drivers as Contractors and Labor Policies Initiative (2022)," was defeated by activist pressure in June.
The ballot question was disguised by Big Tech as an opportunity to provide workers with “independence and flexibility.” In reality, it would have offered Big Tech the “flexibility” to pay workers less than minimum wage, deny healthcare and other benefits, and remove legal protections against workplace injuries and discrimination. The SJC ruled that the ballot question put forth by Uber, Lyft, and others contained unrelated proposals that went beyond the single purpose of regulating driver-company contractual relationships. For example, also included in the ballot question were provisions that would have regulated the relationship between companies, consumers, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This would have weakened the legal rights of consumers and the Commonwealth to hold the companies accountable for car accidents, assaults, or environmental damage. Further, it would have exempted these tech companies from paying into Social Security and unemployment benefits for their workers, passing on these costs to taxpayers.
We cannot let Big Tech succeed in decimating job protections and unfairly shifting corporate responsibilities to their drivers. The growing ride-hailing industry contributes to increasing air pollution, congestion on our roads, and planet-warming carbon emissions. The commitment by Uber and Lyft to electrify their fleets by 2030 should go hand in hand with a commitment to treating their workers fairly. There can be no climate justice without workers' rights.
This win for people power illustrates how, now more than ever, workers can stand up to Big Tech and other polluting companies. The tech industry in Massachusetts spent more than $100 million campaigning on the ballot measure. Still, it was defeated by Massachusetts is Not for Sale, a broad coalition made up of delivery workers, consumer advocates, civil rights, immigrant, faith, labor, community organizations, and racial and environmental justice groups.
Sierra Club's Massachusetts chapter worked alongside the coalition to raise awareness of this ballot measure, which was meant to confuse voters. We did so through regular communication in our newsletters, amplifying campaign messaging on social media, and sharing actions that our volunteers and members could take. We also testified at the hearing held by the Joint Committee on Financial Services urging the committee to oppose the bill.
The court's decision is a win for workers' rights and protections that would have disproportionately impacted Black, brown, and immigrant workers in Massachusetts. An analysis by the University of California, Berkeley shows that if passed, this ballot proposal would have created a subminimum wage for app-based workers, as low as $4.82/hour.
While the SJC ruling is a big victory, the fight here in Massachusetts is not yet over. We know that Big Tech will be back and that they’ll continue to try to weaken worker protections through legislative means.
We won’t stop working with coalition partners to ensure that tech companies provide the same workers' rights and protections as every other business in Massachusetts.