Reaction mixed after Seattle’s Uber union vote

Uber also faces legal action in California on behalf of drivers who want to be considered full-time employees rather than contractors. Under the City Charter, the ordinance will become law without my signature.

Councilmembers said they expect a legal battle with for-hire companies after the vote.

The Seattle City Council voted 8-0 Monday to enact an ordinance giving taxi, for-hire and Uber drivers the ability to unionize.

For Gobena and hundreds of other drivers working for “transportation network companies” – the official city term for the app-based ride share services – the protections granted under the new ordinance could not have come sooner. Opponents including Uber claim that federal labour laws preempt such lawmaking by a city. Other drivers have said they like the system the way it works now.

“They are highly incentivised to make the most of those 12 hours and probably drive every single minute of those hours”.

“This legislation is a huge victory for all the underpaid workers seeking to rebuild the labor movement and fight for a decent life”, said Council member Kshama Sawant.

The new union law, then, will require companies to give Seattle a complete list of drivers working in the city.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray (D) said that he would not sign the bill, instead opting to allow it to pass into law without his approval, because concerns he has with the legislation have not been resolved.

Wilma Liebman, former chairwoman of the National Labor Relations Board, told The Huffington Post that she doesn’t see a conflict with federal labor law unless the labor board deems Uber drivers to be employees, which could bring them under the board’s jurisdiction. He burst into cheers and hugged others outside City Council chambers. Examples include the process of determining a “qualifying driver” (drivers that qualify to collectively bargain) without providing a mechanism to access previously unshared driver data; and the process by which the FAS Director would have the nuanced responsibility to certify whether any bargained agreements meet goals identified in the legislation.

Uber has sued King County, the home of Seattle, and Seattle law firm Keller Rohrback in an attempt to block the county from releasing, under a public-records request by the firm, the number of licensed drivers the company has here.

Anti-trust law experts said the city might have violated anti-trust laws in allowing the drivers to unionize when that jurisdiction falls to the state. Lyft drivers are entirely in control of where or when they work, and this flexibility is exactly why the service is so popular with with people looking to make extra income.