Senator Cortese Presents Landmark Bill To Allow Rideshare Drivers to Finally Unionize in California

SACRAMENTO – On the California Senate floor today, Senator Dave Cortese (D-Silicon), chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, presented the landmark Assembly Bill 1340, also known as the Transportation Network Company Drivers Labor Relations Act, that establishes collective bargaining rights for more than 800,000  rideshare drivers. The bill passed the Senate and now heads to the Governor’s desk.

AB 1340, authored by Assembly Members Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) and Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park), sets up a new system for drivers to form unions and negotiate with companies like Uber and Lyft, while also maintaining their status as independent contractors. The bill is supported by Governor Gavin Newsom, Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, and unions like SEIU California.

“This is a milestone for the labor movement in California, as well as a turning point in our state’s transportation landscape. Many drivers take home as little as $9 an hour after expenses,” said Senator Dave Cortese, a longtime supporter of unions and Senate Transportation Chair. “Rideshare drivers need a stronger voice to stand up against poverty wages and poor working conditions. AB 1340 provides a statutory path toward a living wage by granting drivers the ability to unionize and bargain for fair pay and benefits.”

“For almost a decade, thousands of drivers have fought for a better life. A way forward to the middle class,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire (D-North Coast). “This agreement represents one of the largest in American history — 800,000 Californians who work behind the wheel will now have a path to higher wages, health benefits, and workplace rights. This a big damn deal, uplifting workers and the Golden State’s economy.”

“This is momentous. Hundreds of thousands of California gig workers are headed toward better pay, and Uber and Lyft rides will be more affordable for millions of residents,” said Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Salinas). “While Trump is stripping workers of bargaining rights and rolling-back protections, California is fighting for lower prices and empowering working families. What a way to celebrate Labor Day weekend.”

“Gig workers have been fighting, organizing, and advocating for years, because for too long, the industry’s giants have handed workers a raw deal: you do all the work and take all the risks, while corporations make all the decisions and reap the lion’s share of the rewards. That stops with AB 1340,” said Tia Orr, Executive Director of SEIU California, the sponsor of AB 1340 and voice of 750,000 workers in the State Capitol. “While Trump tears down unions and hands more power to corporations, California is showing that building a worker-first economy is possible only when we put workers in the drivers’ seat.”

 

Here is a YouTube link of Senator Cortese’s presentation:

Senator Cortese presents AB 1340, Transportation network company drivers: labor relations