Seattle considers proposal to let Uber drivers unionise
Seattle's city council is set to vote later today on whether drivers for ride-request services like Uber and Lyft should be allowed to unionise. If the officials pass the ordinance, Seattle would become the first American city where drivers for such companies would enjoy collective bargaining rights, a rule change that could set a precedent and start a legal battle, according to ABC News. As previously reported, drivers for companies like Uber are considered contract workers and therefore aren't protected under the American National Labor Relations Act, which gives other employees the authority to directly negotiate with executives. Council member Mike O'Brien told the Seattle Times the drivers deserve that power. “We’re trying to balance the playing field,” O’Brien said. “We have this multibillion-dollar company trying to monopolise the taxi industry around the world, and then we have drivers making less than minimum wage.” The legislation would let drivers use certain preselected non-profit organisations to bargain for them, however Uber is stating such a move would be illegal, as cities aren’t legally authorised to regulate unions for contractors.

After burning out the clutch on his Kia Soul last year, Don Creery bought a new car with an automatic transmission. He went into debt for the vehicle because he considered it an investment: He had just started driving full time in Seattle for Lyft and Uber, the ride-hailing start-ups, and was making money.

Since then, Uber and Lyft have cut the rates they charge passengers for rides and ended the incentives used to recruit drivers. Mr. Creery said he now has to drive 10 to 12 hours a day to make the amount of money he once did working six to eight hours.

He is not taking it lying down. On Monday, the Seattle City Council plans to vote on a proposed law to give freelance, on-demand drivers like Mr. Creery the right to collectively negotiate on pay and working conditions, a right historically reserved for regular employees. Mr. Creery and hundreds of fellow drivers in Seattle helped push for the legislation. The hope, he said, is to give drivers more say on how much they should be paid.

“Early on, these companies were really great,” said Mr. Creery, 62, a lifelong Seattle resident whose primary source of income is driving for Uber and Lyft. “But when it comes down to it, they keep lowering their rates on us.”