The labor laboratory of California frequently acts as a predictor, but are we surprised to learn that unions would ignore their previous flubs that ended up harming workers in the Golden State? Nope. The union bureaucracy is only out for self-preservation, and today, we are talking about Big Labor’s goal to unionize rideshare drivers in Minnesota and other states.
Lessons not learned: In California, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) lobbied for AB5, a law that claimed to improve working conditions for rideshare drivers but ended up causing independent contractor layoffs. Last year, the deep-pocketed union pushed for a similar law that also made Massachusetts the first state that allows rideshare drivers to unionize, and the union wants to do the same in Minnesota.
The new union in Massachusetts: The App Drivers union has aimed to organize Uber and Lyft drivers by card check. The organization is jointly affiliated with SEIU and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), and the App Drivers union claims to have thousands of drivers within reach, although actual “membership” numbers remain fuzzy. Also, no first contract exists or is in the works.
The Minnesota dilemma: A complicated situation exists here, particularly in Minneapolis, where Uber and Lyft threatened to cease operations over the city’s “unsustainable” legislated wage boosts for app-based drivers. Democratic Gov. Tim Walz even vetoed an effort to make those wage boosts official statewide. He did so out of concern that this “could make Minnesota one of the most expensive states in the country for rideshare.”
Fast forward to 2025, and a deal was struck, but impending wage boosts would still bring rideshare drivers up to $34 per hour and push Uber fares up by 25% throughout Minnesota. It doesn’t take a stretch to see how this will lead to decreased demand from rideshare customers and hurt drivers.
So, short-term benefits will lead to long-term harm to workers. Still, Big Labor is now attempting to coast on wage-related goodwill to modify Minnesota state law and allow rideshare driver unionization.
The ultimate union goal: Big Labor wants to organize drivers for purposes of sectoral bargaining to exercise control over an entire industry. That’s precisely what SEIU did with California fast-food wages and creating an overarching council where their lobbying interests will be strong. In this case, the organization of rideshare drivers would be disastrous for companies and the drivers themselves.
Even worse news for workers: These laws would not change the fact that rideshare drivers are independent contractors and therefore not covered by the NLRA. And unions do know this reality. They realize these drivers would remain ineligible for protections and benefits like overtime pay, unemployment insurance, or employer-based health insurance. Yet Big Labor will always promise the moon for what they cannot deliver. So even if rideshare drivers “unionize,” they would end up paying dues while reaping little to no bargaining advantage.
These workers would also end up living under a union constitution, negating any freedoms associated with being independent contractors.
The takeaway: The usual brand of union snake oil is even more odious when it comes to their targeting of rideshare drivers. And as we speak, the IAM is also attempting to sell their wares to New Jersey rideshare drivers, who would be wise to drive far away from those union lies.
