Boston, Mass — Rideshare drivers in Massachusetts have joined the App Drivers Union. This has allowed ADU to become the first statewide rideshare union in the country. Rideshare workers by gaining union membership have created a path toward negotiating better pay and job protections for the 70,000 rideshare drivers in the Commonwealth.
“Massachusetts rideshare drivers just made labor history. Nearly 70,000 app-based drivers have officially won union recognition through the App Drivers Union — the first union recognition for app-based workers anywhere in the United States and the largest private-sector organizing victory in generations,” said Brian Bryant, IAM Union International President. “What started with the IAM Union organizing black car drivers in the 1990s has grown into a groundbreaking partnership with SEIU 32BJ that is now reshaping the future of work in America. This victory proves that no matter how powerful Big Tech becomes, workers still have the power to organize, demand fairness and win a real voice on the job.”
At a rally Tuesday May 26th SEIU President April Verrett and IAM International President Brian Bryant, marked the historic turning point for the labor movement in the fight to organize technology companies. Rideshare drivers in Massachusetts are now the largest private workforce to win union recognition since UAW.
“This is one of the biggest organizing victories for labor unions in the last century. Big Tech spent years taking from drivers and writing the rules. Today, 70,000 Massachusetts rideshare drivers won because they wrote our own rules and won the union. Now, for the first time, the app companies have to listen to the workers who make them their money,” said Autumn Weintraub, executive director of the App Drivers Union.“This is not just a victory for rideshare drivers, but a warning shot to every Big Tech billionaire: working people are united and are willing to fight for more.”
Following union recognition, drivers with the ADU will begin contract negotiations. In doing so, rideshare drivers will pave a path for millions of drivers across the country to labor organizations. Rideshare drivers in the Commonwealth first made history in November 2024 when they won union rights through the passage of Question 3. In the months since, rideshare drivers have organized by the thousands.
A defining feature of the Massachusetts law is its mandate that rideshare companies come to the table and bargain in good faith. Unlike organizing under the NLRA, the voter-approved law includes interest arbitration. If the ADU and the companies do not reach an agreement within six months, the dispute goes to an independent arbitrator to help set the terms of a collective bargaining agreement. This avoids a protracted fight in reaching a first contract. Securing the first collective bargaining agreement in the rideshare industry gives rideshare drivers real power to tackle unfair deactivations and other issues.
“For too long, the gig economy was built on a fools’ bargain: the companies got rich and workers scraped by. The rules were rigged,” said April Verrett, President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). “But Massachusetts rideshare drivers flipped the script. They had the audacity and imagination to unrig those rules and win their union. In a moment when working people need hope, these drivers are a shining light. They are steering the future of the labor movement and taking their destiny into their hands.”
“Two years ago, we began this fight by speaking to our members and their relatives who were driving for rideshare companies. App drivers wanted a voice on the job and a path to a better future,” said Manny Pastreich, President 32BJ SEIU. “After tens of thousands of union cards, dozens of actions, one statewide ballot initiative, along with the dedication of a core group of activists, we are proud to play a part in winning the first union for app drivers. This win, like so many recent achievements in the labor movement, required rewriting the rules of organizing. Today, we celebrate a huge win for gig workers and take the next step in the fight for a better tomorrow.”
“Today, we welcome, with open arms, 70,000 Massachusetts rideshare drivers who know a better future is possible when working people build power through unions,”said Liz Shuler, President of the AFL–CIO. “The App Drivers Union’s victory is a reminder that the billion-dollar rideshare industry is fueled by worker power, not corporate greed. These drivers prove what we’ve always known: when working people unite, we win.”
The ADU is an affiliate of 32BJ SEIU and the IAM Union. Until the passage of Question 3 in Massachusetts, there had been no state or federal process for rideshare drivers to organize a union or bargain collectively. With Question 3, drivers won in Massachusetts the same right millions of other workers across the country enjoy – the option to join a union and negotiate with their employers.
