Judge Won’t Allow Challenge to Seattle’s Rideshare Driver Union Law

A federal judge has rejected a challenge to Seattle’s first-in-the-nation law allowing drivers of ridesharing companies such as Uber and Lyft to unionize over pay and working conditions.

U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik in late August rejected a challenge brought by 11 drivers, saying that their claims against the law were premature or too speculative.

He earlier rejected a challenge brought by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the companies. The organization is appealing that decision. The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which represents the drivers, said that it too would appeal.

But the judge declined to keep Seattle’s law on hold pending the appeals, clearing the way for the Teamsters to try to begin unionizing the drivers unless the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says otherwise.

The 2015 law requires companies that hire or contract with drivers of taxis, for-hire transportation companies and app-based services to bargain with them if a majority show they want to be represented.

The companies say a collective bargaining agreement could undermine the flexibility of how often and for how long drivers work, some of the things that make the companies attractive to drivers and passengers alike. But unionization supporters say it could help fix practices that have included unjust terminations and deceptive payment structures.

The drivers who sued to challenge the law argued that it conflicted with federal labor law as well as their right to free association. Lasnik disagreed, suggesting that any collective bargaining agreement could comport with labor law and the Constitution, and that their claims were thus premature.