Uber-Backed Group to Reboot Gig-Worker Ballot Initiative in Massachusetts

A coalition of gig economy giants plan to reboot a failed ballot initiative in Massachusetts in a renewed push to cement their workers’ status as independent contractors.

The Massachusetts Coalition for Independent Work, a group bankrolled by Uber Technologies Inc., Lyft Inc., Instacart Inc. and DoorDash Inc., will file a petition to include a measure concerning gig worker classification on the 2024 ballot, according to people familiar with the matter.

Under the ballot proposal, Massachusetts voters would decide whether to consider ride-hail and delivery drivers as contractors rather than traditional employees — a status that grants workers certain labor protections and benefits — and the outcome would be enshrined in state law. The group intends to introduce the measure this week, the people said, asking not to be identified as the filing is not yet public.

The proposal would give new impetus to companies’ efforts to preserve their gig economy model in the state after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court blocked a similar attempt last year. At the time, a seven-judge panel ruled that the initiative was unconstitutional because it included provisions that were unrelated to gig worker benefits, one of which was “buried in obscure language” that would shield app-based companies from third-party liability for accidents.

The court struck the entire ballot measure down, contending that voters could be “confused, misled and deprived of a meaningful choice.” The latest initiative would modify some of these provisions, though it’s not clear if they would be removed altogether, according to the people.

Employee classification has been a hot-button issue in recent years, as companies seek to limit costs and maximize flexibility. Workers who are considered independent contractors, and therefore are legally supposed to be subject to less control than full-fledged employees, are excluded from many traditional employment rights. Using contractors also saves companies costs such as payroll tax that are required for employees.

App-based businesses have argued that the contractor model helps provide flexibility for staff and lower prices for customers, while labor advocates contend it deprives workers of protection against wage theft, union-busting, and harassment. Under President Joe Biden, the US Department of Labor, which enforces minimum wage law, is working on regulations narrowing the definition of a contractor. The Democratic majority on the National Labor Relations Board, which enforces unionization rights, voted in June to make it more difficult for companies to prove their workers are not employees.

READ: Uber, Lyft Get Closer to Unionization on Labor Board Gig Ruling

Enforcement agencies or judges could deem workers to be employees under federal laws even if the state where they work considered them contractors. But getting workers confirmed as contractors at the state level, along with reducing the companies’ liability under state laws, could boost the companies’ clout in political battles over federal workplace classification, and prevent them from being forced to overhaul their business models.

So the companies have worked for years to secure state-level compromises that provide workers new perks while ensuring they’ll continue to be classified as non-employees. Those efforts made headway in California, where the companies collectively spent $200 million on a successful campaign to pass the ballot measure Proposition 22; and in Washington State, where Democratic lawmakers passed a bill backed by the companies and a Teamsters union local that provided the workers new benefits while preventing them from being deemed employees.