In 2020, Uber, Lyft, and other major tech companies led a campaign in California to exempt themselves from classifying their workers as employees. After spending a record-shattering $220 million, the companies successfully passed Proposition 22, which they promised would protect California’s app-based workers’ “flexibility” by reclassifying them as independent contractors. In reality, Prop 22 stripped drivers of basic employment rights, including healthcare benefits, minimum wage protections, and health and safety standards. Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California and a group of rideshare drivers immediately challenged the proposition via legal action. But in July 2024, the California Supreme Court unanimously upheld the law.
Logic(s) editorial fellow Eliza McCullough volunteered for the No on Prop 22 campaign in 2019 and was introduced to Rideshare Drivers United (RDU), a driver-led organization made up of twenty thousand app-based drivers across California that is among the largest app-based worker unions in the world. Since their founding in 2018, they have led several statewide, national, and international strikes and helped drivers file $1.2 billion in wage-theft lawsuits against Uber and Lyft. They also won some initial workplace safety protections for drivers during the COVID-19 pandemic. RDU is a founding affiliate of the International Alliance of App-Based Transport Workers (IAATW), which includes rideshare driver-led organizations from sixteen different countries.
For the past four years, overturning Prop 22 (and winning employee classification) has been at the center of their organizing strategy. Given the California Supreme Court’s recent decision to uphold the law, RDU’s thinking about the future of rideshare work is of particular relevance. Also of interest is the way RDU has built an organizing base across an algorithmically managed workforce, which may offer insights for other app-based workers attempting to organize. Eliza spoke with RDU president Nicole Moore and vice president Alvaro Bolainez about these topics and more.
Eliza McCullough: I wanted to start by hearing a bit about the rideshare driver workforce. Who are these workers, and what is important to them?
Nicole Moore: The majority of miles driven in rideshare are driven by people who rely on rideshare driving as their number one source of income. We make so little money now, even compared to a year ago or two years ago. I mean, when Alvaro started eleven years ago, drivers were doing really well. The companies invested a lot of venture capital money in our pay, which incentivized a lot of us to join the workforce. Some people quit their regular jobs because it was so lucrative. But we saw those rates quickly go away. At this point, drivers are working way more than forty hours a week; after expenses, folks are making less than the federal minimum wage.
The majority of us are people of color and immigrants—people who have historically had fewer good job opportunities—and people who’ve been kicked out of the economy for whatever reason, like construction workers whose injuries have gotten so bad that they can’t lift bricks anymore, or teachers on summer break who don’t have enough money to live, or people who have been laid off. There’s also a lot of us who are part-timers. I’m a part-timer; I have another full-time job. But housing expenses forced me to figure out how to have more income because all of a sudden, we couldn’t make it as a family.
Eliza: I’m interested in why RDU has positioned employee classification as a key pillar of your platform. How do you plan to move forward given the recent California Supreme Court decision to uphold Prop 22?
Nicole: As drivers, we are a hundred percent managed by algorithms. I signed up to work for Uber and Lyft on my phone. I was told what trainings to take, what documents to turn in—and when I drive, it’s my phone that’s telling me where the job is, telling me how to drive there. It’s warning me that I haven’t had a high-enough acceptance rate and I could get in trouble—it could deprioritize me in ride assignments.1 Everything comes through the phone. You can literally be fired by the app on your phone. Even if you didn’t do anything wrong, you will often find yourself arguing with a chatbot.
This is the brave new world of employment: we don’t have somebody breathing down our neck; we don’t have a human telling us what to do. Instead, we have an algorithm managing us. The funny thing is, I have a lot more freedom in my job where I’m managed by a human than I do working for Lyft and Uber. I find I’m really micromanaged by these apps. One of the apps I drive tells me when I brake hard. It tells me that I was speeding. That is not the level of management I have in my regular job at all.
They’ve sold us this lie that we’re independent contractors—it’s not true. Alvaro and I both do consulting and other kinds of true independent contracting, in addition to rideshare, where we write the contracts, we set the pay, we reject jobs that we don’t like. Nobody is getting us in trouble for doing that. That is not what rideshare driving is like.
But if rideshare companies pretend we’re independent contractors, they don’t have to pay even minimum wage. They don’t have to pay us for our expenses, or into unemployment insurance or workers’ compensation. We have no safety protections or security. There is basically no accountability for the companies.
As drivers, we are a hundred percent managed by algorithms.
Alvaro Bolainez: Like Nicole said, we have other jobs where we are truly independent contractors. What I love about when you’re a truly independent contractor is that if you do something wrong, you can talk to a human being, and they explain it to you. When driving for Lyft and Uber, you get deactivated. Then you have to talk to a robot that tells you you did something wrong, but you never get to know what you did wrong.
Let’s say that you upload your insurance card, for example, and instead of uploading your insurance card, you upload something else by mistake. You’re going to be deactivated because of that mistake, and you’ll never be able to drive for Lyft and Uber again, because they’ll claim you were trying to commit fraud. I’ve talked to a lot of drivers who made that mistake—uploading an expired insurance card or something—and then they’re not allowed to drive anymore.
These companies call us independent contractors because they’re just trying to avoid paying workers’ compensation and other benefits. I’ve seen drivers who get killed in accidents or by a passenger, and Uber just washes their hands saying, “Oh, they were an independent contractor.” When you’re driving as an independent contractor, you’re on your own.
But an independent contractor should be able to afford life insurance. I should be able to afford 401k. I should be able to have a good retirement. I should be able to afford to go on vacation. I’m barely making enough to pay my bills and rent, let alone pay for my gas and miles and all the other expenses that we incur while driving. These companies treat us as employees, but they call us independent contractors just because they want to avoid paying all the benefits that come with full employment.
Nicole: In California and across other states, there is a clear definition of who is a worker versus an independent contractor. We do not meet the definition of an independent contractor under law, because of our lack of control and independence; we should have employee rights. California and a lot of other states, we have a clear definition of who’s a worker versus who’s an independent contractor. As drivers, we have always been managed; we are not “building our own business”; we are not even setting our own wages. We simply do not meet the definition of an independent contractor under the law. Because of our lack of control and independence, we should have the rights of employees. Could the companies give us more freedom to actually be considered contractors? Maybe. But that has never really been the case, here in California or anywhere. There is no doubt that given the amount of control the companies exert over us, we are employees.
They call us independent contractors just because they want to avoid paying all the benefits that come with full employment.
Because of this, California law says we have the right to unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, family leave, sick leave, and a basic wage floor. The state has control of most of these things. California has always been able to enforce those benefits. For instance, they were always able to give us unemployment under state law. Sure, the companies didn’t pay in, but the state said we were still eligible and would give us that money if we needed it. We can fight for all these kinds of benefits, demand them from the state, and get them—because the state basically understands that we are not contractors.
But the state can’t make the companies pay us more. We have the whole state and three cities in California suing the companies on our behalf for stolen wages—for basic minimum wage—including a fair amount for our wait time—and expenses that we were never reimbursed. And four years later, their enforcement strategy is still in court.
Since the state has less ability to enforce what they pay, we need to regulate the pay and give the state strong enforcement measures. That’s how regulators in New York City dealt with it.2 Using company data, New York sets a rate card that compensates high enough to pay drivers to cover expenses and wait time, and the companies have to pay to play. It’s a pretty simple solution: regulate pay in a way that gives the state a way to enforce it and meet pay goals, all while ensuring that under labor rights drivers have all the benefits of all other workers.
The NYC regulation was passed in 2018 because of organizing done by one of the most powerful driver unions in the country—the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. And they’re powerful, not because the companies have recognized them as the union but because they continue to fight against the shenanigans that Lyft and Uber do by organizing on the street, talking to other drivers, doing big actions, getting the attention of the politicians and the regulators. And they keep winning. They are a huge inspiration to all of us around the world.
So we need good, simple regulation, and we need strong driver activism and organization to win. We have to build our own unions where drivers really have a voice and are leading. And we need the courts, the legislators, established labor unions, and everybody in between to protect our labor rights.
On July 25 of this year, we heard that the court confirmed Prop 22 and that it does not violate the California Constitution in terms of how it impacts workers’ compensation, and therefore they’re leaving it in place. What is so angering is that what was on trial had nothing to do with what drivers are actually going through right now, how little money people make, how it’s ripping apart the fabric of our lives, our communities, and our families because we’re working so many hours and still not making ends meet. If that were on trial, I think that the California Supreme Court would have ruled in our favor.
Eliza: I want to talk a bit about RDU’s organizing strategy, given that you are an app-based workforce. How does this unique aspect of rideshare work inform RDU’s work?
Alvaro: We’ve tried to combat technology with technology. We built an app called Solidarity Tech, which helps us stay together.3 We have twenty thousand members who have signed up, and we can call and text driver members through the app, and stay in touch with each other, driver to driver. If you sign up on the app, you get scheduled to have a call with another RDU member to give you a welcome and explain RDU. This app helps us stay close to each other as drivers; it’s how we communicate.
Eliza: And yet, technology itself isn’t enough to win fair pay and labor conditions for drivers. As an algorithmically managed workforce, how do you overcome your isolation and build solidarity?
Nicole: For the most part, we’re very isolated as drivers. We’re in our car. We don’t necessarily see or talk to other drivers. We’re controlled by our phone, and that works in the companies’ favor. So we knew that if we were going to build an organization that would actually have the power to overcome the strength of these companies, we were going to have to know each other. We would have to have real personal relationships with each other. So we built the Solidarity Tech app; because we don’t have a place where we all clock in together and see each other every day. Through the app, we can talk to people, build relationships, and invite each other to actions.
We back each other up. One of the most powerful actions we had was in 2019. Our first strike was in March of that year, after Uber had reduced the per mile rate from 80 cents to 60 cents. Just to be clear, when somebody like Alvaro started, it was at least a $1.80 a mile. So drivers were really mad when it went down to 60 cents. We had our first strike in March, and it was amazing to see the people we had talked to on the phone show up outside of the Uber hub in Redondo Beach and learn how to picket, learn to rally, learn to lead a rally. All of it was powerful, and it got a lot of attention. We had calls from all over the country saying, “Next time you strike, let’s strike together.” That was when Lyft and Uber both were doing their initial public offerings. We decided to target Uber’s IPO and went on strike on May 8, 2019. We organized a strike statewide—in San Francisco, San Diego, and Los Angeles. But there were strikes in more than seventeen cities in the US and on six continents.
That was the power of understanding: we not only have each other’s back, but we’re all going to fight for each other. We really reset the message on these companies that day—investors knew that drivers were not happy. And Uber’s IPO tanked.
Eliza: That gets to my next question—I know that RDU is a founding member of the International Alliance of App-Based Transport Workers (IAATW). How do you understand the connection between RDU’s fight and other rideshare driver organizing across the US and globally?
Nicole: It’s hard to organize. So anytime anybody from anywhere in the US reaches out to us, we share our Solidarity Tech app with folks, our trainings—anything we can do to help folks get organized. We were initially helped by the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. We strongly believe in helping drivers organize across the country; because Uber has a US-wide strategy to prevent app workers from having labor rights. Actually, it’s a global strategy. They’re targeting all the good labor laws in Central and South America. They’re harvesting income from places like India where money from transportation previously stayed in the community, and now, more than half of it goes to San Francisco. They have their strategies to extract capital from all over the world, and it harms communities. We have to figure this out as a global strategy.
Alvaro is also a delegate to the IAATW with me. That was born out of the international strike in 2019. We all got together to try to figure out international strategies to keep these companies in check.
They’re harvesting income from places like India where money from transportation previously stayed in the community, and now, more than half of it goes to San Francisco.
Alvaro: We actually had a convention with IAATW.4 And it is really frustrating seeing how drivers all over the world have the same problems that we have here in California, where the headquarters for Uber is located. People have the same problems in Panama, Costa Rica, and India. It’s wild how Uber, Lyft, and all these app companies have figured out a business model where they take advantage of everybody. The only ones making money are them—not drivers.
When I started driving for these companies eleven years ago, they were not public. I remember Lyft throwing pizza parties every Friday for me. One time, they told me, “For six months we’re not going to take commission. Everything you do is going to be yours.” When I started driving for Lyft, I believe I was making, like, $1.85 per mile. With Uber, I think it was, like, $2.30. This is back in the day, when nobody knew about Lyft and few people knew about Uber. Now they have millions of customers, and drivers are not even making half of what we used to make. When their business went through the roof, our pay got cut. That’s what gets me really mad.
The same problems that we’re facing here in California—everybody is facing them around the world. It’s really upsetting how lawmakers don’t do anything about it. It made me mad; because the California Supreme Court had an opportunity to overturn Prop 22 to be on the side of the hardworking people. It pisses me off how bigger corporations have that much power.
Nicole: Uber and Lyft bought Prop 22 with $220 million worth of advertising—for a single proposition. At the time, that was the most expensive campaign in state history for a single proposition. And the campaign was just outright lies. I’ve talked to reporters who still think that drivers are making 120 percent of minimum wage.5
Alvaro: Under Prop 22, we only get paid when we have a passenger inside the vehicle. You saw Prop 22 in so many commercials. You saw it promoted on the app so often that the passengers actually believed the drivers would get big benefits out of it. I mean, they even had commercials on the Super Bowl. It was that bad. They pretty much brainwashed passengers—and some of the drivers—and this is why it passed.
Eliza: I know it’s been a difficult week with the Prop 22 ruling. I’d like to hear what is giving RDU hope at this moment.
Nicole: Before the ruling came out, we were getting all our ducks in a row and thinking through Plan A—which is we win, it’s a total overturn, and we return to being covered by California labor rights and can fight for the regulation—and Plan B—which is no overturn and we have to operate under Prop 22. It was a hard thing to look at, and what was amazing is that people had, like, twenty different ideas about things we could work on to push the industry but also to get money in drivers’ pockets—and we’re busy exploring those—but people were very clear that no matter what, we’re going to continue to fight. Drivers are ready to fight and will continue to fight until we get justice. It’s just not right what is happening, and we need all our allies to fight with us and to support us because we’re facing a really big foe: it’s coming for all jobs, not just drivers.
Alvaro: I’m a Latino, and like Nicole said, a big percentage of people who drive for Lyft and Uber are people of color. The last time I saw a survey, they were saying that around half of Uber and Lyft drivers in California are Latino. When I talk to these people and they’re suffering and they’re trying hard to feed their family, that motivates me to keep fighting. There are people who cannot miss one day of driving; because if they miss one day, they’re not going to be able to put food on the table. I feel like I need to represent them. Like, “Okay, you go and drive, and I’m going to keep on fighting for you.” That’s what motivates me. That gives me energy. Because I’m fighting for these people.
1. Rewards statuses provides drivers with certain benefits like higher rates of cash back on gas and electric vehicle charging; drivers can earn statuses by accumulating points, which are earned through rides.
2. In 2018, New York City passed rules that regulate minimum pay per trip for rideshare drivers. According to the Taxi and Limousine Commission, the pay standard is determined by three components: time, distance, and utilization. “The time component of the formula ensures drivers are compensated for all time spent on the road. The distance component ensures all major expenses borne by drivers are covered. The utilization component represents the share of time drivers spend with passengers and incentivizes companies to more efficiently utilize their driver pool.” For more information, see “Driver Pay,” NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission.
3. See Solidarity Tech.
4. In 2020, app-based drivers from sixteen countries convened in Oxford, England, and formed the IAATW. The organization is “committed to advancing the rights of drivers and the dignity of our profession across the globe, by working together, across political, geographic, and company boundaries, to build real power for drivers and other app-based transport workers.”.
5. Under Prop 22, drivers are guaranteed 120 percent of the minimum wage, but only for time spent engaged in a ride. Wait time, or time in between rides, is not compensated. A report by the National Equity Atlas found that rideshare drivers’ take-home earnings are just $6.20 per hour under Prop 22. See Eliza McCullough et al., “Prop 22 Depresses Wages and Deepens Inequities for California Workers,” National Equity Atlas, September 21, 2022.