A battle over the classification of app-based rideshare and delivery drivers is gearing up for the second year in a row after Attorney General Andrea Campbell gave her approval Wednesday to multiple versions of a question that would define those workers as independent contractors.
Clearing the first major hurdle to appear on the fall 2024 ballot represents an initial comeback for the Flexibility & Benefits for Massachusetts Drivers coalition, which saw their proposal struck off the ballot last year by the state’s highest court.
The coalition said Massachusetts rideshare and delivery drivers “are one step closer to having their independence protected while receiving access to historic new benefits.”
“We’re pleased that the Attorney General’s office has certified our ballot proposals to ensure drivers can maintain the flexibility to work when, how often, and for how long they want as independent contractors, while also accessing new benefits and protections,” coalition spokesperson Conor Yunits said in a statement.
But like other questions certified by Attorney General Andrea Campbell Wednesday, opponents said they are looking to challenge the proposal at the Supreme Judicial Court.
The Massachusetts Is Not For Sale coalition said the proposed change to state law “would permanently misclassify all of their workers in the commonwealth who are currently entitled to the same rights and protections that almost all other workers are entitled to under Massachusetts law.”
“The ballot questions certified today represent sweeping changes to Massachusetts employment laws and the social safety net so many workers and their families count on. As we did in 2022, we are committed to challenging the certification of these Big Tech ballot questions at the Supreme Judicial Court,” the group said in a statement.
Supporters are looking to specify that rideshare and delivery drivers who accept requests through an online-enabled application are not “employees” and related companies are not “employers” for purposes of Massachusetts law, an official summary of version A of the question said.
Another iteration of the question, version B, specifies alternative minimum compensation and benefits for rideshare and delivery drivers. Supporters filed nine different versions of the question.
A spokesperson for the proponents said the group does not intend to move forward all nine variations of the ballot question but did not have an immediate answer as to which iteration the group planned to pursue.
Supreme Judicial Court justices threw a similar question off the ballot in June 2022 because it dealt with too many matters in one proposal for voters to consider at the ballot box. A parallel lawsuit filed against Uber and Lyft by then-Attorney General Maura Healey asks the courts to classify drivers as employers rather than independent contractors.
In a statement last month, Yunits said supporters “heard loud and clear that the SJC had concerns about relatedness.”
“We know that trial lawyers and labor will once again try to use legal loopholes to deny voters the chance to weigh in on this important issue,” he said. “We have provided the attorney general’s office with a number of options for certification that should address these concerns and ensure that voters have an opportunity to make their voices heard.”
But opponents said passing any version of the ballot question certified this year would jeopardize wages and benefits protections of workers in Massachusetts beyond the app-based rideshare and delivery space.
“Further, these petitions would allow the companies to dodge the employment-related taxes, assessments, and contributions that all other Massachusetts employers are required to pay and avoid their many legal obligations, as employers in the Commonwealth, to their workers who make their companies run,” the Massachusetts Is Not For Sale group said.