For years, some drivers for rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft have been fighting hard behind the scenes for better pay and treatment. This week brings a major shift: rideshare drivers are now guaranteed a minimum wage starting at $32.50 an hour, plus benefits and a new appeals process for deactivations.
The Massachusetts attorney general’s office settled a four-year lawsuit against Uber and Lyft that alleged the rideshare companies violated state labor laws.
“[This] agreement holds Uber and Lyft accountable, and provides their drivers, for the very first time in Massachusetts, guaranteed minimum pay, paid sick leave, occupational accident insurance, and health care stipends,” Attorney General Andrea Campbell, who took office in 2023, said in a press release.
Those other benefits, like health care plans for some drivers and sick time accrual, will kick in over the next several months.
Drivers who spoke with GBH News see the settlement as a win, but still far from what’s needed.
Thursday marked the first day under the new wage structure, but drivers didn’t see any difference. That’s because anyone whose wages fall below $32.50 an hour will be “topped off” at the end of a pay period — in Uber’s case, 14 days. The compensation for any given ride, on the first day at least, seemed identical on the drivers’ side.
“I did not see a difference at all. If anything, it looked the same as before,” said Chiem Klot, a Worcester man who drives for Uber in Boston.
Klot has driven for Uber for eight years. These days, Klot tries to catch the busy moments in downtown Boston: the early morning work rush, the ending of a Red Sox game or the rush of partygoers after the T closes.
He says that he’s driving double the hours he did eight years ago in order to make the same amount of money today. Rideshare drivers face multiple costs, including the car itself, maintenance, gas, cleaning fees, toll roads and taxes.
Klot believes unionization is the next step toward earning a higher wage, especially because he does not feel heard by Uber’s corporate employees.
“Anytime I said anything to Uber, it was going out the other ear. They were not listening to me, nothing was being done,” Klot said.
Question 3 on the Massachusetts ballot in November will ask voters if they support the right for rideshare drivers to form a union, an initiative Klot supports. Drivers who back the ballot question are optimistic it’ll be approved so representatives can directly advocate for them.
But even beyond the financial commitment of driving for a rideshare company, the drivers themselves feel unsupported when something goes wrong.
With the new settlement, Lyft and Uber will have to provide a reasoning for deactivation and an appeals process. Beth Peterson drove for companies during the busy summer months on Nantucket, a job she has maintained for six years alongside her two part-time jobs. But, in 2023, she was deactivated by Uber.
She hopes to average $40 an hour with Lyft by taking every ride she can, but continues to find herself stuck around $32 an hour instead.
According to Peterson, she makes less money each year — a stark difference to a union job she used to have at a hospital.
“When I was in a union, I was an appreciated employee, so I made more money. I didn’t make less, and that’s what’s happening here,” Peterson said. “Paying people less for doing the groundwork? It’s not okay.”
