Dante Williams
On June 16, Uber and its company union made a shady deal to block a Chicago city council vote to raise the minimum wage for rideshare drivers to $7 an hour in what monopoly media is calling a “Labor Peace Deal”. The initiative was driven by the Illinois Drivers Alliance—a company union founded by Uber—the International Association of Machinists (IAM), and Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
“Uber agreed to support statewide legislation that would give rideshare drivers collective bargaining rights but keep them classified as independent contractors,” Bailey Koch, SEIU Local 1 spokesperson, gloated to monopoly media. Uber spokesperson Josh Gold reported their excitement for the collaboration, as the “statewide legislation [will] protect the flexibility of drivers”. This anti-worker legislation mirrors IAM/SEIU legislation recently put forward in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Massachusetts.
What an IAM spokesperson said would give the drivers “a seat at the table” is regarded by real rideshare unions as an effort to expand the gig economy. Uber will volunteer contacts of over 100,000 rideshare drivers across Illinois in exchange for making it more difficult to legally challenge independent contractor legislation, and funnel the masses with growing consciousness into a union that will police their efforts for better pay. Uber has spent hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying Republican and Democrat mafia politicians to pass legislation around the country to weaken the protections of independent contractor law. Their corrosive policies classify their hundreds of thousands of employees as independent contractors, stripping workers of basic protection. IAM and SEIU have openly advocated against Rideshare strikes across the country, colluding with the capitalists for a share of the profits to expand the gig economy at the expense of the workers.
Elsewhere across the country, rideshare workers continue to rebel against their bosses. On June 19, the New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA) continued their battle against illegal lockouts and deactivations. The NYTWA forced Uber to concede the highest wages for rideshare drivers in the US through a decade of strikes and lawsuits. Uber has responded with illegal lockouts and deactivations, leading to a series of protests and strikes in 2024. Now the NYTWA has opted to push the local Democrat mafia to force Uber to end deactivations.
While another strike looms in New York, on June 26 rideshare drivers in Milwaukee, WI spontaneously led a wildcat strike at Mitchell International Airport. The drivers cite Uber-funded legislation that will remove the employee status of rideshare drivers. A participant in the strike and longtime Uber driver was quoted by monopoly media saying, “I’m a slave. I’m a slave to Uber. And all of us, we are slaves to Uber, and I don’t think this is right.” Milwaukee AFL-CIO, in collaboration with the IAM, reached out to the striking drivers in an attempt to swallow their independent movement.
With the impact of Uber-led legislation across the country to expand gig work, independent contractors cost monopolies 30% less than classifying them as employees. Monopolies like Amazon and Walmart and industries like healthcare and service have followed by adopting this method of exploitation and eroding concessions won by the working class. This reflects the ongoing crisis of overproduction of the US imperialist class, who must intensify their pursuit of profits by increasing exploitation domestically and internationally. Many drivers report Uber takes up to 70% of their wages, with most receiving well below a living wage.
Photo retrieved from the New York Taxi Workers Alliance.
The Worker is an entirely volunteer-run revolutionary newspaper free from and radically antagonistic to corporate influence. We rely on the support of our readers to sustain our editorial line in service of the working class and the reconstitution of its party, the Communist Party. Make a one-time or recurring donation to our newspaper today:
Make a one-time donation
Make a monthly donation
Make a yearly donation
Choose an amount
Or enter a custom amount
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
