Massachusetts court blocks gig worker ballot measure backed by Uber, Lyft

By Nate Raymond

BOSTON -Massachusetts’ prime courtroom on Tuesday rejected a bid to ask voters whether or not app-based ride-share and supply drivers needs to be handled as impartial contractors relatively than staff, in a setback for firms like Uber Applied sciences Inc and Lyft Inc.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court docket’s unanimous resolution was a victory for labor activists who fought to stop a measure from showing on the November poll that they stated contained loopholes that will create a sub-minimum wage for the drivers.

Justice Scott Kafker stated the poll query proposed by an industry-backed coalition went too far by together with a “vaguely worded,” unrelated proposal that will restrict the businesses’ legal responsibility for accidents by their drivers.

He stated that meant Massachusetts Legal professional Common Maura Healey, a Democrat working for governor, wrongly licensed it complied with state constitutional necessities limiting poll measures to associated topics.

Flexibility & Advantages for Massachusetts Drivers, an industry-funded group that backed the poll query, in an announcement criticized opponents for difficult the measure in courtroom, saying they sought to “subvert the democratic course of.”

Healey licensed the query regardless of having sued Uber and Lyft to problem their designations of their drivers as contractors. In an announcement, Healey stated she would preserve combating to make sure they've “the identical rights as all different staff.”

The industry-backed proposal known as for establishing an earnings flooring equal to 120% of the state minimal wage for over 200,000 app-based drivers for firms like Uber, Lyft, Instacart and DoorDash Inc, or $18 an hour in 2023, earlier than suggestions.

The businesses can be required to pay healthcare stipends if drivers work at the least 15 hours per week. Drivers may additionally earn paid sick time and paid household and medical depart.

California voters accepted the same industry-backed measure in 2020 that will deal with app-based drivers as impartial contractors with some advantages, however a choose later dominated it violated the state’s structure.