Massachusetts certifies first Uber and Lyft driver union in the US

Massachusetts has crossed a line that app-based workers across the country have been trying to reach for years. State officials certified the App Drivers Union to represent rideshare drivers, making it the first formally recognized Uber and Lyft driver union in the United States and setting up a national test case for how gig workers can organize without giving up the flexibility that defines their jobs.

The certification came through a new state process created by Question 3, the 2024 ballot measure approved on Nov. 5, 2024 and codified as Chapter 150F. Under that law, Massachusetts drivers gained the right to organize and bargain collectively while remaining independent app-based workers. The union cleared the required threshold by showing support from 32% of active rideshare drivers, above the 25% minimum in state law, and it is expected to represent roughly 70,000 drivers statewide. The App Drivers Union filed its petition with the Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations, and organizers said the effort is backed by 32BJ SEIU and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

The practical significance is larger than the certificate itself. Formal recognition gives drivers a seat at the bargaining table with Uber, Lyft and other platforms, where the first contract could shape pay rules, access to work, and procedures for challenging deactivations. That is why Massachusetts matters beyond the state line: if Chapter 150F produces a workable model, it could become the template other states use for organizing app-based workers. If it stalls, it may become the cautionary example. For now, drivers have leverage they did not have before, but no automatic wage increase and no immediate change in platform discipline. Those gains will depend on contract negotiations that have yet to begin.

Governor Maura Healey called the certification historic and said drivers’ ability to unionize could mean better pay and better wages for them and their families. Lyft said it is committed to engaging in good faith as the process moves forward. The organizing campaign itself stretched over more than two years before the ballot win and then about 18 months between voter approval and certification, underscoring how slowly labor rights move even after a public vote.

Massachusetts officials have described the new system as one that preserves driver flexibility and independence while allowing collective bargaining. That combination, if it survives negotiation, could matter as much as the union vote itself. It offers app-based workers a rare path to organize on their own terms, and it turns Massachusetts into the first real stress test for gig-worker unionism in the United States.