Massachusetts Rideshare Drivers Push for Union Rights as Earnings Decline

For many rideshare drivers in Massachusetts, flexible schedules once came with dependable earnings. Over time, that balance has shifted, and growing frustration over declining pay has fueled a statewide push for unionization.

Duane Mitchell, a 73-year-old semi-retired software development consultant, has driven for Uber in the Boston area for a decade. Several nights a week, he leaves his home in Roslindale, drives into the city, and works for about four hours. At the end of the evening, his earnings are often just over $100.

Since 2017, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities has tracked rideshare activity through its annual reports. As of 2024, nearly 1.5 million drivers have been background-checked and approved to drive in the state. About 100,000 of those drivers are currently active on Uber, Lyft, or both platforms.

Despite the size of the workforce, many drivers say their compensation no longer reflects the cost of living in Massachusetts, which ranks as the second highest in the country.

“Uber and Lyft are coming into our city and taking lots and lots of money out of it. They’re not paying the drivers enough to make a decent living, and on top of that, the drivers have to go to the state to get [financial] assistance,” Mitchell said. “I think every citizen in the state of Massachusetts should have an interest in this, because this is some real gangster stuff … middle-class Americans need to fight these corporate tech people.”

Drivers Say Pay Has Changed Over Time

Jenn Nickerson, a rideshare driver and freelance web designer living on the North Shore, said earnings have steadily declined during her six years driving for Uber.

“The money you’re getting paid per trip has really declined a lot. So, it seems like Uber is taking more and more of a share of what the trip costs,” Nickerson said.

As base pay has dropped, tipping has become more important to drivers’ incomes, according to Mitchell.

“When Uber started, there was no tipping. People would say, ‘Let me give you a tip.’ I said, ‘No, you don’t have to. I’m getting paid enough.’ That’s not true anymore,” he said. “I don’t think [rideshare organizations] care. All they care about is profit. I think they’re making good profit now, and I don’t see why they can’t pay us enough. They used to.”

Company Profits and Pricing Changes

In June, Len Sherman, an executive in residence and adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, published a paper titled How Uber Became a Cash-Generating Machine. The research examined Uber’s financial turnaround after years of declining cash flow prior to 2022.

Sherman’s study linked Uber’s mid-2022 shift to “upfront pricing,” where riders are quoted a price before being matched with a driver, to reduced earnings for drivers. A nationwide 2025 analysis by Gridwise Analytics, which surveyed more than 250,000 rideshare drivers, supported that conclusion. According to Gridwise, Uber drivers’ hourly earnings dropped 3.9% from 2023, while Lyft drivers’ earnings declined 5.5%.

Sherman said drivers were once paid based on predictable formulas tied to mileage and time, but he now believes rideshare companies rely on pricing algorithms that benefit the platform.

“They’re taking full advantage of this significant information advantage they have over individual riders and individual drivers, and it’s serving them extremely well,” Sherman said. “On each and every trip, they [are] making more money than they [ever have].”

Farouk Yahi, a rideshare driver of six years, said income declines are widespread.

“If you ask any drivers right now, all of them, their income dropped to 30-40%,” Yahi said. “Uber and Lyft right now are taking advantage of the drivers and the riders.”

Company Responses

Uber did not respond to questions about the impact of upfront pricing but disputed Sherman’s findings.

“Suggestions that our systems manipulate pricing unfairly or discriminate are simply false and not supported by evidence,” Uber said.

Lyft addressed transparency in a 2024 press release.

“We are obsessed with improving the driver experience,” said Audrey Liu, executive vice president of Lyft. “Drivers having control is core to the Lyft experience.”

Sherman said he believes drivers are fully aware of how pricing changes affect them.

“It’s almost insulting the communications that Uber has with its drivers, its exploitative behaviors,” he said. “The short answer is, drivers are completely aware of the way that they’re being taken advantage of, and there’s not much they can do about it.”

Unionization Efforts Gain Momentum

In July 2024, Massachusetts rideshare drivers launched a ballot initiative to give drivers the right to unionize. The proposal gained approval in November, supported by 54% of voters and backed by major labor organizations including 32BJ Service Employees International Union and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

Drivers had previously been barred from unionizing because they are classified as independent contractors rather than employees.

Still, formal union recognition and contract negotiations have not yet begun.

“[They] are big corporations, and it’s so hard to beat them,” Yahi said. “[But] with the union, we’re gonna have the power to negotiate a better contract and better pay and access to retirement programs and access to health insurance.”

Recent Wage Settlement and Ongoing Demands

In June 2024, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office reached a settlement with Uber and Lyft that set a $33.48 per hour minimum wage based on drivers’ active time. The agreement also guaranteed up to 40 hours of sick leave annually and provided stipends for benefits such as health insurance and paid medical leave.

Despite those changes, drivers say unresolved issues remain, including transparency, deactivations, mileage-based pay, and expanded benefits.

Rahim Abbasi, a 32BJ SEIU organizer and former rideshare driver, said unionization offers a path forward.

“A union is what will give working people a fair shot. I would say the American worker doesn’t have a chance without a union,” Abbasi said. “I was a driver, and I was like, ‘Oh, these wages are not sufficient. We need something else to be done.’”

Some drivers remain cautious, expressing concern that unionization could reduce flexibility. Others question whether a lower signature threshold fairly represents the entire driver population.

“The hardest thing about this campaign is that there’s no work site,” Abbasi said. “The drivers are spread across the whole state, and you have to go look for them.”

Under the new law, organizers must first demonstrate support from 5% of active drivers to obtain a statewide driver list, then secure an additional 20% to be formally recognized as a union.

“Some people will be pro-union; some people will be anti-union. But when you dig into the issues, most people just want the same thing,” Abbasi said. “They just want to go home safely at the end of the night, making a fair wage.”

Source: The Huntington News