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Judge temporarily blocks Seattle law allowing Uber and Lyft drivers to unionize
Seattle TimesA federal judge in Seattle has temporarily blocked the city’s first-in-the-nation law that attempts to allow Uber, Lyft and taxi drivers to unionize.
Seattle’s law, passed in 2015, allows Uber, Lyft and taxi drivers — who are categorized as independent contractors, not employees — to form a union and collectively bargain for things like pay, benefits and working conditions.
It was challenged by two separate lawsuits, one from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and one from about a dozen Uber and Lyft drivers — backed by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and the Freedom Foundation, groups that fight for right-to-work laws and other conservative, anti-union legislation across the country.
“The issues raised in this litigation are novel, they are complex, and they reside at the intersection of national policies that have been decades in the making,” U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik wrote in granting a preliminary injunction Tuesday, halting the law from going into effect. “The public will be well-served by maintaining the status quo while the issues are given careful judicial consideration.”
Seattle’s law, passed in 2015, allows Uber, Lyft and taxi drivers — who are categorized as independent contractors, not employees — to form a union and collectively bargain for things like pay, benefits and working conditions.
It was challenged by two separate lawsuits, one from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and one from about a dozen Uber and Lyft drivers — backed by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and the Freedom Foundation, groups that fight for right-to-work laws and other conservative, anti-union legislation across the country.
“The issues raised in this litigation are novel, they are complex, and they reside at the intersection of national policies that have been decades in the making,” U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik wrote in granting a preliminary injunction Tuesday, halting the law from going into effect. “The public will be well-served by maintaining the status quo while the issues are given careful judicial consideration.”