At Somerville City Hall tonight, left to right, Councilor At Large Willie Burnley, Jr, International Brotherhood of Teamsters Eastern Region Political Coordinator Gerald P. Leary III, Teamsters Local 25 member Paul Weiskell of Somerville, Ward 4 City Councilor Jesse Clingan, and Ward 3 City Councilor (President) Ben Ewen-Campen.

Teamsters Local 25 praised the Somerville City Council today for its unanimous vote to pass a resolution aimed at stopping Uber, Lyft, Doordash and other so-called ‘gig’ companies from abusing drivers by misclassifying them as independent contractors.

The full City Council voted in favor of a resolution calling on the Massachusetts Legislature to pass the Act, “Establishing Protections and Accountability for Transportation Network Company (TNC) and Delivery Network Company (DNC) Workers.” The resolution was co-sponsored by City Council President Ben Ewen-Campen of Ward 3 and Ward 4 Councilor Jesse Clingan and was passed by a vote of 11-0.

The Teamsters previously endorsed legislation (S.627/H.1158) authored by State Senator Lydia Edwards (D-Third Suffolk) and State Representative Andy Vargas (D-Third Essex) that would protect union members from having their compensation and benefits undercut by bad employers by extending collective bargaining rights to workers at app-based companies while simultaneously strengthening state and federal statutes that protect employees from being misclassified as independent contractors.

“Thank you to the Somerville City Council for standing up and fighting back against the abuse of the workers and taxpayers of Massachusetts,” said Tom Mari, President of Teamsters Local 25. “Big Tech and billion-dollar companies like Uber and Lyft are denying their workforce fair wages, benefits, and job protections and externalizing their labor costs onto the public while reaping enormous profits. They must be held accountable like every other company.”

In its resolution, the Somerville City Council makes clear that TNC and DNC companies are currently misclassifying drivers as independent contractors and pointed to the lawsuit filed against these companies by the Massachusetts Attorney General for wage theft and misclassification because the drivers are employees. The resolution also notes that Uber, Lyft, Doordash and others are using misclassification to avoid contributing to social programs such as unemployment workers’ compensation and the paid family medical leave funded by all other employers.

It also highlighted a recent financial assessment of TNCs which found that during a period of ten years, hundreds of millions of dollars were owed to Massachusetts benefit programs. In 2023 alone, Uber and Lyft earned $1.4 Billion but contributed nothing to Massachusetts benefit programs, owing the Commonwealth $47 Million.

Founded in 1903, Teamsters Local 25 represents over 12,500 workers in a wide variety of industries throughout the Greater Boston area. For more information, go to teamsterslocal25.com.

The full text of the resolution is as follows:

Resolution calling on the Massachusetts Legislature to pass the Act Establishing Protections and Accountability for TNC and DNC Workers

Whereas, Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) including Uber and Lyft, and Delivery Network Companies (DNCs) Doordash, and Instacart currently misclassify their drivers as independent contractors; and

Whereas, TNC and DNC’s drivers are employees of the app based companies;

Whereas, the Massachusetts Attorney General filed a lawsuit for wage theft and misclassification because the drivers are employees; and

Whereas, social programs such as unemployment, workers’ compensation and the paid family medical leave are funded by all other employers; and

Whereas, the report on the financial assessment of TNCs evaluated a period of 10 years; found during the ten year span, $105,150,172 was lost in workers compensation; $124,973,567 was lost in unemployment insurance ; and $36,292,576 was lost in Paid and Family Medical Leave ; totalling $266,416,315 owed to the Massachusetts benefit programs from the period of 2013 to 2023; and

Whereas, Uber and Lyft earned $1.4 Billion in 2023 alone and contributed nothing to Massachusetts benefit programs; owing the Commonwealth $47 Million; and

Whereas, the lack of contribution was due to the misclassification of drivers; and

Whereas, existing well tested laws exist that can regulate TNCs and DNCs and protect consumers; and

Whereas, S.627/H.1158 “An Act Establishing Protections and Accountability for TNC and DNC Workers” combines those laws and prevents price gouging, requires panic buttons for both driver and passenger, and provides a pathway to unionization, all while maintaining employee status; and

Whereas, S.627/H.1158 also allows local control and flexibility with regards to the impact of TNCs and DNCs; and

Whereas, it is a priority of the City of Somerville to require fair contributions from corporations participating in labor and employment within the Commonwealth; be it

BE IT Resolved that the Somerville City Council expresses its support of the Act Establishing Protections and Accountability for TNC and DNC Workers (S.627/H1158), that would allow TNCs to sustain worker benefits and protections that maintain a level playing field across transportation industries.