Using contractors can cost companies as much as 30% less than hiring employees, various studies showed
By Nate Raymond
BOSTON : The Massachusetts top court on Thursday cleared the way for voters in the state to decide whether drivers for app-based companies like Uber Technologies and Lyft should be classified as independent contractors who would be entitled to some new benefits but would not be legally employees.
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The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rejected a labor-supported challenge to an industry-backed coalition’s proposal to cement the drivers as contractors. But it also said it would allow a dueling ballot measure that would allow the drivers to unionize to move forward.
The decision came ahead of closing arguments set for Friday in a trial in a lawsuit pursued by the state’s Democratic attorney general, Andrea Joy Campbell, accusing Uber and Lyft of misclassifying their drivers as contractors, not employees.
Should the industry fail in court and at the ballot box, Uber and Lyft could face a sweeping overhaul of their business models, one that lawyers for the companies have said could force them to cut or end service in Massachusetts.
Using contractors can cost companies as much as 30% less than hiring employees, various studies showed.
Uber and Lyft, along with app-based delivery services Instacart and DoorDash, have spent millions of dollars to support the ballot proposal that would cement the status of their drivers as contractors under state law.
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Flexibility and Benefits for Massachusetts Drivers, a ballot measure committee whose contributors include the four ride-share companies, is also proposing setting an earnings floor for app-based drivers and providing them healthcare stipends, occupational accident insurance and paid sick time.
They’re pushing it after the industry through a $200 million campaign in 2020 convinced California voters to pass a measure similar to the one backed by the companies in Massachusetts, solidifying drivers as independent contractors with some benefits. Litigation challenging that measure is ongoing.
The Massachusetts court in 2022 blocked a similar industry-backed ballot measure. To hedge its bets this time, supporters gathered signatures for five versions of their ballot question, only one of which they will put before voters on Nov. 5. Final signatures for the ballot measure will be turned in July 2.
A separate proposed ballot measure supported by the Service Employees International Union’s Local 32BJ seeks to ask voters to allow Uber and Lyft drivers to unionize.
Conor Yunits, the industry-backed campaign’s spokesperson, called Thursday’s ruling “a huge win and a great day for rideshare and delivery drivers.”
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The court rejected a challenge by a labor-affiliated coalition called Massachusetts Is Not For Sale to Campbell’s certification of the industry’s question for potential inclusion on the ballot. The group said the proposal wrongly addressed not one policy question but several bundled together.
But Justice Gabrielle Wolohojian, writing for a 6-0 court, said the provisions in even the broadest of the five proposals “share a single common purpose: establishing and defining the relationship between the drivers and the companies.”
Chrissy Lynch, the president of the Massachusetts chapter of the union AFL-CIO and chair of Massachusetts Is Not For Sale, called the ruling “an unprecedented step back for the voters, workers, consumers, taxpayers and law-abiding businesses of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which should not be for sale.” (Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston, Editing by Franklin Paul and Nick Zieminski)
Published On Jun 28, 2024 at 12:24 PM IST
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Happy Tuesday! While today started off dry, we’re already looking at snow out there across the area. While this event will primarily stay as rain on the Cape and islands, it will be an icy mix of snow, ice and rain for the rest of us.
The rain/snow line will continue to advance from the south to the north as the evening progresses. Before the changeover, there will be a quick coating to 2 inches for most of our area.
The threshold between the snow and rain will feature sleet and freezing rain, leading to that icing.
For the rest of the night, there will primarily be rain with continued pockets of freezing rain, leading to increasing spotty ice accretion. Be extremely careful on roads, especially since switching between rain and freezing rain can wash off any road salt.
The rain and freezing rain will exit by 6 a.m. Wednesday, but temperatures will still be close to freezing during the morning commute, so watch out for some spotty black ice.
The rest of Wednesday will be really nice! Highs will warm up to the mid 50s with the help of ample sun.
Thursday we start off in the mid 20s and top off in the mid 40s. We’ll be partly sunny with another chance for some wintry weather Thursday night. This primarily looks like some rain and freezing rain, rather than the triple threat with snow too. We’ll keep an eye on that for you.
That will continue into Friday morning. The rest of Friday: cloudy with a chance for a spot shower and highs cooler again in the upper 30s. Saturday will be dry, breezy and cloudy but gorgeous near 50 degrees! There’s a chance for some rain showers Saturday night. Don’t forget to set your clocks forward an hour before you to go bed!
Sunday we start the day mild in the 40s and make it all the way into the upper 50s with more sun. Monday and Tuesday both look bright and in the 60s! Stay tuned.
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With a widening conflict in the Middle East after the American and Israeli attack on Iran Saturday, global markets are bracing for a shakeup in the energy supply chain.
So, here at home, what can consumers expect at the gas pump?
An increase in oil prices is almost always followed by an increase in gas prices. And the oil market has already reacted to the war. NBC News reported on Sunday that U.S. crude oil initially spiked more than 10%, while Brent, the international oil benchmark, rose as much as 13%.
Early Monday morning, reports were coming in of black smoke rising from the U.S. embassy in Kuwait City.
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While Iran’s oil reserves supply less than an estimated 5% of global production, the main concern is the Strait of Hormuz. This maritime passageway borders Iran at the bottleneck of the Persian Gulf, and more than 20% of the world’s oil passes through. If Iran closes or restricts Hormuz, the oil market could face severe disruptions.
Gas prices rise about 2.5 cents for every dollar increase in crude oil prices. As of Sunday, U.S. crude oil prices had already increased by nearly $5 a barrel.
“I fully expect that by Monday night, you could credibly say that gas prices are being impacted by oil prices having gone up,” GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan told NBC News.
GasBuddy characterizes their expectations for price increases as “incremental” rather than “explosive”. The group said to anticipate a potential 10-15 cent increase over the next couple of weeks.
