Uber

Your Uber Driver May Soon Be Unionized. At What Cost?

It is in part an attempt to treat gig workers as full-scale employees rather than independent contractors. Drivers and riders will pay the price.

C. Jarrett Dieterle | 6.13.2026 7:00 AM

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Gig worker unionization could be coming to an Uber ride near you. On June 1, the Illinois legislature passed a bill allowing rideshare drivers in the Land of Lincoln to unionize. The legislation, which would apply to the state's nearly 100,000 Uber and Lyft drivers, marks the third such state law to pass in just the past three years.

The state isn't the first. Gig work unionization is spreading, and it's likely to hurt both drivers and riders in the years ahead.

The history of rideshare unionization starts in Massachusetts, which became the inaugural state to allow rideshare drivers to unionize in 2024. The Massachusetts law is notable for providing a fairly easy path to unionization, with any union that gains support from 5 percent of drivers becoming eligible to obtain a list of all potential rideshare drivers in the state in order to increase its membership rolls. If the union eventually goes on to sign up a mere 25 percent of eligible drivers, it becomes the certified bargaining representative for all drivers statewide.

This model is known as sectoral bargaining, in which sector-wide bargaining replaces the firm-level bargaining that is usually seen across America. Sectoral bargaining has gained ascendancy in Europe and Australia and is preferred by unions as a........

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