Gig driver unions, tipped worker pay among labor issues on US state ballots
By Daniel Wiessner
Nov 1 (Reuters) -Voters in states across the U.S. will weigh in on a handful of consequential, and in some cases unprecedented, ballot proposals on labor and employment issues in the Nov. 5 election.
MASSACHUSETTS UBER, LYFT DRIVERS
Massachusetts could become the first state to provide a path for "gig" drivers to join a union if voters approve the ballot proposal known as Question 3. It would establish procedures for a state board to certify a union if at least 25% of active drivers sign authorization cards. The board would also be tasked with hearing complaints alleging that Uber, Lyft, and similar services engaged in illegal labor practices.
A union-backed group formed to campaign in favor of Question 3 has raised about $6.3 million, according to state records. Virtually all of those contributions came from the Service Employees International Union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, and their affiliates. There is no organized campaign opposing the proposal.
DUELING PROPOSALS ON TIPPED WORKER PAY
Arizona and Massachusetts are both asking voters to decide whether servers and other workers who earn tips should be paid a lower minimum wage, and the results could spur similar initiatives across the country. The Arizona proposal, the first of its kind, would amend the state constitution to allow for tipped workers to be paid 25% less than the minimum wage, which will rise to $14.70 per hour on Jan. 1. Currently, Arizona wage law sets a tipped minimum wage of $12.35 per hour. A Massachusetts proposal would gradually raise the state's tipped minimum wage of $6.75 per hour until it matches the standard minimum - currently $15 - in 2029.
Most restaurant groups and many tipped workers support a lower tipped minimum wage, because they say it allows workers to earn more money than if they earned hourly wages and fewer tips. The Massachusetts Restaurant Association has estimated that if the state's tipped minimum is eliminated, restaurants' labor costs will rise by $18,000 per tipped employee, forcing many to raise prices or go out of business.
Supporters of the tipped minimum wage also include Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, Democrats who both previously worked as servers and have said the proposal would lower tipped workers' pay, hurt small businesses and raise prices for customers.
One Fair Wage, a nonprofit that advocates for a single minimum wage for tipped and non-tipped workers, is spearheading the campaign in Massachusetts. The group and supporters of the proposal say that tipped workers often face unpredictable and inconsistent pay, and that relying on tips makes them vulnerable to harassment by customers and management.
One Fair Wage has raised nearly $1.5 million, while a campaign against the proposal has raised $2.75 million, according to state records. In Arizona, supporters and opponents of the ballot measure have raised less than $60,000 in total.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, and her Republican opponent former President Donald Trump both have vowed to eliminate income taxes on tips if they are elected in an effort to win over service workers, an important constituency in the battleground state of Nevada.
MINIMUM WAGE AND SICK LEAVE
Proposals to raise states' minimum wages and institute paid sick leave programs have become fixtures on state ballots in recent years. On Tuesday, voters in Alaska and Missouri will weigh in on both questions, while Nebraskans will decide whether to enact paid leave. And voters in California are being asked to raise the state's minimum wage to $18 an hour in 2026, which would give the largest U.S. state the highest minimum wage in the country. Washington, D.C., is currently the highest at $17.50 per hour.
The federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour has not increased since 2009, and about 30 states have set their floor higher. Harris in October labeled the federal rate as "poverty wages" and called for an increase, though she did not mention the exact amount to which it should be raised. Many Democrats and worker advocates have called for a $15 federal minimum wage, which would raise the pay of an estimated 40 million workers.
CANNABIS, CAPTIVE AUDIENCES
The proposal to raise Alaska's minimum wage includes a provision that would prohibit employers in the state from holding mandatory meetings to discourage unionizing, known as captive audience meetings.
The meetings have been legal under federal labor law for decades and are a fixture of companies' responses to union campaigns. At least nine Democratic-led states including New York, California, and Minnesota have banned captive audience meetings or prohibited employers from disciplining workers who do not attend, and some of those laws are being challenged in court.
There is no formal campaign against the proposal. Supporters had raised about $2.6 million as of early October, largely from unions, according to state records.
Oregon, another state that has banned captive audience meetings, has a proposal on Tuesday's ballot that would require cannabis businesses to sign "labor peace agreements" requiring them to remain neutral in union campaigns. The nascent legal cannabis industry is rapidly unionizing. At least six states including California, New York, and Illinois already require cannabis businesses to adopt neutrality agreements in order to receive a state license.
Four political action committees backing the Oregon measure have raised a total of about $3.9 million, mostly from unions, according to a state database.
Read more:
Uber, Lyft agree to minimum pay for Massachusetts drivers to settle lawsuit
Dueling Massachusetts gig worker ballot measures clear key hurdle
US appeals court scraps Biden tipped wages rule
US judges skeptical of challenge to NLRB memo on anti-union meetings
NLRB takes second shot at overturning Oregon’s 'captive audience' meeting law
Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York
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