100,000 Uber, Lyft drivers could unionize under bill filed in Springfield

An estimated 100,000 ride-hailing app drivers with Uber and Lyft could be allowed to unionize in Illinois under a new bill filed Tuesday in Springfield.

If passed, the Illinois Transportation Network Driver Labor Relations Act would allow gig workers to bargain with the ride-share companies for better pay, benefits and working conditions.

Under federal law, rideshare drivers are considered independent contractors — not employees — and are not allowed to unionize. Under the bill, drivers would still be considered independent contractors, but would have the right to unionize and bargain for a contract.

Bill sponsor state Sen. Ram Villivalem thanked a coalition of drivers under the Illinois Drivers Alliance who have been pushing for years for better working conditions.

"We want to make sure that we are a state that continues our record of standing with workers," Villivalem said Tuesday at a news conference announcing Senate Bill 2906 at SEIU Local 1's office in the Aon Center. Villivalem is co-sponsoring the bill with state Rep. Yolonda Morris, also a Chicago Democrat.

Last year, the Illinois Drivers Alliance struck a deal with Uber to stop its push for better pay and working conditions in Chicago's City Council in exchange for the company agreeing not to oppose a state bill to allow unionization.

That bill, filed at noon Tuesday, would allow drivers to negotiate with Uber and Lyft over a number of areas: pay, benefits, the ability to create an appeals process over deactivations, paid leave and a driver's right to specific trip information.

The bill follows similar ones passed recently in Massachusetts in 2024 and last fall in California.

Uber spokesman Josh Gold said he had not seen the bill and could not comment on it.

"In general we expect to be able to work with the legislature and other stakeholders on a bill that sets up a pathway to organizing for independent contractors," Gold said in an email.

Lyft did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Rideshare drivers associated with the alliance said they hope that unionization grants them the power to address inequities they say the apps perpetuate. Several of them plan to travel to Springfield on Wednesday to advocate for the bill during the opening days of this year's legislative session.

David Crane, a rideshare driver for 8 years, said he has been locked out of ride-hailing apps without warning in a opaque, computer-driver process without the right to appeal. He said the apps drive down pay by using algorithms to pit drivers against each other in what amounts to a reverse auction.

"Multiple drivers are offered the same ride, and whoever accepts the lowest pay wins," Crane said. "Drivers are told this is flexibility. But, in fact, it is unilateral control without accountability."

SEIU Local 1, one of the unions behind the bill and the driver's alliance, explained how unionization could play out:

If the bill becomes law, the Illinois Drivers Alliance would be required to get 10% of active rideshare drivers to sign union cards.

An active driver will be defined 90 days after the bill passes, when the companies provide a list of all drivers who had at least five rides in the past six months. A driver with at least the median number of rides, derived from that list, will be considered active.

Once that bar is reached, the alliance must obtain signatures from 30% of all rideshare drivers — from a "full list" provided by the rideshare companies — for a union to be recognized. Bargaining will be done statewide, and paying dues to the union will be voluntary, according to SEIU Local 1.

The bill would protect drivers from retaliation for organizing, and would create a rideshare fee to cover representation and education.