Massachusetts voters will decide on Election Day whether ride-hailing drivers working for companies like Uber and Lyft should be allowed to unionize, an initiative that if approved would make Massachusetts the first state in the nation to grant such rights.

Independent contractors are not allowed to unionize under federal law — and that’s exactly what ride-sharing drivers remain, even after a settlement announced this summer by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell.

The July 24 settlement resolved a long-standing legal battle against Uber and Lyft over their misclassification of drivers as independent contractors rather than employees. This misclassification violates Massachusetts Wage and Hour Law, by withholding fair wages and essential benefits to which drivers would otherwise be entitled.

The settlement guaranteed ride-sharing drivers for Uber and Lyft will earn a minimum wage of $32.50 per hour from accepting their ride to dropping off the passengers. It also includes paid sick leave, occupational accident insurance and health care stipends. Uber and Lyft will also pay a total of $175 million as restitution to the state, the majority of which is for underpaid current and former drivers, Campbell’s office said.

$32.50 promise vs.reality on the road

Three months later, Massachusetts ride-sharing drivers say they still need to work as much as they used to just to make a living.

Pedro Castro, a 33-year-old Uber driver living in Andover, said he commutes 30 minutes daily to the greater Boston area to start picking up passengers. He said he used to earn more in Manhattan than he makes in Boston, even though he sees more rider volume from students around the Fenway Park area. Now he works eight to 10 hours a day and gets $10 to $13 per hour, depending on the traffic.

“It’s not a lot,” Castro said.

Kelly Cobb-Lemire, an organizer of Massachusetts Drivers United, explained why drivers like Castro struggle financially. She said waiting time is a huge part for drivers, since they’re paying for their own gas, insurance, vehicle and all maintenance.

“They want to pick a ride that the fare is going to cover their costs,” Cobb-Lemire said. “They’re getting rides that they can’t take because they’re not making any money.”

“Most of the drivers that I’m talking to work not only full time, but they’re working 50 to 60 hours a week just to make the same amount of money that they might have made five years ago,” she said.

Anderson Tosta, a five-year Uber driver living in Weymouth, said making enough money every day requires constant effort that he needs to try hard for. Sometimes he might take a long-distance trip that is 50 to 60 miles away from his location.

“I don’t want big trips, because they don’t pay me enough to come back,” Tosta said.

State Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, D-Northampton, emphasized the waiting time for ride-share drivers in western Massachusetts, where there’s less traffic for both passengers and drivers, and people depend more on traditional taxi services.

“A lot of what you’re doing during the day is just waiting,” she said. “They aren’t getting paid for that, which means, if you take the number of hours they’re working and divide how much they make, it is not always above minimum wage, which I think is a problem.”

“Uber and Lyft talk a lot about how drivers get paid more than minimum wage, but they don’t get paid for the time they’re waiting,” Sabadosa said.

She added that ride-share drivers might face competition from traditional taxi services for lower prices and less waiting time required.

“If you go to Logan Airport now, it is often cheaper to take a taxi than it is to take an Uber or Lyft,” she said. “We’re definitely seeing the taxis have a resurgence in the state, which is very interesting.”

Opposition to Question 3

While Question 3 has garnered significant support, it has also faced criticism.

The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance Foundation argues that the measure violates the requirement that ballot initiatives focus on a single issue and that it exceeds its stated goal of allowing drivers to unionize.

And some drivers oppose the question because they feel it doesn’t go far enough, noting that the initiative would maintain independent contractor status and does not include delivery drivers. They argue that all of those workers deserve to be classified as employees and entitled to all the benefits and protections.

The Fiscal Alliance Foundation argues that Question 3 would raise prices for all riders and benefit union leaders rather than drivers.

“This law gives politicians the right to set rules with no accountability and creates a new radical labor category that is inconsistent with federal labor law,” the alliance argued in an election issue booklet put out by the secretary of the commonwealth explaining each ballot initiative.

They say that in addition to the $32.50 an hour, drivers in Massachusetts already receive paid sick leave, paid family medical leave, a health care stipend, on-the-job injury insurance and other measures.

“Question 3 does not really create bargaining for workers,” they wrote. “Drivers will have no control over leadership of the union and will pay significant dues without real representation. This proposal is not fair to Drivers and allows just 2½% of drivers to force unionization and leaves many Drivers without a voice.”

Hidden costsof ‘flexibility’

Critics say Uber and Lyft also exploit their drivers by limiting their working flexibilities, which betrays one of the main reasons many drivers choose to work for them.

Nicole Moore, a part-time Lyft driver and the president of Rideshare Drivers United-California, said creating terms and conditions of the contract is one way ride-hailing companies take advantage of drivers’ benefits.

Moore said many controls come through algorithms Uber and Lyft apply in their platforms, including setting bonuses based on certain numbers of rides that drivers take.

“They discipline us when we don’t take enough rides,” she said about being forced to take every ride. “They deprioritize us when we cancel our ride for safety reasons.”

“There is not a driver I know who doesn’t work Friday and Saturday, because those are the only times you can work and guarantee a little bit more money,” she said.

Moore compared this to “having a non-human boss breathing down their neck.”

Cobb-Lemire said Uber and Lyft are manipulating the drivers by saying “if you’re an employee, you won’t have flexibility.”

“But if they are working 12 hours a day, six days a week for your company, they are most assuredly your employee,” Sabadosa said about this misclassification as the fundamental problem.

Will Question 3shift the balance?

“If Uber drivers unionize, there can be one step forward in changing the law and making it necessary,” said Monideepa Tarafdar, a professor at UMass Amherst.

“They can be treated as not full-time employees, but employees with certain benefits which they don’t have now,” she said.

To Sabadosa, giving ride-share drivers the right to unionize means a logical next step after seeing how uncooperative Uber and Lyft have been; but she emphasized this ballot question as a basic permission for drivers to decide whether they want to unionize.

Cobb-Lemire said one of her concerns is that this would create a “two-tier system” for drivers. While the ballot initiative maintains their independent contractor status under state law, ride-share drivers would not be protected under the National Labor Relations Act, which guarantees employees the right to strike.

“If drivers can’t strike, then what kind of leverage would they have to negotiate?” she said.

Meanwhile, delivery drivers for DoorDash and Instacart are not included in this ballot initiative.

“They should not be excluded because they are also in a similar situation to Uber drivers,” Tarafdar said.

“It’s a huge group,” said Cobb-Lemire. She added that many ride-share drivers and food delivery drivers are immigrants whose first language is not English. “I feel like this is excluding marginalized workers as it is,” she said.

Zichang Liu writes for the Recorder through the Boston University Statehouse Program.