California bill would let rideshare drivers choose to organize; developers and platforms sharply divided

Assemblymembers Lorena Wicks and Mark Berman asked the Senate Transportation Committee on May 20 to advance AB 1340, legislation that would give rideshare drivers a pathway to organize and designate representatives to bargain collectively with transportation network companies (TNCs) while preserving their status as independent contractors.

The bill’s sponsors say AB 1340 would let drivers — who the authors and witnesses described as numbering in the hundreds of thousands — choose to form a union or other representative body to negotiate wages, benefits and workplace conditions without changing their classification as independent contractors.

AB 1340’s nut graf: Supporters framed the bill as a narrow, choice-based measure that leaves classification unchanged while creating a mechanism for drivers to collectively negotiate terms that affect pay, benefits and deactivation appeals. Opponents said it would conflict with the voter-approved Proposition…