Welcome MULDA, the newest Workers Confluence grantee!

Workers Confluence is excited to welcome MULDA, the Minneapolis Uber and Lyft Driver’s Association, as our latest grantee! Up to this point, this grassroots group has been entirely funded by donations from the drivers themselves. We are proud to be the first philanthropic fund to invest in this powerful new organizing effort. This $10,000 grant from Workers Confluence also unlocked a $10,000 matching contribution to MULDA from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

MULDA is an organization by and for rideshare drivers, most of whom are immigrants and people of color. MULDA President Eid Ali explains that, like many orgs fighting for the rights of low-wage workers, MULDA’s work involves both advocating for policy change and supporting individual drivers who are in crisis. Eid routinely hears from drivers who say something like, “I used the last of my savings to buy a car to drive for Uber and now suddenly I’m kicked out of the ap and cut off from my livelihood. Uber isn’t telling me why or what I can do to start driving again.” Eid works to help these drivers navigate their limited options, while also educating them about their rights and encouraging them to get involved with MULDA and push for something better for themselves and other drivers. 

While companies like Uber and Lyft point to the “freedom and flexibility” gig workers enjoy as independent contractors, the drivers MULDA connects with talk about decreasing and unpredictable income, and lack of access to employee benefits like paid sick days. A 2018 study by the Economic Policy institute found that Uber driver pay averaged $9.21 an hour, with roughly ⅓ of what passengers pay going to Uber in the form of commissions and fees. And the rideshare companies’ practices around de-activating drivers have been described as cruel, arbitrary, and even racist.

Rideshare organizing is a source of tension in some quarters of the labor movement. Because they are classified (many would say misclassified) as independent contractors rather than employees, rideshare drivers cannot legally form a union. Efforts to win better conditions for rideshare drivers run the risk of further entrenching their non-employee status and making it harder for workers in this sector to build power together in the future. But attempts to legally reclassify rideshare drivers as employees have been unsuccessful, while driver pay and conditions continue to decline. 

All Confluence grantees are matched with one or more union partners; while some partnerships are working together on clearly-defined campaigns and projects, MULDA’s partnership with Teamsters Local 120 and SEIU Local 26 is at an earlier stage of relationship-building and exploration of their shared interests. Paul Slattery of Local 120 explains that the Teamsters (a union that represents truck drivers, transit workers, and a wide variety of others) recognize that ridsehare workers are going to organize and build power with or without them, so they want to have a seat at the table to be able to give input and raise concerns. Regardless of whether MULDA and the Teamsters are eventually able to align around a shared strategy, Paul is deeply impressed by the organizing MULDA has done so far and believes it should be celebrated and supported. 

Samantha Diaz of SEIU explains that Local 26 is a union of 8,000 largely Black and Brown service worker members, mainly janitors and security guards. For the past year, these members have pushed the union’s leadership to do something to support MULDA. “There is a lot of community overlap between Local 26 members and rideshare drivers, so people knew that conditions for these drivers were bad and getting worse. So it’s been very grassroots, how this priority to support MULDA emerged.” Samantha’s colleague Dan Mendez Moore adds that while SEIU isn’t a transportation union, they are a very pro-organizing union. They’re willing to spend some of their money and political capital to make sure there’s space for these types of new organizing efforts to grow and develop. 

Workers Confluence is dedicated to nurturing a strong worker justice ecosystem where bold and innovative worker power-building projects like MULDA can take root and flourish. This means access to resources, but also access to the collective wisdom, encouragement, and solidarity of peers from Minnesota unions and other worker centers. We are excited to welcome MULDA into this community and we look forward to supporting their ongoing work to win fair pay and dignity for Minneapolis Uber and Lyft drivers.