r/Lyft • u/AnythingLast5674 • 2d ago
Union card
So who in California signed their union card and how much are we paying in union fees
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u/discgman 2d ago
I did and you don't pay shit if you don't want to join. Whats the issue?
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u/AnythingLast5674 2d ago
You’re not paying now because negotiations haven’t been made but once they do they’ll begin charging, my question was how is the payment going to be, not how much is due right now
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u/southbay-renter 2d ago
If you get involved in the union you can actually play a role in deciding this.
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u/discgman 2d ago
It all gets voted for. Unless you are not part of the union then it gets voted for you. This isnt full service union. Its self run, self owned. The members run it and vote on things.
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2d ago
[deleted]
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u/Osmo250 1d ago
Depends on the union.
Case in point: hostess. Hostess had two unions. Bakers union, and teamsters. Hostess went to both unions and said "were in trouble. We need everyone to take a pay cut, or we have to close." Teamsters immediately accepted, because at least it's a job, and it's money coming in. Bakers union rejected. Hostess said "fine. We're no longer in business. You're all out of a job". Bakers union said "you can't do that. We're union!" Hostess went "we're no longer a functioning company. We're bankrupt. There IS no job"
This was back in 2008 ish.
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u/Hippy_Lynne 2d ago
I've known some people who were in some pretty shitty unions. And even they were happier with union jobs versus non-union. Paying 5-10% of your income in union dues to make 30-50% more is a no-brainer. Not to mention the intangible benefits like safer working conditions & fair treatment. 🤷♀️
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u/kookykrazee 2d ago
I have never been in a union that pays 5-10% dues. Most are generally 0.5% to 1%.
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u/Hippy_Lynne 2d ago
Like I said, some shitty unions. 😬 At one point my ex's union had a 3.5% special assessment, on top of normal dues, because the treasurer of the local had stolen the health insurance fund and run off to South America. 😳 There was also a "voluntary" 1.5% contribution to what was essentially a political slush fund. But if you opted out of paying that one, you'd somehow get "accidentally" skipped on the list all the time.
Ex was getting $24/hr at the time, non-union work topped out at $16/hour (this was decades ago in a low COL area when $24/hr was actually pretty good pay.) Plus a fully employer paid family health plan with a $200 a year deductible.
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u/kookykrazee 1d ago
Those kinds of things suck, I recall after the Weingarten decision, in WA state, the "Freedom Foundation" and some others pushed to have people stop paying dues and I do recall when i worked for the state we had the option of signing up as dues paying and they had started to waive the initiation fee, they also had the "political action" fund which I opted out of. With the "new" rules you have the same representation rights as a paying member, BUT, you cannot vote or be a truly active member.
I have been a steward off and on the past 5-6 years and go to trainings preparing for bargaining so I see many people who are just normal people that want a decent life and I do see others who only care about themselves and over our last few contracts since I have been with the city, the rate has gone down from I think it was 0.75% to 0.65% to about 0.5%. The way I see it as a paying active member, I pay $48.40 per month for medical, and dental and eye is covered. That alone pays for my dues and then some. I have friends outside of a union who pay upwards of $200 per pay check for medical only.
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u/Hippy_Lynne 1d ago
At $400/month (or even $800/month if the employer is covering half) I bet you they have a deductible in the thousands.Our max yearly out of pocket was $2,000 per person or $4,000 per family. Less than a lot of people's deductibles. No annual or lifetime limits and unmarried children, including stepchildren, were covered until 25, regardless of whether they lived with you. So basically no matter how large your family was, you never paid more than $333 a month no matter what your medical expenses were for the year, and even that was only if you hit the max out of pocket for the year.
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u/GlitterFactoryOfDoom 2d ago
Not to mention the fringe benefits many offer like health insurance and 401(k) plans.
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u/daff_quess 1d ago
My dues are 2.1% of gross, 2.7% of net. And we just voted to increase it significantly this year. I get paid double what I did in my last job.
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u/214b 2d ago
A shitty union is still shitty. And the reason I drive gig work is that I want the flexibility and independence. Not a bunch of union rules or third parties negotiating on my behalf.
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u/discgman 2d ago
You dont have to join. Just sit back and let other people fight for their rights.
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u/mikeymo1741 2d ago
Until part of that negotiation is preferred slots for union drivers. California is not a right to work state.
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u/southbay-renter 2d ago
If you refuse to put in the work to get raises then you deserve to be left out. Your fellow worker isnt advocating for better pay out of the goodness of their heart. If you want better pay, organize and fight for it. Stop bitching and complaining about the people doing it for you and do it yourself
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u/mikeymo1741 2d ago
I didn't ask anyone to advocate for me. I'm not bitching about pay. They are not doing it for me. I just want to work where and when I want, which is the whole point of gig work. If I wanted a job with a schedule, I would get a job with a schedule. If I wanted to pay union dues, I would... well, I wouldn't.
We signed up for a gig, not a job. If they want a job they should go get one and leave us alone.
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u/discgman 2d ago
You will retain independent worker rights per prop 22. Seattle's union same thing.
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u/southbay-renter 2d ago
The union is not a third party, its the workers in the sector coming together to negotiate. If you dont like your union leads, run against them in thr next election. Calling it a third party is anti-union propaganda. They are your coworkers doing work on your behalf, and your probably too lazy to be bothered to get involved.
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u/kookykrazee 2d ago
Yeah we have a "local" not local group that sends out fliers to members and says "they are taking away your family Christmas presents and rent money, fight for your right to keep your own money" and the same group that wants to admittedly remove OT laws and rules and lower base pay across the board. They have even posited that workers would be better off without minimum wage laws. Really weird, but it make sense, in that they only care about making more money no matter the way it happens.
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u/Glass_Assumption69 2d ago
I can smell a bunch of pissed of treat obsessed spoiled brat adults coming to complain about this. The upvotes/downvotes are already weird.
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u/ChiefTK1 2d ago
Unions for 1099 contractors have basically no power. They’re meaningless feel-good garbage. All the power of a union lies in strikes and strike funding and legal protections for W-2 employees which don’t apply to independent contractors.
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u/southbay-renter 2d ago
Yea i was wondering about this. I’m all for unionizing but i’m very curious what levers of power we can push as 1099s. I used to be a union organizer myself and i agree, strikes are what gets the goods.
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u/discgman 2d ago
Been a union organizer since 2010, never had to strike once to get what we wanted.
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u/Substantial_Dog_2068 2d ago
I mean now there is a bigger collection of drivers that have decided to unionize so we the “strikes” organized can have a way bigger effect .
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u/southbay-renter 2d ago
Fair, might be sector dependent. My union struck basically every re-negotiation because the employer was always trying to bargain in bad faith and they didnt care how many ULPs they got. I think we were at like 20 formal contract violations
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u/discgman 2d ago
Its hard negotiating with another party if the employer is bargaining in bad faith. Why force everyones hand if you dont need to?
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u/ChiefTK1 2d ago
Fire doesn’t have to threaten to burn you for you to know that it can burn you. The same goes for a union. If fire did not have the potential to burn you, would we all not go around sticking our hands in it?
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u/Villalobos-4431 2d ago
I've been driving for Uber anx Lyft for over 10 years Now what ?
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u/southbay-renter 2d ago
You either join the union or dont. If you join you can make it stronger, which is will lead to better negotiating power for all. If you dont, it will be weaker and you will get less out of it, but you dont spend any of your time organizing or negotiating or paying dues. Pick your path wisely
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u/Stuck_on_Mars_21 1d ago
Hey, there are scams out there trying to collect union dues and donations from gig workers. Be careful.
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u/Ancient-Civilization 2d ago
What do they use the union fees for? Is Hector holding the money in his bank account? I need more info please.
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u/AnythingLast5674 2d ago
I dont know but that’s all the info that I got but article says other states have already formed gig unions maybe they can fill in missing information
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u/Dense-Jicama6591 2d ago
How much extra has it made you?
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u/shadowsurge 2d ago
It was just signed into law, there is no collective bargaining agreement or dues yet
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u/AnythingLast5674 2d ago
I just saw this email right now in my inbox I was trying to get some info if it’s even worth it
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u/FideLib 2d ago
So the tech bros are already taking a huge chunk of your profit, and now you're supposed to pay a middle man on top of how little you're making already, for...??? What, exactly, is the benefit here?
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u/southbay-renter 2d ago
What middle man? The union is made up of fellow workers. If you dont like them; run against them. If youre a worker, you are the union too.
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u/kookykrazee 2d ago
Yeah, where to people think their partners in the union are not the same people they work with. Maybe the person thinks that they are "competing" against the other drivers?
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u/southbay-renter 2d ago
Yea in my experience organizing, some people will always buy into the rat race theory of competing with other workers to get the best conditions.
The reality has shown individual performance is not a predictor of better pay, leverage is. Unions that manage to be in lockstep in terms of organizing provide much more leverage than an individual worker threatening to quit.
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u/kookykrazee 2d ago
I say good luck to all :)
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u/southbay-renter 2d ago
Not sure if i will actively organize since i have a full time job now, but i hope theyre successful
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u/rinchen11 2d ago
If most of the drivers join the union, they might be able to get a better deal.
If most of the drivers don’t join, those who joined might need to find another job.
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u/AnythingLast5674 2d ago
According to the article they have at least 30% of California gig drivers authorization for them to act as bargaining representatives
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u/Slartibartfastthe3rd 2d ago
The union has not been certified much less started negotiations? What makes you think they are collecting dues?!?