SACRAMENTO, Kalifornia (PNN) - October 5, 2025 - Kalifornia pretend Governor Gavin Newsom just gave his state’s 800,000 Uber and Lyft drivers a one-way ticket to the unemployment line.
Newsom signed a landmark agreement on Friday that would allow Uber and Lyft drivers to form a union.
The Democrat said at a press conference that the unionization deal will offer ride-hailing drivers a “voice, to give them choice, give them dignity and a say about their future.”
“I say that because it needs to be said. I’m not naive about how people are feeling about their future,” he explained.
Kalifornia has become the second state in the nation, after Massachusetts, to allow Uber and Lyft drivers to unite at an industry level to negotiate for higher pay and benefits, such as health coverage.
The arrangement was finalized in August through talks between Democrat lawmakers in Sacramento, SEIU union officials, and representatives from Uber and Lyft.
The measure, known as AB 1340, was introduced by Assemblymen Buffy Wicks and Marc Berman, and sponsored by SEIU Kalifornia.
It establishes rules that allow app-based drivers to bargain collectively for improved wages and access to employee-style benefits, including health insurance.
Yet sadly, it does not take a genius to work out that Newsom is condemning the state’s 800,000 Uber and Lyft drivers to losing their jobs altogether.
Companies such as Uber and Lyft are already aggressively driving down the wages earned by their drivers as part of their efforts to become profitable.
The decline in wages is also linked to the exploding popularity of ride sharing as a profession, in many cases embraced by illegal invaders and people who are searching for more permanent work.
Nowadays, most long-time drivers reminisce about the “glory days” when they could earn a respectable living from their work.
Yet as well as making these companies less sympathetic to their drivers, it will also force them to accelerate their rollout of self-driving vehicles that will not require any human whatsoever.
These vehicles, mainly run by the likes of Tesla and Google’s Waymo, are already operating across the streets of Kalifornia and many other states including Arizona and Texas.
Within just a few years, Uber and Lyft drivers in Kalifornia will have no jobs with which they can bargain.
