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Not all Uber, Lyft drivers will have seat at bargaining table

caption: Full-time drivers for Uber and Lyft will be the ones voting on a union contract.
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Full-time drivers for Uber and Lyft will be the ones voting on a union contract.
Flickr photo/Jason Tester Guerrilla Futures (CC BY-ND 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/kAYh8Z

Uber and Lyft drivers will decide this spring on whether to form a union. This week, the city of Seattle finalized which drivers will get to voice their opinion.

Uber officials aren't happy.

The city's new rules will allow only certain drivers to vote. Those who only give a few rides a week or started driving in the last two months will be disqualified.

Officials with Uber, Seattle's largest ride-hailing company, wanted all drivers to vote. Uber's Northwest General Manager, Brooke Steger, says the city's decision leaves thousands of part-time drivers without a voice.

Steger: "Those drivers are still very reliant on the income that comes from platforms like Uber. We want to make sure that their voice is heard because they're a very important part of the platform and a very important part of our city."

But union organizers at Teamsters Local 117 support giving full-time drivers a bigger voice at the bargaining table.

They say allowing all drivers to vote, like Uber wanted, could make it difficult for drivers to come to consensus.

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