A judge has placed a hold on what would have been the first law in the U.S. to allow drivers of ride-hailing services to unionize.
U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik of Seattle issued a temporary block on the city’s proposed law following a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, The Associated Press reports. The chamber argued cities don’t have the right to govern collective bargaining under federal labor laws.
Lasnik reportedly said his hold on the law isn’t indicative of how he will rule on the case, but rather it’s a result of the gravity of the matter in question.
“The issues raised in this litigation are novel, they are complex, and they reside at the intersection of national policies that have been decades in the making,” Lasnik wrote. “The public will be well-served by maintaining the status quo while the issues are given careful judicial consideration as to whether the city’s well-meaning ordinance can survive the scrutiny our laws require.”
The suit was filed just before companies such as Uber and Lyft would have been required to provide information on their most active drivers to Teamsters, which would represent them should the law pass.
Thumbnail photo via Lyft
