Legal director Sandeep Vaheesan shines a light on a recent court of appeals decision that opens the door for unionizing, collective bargaining, and strikes by gig workers and other workers classified as independent contractors.

Can Uber drivers and other gig workers legally go on strike? Until very recently, the answer was no, in the absence of special authorization by state law. Categorized as independent contractors by gig corporations, these workers, generally speaking, cannot collectively bargain or strike without violating antitrust laws. The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission said as much in a 2017 brief.
For a long while, the government and corporate actors have used antitrust laws—which Congress originally enacted to rein in oligarchs such as John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan and to disperse power downward to farmers, ranchers, workers, and local firms—to thwart the collective action of independent contractors and small firms. Last month, however, a federal court of appeals in Boston ruled that independent contractors can strike for higher wages, a decision that could transform labor relations in the gig economy.

It’s been a long and winding path to this point. On June 30, 2016, a group of 37 jockeys in Puerto Rico went on strike over low pay and mistreatment on the job. They had long complained to racehorse owners and the operator of the Camarero Racetrack about the terms and conditions of their work and demanded a pay increase and better treatment. They earned a standard “mount fee” of $20 for each ride, which was only about one-fifth of what jockeys in the continental United States received. The jockeys hoped the strike would compel racehorse owners, the racetrack owner, and Puerto Rico’s regulator of horse races to accept their demands. As a result of the strike, the track canceled races on June 30, July 1, and July 2, 2016.

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