FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
12/14/2015 3:45:00 PM
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ted Virdone, Councilmember Sawant’s Office, (206) 684-8016
Dana Robinson Slote, (206) 615-0061
Councilmember Sawant Celebrates Union Rights for
TNCs/Taxi Drivers
SEATTLE – Councilmember Kshama Sawant celebrated today’s unanimous vote in support of C.B. 118499 intended to help provide union rights for drivers of TNC/Taxi/For-hire vehicles, and issued the following statement:
“This legislation is a huge victory for all the underpaid workers seeking to rebuild the labor movement and fight for a decent life. Massive corporations such as Uber, Lyft, FedEx, and others exploit loopholes around independent contractors to try and prevent workers from unionizing. This ‘new economy’ needs the ‘old methods’ of collective action like unions, strikes and social struggle. Today’s legislation is a call for workers around the world to demand that local governments provide collective organizing rights in the new economy.”
A full transcript of Sawant’s comments on the passage of this legislation are available here.
# # #
Seattle City Council meetings are cablecast and Webcast live on Seattle Channel 21 and on theCity Council’s website. Copies of legislation, Council meeting calendar, and archives of news releases can be found on the City Council website. Follow the Council on Twitter and on Facebook.