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Comment by nerdjon | Hacker News Reader

No doubt good for them, but I am curious how this is realistically going to work.

The barrier of entry to get new non-union drivers for Lyft and Uber is very low. If a strike does happen I can't imagine it would be hard for them to fairly quickly get new drivers, especially with the possibility of higher fairs due to high demand while it is sorted out. I have to imagine they would be able to get drivers far faster than most other situations with strikes.

I wonder if Uber and Lyft would even try to partner with gocurb or another app to funnel riders directly to taxies.

Not saying a union is a bad thing, I just wonder in this particular case how well it is realistically going to work out. Guess we will see.

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> No doubt good for them, but I am curious how this is realistically going to work.

Seems like kind of a pilot-program nationwide TBH. The article links to another article last year about an MA ballot measure which made it possible for gig-work drivers to unionize in the first place (since independent contractors aren't covered by the NLRB at a federal level). It seems that the state labor board intends to sponsor the negotiation process, and per the ballot measure text would be responsible for figuring out what to do if negotiations broke down. Summary of the question is here, if you're interested (full text of the law is linked there): https://www.sec.state.ma.us/divisions/elections/publications...

This is the key: Drivers now have the Commonwealth of Massachusetts arbitrating any dispute over their collective demands. Everyone knows how this is going to turn out.

What are you basing these guesses on? Workforce is pretty difficult to find on basically anything as far as I know.

You might have people that want to drive taxis but they would still have to get used to the streets, how the app works etc. etc. which can significantly degrade service quality.

The number of people with cars that might be willing to do some side work for some extra money?

It isn't like other jobs that have resumes and (possibly) long interview processes.

From what I can find we are talking a few days without talking to anyone and you are driving. Throw in Uber and Lyft doing an advertising campaign with incentives to start driving, I don't see any reason they could not have a potential large amount of drivers fairly quickly.

Maybe it won't be at ideal hours, maybe it will still be hit or miss, but there are a lot of drivers out there. Just due to the very nature of this being gig work.

All they really need to just ignore the union's demands is to be able to sign up enough drivers to out last the members not making money. Getting used to driving the streets and everything is up to the drivers, not uber or lyft. I am just reluctant to think it will actually work and the drivers won't cave. Trying to pass laws would be a more concrete fix.

For most cities, "get used to the streets" means "use GPS". They could be earning money the same day they sign up.

That puts the barrier to entry on the same level as grocery store workers. Granted, those too can successfully unionize; I agree that such strikes are only toothless when unemployment is high.

The barrier of entry is simply owning a car. If you were offered $10,000 to drive someone for 20 minutes you'd likely do it. From there, it's just up to an algorithm to find the right number.

If someone offered me $10,000 to drive them 20 minutes then I would assume that they're transporting contraband or fleeing from law enforcement. Sometimes high prices are a signal that something is badly wrong with the deal.

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