Keller @ Large: Should teachers have the right to strike?
BOSTON - Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Steve Tolman, a former state representative and senator, discussed with WBZ political analyst whether teachers, as public employees, should be allowed the right to strike, something Governor Maura Healey disagrees on.
Keller @ Large: Part 2
Tolman also addressed other labor issues in Massachusetts. He said he believes that rideshare drivers fighting for their benefits is the biggest labor issue today.
Rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft are backing a bill that would deny drivers formal employee status, creating a "portable benefits" package for them to access. This comes after a court decision threw out a proposed ballot question that would have kept drivers classified as "independent contractors" and shielded companies from liability when accidents occur.
"That court decision was unanimous by the Supreme Judicial Court. It chastised this company for using words like 'flexibility' and 'benefits,' which everyone would like and hidden away in the 15-odd pages of that legislation was the word 'agent,' which would have allowed them to have no liability and put it all on the driver," Tolman said. "This is what this company is trying to do. It's trying to have these drivers have no benefits whatsoever except for what they decide they're going to give them."
Tolman believes designating drivers as employees would grant them more benefits and the law is explicit with how an employee is classified. He said the attorney general sued the companies three years ago over this and it's currently tied up in court.
"These companies have unlimited money and they're using it to mislead people in many ways," Tolman said. "These employees who are driving should be treated as employees."