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Uber drivers in Victoria become first in Canada to unionize and secure collective agreement
More than one thousand Uber drivers in Victoria, British Columbia have successfully unionized for the first time in Canada, securing a collective agreement with the rideshare giant through the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. The deal includes signing bonuses, health benefits and dispute resolution.
More than one thousand Uber drivers in Victoria, British Columbia have successfully unionized for the first time in Canada. The drivers secured a collective agreement between the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and the rideshare giant, marking a historic milestone in the gig economy labour movement.
The deal means drivers will receive signing bonuses, health benefits and an official mechanism to resolve disputes with the company. The achievement was made possible by British Columbia's decision to rewrite its Employment Standards Act in two thousand twenty-three, which granted digital platform gig workers employee-like protections.
Under the reformed legislation, gig workers in British Columbia can access union certification through a process known as card check certification. Once fifty-five per cent of workers demonstrate support, they can apply and be certified as a union. The protections extend beyond rideshare drivers to include food and grocery delivery workers and labourers on platforms such as TaskRabbit.
Labour experts warn that replicating this victory across the rest of Canada may prove difficult. Labour law in the country is predominantly regulated at the provincial level, and workers in other provinces remain classified as independent contractors without the same protections available in British Columbia.
The successful unionization of Uber drivers in Victoria sets a significant precedent for the broader gig economy across North America. As platform-based work continues to grow, the question of whether gig workers should have access to traditional labour protections remains one of the most contested issues in employment law.