Hundreds of Rideshare Drivers Rally in Springfield in Last Week of Legislative Session, Urging Legislators to Pass the Rideshare Drivers’ Union Bill
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – On Tuesday, May 26, on the heels of the Massachusetts Rideshare Drivers’ union win, hundreds of rideshare drivers from every corner of Illinois continued building momentum in the final stretch of the legislative session. Hundreds of rideshare drivers and their supporters from across Illinois took to the Illinois State Capitol to demand that lawmakers pass the Illinois Transportation Network Driver Labor Relations Act, also known as the Rideshare Drivers’ Union Bill. This landmark legislation would allow over 100,000 rideshare drivers in Illinois the right to form a union and bargain collectively with companies like Uber and Lyft. For months, drivers have phone banked, sent emails, shared personal stories, and now they are strongly urging elected officials to take action because drivers can’t wait any longer.
Rideshare drivers provide an essential service to Illinois’ transportation system. They support our communities by ensuring millions of residents, visitors, students, and workers get where they need to each day. Yet despite powering a multibillion-dollar industry, drivers are facing shrinking wages, sudden and unjust deactivations, unsafe working conditions, and a lack of meaningful recourse or representation.
In a new economic study, more than 60% of Illinois rideshare drivers live in zip codes with incomes below the Illinois median, despite drivers generating $7.7 billion in annual economic output and contributing more than $518 million annually in combined state and local tax revenue. An investment in rideshare drivers is an investment in our communities and state.
The Illinois Transportation Network Driver Labor Relations Act establishes a pathway for drivers to form a union and ensures that drivers get to choose the union that best represents them. The bill includes sectoral bargaining rights over:
(1) Compensation
(2) Benefits
(3) Insurance coverage for occupational accidents or injuries
(4) Compensation or supplemental insurance for job loss
(5) Paid leave
(6) Appeals process for deactivations
(7) Representation of TNC drivers in deactivation appeals
(8) Grievance and arbitration procedures to resolve disputes arising under the sectoral agreement
(9) Safety mandates
Drivers in Illinois are not alone in this fight. In Massachusetts, app-based drivers organizing with the App Drivers Union, powered by the IAM Union and 32BJ SEIU, just officially unionized, a first-in-the-nation move, receiving state certification for union representation in May 2026. In California, the legislature passed a law in 2025 that gives drivers the right to form a union and bargain for fair pay, safe working conditions, and respect. These wins prove that when drivers organize and take their fight directly to the public, they can overcome corporate opposition and win real power on the job.
Rideshare drivers throughout Illinois weighed in on their everyday experiences on the road.
“It is so important to see that people understand the importance of unions. It's going to be formed by drivers where we set our own terms, we take back our power, and we take back our voice,” said rideshare driver Tracy Shaw. “People need to understand how important it is that this happens as soon as possible, because drivers can't wait any longer.
“Every day I get behind the wheel, I have no idea what I'm worth to Uber that day. And that uncertainty changes what you're willing to tolerate — because when you've been waiting twenty minutes for a ride, sometimes an hour at O'Hare, with nothing, you start accepting things you shouldn't,” said rideshare driver Giovanni Suarez. “You stop asking whether the fare is worth your time. You just accept it. You stop asking whether a ride is safe. You just take it. You stop asking whether a passenger is respecting your car. You just swallow it. Because you need the next dollar. That's not a personal failure. That's what no pay floor does to a human being.”
“The theme of this legislative session is about affordability, making life more affordable for Illinoisans, and this bill does exactly that for 100,000 workers. We are asking our legislators to give these workers the right to form a union now so that they will get to determine what their raises are, and they will get to determine what the deactivation process is,” said ILDA leader Genie Kastrup. “We need to make sure we emphasize the impact of forming a union for the workers who are making all the money for companies like Uber and Lyft.”
“We are living in a shifting economy where app-based work is becoming a larger share of the workforce. Illinois has the opportunity to lead the nation by addressing this challenge thoughtfully through the legislative process,” said ILDA leader Ronnie Gonzalez. “By creating a pathway for drivers to organize and bargain collectively, this bill helps ensure that rideshare work can become a sustainable job that people can rely on.”
ECONOMIC STUDY: More than 60% of all rideshare drivers live in zip codes with incomes below the Illinois median, despite the fact that rideshare drivers generate $7.7 billion in annual economic output and contribute more than $518 million in combined state and local tax revenue each year. These numbers reflect the essential role drivers play in keeping our communities and the local economy moving, while highlighting the need for fair standards, strong protections, and a voice on the job.
CONTEXT: In January 2026, the Illinois Drivers Alliance, alongside lawmakers, introduced the Illinois Transportation Network Driver Labor Relations Act, SB 2906 and H.B. 4743. Go to our website IllinoisDriversAlliance.org for more information.