Uncategorized

Seattle City Council Votes to Allow Uber and Lyft Drivers to Unionize

Published

10 years ago

December 27, 2015

With a unanimous Seattle City Council vote today, Seattle became the first city ever to create a system under which drivers for Uber, Lyft, and other app-based services can collectively bargain with those companies. After the vote, supporters broke out in a chant of “When we fight, we win!”

The historic bill, championed by Council Member Mike O’Brien, creates a system in which the city will hand over the names of app-based drivers to nonprofits and unions interested in organizing. If a majority of drivers on a platform are interested, the company would be required to bargain.

“Do we want to use the law as a shield or do we want to use it as a sword?” asked new council member and civil rights lawyer Lorena González as she expressed support for the bill. “I say use it as a sword.”

Uber and Lyft representatives were not on hand during today’s public comment, but have opposed the bill and are now likely to undertake a high-profile legal fight with the city over federal labor and anti-trust laws.

During a limited public comment period, some for-hire drivers from companies like East Side For Hire said they felt left out of the process of crafting this bill and urged either a “no” vote or a delay.

But based on signs and applause lines, most of the crowd was supportive of the bill.

Mike O’Brien, who sponsored the legislation, decried the current state the ride-hailing economy as a “race to the bottom.” The bill, he said, is a way to create “a system that is fair for everyone in our society.”

Council Member Kshama Sawant compared the “so-called sharing economy” to the practice of sharecropping and added: “We do have power because without people to drive, Uber could not make a penny in profits. Any council member who votes no will clearly be saying they care more about the profits of a multi-billion-dollar company than the rights of Seattle workers.”

In fact, no council member voted “no” and the bill passed 8-0. (Sally Bagshaw was absent.)

Other council members indicated they were ready for a lawsuit.

“My attitude about [a legal challenge] is that this is the work we’ve chosen to do,” Council Member Bruce Harrell said ahead of the vote. “None of this kind of work is easy.”

Mayor Ed Murray said in a letter to the council today that he “support[s] the right of workers to organize to create a fair and just workplace,” but raised concerns about the demand the bill would place on city staff overseeing the unionization process. He also said he has “grave concern” about the costs of administering the law and defending it in court.

Murray’s staff has not yet responded to my requests about whether he plans to veto the bill. That wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense since the council clearly has the votes to overturn a veto, but he’s been cagey about his position on the bill since O’Brien introduced it in August.

Along with a legal fight, the city will now undertake administrative work to create the process. Local organizers, meanwhile, will have to figure out just what kind of a union the constantly evolving tech world demands.

In a statement, Mayor Ed Murray says he won’t sign the council’s bill because of the “relatively unknown costs of administering the collective bargaining process and the burden of significant rulemaking the council has placed on city staff.” But he won’t veto it either, so it will still become law.

Oakland Post

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Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

6 months ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Special to The Post

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department (Oakland HCD) announced its awardees for the 2024-2025 New Construction of Multifamily Affordable Housing Notice of Funding Availability (New Construction NOFA) today Five permanently affordable housing developments received awards out of 24 applications received by the Department, with award amounts ranging from $7 million to $28 million.

In a statement released on Jan. 16, Oakland’s HCD stated, “Five New Construction Multifamily Affordable Housing Development projects awarded a total of $80.5 million to develop 583 affordable rental homes throughout Oakland. Awardees will leverage the City’s investments to apply for funding from the state and private entities.”

In December, the office of Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 City Councilmember, worked with HCD to allocate an additional $10 Million from Measure U to the funding pool. The legislation also readopted various capital improvement projects including street paving and upgrades to public facilities.

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is the media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

11 months ago

January 30, 2025

Oakland Post

Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 city councilmember. File photo.

Special to The Post

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units, including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Oakland Acquisition Company’s Acquisition of County’s Interest in Coliseum Property on the Verge of Completion

The Board of Supervisors is committed to closing the deal expeditiously, and County staff have worked tirelessly to move the deal forward on mutually agreeable terms. The parties are down to the final details and, with the cooperation of OAC and Coliseum Way Partners, LLC, the Board will take a public vote at an upcoming meeting to seal this transaction.

Published

12 months ago

January 11, 2025

Oakland Post

Alameda County Board of Supervisors Chairman David Haubert. Official photo.

Special to The Post

The County of Alameda announced this week that a deal allowing the Oakland Acquisition Company, LLC, (“OAC”) to acquire the County’s 50% undivided interest in the Oakland- Alameda County Coliseum complex is in the final stages of completion.

Oakland has already finalized a purchase and sale agreement with OAC for its interest in the property. OAC’s acquisition of the County’s property interest will achieve two longstanding goals of the County:

The Oakland-Alameda Coliseum complex will finally be under the control of a sole owner with capacity to make unilateral decisions regarding the property; and
The County will be out of the sports and entertainment business, free to focus and rededicate resources to its core safety net

In an October 2024 press release from the City of Oakland, the former Oakland mayor described the sale of its 50% interest in the property as an “historic achievement” stating that the transaction will “continue to pay dividends for generations to come.”

The Board of Supervisors is pleased to facilitate single-entity ownership of this property uniquely centered in a corridor of East Oakland that has amazing potential.

“The County is committed to bringing its negotiations with OAC to a close,” said Board President David Haubert.