Just before the New Year, Seattle made headlines by becoming the first city in the United States to allow Uber and Lyft drivers to form unions.
That controversial December 2015 decision had the Seattle City Council turning in a unanimous 8-0 vote to enable drivers of the ride-hailing apps to unionize, even though the city's mayor, Ed Murray, refused to sign the bill at the time. Still, the decision went into effect, with the reasoning that federal labor law overrides local legislation.
Less than three months later and the controversial decision remains controversial. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed a lawsuit against Seattle on Thursday over allowing Uber and Lyft drivers to unionize, as reported by Reuters.
The chamber filed a motion requesting a U.S. District Court judge suspend Seattle's law.
"Seattle and thousands of other municipalities would be free to adopt their own disparate regulatory regimes, which would ... inhibit the free flow of commerce among private service providers around the Nation," part of the 31-page lawsuit, obtained by Reuters, said.
Furthermore, the chamber believes that the ability for drivers of the ride-hailing apps to unionize is a violation of antitrust laws, allowing them to hike prices while not exactly improving their service.
"This ordinance threatens the ability not just of Seattle, but of every community across the country, to grow with and benefit from our evolving economy," Amanda Eversole, president of the Chamber's Center for Advanced Technology and Innovation, said in a statement to Reuters.
She added: "Technology companies are leading the charge when it comes to empowering people with the flexibility and choice that comes with being your own boss, and that is something to be championed, not stifled."
The chamber even points out that Seattle's own Mayor Murray opposed the decision in the first place.
"This has never been tried before, because it is clearly inconsistent with federal antitrust and labor laws," the chamber's chief legal officer, Lily Fu Claffee, told Reuters.
The results of this lawsuit might have some heavy ramifications for how other states deal with Uber and Lyft drivers as well, making it all the more significant.
