Bus. & Prof. Code, § 7470.1

(a) It is the policy of the State of California to encourage and protect the right of transportation network company drivers to full freedom of association, self-organization, and designation of representatives of their own choosing to negotiate the compensation that they receive as well as other terms and conditions of their agreements with transportation network companies.

(b) The benefit to the state’s economy from negotiated agreements between transportation network company drivers and the transportation network companies, including where those agreements are multiparty, sectoral agreements, outweighs the anticompetitive effect of those agreements. It is the state’s intent that the state action antitrust exemption to the application of federal and state antitrust laws shall apply to the activities of transportation network company drivers, transportation network company driver organizations, bargaining representatives for transportation network company drivers, and transportation network companies when they are participating in negotiations and other activities as authorized or regulated by this chapter.

(c) The purposes of this chapter are to provide transportation network company drivers the opportunity to self-organize and designate representatives of their own choosing in order to bargain with transportation network companies, to facilitate the prevention or prompt resolution of disputes between transportation network companies and transportation network company drivers, and to improve the working conditions of transportation network company drivers and therefore the services provided to the general public.

(d) It is the policy of the state to establish various notice requirements, conditions, and timelines governing the representation of transportation network company drivers. It is the policy of the state to require transportation network companies and certified driver bargaining organizations to negotiate in good faith pursuant to the act and to set forth procedures for mediation and arbitration for purposes of reaching a bargaining agreement.

(e) In November 2020, the California voters approved Proposition 22, the “Protect App-Based Drivers and Services Act,” which has been codified in Chapter 10.5 (commencing with Section 7448). That measure establishes certain minimum standards for app-based drivers, while allowing, as the California courts have held, the state to create a system for negotiations between transportation network company drivers and transportation network companies, including, by agreement, to voluntarily increase the standards that were established by Proposition 22. This chapter establishes a robust system to authorize those negotiations, while accommodating Proposition 22, which limits the state’s ability to impose certain terms through the binding interest arbitration process that applies if the parties are otherwise unable to reach an agreement but does not otherwise impose limits on that process.

(f) Because of the nature of the industry, many individuals who perform work as transportation network company drivers have only a short-term or highly intermittent relationship with the industry. For both logistical and policy reasons, this chapter establishes a threshold for eligibility to participate in the selection of a union representative so the choice can be made by those drivers who have more than a casual or short-term relationship with the industry and, therefore, have a more significant interest in making that choice.