In Massachusetts, nearly 70,000 drivers with ride-share services including Uber and Lyft have become the largest private workforce to win union recognition since 1941. Organizers are hailing certification of the drivers’ unionization efforts as a historic turning point for the modern-day labor movement as it seeks to hold big technology companies accountable. The App Drivers Union is a part of SEIU, the Service Employees International Union. On Tuesday, SEIU International President April Verrett joined a celebration for the drivers at the Massachusetts state House in Boston.

April Verrett: “For years drivers were told that they weren’t really workers, just independent contractors, whatever the hell that means, replaceable, disposable, on their own. Meanwhile, these so-called independent contractors carried billion-dollar platforms on their backs, while they struggled to survive. But drivers had a different vision. They said, 'Nuh-uh, not today.' They called BS.”