KINGA BORONDY, Telegram & Gazette

Drivers differ on one question: whether or not a union is necessary to guarantee their jobs as app-based workers. A corporate-backed ballot initiative freezes out the union but offers some benefits.

BOSTON – One of two groups championing the rights of ride-share and app-based drivers in Massachusetts filed paperwork Wednesday with the attorney general that would put the future of some 200,000 workers in the hands of Massachusetts voters.

The Massachusetts Coalition for Independent Work filed the necessary paperwork Wednesday morning with Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell. A second group, Drivers Demand Justice Coalition, has signaled its intention of filing the paperwork necessary to have its version of a proposal supporting ride-share workers included on the 2024 ballot.

The big question Massachusetts voters are being asked to decide is whether drivers are classified as independent contractors or as employees of the app-based companies they work for.