In Massachusetts, rideshare app drivers have succeeded in unionizing, and it’s the first such successful union drive in the country. Anyone who has been part of a union drive may find this unionization strange thanks to its nontraditional card check, its one-quarter approval from drivers as opposed to a majority, and its on-the-honor-system dues scheme. But gig work is strange, and it seems the people of Massachusetts are trying to pioneer a new model for U.S. organized labor that can map onto the new realities of working in this country. On the other hand, this effort has been criticized along the way for supposedly not giving workers real power. Uber and Lyft didn’t oppose the state ballot measure that set it in motion, and it’s been accused of creating “company unions” rather than a real union. So successful unionization in this case means, according to the Boston Globe, the App Drivers Union has received certification from the state to bargain on behalf of the 70,000 rideshare drivers of Massachusetts. The App Driver’s Union website says it is “backed by two of the largest and most powerful unions in the country: 32BJ Service Employees International Union and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.”