I’m an Uber driver and a long-time Greenfield resident. On the days I want to drive, I start in Greenfield (although I rarely get rides locally).

Uber and Lyft treat drivers poorly. In most states, pay is inconsistent and is often below minimum wage (although we are responsible for financing a vehicle). In critical areas they are repeatedly misleading and arbitrary.

However, in Massachusetts we are paid fairly. The state recently negotiated with Uber/Lyft for a guaranteed wage of $32.50 per hour of “active time.” Active time includes the time when drivers are picked up and then driven to their destination. This does not include the time we wait for a trip to be allocated. In practice in western Massachusetts, in my experience, that works out to an average of about $22 to $23 per hour most days. That’s not a great salary, but it’s fine for a flexible job. A union couldn’t improve that.

The majority of Uber drivers do not want to be classified as employees (which is implied by the union classification), which results in us working under the supervision of Uber/Lyft management, which means Uber’s hours, to which we work, determined at our location. Uber won’t pay for the vehicles, we will. We are independent contractors.

Ironically, although the presence of a union suggests that our wages would increase, this is unlikely in Massachusetts, and it is likely that we would incur some union-related fees and, most importantly, we would lose a critical federal tax deduction of 67 cents per mile for kilometers driven that are not available to employees. So we would be taxed on the gross amount we receive, with no ability to deduct business expenses. At the very least, our self-employment tax will increase significantly.

Last year I earned $40,000 gross at Uber and drove 50,000 miles, resulting in a tax deduction of $37,500, $2,500 in taxable income, or $400 in self-employment tax. If I were to pay taxes on $40,000 in gross wages as a W-2 employee, my FICA tax on that would be $3,200.

Joining a union and being classified as an employee would reduce my pay as an Uber driver by at least 7%.

So why in my wildest imagination would I want a union? And why should anyone who advocates for improving our pay and working conditions believe they are doing so?

Richard Witty lives in Greenfield.