In a landmark decision, the Alameda Superior Court of California recently ruled that Proposition 22, the ballot initiative that excluded many app-based workers from foundational labor laws, violates the California constitution and must be struck down in its entirety. The decision, which will undoubtedly be appealed by the app-based companies, represents a huge setback in the companies’ power …
Recent polling confirms that voters who live in battleground districts overwhelmingly want their Congressional representatives to hold corporations accountable to the workers who build their business and their wealth. Voters want legislators to make it harder for companies to call workers “independent contractors”; they want lawmakers to discourage companies from contracting with temp and staffing …
VOTERS SUPPORT HOLDING CORPORATIONS ACCOUNTABLE FOR LABOR CONTRACTING ABUSES Read More »
In New York State, legislators are reportedly considering a bill, brokered by gig companies including Uber and Lyft, that would remove app-based drivers and food delivery workers from virtually all labor and discrimination protections. Though its supporters are selling this “Right to Bargain Act” as a novel form of bargaining in the app-based economy, there’s nothing …
An effort backed by the New York State AFL-CIO would create a new bargaining scheme for app-based workers without addressing the question of whether or not these workers are legally “employees.” Labor Notes obtained a draft version of the legislation that is being negotiated by unions and app employers. Workers for apps like Uber, Lyft, and …
BREAKING: Draft Legislation in New York Would Put Gig Workers into Toothless ‘Unions’ Read More »
Part 2 of a series on Amazon’s delivery drivers. Part 1, “Building Its Own Delivery Network, Amazon Puts the Squeeze On Drivers,” is here. The Amazonification of logistics has created a new group of highly exploited workers: delivery drivers. Amazon itself increasingly relies on an expanding network of subcontracted drivers and independent contractors to deliver packages …
Surveillance, Stress, and No Bathrooms: Life as an Amazon Driver Read More »
Ken Lewis grew up on the island of Grenada, and witnessed the progressive aftermath of its 1979 revolution. ?“I remember the power of cooperatives, people getting land, turning places that were barren into productive places,” he says. That image stayed with him after he moved to New York City for grad school and started driving a taxi on the …
New York City Drivers Cooperative Aims to Smash Uber’s Exploitative Model Read More »
Imagine that one of two people will be responsible for your safety. The first receives health and dental benefits, earns more than minimum wage, has clear advancement options within their company, and may even belong to a union. The second has no insurance benefits, works wildly erratic hours, feels no allegiance to their company, and makes …
Why companies based on gig work are hurting more than their employees Read More »
When the pandemic forced Cherri Murphy to stop driving for Lyft, she applied for unemployment benefits like millions of other workers. But because Lyft has refused to pay into California’s unemployment insurance fund, insisting that its workers are independent contractors rather than employees, Cherri received zero dollars in unemployment benefits. By day, Ms. Murphy is …
In August a California court ordered Uber and Lyft to reclassify more than 100,000 drivers as regular employees. The two companies, which depend on a business model that defines drivers as independent contractors, got the decision lifted for at least a few months. But in the meantime their threat to shut down operations in California—and …
Return of the Lockout: Uber and Lyft Try to Strong-Arm California Read More »
AB 5 enshrined in law the California Supreme Court’s test for distinguishing employees from independent contractors. Voters could get a chance to dissolve California’s controversial worker classification law in 2022. Assemblyman Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin), one of the measure’s most ardent opponents in the Legislature, announced he will try to qualify a ballot initiative to repeal …
Madeline Messa is a 3L at Syracuse University College of Law. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. With her legal research and writing for Workplace Fairness, she strives to equip people with the information they need to be their own best advocate.
