In an interview, Abruzzo discusses independent contractors, penalizing bad employers and what she might do to make good faith bargaining a reality in America. Joe Biden has pledged to be the most pro-union president in recent memory. Whether that turns out to be true will depend in large part on the work of Jennifer Abruzzo. …
Jennifer Abruzzo, the NLRB’s General Counsel, Is Labor’s Best Legal Friend 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 »
NELP and other workers’ rights advocates urge court to stop Uber and Lyft’s independent contractor misclassification. On July 17, 2020, NELP, in collaboration with Legal Aid at Work and other California-based workers’ rights organizations, urged the San Francisco Superior Court of California to stop Uber and Lyft’s illegal misclassification of their drivers as independent contractors. …
People of the State of California v. Uber & Lyft Read More »
The U.S. Department of Labor plans to propose a rule that would reexamine worker classification, redefining who is given certain labor protections and who is not. The boom of the so-called gig economy — as seen in ridesharing apps like Uber and Lyft and others like TaskRabbit and DoorDash — have raised questions about whether people …
The Donald Trump-appointed National Labor Relations Board dealt a major blow last week to workers being exploited by companies misclassifying them as independent contractors. Whether a worker is an employee has long been determined by a number of factors, including how much control the employer exerts over things like work hours and conditions. The NLRB, …
“An order that creates a culture of legal compliance could have a transformative impact on American industry.” George Faraday, Legal and Policy Director at Good Jobs Nation Truck drivers and warehouse workers working for federal contractors at the Port of Los Angeles are striking for 48 hours to draw attention to wage theft …
L.A. Port Strike Today Over Federal Contractor Wage Theft Read More »
Companies like Uber and Lyft consider their drivers to be “independent contractors,” which is all about freedom—specifically, the company’s freedom to not pay for things like workers comp, unemployment, or even the minimum wage. That’s a system facing significant court challenges in some places, and now another form of challenge in Seattle. The Seattle City …
Seattle City Council Votes That Uber and Lyft Drivers Can Unionize Read More »
In this holiday season it’s especially appropriate to acknowledge how many Americans don’t have steady work. The so-called “share economy” includes independent contractors, temporary workers, the self-employed, part-timers, freelancers, and free agents. Most file 1099s rather than W2s, for tax purposes. It’s estimated that in five years over 40 percent of the American labor force …
Why the Sharing Economy is Hurting the Economy – and What Must Be Done Read More »
Are you an employee? It seems like a simple question that must have a simple answer for most people. But definitions in different laws and rulings enforcing the laws vary. And that variation provides an opening for a growing number of employers to cheat governments of taxes and workers of income, benefits and protections by …
In a major victory for a long-running campaign, port truck drivers at Pacific 9 Transportation in California have won the right to be considered employees under the National Labor Relations Act, and to form a union. That ruling, by Region 21 of the National Labor Relations Board, that the truckers had been misclassified as “independent contractors” …
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.
