Gig Workers

Amazon Will Pay $61.7 Million To Delivery Drivers After Withholding Tips

February 3, 2021 Johana Bhuiyan, Los Angeles Times. Educate! Amazon, Gig Workers, Wage Theft, Wages

Amazon will pay more than $61.7 million to Flex drivers from whom it withheld the full amount of customer tips to settle a Federal Trade Commission investigation. The settlement comes nearly two years after the Los Angeles Times first exposed that Amazon was dipping into customer tips to cover the base pay guaranteed to Flex drivers, who deliver Amazon Fresh, Prime Now and other orders. The money will reimburse Flex drivers whose tips Amazon withheld over the last 2½ years, according to the FTC. Until August 2019, Amazon promised Flex drivers a guaranteed minimum base pay for each order, which the e-commerce company said included 100% of customer tips.

Don’t Be Fooled: The Official Unemployment Numbers Are A Lie

January 28, 2021 Eleanor Goldfield, Mintpress News. Educate! Gig Workers, Mutual Aid, Underemployed, Unemployment

The official unemployment rate now stands at 6.7%. But that doesn’t feel right, does it? Unless you live in a gated community, the reality on the ground feels more dire and more destitute. Behind that cheery 6.7% stand millions of uncounted people – uncounted by design. “’Underemployed’ would be the most accurate, but there’s not really a good definition,” A.K. says, responding to my question of how he would identify his employment status. “As a freelancer, we’re put aside to kind of fend for ourselves, even before all this.” He’s a freelance cinematographer and the owner of a production company. Now he’s working a part-time minimum wage job and getting production gigs where he can, a prospect that demands he put his health at risk to show up for in-person gigs.

California Voters Decide Uber And Lyft Drivers Are ‘Contractors’

November 5, 2020 Juliet B. Schor, The Conversation. Create! California, Cooperatives, Gig Workers, Worker Rights

Uber, TaskRabbit and other ride-hailing and delivery service companies in California can keep classifying their workers as independent contractors rather than employees after California voters approved a measure known as Proposition 22, according to the state’s still-unofficial tally. The fundamental question of whether Uber drivers and similar workers should be considered employees or contractors has been debated and litigated for years now. The issue is often framed, however inaccurately, as a tradeoff between the flexibility that comes with being independent against the higher incomes and benefits that employees tend to get.

Gig Workers Hired To Evict People From Their Homes

October 28, 2020 Dominic Gustavo, WSWS. Educate! Evictions, Gig Workers, Pandemic, Recession

A startup company by the name of Civvl is seeking to recruit temporary “gig” workers to assist landlords in evicting tenants who have been unable to pay rent in the midst of the economic depression triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. Civvl is owned by OnQall, a developer that provides a platform for a number of other app-based services. However, Civvl is markedly different from the other apps, some of which are used for house-cleaning and mowing lawns.

Reclaiming Work: Can Cooperatives Overthrow The Gig Economy?

June 24, 2020 By Shyam Krishna, Red Pepper. Create! Cooperatives, Documentary, Gig Workers, New Economy

The pandemic has brought into focus the stark conditions and precarity faced by workers in the gig-economy. When the dust settles, can these workers who were at the frontlines of this crisis build a fairer future? The workers featured in Reclaiming Work believe so. This short documentary by Cassie Quarless and Usayd Younis of black & brown film features cycle courier cooperatives who offer a socialist alternative to the digital giants of Deliveroo and Uber. In fact, La Pájara, one of the cycle cooperatives showcased in the documentary, was formed following protest movements against Deliveroo in Madrid. Cooperatives like these are supported by the wider federation of CoopCycle – a ‘platform cooperative’ countering mainstream economic models of platform capitalism.

Gig Workers Collective Organizes Nationwide Strikes

May 23, 2020 By Eliza Levinson, Next City. Resist! COVID-19, Gig Workers, Strikes, Workers Rights and Jobs

Instacart workers announced a massive strike: the first that gig workers for the San Francisco-based company would undertake during the coronavirus pandemic. The strike, which took place on March 30, had been organized by the Gig Workers Collective, a new nonprofit founded and run by eleven women located across the country. Gig Workers Collective, the offshoot of a Facebook group for disgruntled Instacart shoppers, realized its first formal collective action in November 2019. Between 2016 and 2018, two San Francisco-based activists, Sarah Clarke and Vanessa Bain were among many Instacart shoppers who participated in workers’ rights activism against the San Francisco-based company. The two women, living just a short distance away from each other in the Bay Area, found that they saw eye to eye on many of the same things. Though sympatico, the pair knew that they’d need some extra hands.

Striking Employees Reveal Basic Economic Principle That Derails COVID-19 Fight

April 14, 2020 Leigh Osofsky, The Conversation. Resist! Amazon, COVID-19, Gig Workers, Instacart, Strike

A series of recent protests by the workers preparing and delivering our essential foods and other goods highlights a key risk to our ability to combat the coronavirus. Some employees at an Amazon warehouse and Instacart “shoppers” briefly walked off the job on March 30, citing inadequate health protections and compensation. And Whole Foods workers organized a national “sick out” protest to pressure the grocery chain for hazard pay and more protections. With most Americans sheltering in place, these workers are among the millions of individuals who face heightened risks as they continue to do their jobs keeping our refrigerators and pantries stocked during the pandemic. But because of an economic theory I study known as “positive externalities,” most of them aren’t being adequately compensated for it.

Gig Workers Fight Back: ‘We Don’t Want To Deliver COVID-19 With Your Groceries’

April 13, 2020 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, Clearing the FOG. Podcast COVID-19, Gig Workers, health, Worker Rights and Jobs

The economy has shut down considerably in the United States so that people can shelter in place and slow the spread of COVID-19, but not all workers are able to do so. Essential workers include those who work in the food industry, not only the producers but also grocery store workers. One group of workers that is in high demand is the personal shopper who will buy what people order and deliver it to their homes. Shipt Shoppers, who do this work, have had pay cuts and are not being provided with what they need to protect themselves and their customers from contracting COVID-19. We speak with Robin Pape, a gig worker who is helping to lead the fight back to demand that Shipt Shoppers are protected and compensated for the hazardous work they are doing. Their fight is representative of what many essential workers are facing during the pandemic.

A Pandemic Is No Time For Precarious Work

April 10, 2020 Bama Athreya, Inequality.org. Create! COVID-19, Gig Workers, New Economy, Worker Rights

The Trump administration and many of its wealthiest allies recklessly floated an end to social distancing, endangering public health to allegedly help “the economy.” I don’t usually take the trouble of responding to right-wing opinions, but the gleeful celebration of the gig economy during a pandemic is further evidence of an empathy deficit among their ranks. The executive class, safe in their bunkers, are considering how they can best take further advantage of a precarious workforce. Need to go out and don’t want to face public transportation? Just order car service from Uber or Lyft. Want to avoid crowded grocery stores? Instacart has you covered! Can’t go to your favorite restaurant? There’s an app for that, too – and a vulnerable worker risking their health and safety to bring everything you need right to your door.

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