Author | Lingzi County
Edit | Zheng Xuan
In China and the United States, where online ride-hailing and takeaway are developing rapidly, contract workers have become an increasingly common social phenomenon, and even a social problem to some extent. Whether in China or the United States, platforms, governments, workers and public opinion are launching round after round of games around the protection of the rights and interests of "contract workers".
In the United States, the latest move is the large Internet platform. According to the Wall Street Journal, Internet companies such as Uber are launching a boycott of unions to block the new proposal that democrats are pushing for — to make contract workers employees and form unions.
The campaign is not only joined by ride-hailing platforms like Uber and Lyft that employ drivers, but also takeaway platforms such as DoorDash and Grubhub. They've spent millions of dollars running political ads on social media and U.S. states, and even teamed up with a new flexible employment association, Flex, to educate the outside world about the benefits of flexible workers.
In fact, in the United States, the parties have been tug-of-war for 3 years whether to assign contract workers to employees. In 2019, California once legislated to reclassify contract workers at platform companies into employees, for which Internet companies spent $200 million to push a secret ballot and vetoed the relevant bill. But after democrats who supported the bill took office, a new round of games was played out again in California and New York.
01 Should contract workers join the union?
"I can work only 20 minutes a week, or I can work 30 hours"
"If I need to spend a day preparing for a big exam, I can also take a day off."
……
In an advertisement on social media by Internet companies such as Uber, several ride-hailing drivers and delivery guys came forward to explain why they preferred zero-hour work to become employees of enterprises that worked nine to six in the morning.
The driving force behind these ads is Flex, a new association jointly promoted by large Internet platforms. On March 8, 2022, Flex announced its official launch, in a press release that the association described it as "America's leading app platform representing more than 52 million workers" and will exist as the face of the app economy.
Founding members of Flex include DoorDash, Gopuff, Grubhub, HopSkipDrive, Instacart, Lyft, Shipt and Uber. According to the Wall Street Journal, the group aims to give Internet companies a unified voice in Washington.
Kristin Sharp, the association's CEO, said that "our overall goal is to ensure that those who want flexible employment can do so" and that "employees are voting with their feet and flocking to the app platform because it allows them to better balance work-life."
Flex plans to spend more than $1 million on ads to promote the flexibility of contractors as an advantage.
Another regulatory effort had been underway for several years before the movement came along. Some members of Congress and state legislatures are pushing for initiatives to convert part-time workers in these companies from contract workers to employees so they can qualify for the company's additional benefits and be allowed to join unions.
Unions argue that Uber and other gig-money companies exploit workers. Because companies tend to over-recruit, individuals are unable to get enough working hours. The corresponding remuneration is too small to sustain life and various benefits.
Platform-based Internet companies reduce fees and unit prices by hiring contract workers. According to industry data, employees in each app work about 8 hours per week.
These voices are supported by Members of Congress, Democrats, and President Biden. In his State of the Union address last week, Biden called on Congress to approve the Protecting the Right to Organize Act. A provision in the bill could reclassify some part-time workers working on applications as traditional employees. Biden said: "When most workers want to form a union, they should not be stopped.
02 A repeat of platform VS regulation 3 years ago
Today's large Internet platforms are rolling out propaganda and lobbying battles in New York, and a similar scene was staged in California, the home of Internet giants, 3 years ago.
In 2019, California passed a law that reclassified contract workers for applications including Uber as employees. But in 2020, Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and other companies spent $200 million to mobilize voters to vote for Proposal 22, turning the tide and rejecting previous labor laws. By comparison, opposition groups represented by union groups raised just $20 million.
It was also the most expensive campaign in California's history. Ads and mailboxes were flooded with lobbying emails, and voters received frequent text messages. The company has also added campaign-related information to the app. Workers and customers have received one after another advertising warnings that if the gig model is abolished, the company will only recruit a small number of employees, and the waiting time and price of customers will rise.
In the end, Bill 22 received 59% of the vote in favor. Critics of the bill say Proposition 22 sets a dangerous anti-worker precedent that could be replicated nationwide. Biden, who was still a presidential candidate at the time, made it clear that he opposed the proposal.
But after the vote, a California judge declared Bill 22 invalid because it was unconstitutional and unenforceable. Uber and other Internet companies then said they would appeal immediately.
The New York unions tried to emulate California's legislation. Internet companies hit back that their employees value flexibility, which is incompatible with traditional employee classification. And said that Internet companies advocate portable welfare arrangements; Drivers can currently receive compensatory benefits through a private system managed by the nonprofit Black Car Fund.
Regulators have also tried to push the bill forward, but the proposals are more compromised. Democratic Senator Diane M. From Staten Island Diane Savino has proposed a draft legislation. The draft allows contract workers to form unions and receive additional benefits, but bypasses the question of whether they should be classified as employees. Groups representing delivery workers and unions withdrew support for the measure.
Opponents say this could undermine the current efforts of labor groups to fight for workers' legal employee status in areas of economic growth.
Currently, most app platform employees are contract workers, so they are not covered by New York State's wage and hour laws, worker compensation, and unemployment insurance systems.
In Los Angeles, October 8, 2020, an Uber driver stands on the roof of a car holding a sign that reads "No on Prop 22" to protest Image source: Business insider
Contract work is an important foundation for the economic model of platform companies like Uber. An analysis by Barclays estimates that converting Uber and Lyft's drivers to California employee status costs the two companies hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
At present, whether Bill 22 is implemented is still waiting for the court's judgment, coupled with the Biden administration's call to pass the "Protect the Right to Organize Act", Internet companies have begun a new round of "burning money" appeals. How will the issue of "protecting the rights and interests of contractors" be promoted this round?