Gig workers are still organizing, even without traditional unions
Workers in the gig economy have been working during COVID-19 and have secured significant wins in cities like Seattle. But as the pandemic continues, organizers are determined to keep pushing for more protections.
The federal CARES Act included unemployment funding for gig workers, many of whom found themselves out of work, said Leonard Smith, spokesperson for the Drivers Union, which is affiliated with Teamsters Local 117. In the early days of the pandemic, drivers that still found work were largely doing vital and risky work, like transporting health care workers or sick people to hospitals. Others were out of an income source.
“There was a precipitous drop in work,” he said. “There was no work, there were no baseball games, there was no nightlife. There was nothing.”
That came on top of long-standing disputes between large tech companies like Uber and Lyft over pay and transparency. Seattle enacted a minimum wage ordinance for drivers last October, and a separate ordinance provides sick time to gig workers until the pandemic is over. Uber was forced to pay $3.4 million earlier this year after it violated that sick time ordinance.
Read more: https://washingtonstatewire.com/gig-workers-are-still-organizing-even-without-traditional-unions/