gig

In last November’s general election, Massachusetts voters approved Question 3: the Unionization and Collective Bargaining for Transportation Network Drivers Initiative, allowing the state’s more than 80,000 Uber and Lyft drivers to unionize and collectively bargain for better wages and working conditions. (The measure only covers ride-hailing service drivers not those delivering goods for companies such as DoorDash.) Aiming to address such issues as sub-minimum wages and other driver concerns, it is a groundbreaking result that could spur similar unionization efforts in other states. It is the latest development in ongoing battles over the role of gig workers in the U.S. economy, specifically, whether they should be considered independent contractors or employees entitled to benefits or wages.

Independent contractors notched a win as the U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) this month announced the withdrawal of the “Independent Contractor Rule.” The rule, which was issued two weeks before the change in presidential administrations, would have made it easier for employers to classify workers as independent contractors and would have provided employers more security from challenges by contract workers for minimum wages and overtime pay. In withdrawing the rule, DoL said workers would have lost Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) protections.  And while the number of independent contractors rose during the pandemic, a recent story from the Rockefeller Institute of Government sheds light on how little is known about the real number of gig workers.