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1/ If you live in CA, you'll have heard ALOT abt the corp-sponsored #Prop22. Gig companies have spent $185 mil urging you to vote Yes.
But how are gig workers faring when gig companies get to regulate themselves? Here are a few stories they shared with @LenaSimet and me @hrw
:
But how are gig workers faring when gig companies get to regulate themselves? Here are a few stories they shared with @LenaSimet and me @hrw
:
2/ After Instacart changed its pay model in 2018, a 35-year old Los Angeles shopper suffered a drastic pay cut and remembered thinking, "I guess I won't buy eggs this month. I'll just get half a gallon of milk." He also struggled to make rent, worrying he would become homeless.
3/ âWithout any notification, Instacart can change our pay,â said Ginger Anne Farr, a San Francisco shopper. âAt one point they took our pay and cut it, to the point where I had to go on financial assistance and get help in getting food while working full-time for them.â
4/ A 20-year old Shipt shopper in Long Beach told us, "âIâm working really really hard, only to end up with $100 in my pocket to last me the week.â The constant worry about making ends meet has âmade my depression a lot worse.â https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/10/15/grocery-app-workers-rights-are-under-siege
5/ Why is this happening? Black box pay algorithms "are really underestimating shop times, so then we're not being paid the fair amount...once you minus the expenses on top of that, you're being paid less than minimum wage, unless somebody tips." - Philippa Mayall, Shipt shopper
6/ Without other labor protections, workers also have no safety net. Karyn Johnson-Dorsey told us she lost income while recovering from twisting her ankle delivering a heavy grocery box in June. If she was an employee, she would have been entitled to workersâ compensation.
7/ Companies and supporters of Prop 22 tend to dismiss these workers and their experiences as belonging to a "vocal minority."
But @lenasimet and I are not the only ones hearing these stories...
But @lenasimet and I are not the only ones hearing these stories...
8/ In 2018, @MatthewTelles, an Instacart shopper, told @cfarivar @arstechnica that the decrease in pay over time forced him to move out of Chicago. Shopping for the company was "making me about $4 per hour after taxes [and expenses]," said Telles. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/11/instacart-changes-how-it-pays-shoppers-but-many-say-theyre-now-making-less/
9/ In 2019, Instacart shopper Kris told @ChavieLieber @voxdotcom that the company's black box algorithms has made his pay "really confusing...none of us know how the payments work." https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/5/14/18566237/instacart-shopper-tip-grocery-delivery-payment
10/ What about tips, you ask? At Shipt, mysterious glitches are causing them to disappear. "Iâm working 40, 50 hours a week doing deliveries, and now Iâm having to spend all of this time chasing down tips that I earned,â Erika told @washingtonpost https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/08/06/shipt-target-tips-delivery/
12/ The DC A-G recently filed a lawsuit against Instacart for misleading customers into thinking a 10% service fee was a tip for a delivery person from '16 - '18. That is just one of several problems with tips that workers have encountered over the years. https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/27/instacart-faces-lawsuit-from-dc-attorney-general-over-deceptive-service-fees/
13/ The #COVID19 pandemic has seen demand for grocery apps skyrocket, but workers say that they are left to fend for themselves while their earnings drop and fluctuate wildly
14/ #COVID19 made Daniel Poyer so sick even sitting up made him nauseous. But Instacart denied him sick pay on a technicality. "I donât have the words to explain how it feels to be...brushed off like you donât matter," he told @russellbrandom @verge https://www.theverge.com/21267669/instacart-shoppers-sick-extended-pay-quarantine-leave-coronavirus
15/ What do shoppers want? "I'm not suggesting that they pay us enormous salaries. I'm just suggesting they pay us a guaranteed minimum wage. I would also like to know how I'm being paid." - Karyn Johnson-Dorsey, an Instacart and Shipt shopper told us
16/ TL;DR:
What do workers want?
Fair wages, pay transparency, and a decent safety net when things go wrong.
What does Prop 22 offer?
None of the above.
Vote #NoOnProp22. Vote for workers' rights. The future of work does not belong to the gig companies. It belongs to us.
What do workers want?
Fair wages, pay transparency, and a decent safety net when things go wrong.
What does Prop 22 offer?
None of the above.
Vote #NoOnProp22. Vote for workers' rights. The future of work does not belong to the gig companies. It belongs to us.
