The protesters gathered in bright red T-shirts and matching masks bearing the Independent Drivers Guild logo. Posters with slogans like “Freeze hiring, reactive workers now!” and “Unlock Uber” were being distributed on a table towards the entrance. What the meeting lacked in great numbers, it made up for with enthusiasm.
A wide range of speakers took to the podium: IDG members, drivers, local and potential politicians. Most of the speeches were followed by an energetic call and response from the crowd, culminating in chants in favor of the unions.
In previous protests, drivers opted for other locations, perhaps most notably in 2019, when traffic from the Brooklyn Bridge to the mayor’s residence at Gracie Mansion slowed down. Today’s location was perfect for such an event.
Image credits: Brian Heater
The meeting was framed by the Falchi Building, a large office space in Queens, New York that houses some 36,000 square feet of Uber offices. The Long Island City neighborhood has long been an epicenter for the city’s carpool operations. Lyft has offices nearby, as does the Taxi Limousine Commission (TLC). Walk for a block or two and you will almost certainly stumble upon row upon row of yellow cabs.
Concert worker concerns are nothing new, of course, but today’s crowd gathered in Long Island City, Queens to rally support for a bill that is currently making its way through the state legislature in Albany. The legislation is designed to facilitate the unionization of gig economy workers in the state.
“Currently, the concert workers have no voice in their workplace. There is no voice to negotiate pay or benefits from workplace policies, ”explained Staten Island State Senator Diane Savino, a sponsor of the bill, in a recent interview. “And I have been talking about this topic for several years. The world of work is changing and labor law has not caught up with technology and how the world of work has changed.
Image credits: Brian Heater
Such legislation would have a profound impact not only on private transportation apps like Uber and Lyft, but also on a wide range of gig economy jobs, including food delivery services like Seamless. The gig economy has seen explosive growth over the past decade, in many cases accelerated by the pandemic as more people have relied on delivery and other services amid shutdowns. But the complaints remain the same: As corporations thrive on contractors, these workers rarely receive the benefit of that growth.
The already complex math of being a driver in a city like New York is compounded by a series of regulations that exist largely to support its once thriving taxi business.
Tamina Ahmed, a member of the NYC Rideshare Club and a registered nurse who has also worked as a driver for six years, cites flexible hours as a net benefit to workers, but points out the rather intensive process required to start driving in New York.
Image credits: Brian Heater
“That takes a lot of time, funds and energy for drivers,” Ahmed told TechCrunch after speaking at the event. “They have to sacrifice to get to this point, and it is not right for them to be deactivated for no reason. They do not give a valid reason. They just disable them. They are never on the driver’s side. They are always on the side of the cyclist. “
The group present at the protest seems optimistic about the legislation proposed by Savino. The ability to unionize provides certain protections to concert workers, including wages, protection against discrimination, and unemployment benefits. The latter is even more timely these days, as about a million employees in 20 Republican-controlled states will soon lose Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits. Proposition 22, which passed in California last November, has been seen as another piece of legislation that sets an important precedent for the industry.
With the legislative session ending this month, many await action on Savino’s proposed bill. But not everyone is delighted with what it offers. “(T) he biggest concern I have is that workers will not have the status of employees,” Jessica Ramos, chair of the State Senate Labor Committee, told NY1. “And more than that, the salary of Uber and Lyft drivers would be cut in half. It is very regrettable that they have drafted this bill without the workers at the table. “
We reached out to the Savino office for additional feedback.
Image credits: Brian Heater
Among the people I spoke to at the event, employee status was not high on the list of demands. In fact, several drivers told me the flexibility that the current model gives them. Ramos’s name appeared on various protest posters at the event, largely in a negative way. It is a complex issue, no doubt, only exacerbated by the large number of residents that any legislation would affect. The rise of the gig economy has highlighted a number of key issues related to the connection between worker protection and employee status.
Yet what seems clear across the board is that these drivers, and other workers in the work-for-hire economy, are seeking what, in many other industries, have become quite fundamental protections. Lately, organizing has become a major talking point for manual workers and office workers alike. The efforts have seen a string of victories in recent years, though April’s failure to unionize employees at Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama warehouse has been seen as a major setback for the cause.
Like those workers, the list of complaints among drivers is long. When a speaker at today’s event asked the crowd how many attendees had deactivated their accounts, the response was overwhelming. Many believed that the decisions were made quite arbitrarily.
Image credits: Brian Heater
“A lot of drivers are being falsely accused, deactivated and kicked out of all these ridesharing companies that they invested so much money in,” Ahmed said.
The Independent Drivers Guild, which organized today’s event in conjunction with the NYC Rideshare Club and the Chinese Delivery Association, is not beating the bush.
“By helping drivers through disabled systems, we realized that only a true union can solve that problem,” Aziz Bah, organizing director at IDG, told TechCrunch. “We decided to unionize. We will let companies know what our plans are. You better support our proposal. Because this is not a negotiation. If this is what drivers and couriers want, they better support it. “
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