Covid-19 Opens the Door for Gig Workers to Win Sick Pay
AS COVID-19 MADE its grim march around the country in March, Seattle became the first American city to close down. It was the first, too, where gig workers began to report that jobs had dried up, or that they had stopped working because they were scared for their health.
Last week, the city notched another first. An emergency ordinance passed by the Seattle City Council would require app-based companies such as Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and Instacart to pay their workers a form of sick pay, based on the number of days they’ve worked for the company and the amount they’re earned. A spokesperson for Mayor Jenny Durkan said she will sign the bill.
“We have done our due diligence in taking care of these companies” by helping them grow, says Mia Kelly, a former Instacart shopper who is now an organizer with the workers’ organization Working Washington. “These companies will now have to recognize us gig workers as their employees, and will have to do something about taking care of us.”
The ordinance tops a stormy spring for gig workers, who have worked on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic since local and statewide shutdowns began in March. In many cities, the workers have been categorized as “essential,” even as some companies struggled to get them adequate protective equipment. Most gig companies have created funds for workers who have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, or been put under quarantine by a public health agency. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi personally lobbied the White House to include gig workers in the federal pandemic relief assistance bill, the first time such independent contractors were included in a form of unemployment insurance. But some workers told news outlets they had difficulty getting documents to access the aid, or getting the companies to respond to their requests.
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https://www.wired.com/story/covid-opens-door-gig-workers-sick-pay/?bxid=5be9f8cb24c17c6adf0e5d24&cndid=25394153&utm_brand=biz&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_content=A&utm_mailing=thematic_business_060820&utm_medium=email&utm_source=nl&utm_term=Thematic_Business
