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‘Self-Organizing Act’ — Cure or Band-Aid for Gig Economy Workers?

Seth Sandronsky Capital & Main
California Assemblywoman Lorena S. Gonzalez introduced a bill to allow groups of 10 or more independent contractors working for "hosting platforms" such as Uber to join worker organizations and bargain over pay and working conditions. This would allow workers to have union-like associations, but they would still be considered contractors and not employees.

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California Bill Would Let Gig Workers Organize for Collective Bargaining

Jennifer Van Grove LA Times
Gig workers include Uber and Lyft drivers, DoorDash and Postmates food delivery drivers, Handy house cleaners and Amazon "flex" workers who deliver packages. They are technically independent contractors who set their own terms of employment — taking as many or as few jobs as they want — but they have no control over wages, which can be changed at a whim by the companies in charge.

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An Uber Labor Movement Born in a LaGuardia Parking Lot

Adrian Chen The New Yorker
On January 29th, Uber had reduced fares in more than eighty cities in the U.S. and Canada. Drivers in some of those cities, including San Francisco, San Diego, Tampa, and New York City, have reacted with strikes and protests.

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Uber Drivers in New York City Protest Fare Cuts

Marc Santora and John Surico The New York Times
Tsering Sherpa, a Queens resident who said he drove for Uber six days a week, eight hours a day, predicted the fare cuts would force him to work 10 to 14 hours a day to make his rent and car payments. “New York City just keeps getting more and more expensive,” Mr. Sherpa said at the rally. “How are we supposed to survive with less money?” “They call us partners,” he added. “But they’re treating us like slaves.”

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Seattle First U.S. City to give Uber, Other Contract Drivers Power to Unionize

Daniel Beekman The Seattle Times
The Seattle City Council voted 8-0 Monday afternoon to enact an ordinance giving taxi, for-hire and Uber drivers the ability to unionize. The backdrop for the council’s vote is a nationwide conversation about what role governments should play in the country’s growing app-powered gig economy.

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Bernie, GE & Uber

Bernie Sanders wins backing of South Carolina AFL-CIO EBoard; Negotiations with General Electric continues with GE demanding concessions from workers; A judge rules that an Uber driver is an Uber employee, not a freelancer!

The Sharing Economy Must Share a Level Playing Field

Dean Baker Cato Unbound
Regulations serve a public purpose. It may not be necessary to maintain the same scope of regulation in all cases, and it certainly is not necessary to maintain the regulations in their current form, but it does not make sense to have one set of rules that apply to incumbent taxi services and a whole different set that applies to Uber. The appropriate policy going forward should be to modernize the regulatory structure and establish rules that apply equally ...

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Against Sharing

Avi Asher-Schapiro Jacobin
“Sharing economy” companies like Uber shift risk from corporations to workers, weaken labor protections, and drive down wages.
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