The Seattle City Council’s Public Safety and Human Services Committee will hold a special meeting Thursday afternoon for a public hearing on the first component of the proposed Pay Up legislation to guarantee a minimum wage and afford new protections to the city’s thousands of app-based gig workers.
The session begins at 2 PM. You can register online to speak to add your comments to the record.
CHS reported here on the proposal that advocates say would be the first of its kind in the nation and eliminate “sub-minimum wages” for gig workers by guaranteeing a minimum payment amount for “engaged time” and “engaged miles” as the city’s 40,000 or so drivers and couriers make deliveries for the likes of DoorDash, Instacart, and Uber Eats.
The legislation would set minimum compensation standards, transparency in employment terms, and flexibility in employment issues for app-based workers. The first piece of legislation currently being considered in the series would cover three proposals, according to a staff memo on the bill:
1. establishing a minimum payment standard for app-based workers which meets local
minimum wage requirements as well as reasonable expenses paid for by app-based
workers;
2. creating transparency requirements related to app-based offers prior to acceptance by
workers, receipts to workers and customers, and company records; and
3. providing flexibility for app-based workers to determine their availability to work and
which offers to accept, reject, or cancel with cause without adverse actions for network
companies.
The legislation is sponsored by Lisa Herbold (District 1 – West Seattle/South Park) and Andrew Lewis (District 7 – Pioneer Square to Magnolia).
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It’s economically and mathematically mind boggling that giant corporations somehow can’t pay laborers $20, $30 or even $40 an hour.
I get that we want to protect people, but would they keep driving / delivering for these services if they weren’t making money?
It seems like the main thing regulation might be useful for is making sure the companies clearly communicate costs and possible earnings from signing up. For instance, if you drive with uber, expect to spend $xx per month on cleaning your car, don’t forget about maintenance costs, etc etc. so the drivers are coming in with the full picture.
Focus on universal healthcare + homelessness crisis; rest will solve itself.
All of this is because healthcare is tied to jobs as a way to keep people working in crappy conditions. Guarantee basic rights via law; the rest will sort itself out – like the rest of developed countries.