WExactly after Proposition 22 went into effect in California and exempted some large technology companies from complying with labor laws, workers for delivery and delivery apps in the state claim poor working conditions persist and pay has been reduced.
Managers and working groups opposed Prop 22, saying it would enable businesses to circumvent their obligations to provide benefits and standard minimum wages to their workers, even if they earn billions of dollars. But the measure was passed at the ballot box.
“Obviously, once Prop 22 passed, it was an open season to lower my wages again,” said Peter Young, a four-year manager in Los Angeles. “I’m looking for another job. I can not continue to do this against this payment. I do food delivery now. Everyone orders food online, so there is a question. What they choose to pay me is no longer reliable and it is getting lower and lower. ”
When the coronavirus pandemic began, Young switched from driving stocks to relying on food delivery programs such as Uber Eats, Grubhub and the Uber owners. After passing Prop 22, he argued that incentives offered to drivers before the Prop 22 vote disappeared, and he undermined his cuts with unreliable fluctuations.
‘If you just try to make money on the delivery fee, it’s about $ 5 an hour. A good day for me is to earn maybe $ 100 before gas and give up eight hours of work, ‘Young said.
The minimum wage in California from January 2021 is $ 14 per hour, and $ 13 per hour for employers with less than 25 employees.
Ben Valdez worked part-time as an Uber driver in Los Angeles for five years and continued through the pandemic. He works two to three days a week, 12 to 15 hours a day, and earns an average of about $ 150 a day before expenses, but the pay still varies greatly.
“I may have had three or four nights where I literally earned $ 4,” he said.
Through the pandemic, Valdez paid out of his own pocket for things like face masks and other personal protective equipment and built his own protective partition in his vehicle from a shower curtain.
“I was under the impression that after Prop 22 I would get another 30 cents per mile,” Valdez said, but he did not receive the extra compensation because, according to Uber’s criteria, his salary exceeds their 120 percent calculation. of minimum wage.
In a study by labor economists at the University of California, Berkeley, in October 2019, it was found that Prop 22 guarantees a minimum wage of $ 5.64 per hour, as only engaged time is taken into account in the wage calculations.
“Many executives were deceived because they expected to be able to magically qualify for benefits that made companies sound like they were paying in advance, and for executives to repay the miles,” Valdez said. “They also made executives believe that if Prop 22 does not succeed, Uber and Lyft will leave the state of California because they can not afford to pay executives as employees.”
In November, California voters passed Prop 22, with 58.63% of voters in favor of the amendment to exempt app-based gig workers from Bill 5 in California, which gives gig workers the rights of employees, such as unemployment insurance, health insurance, minimum wage, and collective bargaining. Uber, Lyft and other gig companies have refused to comply with AB5 and threatened to cease their operations in the state of California if forced to do so.
Prop 22, written by Uber, Lyft, Instacart and DoorDash, went into effect in mid-December 2020 after an aggressive PR campaign of more than $ 200 million launched by the companies. The companies outscored Prop 22 by 10 to one, making it the most expensive ballot in California history.
Disputes over Prop 22 continue after its passage.
Shortly after it passed, several gig apps announced that fees for customers in California would rise to cover the cost of Prop 22 driver benefits, after several of the apps claimed that prices would rise if Prop 22 failed.
The California Fair Political Practices Commission recently imposed a $ 3,371 fine on Lyft for misleading and improperly labeled campaign advertising in support of Prop 22.
A lawsuit against Uber was allowed to be filed by 4,800 drivers claiming compensation and benefits, as the stock company refused to comply with AB5 before passing Prop 22. On February 10, the California Supreme Court refused to review a ruling against Uber and Lyft over the classification of their executives as employees before Prop 22 passed.
Rideshare executives and the Service Employees International Union have filed a lawsuit alleging that Prop 22 is unconstitutional because it prevents California lawmakers from giving workers compensation to workers for the apps.
One of the drivers who filed the case, Saori Okawa, worked as a full-time Uber driver in San Francisco for a year and also worked at Instacart and DoorDash when the coronavirus pandemic hit.
“Prop 22 has not improved anything because the companies still do not take into account the waiting time and the driving time to shops, so their guaranteed 120 percent of the minimum wage is fraudulent,” Okawa said.
She pays about $ 180 a week to rent a car through Uber’s partnership with Avis and spends about $ 90 on gas a week. She works five to six days a week from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. She alleges that the performance companies changed the base payment without giving a reason, and that she still did not provide adequate personal protective equipment during the work of the pandemic, or that she compensated for the time she spent daily with her and disinfected herself.
“I am afraid and pray that I do not get coronavirus because it means I have to be out of work for weeks without any financial support,” Okawa said.
A DoorDash spokesperson said in an email: “We are proud that DoorDash Dashers offers flexible merits to supplement their revenue, and Prop 22 shows that we can provide the independence that Dashers want with even greater security. After the implementation of Prop 22, Dashers in San Francisco will earn more than $ 39 per hour for delivery, and Dashers can earn health insurance money for the first time under this groundbreaking legislation. ”
The spokesman also claims that 90% of DoorDash employees work less than 10 hours a week on the app, and on average, dashers deliver less than four hours a week.
A Grubhub spokesman said: ‘The new benefits of Prop 22 include earnings guarantees, healthcare subsidies and new insurance cover. Overall, Prop 22 ensures benefits for Grubhub drivers while protecting the flexibility they value. In terms of earnings specifically, California managers now have more stability with guaranteed earnings based on 120% of the local minimum wage and total active delivery time. ”
Uber, Postmates and Instacart did not respond to several requests for comment on this story.