On May Day, as people across New York commemorate the worker justice movement, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams has released a new report today calling for worker protections that address the modern workforce and the ‘gig economy.’ The report, Disrupting the Exploitation Economy, highlights the ways in which large corporations deny basic employment protections to their workforce by exploiting loopholes in current city, state and federal policies.
“While the gig economy has the potential to provide workers with great opportunity for new models of flexibility and independence, it has also provided large corporations with the opportunity to take advantage of working people by denying them rights and protections that all workers demand and deserve,” said Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. “The gig economy cannot be allowed to operate as the exploitation economy – it should be a space for workers to be empowered, not for bad actors to capitalize on predatory capitalism. On May Day, as we celebrate the victories of the worker justice movement, this report makes clear there is more to do to ensure those victories research all workers, across industry or category.”
As the report details, workers classified as independent contractors – a growing number of New Yorkers – are not afforded many of the basic employment protections and benefits that other employees are able to access. An estimated 850,000 New Yorkers are currently classified as low-wage independent contractors, and that number is expected to increase. As the gig economy grows and the workforce shifts in the wake of the pandemic, this report recommends several policy proposals in order to close the benefits gap.
In addition to the challenges faced by independent contractors, many workers are being exploited by companies currently misclassifying their workers – often deliberately – as independent contractors despite functionally serving as employees. This cost-cutting tactic denies workers the wages and benefits they deserve, and allows companies to avoid costs and dodge taxes. A failure by the state and federal government to establish clear criteria for classification has enabled bad actors to take advantage of workers who should in reality be considered employees.
It is vital to take both city and state action to ensure that the labor protections which have been won in recent years and decades are extended to gig workers in a new economy, and equally critical that employees are not deliberately misclassified in an effort for corporations to evade those protections and the accountability that accompanies them.
In the city, the report recommends:
- Providing Independent Contractors with Paid Safe and Sick Leave
- Ensuring Independent Contractors Know Their Rights
- Protecting Delivery Workers
- Providing Real Support for Taxi Drivers
- Improving Conditions for App-Based Drivers
- Expediting IDNYC Applications and Renewals
New York City has an opportunity to be the best city in the nation for gig workers, and these recommendations would drastically improve their working conditions. As the number of gig workers continues to grow, city policies have not caught up to the modern day economy to protect workers that are often exploited. Policies that would provide paid sick and family leave, ensure full and timely payments, insure necessary equipment, and expand bike lanes will have real and lasting impacts on New Yorkers that are often struggling to pay their bills – New Yorkers that are significantly more likely to be immigrants and people of color.
On a state level, the Public Advocate calls for:
- Properly Classifying Workers
- Rejecting Bad Deals for Workers
- Increasing Misclassification Enforcement
- Establishing a Portable Benefits Program
- Cracking Down on Wage Theft
- Passing the Nail Salon Accountability Act
- Improving Access to Labor Licensure
- Improving Unemployment
- Supporting Undocumented Workers
When corporations misclassify their workers, the state loses out on critical tax revenue and permits a status quo reliant on exploitation and manipulation. The state must establish and codify narrow, specific standards for independent contractors and then aggressively enforce those new standards. Additionally, the report argues, the state should create a portable benefits program, which would allow workers to maintain benefits despite changing jobs, and should crack down on industries that have been historically unethical to their workers.
Federally, the report calls on Congress to pass the PRO Act, as well as permanently extend unemployment eligibility to independent contractors, improve protections for immigrant workers, and expedite access to citizenship.
Read the full report on ending the Exploitation Economy here.
“Thousands of gig workers were on the frontlines during the worst of the pandemic, continue to work despite the risks, and deserve pay and protections like other workers. No one should have to choose between going to work sick and being able to afford rent or put food on the table. Upholding and passing these measures will directly benefit some of the most essential and overlooked New Yorkers, and if we’re committed to an inclusive recovery, that starts with workers’ livelihoods,” said NYC Comptroller Brad Lander.
"No rebuilding of our City and state in the aftermath of an ongoing pandemic can happen without restoring labor rights destroyed by what the Public Advocate rightly calls, the exploitation economy. Uber takes the majority share and fires drivers at will, leaving them on the edges of poverty and without job security. Meanwhile, it's the largest private sector employer in the state - directly impacting over one hundred thousand drivers and delivery workers, and setting the trend for economic devastation for millions of other workers across our state. We thank the Public Advocate for lifting the veil and uplifting the voices and interest of drivers, and all workers. We echo the call for city, state and federal action from right of 85% of fare to drivers, a Just Cause policy, to the PRO Act and a state ABC Test to dismantle misclassification." - Bhairavi Desai, Executive Director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance
"Workers Justice Project (WJP)/ Los Deliveristas Unidos (LDU) applaud the Office of the NYC Public Advocate Williams' report. However, WJP knows that the first step in empowering gig workers like Deliveristas, cleaners, and other workers is to raise awareness of their working conditions. Now WJP/Los Deliveristas Unidos' are focused build a new future for gig workers by creating a new benefit, organizing, and representation models that transform the gig economy like Deliveristas that care for all workers, their families, and the communities and raising the standards in NYC and beyond." – Hildalyn Colon Hernandez, Director of Policy & Strategic Partnerships Los Deliveristas Unidos (LDU).
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