House Democrats are expected to pass the Raise the Wage Act today after overcoming opposition from within party ranks. The bill would gradually raise the federal minimum wage from its current level of $7.25 per hour to $15 per hour by 2024. Once the minimum ... More »
The New York Times spotlighted a conflict within the labor movement over how unions should secure greater rights for Uber and Lyft drivers. S.E.I.U. has been meeting with Uber and Lyft to discuss the companies’ proposal to maintain the drivers’ status as indep... More »
Over at Law and Political Economy, Veena Dubal writes an important piece that raises concerns about Uber and Lyft’s suggestion that drivers in California form a “workers’ association.” Dubal worries that such an association would amount... More »
Nevada has enacted a slew of new laws aimed at protecting workers. Yesterday, Governor Steve Sisolak signed a measure allowing state employees to engage in collective bargaining. Although the state will retain final say on some key bargaining subjects – incl... More »
In the ongoing case of Chamber of Commerce v. City of Seattle dealing with the legality of Seattle’s for-hire vehicle driver collective bargaining ordinance, the Chamber and co-plaintiffs moved for summary judgment in February, arguing that the ordinance is pr... More »
The biggest internationally coordinated strike by Lyft and Uber drivers is expected to take place today in major U.S. cities and in the United Kingdom, Australia, and South America. Driver demands vary by organizing group, but include calls for livable income... More »
As has been widely reported, the U.S. Department of Labor issued an “opinion letter” yesterday concluding that an unnamed “virtual marketplace company” does not employ the workers who make the company viable. Instead, the letter finds t... More »
David Streitfeld has a great story in the NYT this morning about life as an Uber driver and the vast distance between what drivers earn and what investors will reap from the firm’s public offering. Drivers: $40,000 in a good year of full time work. Inves... More »
The Maryland General Assembly overrode Republican Governor Larry Hogan’s veto of an increase in the state’s hourly minimum wage from $10.10 to $15 by 2025 for businesses with 15 or more employees and by 2026 for smaller employers. As OnLabor previously reporte... More »
This week the National Employment Law Project released a report detailing how gig companies like Uber and Handy have led a state-by-state lobbying effort with corporate partners to strip gig workers of the legal protections afforded to employees. The report e... More »
Uber and Lyft drivers plan to strike Monday, refusing to drive in protest of impending pay docks. The Los Angeles Times reports on the drivers’ rising ire and on their recent organizing efforts. Protest organizers/leaders have expressed that pay may be the r... More »
New York City’s new minimum payments rule for drivers in the ride-hailing sector is sorely needed, and is in many ways a policy model for cities around the country. The City ought to perfect this path-breaking policy by ensuring that it does not advantage domi... More »
July 18th, 2019