MAY 2021 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 29
LABOR SECRETARY SUPPORT
GIG WORKERS AS EMPLOYEES
BY NANDITA BOSE, REUTERS
A lot of gig workers in the United States
should be classified as "employees" who
deserve work benefits, President Joe
Biden's labor secretary said on April
29, suggesting a shift in policy that is
likely to raise costs for companies that
depend on contractors such as Uber
and Lyft.
Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, a son of
Irish immigrants and a former union
member, has been expected to boost the
Biden Administration's efforts to expand
workers' protections and deliver
a win for the country's organized labor
movement.
"We are looking at it but in a lot of cases
gig workers should be classified as employees...
in some cases they are treated
respectfully and in some cases they are
not and I think it has to be consistent
across the board," Walsh told Reuters
in an interview, expressing his view on
the topic for the first time.
"These companies are making profits
and revenue and I'm not (going to) begrudge
anyone for that because that's
what we are about in America. But we
also want to make sure that success
trickles down to the worker," he said.
Shares of Uber fell as much as 8 percent
while Lyft dived as much as 12 percent.
Doordash fell nearly 9 percent and
Grubhub was down 3.3 percent.
Walsh's work at the Department of
Labor is expected to have a major
impact on U.S. workplace laws and
regulations, including vigorous enforcement
of occupational safety and
health rules, overtime payments, and
proper administration of employee
benefit plans.
As many as 55 million people in the
United States were gig workers — or
34 percent of the workforce — in 2017,
according to the International Labor
Organization, and the total was projected
to rise to 43 percent in 2020.
Walsh's views on the issue could usher
in new rulings from the department,
which sets legal guidelines for how
employers treat workers. Before his
appointment, the Labor Department's
Wage and Hour Division proposed rescinding
a rule adopted in January that
would have made it easier to classify
workers as independent contractors.
Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh speaks during a news conference at the White House
in Washington, D.C., on April 29, 2012. REUTERS/Erin Scott
Walsh said the Department will have
conversations with companies that
employ gig labor in the coming months
to make sure workers have access to
consistent wages, sick time, healthcare,
and "all the things that an average employee
in America can access."
The Department's decision could have
far-reaching implications on ride-hailing
services such as Uber, Lyft, and
food delivery apps such as Grubhub,
Doordash and Postmates.
An Uber spokesman said the United
States should be advancing policies to
improve independent work and not
eliminating it. The company said an
overwhelming majority of app-based
workers want to stay independent,
because it allows them to work when,
where and how they want with flexibility
no traditional job can match.
A Doordash spokeswoman said "Dashers
have overwhelmingly told us that
they value the flexibility to earn when
and how they choose. We’re committed
to protecting their independence
while providing greater security and
benefits."
Gig workers are independent contractors
who perform on-demand services,
including as drivers, delivering groceries,
or providing childcare — and
are one-third more likely to be Black
or Latino, according to an Edison Research
poll.
Walsh also spoke about the risks that
result from not having gig companies
paying unemployment insurance for
such workers - a scenario that has
played out during the pandemic, leaving
the U.S. government to foot the bill.
"If the federal government didn't
cover the gig economy workers, those
workers would not only have lost their
job, but they wouldn't have had any
unemployment benefits to keep their
family moving forward. We'd have a lot
more difficult situation all across the
country," he said.
The last decade has seen a surge in
the number of gig workers, indicating
broad economic and demographic
shifts and raising concerns around
long-term financial security for a
growing share of the workforce, according
to some experts.
WORKPLACE SAFETY
Walsh said the labor department's
workplace safety arm, the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA), is also planning to hire 160
federal inspectors to step up checks
and enforcement around the country.
"OSHA over the last four years has
been decimated," he said.
There are currently 760 federal inspectors
and the latest hiring plan
represents a sizable jump at a time
when the department has been losing
inspectors every year.
OSHA and the Department of Labor
have been heavily criticized for applying
scant oversight and negligible
penalties despite outbreaks of the coronavirus
at workplaces such as factories
and warehouses around the country.
Walsh is also part of a White House
task force that was recently set up by
President Biden to help promote unions
and labor organizing around the country.
He said the first task force meeting
will be in a couple of weeks.
Walsh spoke at length about the
work organized labor must do to reintroduce
itself to America's younger
generation. He also said the recent
push to unionize an Amazon.com Inc.
facility in Alabama, which the union
did not win, is not a loss for the labor
movement.
"The labor movement is like a political
campaign. I think the younger generation
in America seems to have a new
interest in the labor movement," he
said, adding that the Amazon campaign
is an opportunity for unions and labor
groups to discuss what organized labor
is all about.
”In some cases they are treated respectfully and
in some cases they are not and I think it has to be
consistent across the board," Marty Walsh said.
/LONGISLANDPRESS.COM
/Amazon.com
