Gig workers lack voice in fate
Many are immigrants and unable to vote even as fight for rights waged
This November, gig economy companies won a resounding victory on the California ballot. Voters overwhelmingly agreed to allow them to keep their workers as contractors, not employees. Now, those companies want to export that framework to the rest of the country.
Executives at Uber Technolgies Inc., Lyft Inc. and DoorDash Inc. have all called California’s decision a blueprint for future fights, as states around the country scrutinize gig worker rights. The companies have even created a new national advocacy group to shape political discussions. That means voters and elected legislators could be increasingly called on to determine the employment rights of their Uber drivers and DoorDash couriers.
One group that won’t get a say, though, are many of the people actually driving and making deliveries. Gig economy workers are much more likely to be immigrants than the rest of the population. The result is that some aren’t able to vote on the political tussles that will increasingly decide their employment status.
By one estimate, as many as one-third of drivers working as independent contractors could be ineligible to vote. James Parrott, economic and fiscal policy director at the New School’s Center for New York City Affairs, said that in many major cities like New York the high number of drivers who are immigrants, and the number of those who aren’t citizens, means roughly 30% won’t be able to cast a ballot — either directly for ballot measures or to support political candidates who reflect their views.
“That’s pretty high,” Parrott said. “There is a significant risk of disenfranchisement.”
Tonje Ettevol is one of those workers. A driver since 2014, Ettevol has driven for both Uber and Lyft, and opposed the California ballot measure, Proposition 22, which added some perks for gig workers but also cemented their status as independent contractors. “The only thing that’s independent about what we do is when and where we log on and log off,” she said, calling the framing around the ballot measure “deceptive.”
In the run-up to the election, Ettevol spent hours on Mondays calling and texting drivers, urging them to vote “no” on the proposal and suggesting they prompt their riders do the same. But as a Norwegian citizen with just a green card, she was unable to vote against it herself.
App workers’ citizenship status “greatly limits their ability to have a voice on a ballot initiative like Prop 22,” said Maria Figueroa, director of labor and policy research at Cornell University’s Worker Institute. “I would say that this was a factor in California and that it will play out in other markets such as New York, Chicago, Boston and others.”
The next battle lines are being drawn over future gig labor regulations. Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Washington and others are all scrutinizing gig worker rights. Meanwhile, labor groups are organizing to fight the implementation of Prop 22 in California as well as similar rules elsewhere in the country.
Luis Vasquez worked full-time for Uber from 2015 until earlier this year, when he switched to DoorDash as the pandemic decimated demand for ride-hailing. A single dad, Vasquez said he relies on tips to make ends meet, and strongly supports rules that would make gig workers regular employees.
He said every morning for the two weeks leading up to the California vote, he unfurled “No on 22” banners from freeway overpasses throughout Los Angeles. Vasquez, an immigrant, can’t cast a ballot, but said that he found solace by trying to influence the outcome in other ways.