Labor

Labor advocates wary of classification bill despite support from gig workers

A recent poll shows ridesharing drivers want to maintain their flexibility

A majority of drivers – nearly 69% – said they prefer maintaining their schedule flexibility over receiving typical employee benefits.

A majority of drivers – nearly 69% – said they prefer maintaining their schedule flexibility over receiving typical employee benefits. d3sign

While a recent poll shows rideshare drivers favor flexibility over reclassification, labor advocates are skeptical of legislation that seeks to classify gig workers as independent contractors and to establish portable benefits for app-based workers. 

Uber and other app-based companies have thrown their support behind worker classification legislation like Senate Bill 949. The bill, introduced by state Sen. Devlin Robinson, a Republican from Allegheny County, would classify app-based workers as independent contractors. Additionally, the legislation would establish a portable benefits fund and provide benefits such as income replacement and workplace insurance to member companies in the commonwealth. 

A recent Cygnal poll asked Uber drivers statewide about their work and what they value the most. A majority of drivers – nearly 69% – said they prefer maintaining their schedule flexibility over receiving typical employee benefits.

Gabe Morgan, executive vice president and the Pennsylvania/Delaware state director for 32BJ SEIU, said having proper benefits and a flexible work schedule aren’t mutually exclusive. 

“There is not an inherent conflict between flexibility and ‘union benefits,’” Morgan told City & State. “In this case, what they’re talking about are things like unemployment, wage and hour violations and discrimination. These aren’t ‘union benefits’ – they’re workers’ rights. And to say some workers would rather have no rights so they can be flexible – that policy doesn’t make much sense.”

Under Robinson’s bill, member companies within the commonwealth would make quarterly contributions in an amount equal to 2% of the annual worker earnings and would also be required to purchase occupational accident insurance for all app-based workers. 

Morgan expressed concerns about the marginal benefits of the bill, stating that no other industry would consider a proposal that would weaken the benefits of its workers and possibly make them ineligible for other benefits. 

“You can’t imagine these other big employers saying ‘Listen, we did a poll and it turns out that no health care workers want any worker rights, they want flexibility,’” he said. “The company wants the flexibility of not being burdened with (recognizing) workers’ rights.”

The Uber driver survey, conducted from the end of May into June, shows strong support for SB 949 among drivers in the commonwealth. According to the poll, about 64% of Pennsylvanian Uber drivers want to remain independent contractors and the vast majority say their main attraction is being able to set their own hours. The same poll found that 30% of drivers say joining a union is important to them, while 42% said it was unimportant to them. 

Lawrence Cmar, a Navy retiree based in the Pittsburgh area, agreed that his current situation as an independent contractor is perfect. Cmar said he drives Uber around the city every morning for supplemental income. 

“The whole appeal to this is, people can stop and start so they can go to their other jobs, they can pick up their child from day care and they can make a little extra income on weekends and at night,” Cmar said. “The appeal of this is because it’s not unionized.” 

Echoing some of the calls of Democratic lawmakers in Harrisburg, Morgan said SEIU would favor legislation that holds employers accountable and ensures workers are classified correctly. 

State Sen. Lindsey Williams, a Democrat from Allegheny County, has previously criticized app-based companies, such as Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Grubhub, for fighting to keep drivers designated as independent contractors. 

“These app-based employers have used their power over their employees to push this misclassification agenda,” Williams said at an April press conference

Williams said lawmakers should instead pass legislation that adds teeth to the state’s Construction Workplace Misclassification Act by enhancing penalties for misclassification and requiring the Department of Labor & Industry to refer cases to the Office of Attorney General if a contractor violates the law more than once. 

Robinson couldn’t be immediately for comment on his legislation, which currently sits in the Senate Labor & Industry Committee. 

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.