Los Angeles: Drivers for Uber and Lyft have staged strikes in cities across the United States, urging Congress to grant gig workers the right to band together and push for better wages and working conditions. Wednesday's protests - from California to Maryland - reveal an increasingly fractious dispute over how gig workers should be regarded by law and what rights they deserve at work. “I treat it like it's a business and I drive smart," said 65-year-old Jim Pyatt, a part-time driver in California. The law would, among other measures, reclassify many independent contractors as employees for the purpose of collective bargaining, though not for wage laws and benefits. In recent months, gig firms have courted unions and state officials in an effort to cement their workers' status as independent contractors in all U.S. states so as to cut costs.

Source: Mint July 22, 2021 15:33 UTC