The legislation would make good on another labor objective: allowing industrywide bargaining for gig workers, specifically the roughly 250,000 app-based drivers and food delivery workers in New York. The legislation falls short of labor’s goal of defining these gig workers as employees, a move that would give them protections under minimum wage and anti-discrimination laws. They also complain that the legislation contains language that would prohibit app-based drivers and delivery workers from going on strike. “We want to focus on the people who are most at risk in the gig economy – the ride-sharing people and the delivery workers,” Savino told the Guardian. Under the legislation, once the drivers’ union or delivery workers’ union reaches an agreement with the industry, a five-person state board would decide whether to adopt those recommendations.

Source: The Guardian May 27, 2021 10:00 UTC