 |
| AI generated pic from Bing. |
(6-minute read.)
Gig Workers Unite!
First off what is with that heading? What do it mean?
I’m going to briefly address the controversy of a 1099 worker versus a W2 worker and proposed changes by the Biden Administration.[1] Gig workers will be affected by the rule changes as well as other 1099 workers. (If you’re looking for a really good in-depth analysis of gig platform workers the Pew Research Center did one titled “The State of Gig Work 2021” and is linked here as well as in the End Notes.[2] Their findings are still applicable. A gig platform is one where a smart phone app is essential to the independent contractor doing the work.) The proposed changes won’t cause the economic collapse of our society and life as we know it. Lawyers will definitely benefit. That’s probably both a pro and a con.
A Gig/1099 worker is an independent contractor that typically works temporarily whereas a W2 worker is considered a real employee.[3] Except for the companies that permanently employee temporary workers. Not a good legal move but it’s done a lot.[4] Seasonal workers are not necessarily gig workers. There are lots of undocumented immigrants doing seasonal agricultural work. You don’t find many Americans working in them there fields.
Confused? Labor law in America can be tricky. It’s a morass of technical and legal terms.
At one time in my working career I was a part-time flex employee for the United States Post Office. I worked full time for the 3 years that I was a part-time flex employee. I have worked various gig jobs in my life. Writing this blog isn’t one. Ultimately, I settled into long term factory employment with an aerospace company with union negotiated good pay and benefits. I retired from there with a nice union negotiated pension, including health insurance for both my wife and me until we were old enough to receive Medicare.
There are lots of sources explaining what has come to be known as the gig economy.[5] The Register also gives some good background surrounding the proposed changes and is worth the read.[6] It’s an easier read than the Pew Research report that I mentioned previously and covers the pros and cons of proposed changes to the gig worker economy.
At the ‘git-go’ if U. S. Chamber of Commerce opposes something I usually find that I’m for it given the long history of the Chamber opposing things that make life better for working people. Meaning that the Chamber opposes the proposed changes to the 1099 system. (Changes to the system NOT doing away with it.) Here’s a partial list of top companies that are based upon gig workers.[7]
Ride sharing and food being delivered is largely responsible for bringing the gig economy and independent contractors into the light of national scrutiny again. Americans in general have mixed feelings about gig work including those gig workers themselves.[8] One reason is because making a worker a 1099 “contractor” means that employers don’t have to provide benefits or pay Social Security. It puts the entire burden on the worker. Many such employees nevertheless treat 1099 workers just exactly as if they were W-2 employees while claiming they are benefiting them by providing “flexibility” in how they are paid.
Since I’m not wanting to write a treatise on the subject of gig workers (aka 1099 workers most of the time) versus W2 employees I’m going to oversimplify what I’m writing about because of the myriad of breakdowns of individual parts of what’s happening in the field. For starters, there are different categories of 1099 workers and there are different ways that some states, like California, treat 1099/gig workers.[9]
Stand outs
There are some points that stand out when it comes to gig workers. (Bullet list the below)
- Gig workers are cheaper. Period. That’s the business model.
- The majority of gig workers are in lower income demographics.
- The people that use the services of gig workers are in higher income demographics.
- Immigrants, documented and undocumented, make up 19% of the nation’s work force.[10]
- Hispanics make up the largest share of gig workers at 30%.[11]
- It is easier for undocumented immigrants to work in the gig industry.
- Independent contractors will not be suddenly outlawed.
- Our economy won’t crash because of the proposed rule change. It will adjust.
- Some millionaires will make less money. (Boo hoo)
- Corporations have and will spend hundreds of millions lobbying and litigating against the proposed rule changes.[12] [13] Obviously people at the top are making lots of money.
- The proposed changes will allow more workers to unionize IF they want. (This is a good thing)
- Permanent good paying jobs are better for America. Period.
There are 8 million undocumented immigrants (UI) holding down jobs in America.[14] Rapist former President Trump even had UIs working at Mar A Lardo as well as legal foreign nationals.[15] [16] They are an important part of our economy because they are cheap labor and practically devoid of legal protection in the labor market other than having the right to be fired and/or deported. (They do have some legal rights.)
What is clear is that just as manufacturing jobs were sent overseas for cheap labor, the gig market industry seeks to institutionalize cheap labor here. We already have an agricultural economy based upon cheap UI labor getting food from the fields to the table. Is it really going to benefit working people if a similar gig economy is created based upon cheap labor at the cost of creating meaningful full-time jobs too?
The proposed changes will not eliminate contractors or people that want to be contract labor. It will help stop businesses from victimizing people that provide contract labor. One of the things that I learned working a union job is that there is always a group of people willing to do the same job for a lot less money and benefits. A. L. W. A. Y. S.
The problem we currently have is that people are working gig jobs in addition to their regular jobs to earn enough to meet their living expenses. What workers really need is a minimum wage high enough for them to live on with just one full-time job. I say this as a person that worked 2 part time jobs while going to college on the GI bill and I still needed to take out student loans to stay in school and support my family. (I was able to pay off my student loans by being fortunate enough to land jobs that paid enough to do more than just exist, not to mention student loans at that time weren’t usurious, as they are now).
Do you work to live or live to work?
https://yadayadayadablahblah.blogspot.com/
[1] https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-admin-announce-independent-contractor-rule-that-could-upend-gig-economy-2024-01-08/
[3] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gig%20worker
[4] https://www.findlaw.com/employment/hiring-process/part-time-temporary-and-seasonal-employees.html
[5] https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/gig-economy.asp
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/10/us_dol_gig_worker_rule/
[8] https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2021/12/08/americans-views-of-gig-platform-work-and-related-policy-issues/
[9] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/california-adds-wage-and-benefit-protections-for-gig-workers
[10] https://usafacts.org/articles/how-many-immigrants-are-in-the-american-workforce/
[11] https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2021/12/08/the-state-of-gig-work-in-2021/
[12] https://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/business-a-lobbying/597404-gig-companies-launch-lobbying-group-to-counter-pro/
[13] https://onezero.medium.com/gig-companies-like-uber-are-now-lobbying-to-change-labor-laws-nationwide-1366fb615336
[14] https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/11/16/what-we-know-about-unauthorized-immigrants-living-in-the-us/
[16] https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacheverson/2023/06/14/mar-a-lago-foreign-workers-trump-classified-documents/?sh=42e47f272b6b
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please avoid name calling, personal and/or abusive language. In other words be civil. We need a lot more of that these days. Try and confine your comments to the topic of the post.