A coalition of 40 labor and social justice teams on Monday sounded the alarm over anti-worker laws not too long ago launched by right-wing Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar of Texas and two House Republicans.
“The latest attack on working people by Rep. Cuellar is proof positive that elections matter.”
The Worker Power Coalition, which represents 24 million employees, took goal on the “dangerous” Worker Flexibility and Choice Act (WFCA), unveiled final month by Cuellar, together with GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) and Michelle Steel (Calif.).
Experts warn the invoice would intestine key elements of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, impacting not solely gig employees employed by ride-hailing giants like Lyft and Uber or meals supply providers like DoorDash but in addition others whose corporations need to skirt minimal wage and time beyond regulation protections.
Nicole Moore, a part-time Lyft driver and the president of coalition member Rideshare Drivers United, pointed to the battle over Proposition 22 in California—an industry-backed poll measure that enabled app-based corporations to categorise employees as unbiased contractors reasonably than staff however was struck down in state courtroom.
“Uber and Lyft poured $200 million into Prop 22 in California to take away our rights to unemployment benefits, workplace safety, and sick time. All during a global pandemic. Now they’re trying to do it federally,” stated Moore. “Legalizing the misclassification of app-based workers would deny hundreds of thousands of workers essential workplace protections, and amount to billions of dollars in corporate handouts to a multibillion-dollar industry.”
As The Hill reported:
Uber and Lyft haven’t publicly commented on the proposal. The corporations directed The Hill to the Coalition for Workforce Innovation, a gaggle each Uber and Lyft are members of, for remark.
Evan Armstrong, chair of the Coalition for Workforce Innovation, stated the proposal supplies “clarity and rules of the road for independent workers and businesses.”
“The bipartisan bill strikes a balance to promote independent work while ensuring more options for benefits, support, and protections,” Armstrong stated in a press release.
Meanwhile, Jimmy Williams, president of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, one other coalition member, directed criticism at Cuellar and known as on Democrats in Congress to go the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act.
“The latest attack on working people by Rep. Cuellar is proof positive that elections matter,” Williams stated. “Rep. Cuellar voted against the PRO Act, which would fix worker misclassification, to side with billionaire executives in Silicon Valley over his constituents.”
Cuellar narrowly received a May runoff election in opposition to two-time progressive main challenger Jessica Cisneros in Texas’ twenty eighth Congressional District.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), and House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) confronted criticism for backing to the anti-choice, anti-worker incumbent.
Justice Democrats, which supported Cisneros, highlighted in an e mail Monday that “Pelosi helped conservative anti-abortion Democrat Henry Cuellar win” and “now, Cuellar has a new bill with Republicans to eviscerate labor protections in America.”
“Cuellar is doing the bidding of gig companies like Uber and DoorDash who exploit workers by classifying them as independent contractors,” the group added. “This is a terrible bill that could pass with the support of Republicans and corporate Democrats like Cuellar. Cuellar’s position on labor standards is one of the reasons Justice Democrats backed Jessica Cisneros in TX-28. But Pelosi, Cuellar, and big corporate money won.”
Williams famous Monday that “Uber and Lyft are spending hundreds of millions of dollars at the state and national levels to try to ensure they don’t have to play by the same rules as every other employer.”
“The House has acted: Now, the time has never been more urgent for the Senate to hold a vote for the passage of the PRO Act,” Williams added.
The Democrat-controlled House accepted the PRO Act in February 2020 and May 2021. However, it lacks the Republican help essential to go within the Senate except Democrats kill the filibuster, which a number of right-wing Democratic senators oppose.