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"content": "\u003cp>Dozens of ride-hailing and delivery drivers rallied Wednesday outside of Uber’s headquarters in San Francisco, calling on the company and others that employ them like Lyft and DoorDash to recognize a new statewide gig workers union that seeks better wages and protections in the industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The protesters, including some who traveled from Los Angeles, held signs that read “We deserve job security” and “We can’t survive on $6.20 per hour” as they announced the California Gig Workers Union. Later, they marched to the offices of Lyft and DoorDash in the Mission Bay neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Uber and Lyft driver Hector Castellanos said he hopes the new union will lead to benefits for workers like himself, who are labeled independent contractors, whereas companies currently are required only to provide \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">benefits\u003c/span> to employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We deserve basic rights like good health care, workers’ compensation, sick days, vacations,” said Castellanos, 55, from Antioch. “These companies are taking more and more advantage of us. So that’s why I’m here, because I want to fight against this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco Democratic Party Chair Honey Mahogany, a candidate in the supervisor race for District 6 encompassing Mission Bay, and District 4 Supervisor Gordon Mar spoke at the event in support of drivers’ organizing efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mar said that the city provided tax breaks and other benefits about a decade ago so start-ups like Uber could grow and get established, and that now those companies should “share the wealth” with their drivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are demanding that they give back to San Francisco, that they comply with San Francisco values, and that’s supporting the workers,” he said.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Hector Castellanos, driver for Uber and Lyft\"]‘We deserve basic rights like good health care, workers’ compensation, sick days, vacations … These companies are taking more and more advantage of us. So that’s why I’m here, because I want to fight against this.’[/pullquote]The rally comes during a week when \u003ca href=\"https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/11/uber-lyft-doordash-stock-tank-gig-worker-rules/\">Uber, Lyft and DoorDash stock prices\u003c/a> plunged after the federal government unveiled proposed rules that \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/11/business/economy/biden-gig-workers-contractors-employees.html?login=smartlock&auth=login-smartlock\">could make it easier\u003c/a> for gig drivers, as well as millions of construction and home care workers, to be treated as employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposed changes aim to “combat misclassification,” which also \u003ca href=\"https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/WHD/WHD20221011-0\">hurts the economy\u003c/a>, according to a statement by the U.S. Department of Labor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have seen in many cases that employers misclassify their employees as independent contractors, particularly among our nation’s most vulnerable workers,” wrote Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh. “Misclassification deprives workers of their federal labor protections, including their right to be paid their full, legally earned wages.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An estimated \u003ca href=\"https://ucreconomicforecast.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/UCR_CEFD_CA_AppDrivers_Analysis_2_17_2022.pdf\">1.37 million people worked on at least one ride or delivery\u003c/a> for DoorDash, Instacart, Lyft and Uber platforms in California between 2020 and 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly two years ago, California voters approved a ballot initiative that exempted Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart and other app-based businesses from having to treat drivers as employees. Proposition 22 is currently in effect but is being challenged in state court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The companies, which spent more than $200 million to get that measure passed, say changing how they classify drivers threatens the survival of their businesses. In addition, they argue most drivers prefer to remain as independent contractors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With more than 1 million unfilled traditional jobs and record low unemployment in the state, drivers are still choosing this work because of the earning potential, benefits, independence, and flexibility it provides,” wrote a spokesperson for Lyft. “The special interest groups that claim to support drivers should listen to the vast majority of them who want to keep what they have under Prop 22.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lydia Olson, who owns a consulting business in Sacramento, fears that becoming an employee would mean she could no longer drive for Uber and Lyft, as she has done for the past five years. She worries that the legal challenge to Proposition 22 or changes to federal rules could strip her of her choice to supplement her income when and where she chooses, for as long as she wants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a scary time,” said Olson, 55. “I mean, how would you feel if you knew that the politicians could turn off your ability to work permanently overnight? And there’s nothing you could do about it, because that’s what we are looking at.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Olson said a flexible schedule allows her to care for her husband, who has multiple sclerosis. She estimates she makes $30 an hour in net income as a driver, even with recent increases in gas prices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a reason why so many people choose independent contracting and that’s because it works for them, and that’s their choice. And we all know there’s trade-offs,” she said. “So it makes no sense to force us to be employees, because we didn’t choose that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spokespeople for Uber, Lyft and DoorDash said Proposition 22 delivered a 120% minimum wage guarantee for drivers, while offering health care subsidies and other benefits. They pointed to a UC Riverside analysis that concluded \u003ca href=\"https://ucreconomicforecast.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/UCR_CEFD_CA_AppDrivers_Analysis_2_17_2022.pdf\">drivers earned $25.17 per active hour\u003c/a> in 2021, not including tips. The study was commissioned by the \u003ca href=\"https://protectdriversandservices.com/about/our-coalition/\">Protect App-Based Drivers and Services\u003c/a> coalition, of which Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Instacart are members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, a separate report authored by researchers at PolicyLink and Rideshare Drivers United last month \u003ca href=\"https://nationalequityatlas.org/prop22-paystudy\">estimated drastically lower earnings\u003c/a> for these gig workers. According to that study, typical rideshare drivers in California are taking home just $6.20 an hour, in part because they are not paid for the total time they are working.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In statements, Uber, Lyft and DoorDash spokespeople slammed those findings as “deeply flawed,” criticizing the small sample used for the analysis, which was based on data from 3,020 trips by 21 drivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But several full-time drivers at the protest told KQED that they make significantly less than $15 an hour after they deduct the costs of driving, such as gas and car maintenance, and must work long days to make ends meet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re not going to work 12, 13 hours a day, you’re not going to survive,” said Armen Oganesyan, 57, who drives for Uber and Lyft in Los Angeles. “We basically live in the car … We are working every day from Monday to Sunday.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Gig Workers Union, which representatives said is a movement of tens of thousands of people\u003cb data-stringify-type=\"bold\">, \u003c/b>merges two groups that had operated in the southern and northern regions of the state for years: the Mobile Workers Alliance and We Drive Progress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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Proposition 22 is currently in effect but is being challenged in state court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The companies, which spent more than $200 million to get that measure passed, say changing how they classify drivers threatens the survival of their businesses. In addition, they argue most drivers prefer to remain as independent contractors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With more than 1 million unfilled traditional jobs and record low unemployment in the state, drivers are still choosing this work because of the earning potential, benefits, independence, and flexibility it provides,” wrote a spokesperson for Lyft. “The special interest groups that claim to support drivers should listen to the vast majority of them who want to keep what they have under Prop 22.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lydia Olson, who owns a consulting business in Sacramento, fears that becoming an employee would mean she could no longer drive for Uber and Lyft, as she has done for the past five years. 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And we all know there’s trade-offs,” she said. “So it makes no sense to force us to be employees, because we didn’t choose that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spokespeople for Uber, Lyft and DoorDash said Proposition 22 delivered a 120% minimum wage guarantee for drivers, while offering health care subsidies and other benefits. They pointed to a UC Riverside analysis that concluded \u003ca href=\"https://ucreconomicforecast.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/UCR_CEFD_CA_AppDrivers_Analysis_2_17_2022.pdf\">drivers earned $25.17 per active hour\u003c/a> in 2021, not including tips. 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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The rise of Uber in San Francisco nearly a decade ago marked the beginning of the end for much of the taxi industry. Taxi companies went bankrupt and drivers struggled to pay off their medallions, pushing many of them into debt. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But now, Uber sees an opportunity in the same industry it nearly destroyed. Uber has struck a deal with taxi hailing apps in San Francisco and New York that will allow riders to hail taxis through Uber’s app. Some taxi drivers see an opportunity to boost their pay; others are skeptical that the company can be trusted. So what’s really in it for Uber?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guest: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/levisu\">Levi Sumagaysay\u003c/a>, Marketwatch senior reporter \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"card card--enclosed grey\">\n\u003cp id=\"embed-code\" class=\"inconsolata\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC3928028242&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\n\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://bit.ly/3vks5qo\">Episode transcript\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Recommended listening and reading:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11651103/the-human-cost-of-uber-and-lyft-life-in-the-dying-taxi-industry\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cb>The Human Cost of Uber and Lyft: Life in the Dying Taxi Industry\u003c/b>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11798851/s-f-taxi-drivers-say-the-medallion-crisis-is-killing-them-literally\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cb>SF Taxi Drivers Say the Medallion Crisis Is Killing Them, Literally\u003c/b>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.marketwatch.com/story/theres-a-lot-of-suspicion-about-whats-uber-really-up-to-uber-is-bringing-taxicabs-onto-its-platform-heres-how-it-will-work-11649271883?mod=levi-sumagaysay\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cb>‘There’s a lot\u003c/b> of\u003cb> suspicion about what’s Uber really up to’ — Uber is bringing taxicabs onto its platform, here’s how it will work\u003c/b>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The rise of Uber in San Francisco nearly a decade ago marked the beginning of the end for much of the taxi industry. Taxi companies went bankrupt and drivers struggled to pay off their medallions, pushing many of them into debt. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But now, Uber sees an opportunity in the same industry it nearly destroyed. Uber has struck a deal with taxi hailing apps in San Francisco and New York that will allow riders to hail taxis through Uber’s app. Some taxi drivers see an opportunity to boost their pay; others are skeptical that the company can be trusted. So what’s really in it for Uber?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guest: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/levisu\">Levi Sumagaysay\u003c/a>, Marketwatch senior reporter \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"card card--enclosed grey\">\n\u003cp id=\"embed-code\" class=\"inconsolata\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC3928028242&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\n\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://bit.ly/3vks5qo\">Episode transcript\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Recommended listening and reading:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11651103/the-human-cost-of-uber-and-lyft-life-in-the-dying-taxi-industry\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cb>The Human Cost of Uber and Lyft: Life in the Dying Taxi Industry\u003c/b>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11798851/s-f-taxi-drivers-say-the-medallion-crisis-is-killing-them-literally\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cb>SF Taxi Drivers Say the Medallion Crisis Is Killing Them, Literally\u003c/b>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.marketwatch.com/story/theres-a-lot-of-suspicion-about-whats-uber-really-up-to-uber-is-bringing-taxicabs-onto-its-platform-heres-how-it-will-work-11649271883?mod=levi-sumagaysay\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cb>‘There’s a lot\u003c/b> of\u003cb> suspicion about what’s Uber really up to’ — Uber is bringing taxicabs onto its platform, here’s how it will work\u003c/b>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s no fun getting gas these days. The average price in many Bay Area counties is $5.80 a gallon. And that’s making it tough for people who drive for gig companies like Uber and Lyft, or who are taxi drivers.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Uber and Lyft have introduced a few options to help drivers with increased fuel costs, like a new fuel surcharge. But many drivers don’t think those measures aren’t enough — and what they really need is higher pay. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Guest\u003c/strong>: \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/zuliemann\">Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman\u003c/a>, KQED reporter and producer\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"card card--enclosed grey\">\n\u003cp id=\"embed-code\" class=\"inconsolata\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC8397446884&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\n\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Links:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://bit.ly/3qnsJSk\">\u003cem>Episode transcript\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\n\u003cp class=\"routes-Site-routes-Post-components-Post-components-PostTitle-___PostTitle__title\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11907530/as-gas-prices-rise-fares-for-ride-hailing-drivers-lag-behind\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">As Gas Prices Rise, Fares for Ride-Hailing Drivers Lag Behind\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s no fun getting gas these days. The average price in many Bay Area counties is $5.80 a gallon. And that’s making it tough for people who drive for gig companies like Uber and Lyft, or who are taxi drivers.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Uber and Lyft have introduced a few options to help drivers with increased fuel costs, like a new fuel surcharge. But many drivers don’t think those measures aren’t enough — and what they really need is higher pay. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Guest\u003c/strong>: \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/zuliemann\">Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman\u003c/a>, KQED reporter and producer\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"card card--enclosed grey\">\n\u003cp id=\"embed-code\" class=\"inconsolata\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC8397446884&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\n\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Links:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://bit.ly/3qnsJSk\">\u003cem>Episode transcript\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\n\u003cp class=\"routes-Site-routes-Post-components-Post-components-PostTitle-___PostTitle__title\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11907530/as-gas-prices-rise-fares-for-ride-hailing-drivers-lag-behind\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">As Gas Prices Rise, Fares for Ride-Hailing Drivers Lag Behind\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "As Gas Prices Rise, Fares for Ride-Hailing Drivers Lag Behind",
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"content": "\u003cp>Driven by inflation and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the average price for a gallon of gas has soared to $4.17 nationwide, the highest average price in 14 years. Here in the Bay Area, the price is even higher, hovering around $5.50. While rising gas prices affect nearly every corner of the economy, some of the people feeling the effects most directly are Bay Area ride-hailing and taxi drivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rondu Gantt is a San Francisco resident who drives for Lyft and DoorDash. He says that companies should be paying their drivers more when gas prices spike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that it’s necessary to increase every driver’s base fare. If you don't want to increase the rate of pay, increase the base fare. Making a $5 minimum would definitely help cover the cap cost,” Gantt said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Lyft has not increased base fares or pay rates, it has partnered with a fuel cash-back program called GetUpside where drivers can earn $0.32 in cash back per gallon at certain gas stations, as well as 2% cash back when they use a Lyft debit card. Ride-hailing service Uber also has partnered with GetUpside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This program makes it easy for drivers to know where to get the best cash-back savings on gas, meaning more of the money they earn with Lyft can stay in their pockets,” said Zach Greenberger, head of strategic business development and global supply management at Lyft.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Sergio Avedian, Senior Contributor at The Rideshare Guy\"]'So it's kind of a silly point that Uber and Lyft make when they say, ‘We want you to be independent contractors but, wait a minute, you cannot decide on the price you charge for this ride,’'[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s garbage,” said Sergio Avedian, senior contributor at \u003ca href=\"https://therideshareguy.com/\">The Rideshare Guy\u003c/a>, a blog focused on the gig economy. He’s also a part-time ride-hailing driver. “I'm a member of GetUpside. All the GetUpside stations where you can get 20 or 25 cents back have prices that are already 60 to 80 cents higher than where I buy my gas normally.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because ride-hailing drivers are classified as independent contractors and not employees, they must pay out of pocket for car parts and repairs. Yet, unlike other independent contractors, like an electrician or a plumber, for instance, they can’t set their own rates.[aside postID=\"news_11896845,news_11902881,news_11906414\" label=\"Related Posts\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So it's kind of a silly point that Uber and Lyft make when they say, ‘We want you to be independent contractors but, wait a minute, you cannot decide on the price you charge for this ride,’” Avedian said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, an \u003ca href=\"https://www.coworker.org/petitions/gas-prices-3\">online petition\u003c/a> has been started, asking Uber and Lyft to increase rates for drivers. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like ride-hailing drivers, San Francisco taxicab drivers also are not able to independently set their rates. Mark Gruberg has been a taxi driver in the city for nearly 40 years, and says taxicab drivers are also feeling the squeeze.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“After the rental of the taxi, which is the biggest expense, fuel prices would be the next biggest expense,\" said Gruberg. \"It's cutting a deep hole in pockets that are already pretty empty for a variety of reasons, including Uber and Lyft, including the pandemic, and including inflation in general.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gruberg says that any fare hikes would need to be approved by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. The last time taxi fares were increased was in 2011.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nothing like that has been scheduled and, far as I know, even discussed with them yet, because this latest blow is very recent, but I suspect that this conversation will come up,” said Gruberg.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Francisco Taxi Workers Alliance is set to meet Wednesday night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Avedian says that barring any fare increases, there are some things ride-hailing drivers can do to make their work more profitable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Figure out what it costs you to run your car per hour, and just drive when you think you're profitable, like when Uber and Lyft offer you extra incentives on top of the regular base pay,” said Avedian.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the war in Ukraine has intensified, President Biden announced yesterday further sanctions on Russia, declaring the United States would no longer import any Russian gas, oil or energy. \"Since [Vladimir] Putin began his military buildup on Ukrainian borders, just since then, the price of the gas at the pump in America went up 75 cents. And with this action, it’s going to go up further,” Biden said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For now, Bay Area ride-hailing drivers will be picking up the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This post includes reporting from KQED's María Fernanda Bernal.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Driven by inflation and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the average price for a gallon of gas has soared to $4.17 nationwide, the highest average price in 14 years. Here in the Bay Area, the price is even higher, hovering around $5.50. While rising gas prices affect nearly every corner of the economy, some of the people feeling the effects most directly are Bay Area ride-hailing and taxi drivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rondu Gantt is a San Francisco resident who drives for Lyft and DoorDash. He says that companies should be paying their drivers more when gas prices spike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that it’s necessary to increase every driver’s base fare. If you don't want to increase the rate of pay, increase the base fare. Making a $5 minimum would definitely help cover the cap cost,” Gantt said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Lyft has not increased base fares or pay rates, it has partnered with a fuel cash-back program called GetUpside where drivers can earn $0.32 in cash back per gallon at certain gas stations, as well as 2% cash back when they use a Lyft debit card. Ride-hailing service Uber also has partnered with GetUpside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This program makes it easy for drivers to know where to get the best cash-back savings on gas, meaning more of the money they earn with Lyft can stay in their pockets,” said Zach Greenberger, head of strategic business development and global supply management at Lyft.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "'So it's kind of a silly point that Uber and Lyft make when they say, ‘We want you to be independent contractors but, wait a minute, you cannot decide on the price you charge for this ride,’'",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s garbage,” said Sergio Avedian, senior contributor at \u003ca href=\"https://therideshareguy.com/\">The Rideshare Guy\u003c/a>, a blog focused on the gig economy. He’s also a part-time ride-hailing driver. “I'm a member of GetUpside. All the GetUpside stations where you can get 20 or 25 cents back have prices that are already 60 to 80 cents higher than where I buy my gas normally.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because ride-hailing drivers are classified as independent contractors and not employees, they must pay out of pocket for car parts and repairs. Yet, unlike other independent contractors, like an electrician or a plumber, for instance, they can’t set their own rates.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So it's kind of a silly point that Uber and Lyft make when they say, ‘We want you to be independent contractors but, wait a minute, you cannot decide on the price you charge for this ride,’” Avedian said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, an \u003ca href=\"https://www.coworker.org/petitions/gas-prices-3\">online petition\u003c/a> has been started, asking Uber and Lyft to increase rates for drivers. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like ride-hailing drivers, San Francisco taxicab drivers also are not able to independently set their rates. Mark Gruberg has been a taxi driver in the city for nearly 40 years, and says taxicab drivers are also feeling the squeeze.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“After the rental of the taxi, which is the biggest expense, fuel prices would be the next biggest expense,\" said Gruberg. \"It's cutting a deep hole in pockets that are already pretty empty for a variety of reasons, including Uber and Lyft, including the pandemic, and including inflation in general.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gruberg says that any fare hikes would need to be approved by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. The last time taxi fares were increased was in 2011.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nothing like that has been scheduled and, far as I know, even discussed with them yet, because this latest blow is very recent, but I suspect that this conversation will come up,” said Gruberg.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Francisco Taxi Workers Alliance is set to meet Wednesday night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Avedian says that barring any fare increases, there are some things ride-hailing drivers can do to make their work more profitable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Figure out what it costs you to run your car per hour, and just drive when you think you're profitable, like when Uber and Lyft offer you extra incentives on top of the regular base pay,” said Avedian.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the war in Ukraine has intensified, President Biden announced yesterday further sanctions on Russia, declaring the United States would no longer import any Russian gas, oil or energy. \"Since [Vladimir] Putin began his military buildup on Ukrainian borders, just since then, the price of the gas at the pump in America went up 75 cents. And with this action, it’s going to go up further,” Biden said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For now, Bay Area ride-hailing drivers will be picking up the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This post includes reporting from KQED's María Fernanda Bernal.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>A proposal to spread the gig economy to health care could be on the ballot this fall. A group calling itself Californians for Equitable Healthcare Access has filed a measure to classify nurses, dental hygienists, occupational therapists and other health care workers who find work online as independent contractors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The law firm that submitted this proposal also worked on Proposition 22, which allowed companies to make app-based drivers independent contractors, instead of employees with benefits like health insurance. Prop. 22 passed overwhelmingly — thanks in large part to the hundreds of millions of dollars that gig companies like Uber spent on it. So could it happen again, but with health care?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guest: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/levisu\">Levi Sumagaysay\u003c/a>, MarketWatch senior reporter\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Links:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11847273/with-prop-22-approved-regulating-gig-companies-just-got-a-lot-harder\">With Prop. 22 Approved, Regulating Gig Companies Just Got A Lot Harder\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\n\u003cp class=\"article__headline\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.marketwatch.com/story/uber-for-nurses-initiative-targets-healthcare-for-a-gig-work-law-11643404860\">‘Uber for nurses?’: Initiative targets healthcare for a ‘gig work’ law\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A proposal to spread the gig economy to health care could be on the ballot this fall. A group calling itself Californians for Equitable Healthcare Access has filed a measure to classify nurses, dental hygienists, occupational therapists and other health care workers who find work online as independent contractors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The law firm that submitted this proposal also worked on Proposition 22, which allowed companies to make app-based drivers independent contractors, instead of employees with benefits like health insurance. Prop. 22 passed overwhelmingly — thanks in large part to the hundreds of millions of dollars that gig companies like Uber spent on it. So could it happen again, but with health care?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guest: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/levisu\">Levi Sumagaysay\u003c/a>, MarketWatch senior reporter\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Links:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11847273/with-prop-22-approved-regulating-gig-companies-just-got-a-lot-harder\">With Prop. 22 Approved, Regulating Gig Companies Just Got A Lot Harder\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\n\u003cp class=\"article__headline\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.marketwatch.com/story/uber-for-nurses-initiative-targets-healthcare-for-a-gig-work-law-11643404860\">‘Uber for nurses?’: Initiative targets healthcare for a ‘gig work’ law\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "san-francisco-taxi-drivers-plead-for-debt-relief-as-lawsuit-over-medallions-continues",
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"content": "\u003cp>San Francisco’s taxi drivers have borne the financial, emotional and physical burden of the city’s broken taxi medallion system, but they aren’t party to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11659420/credit-union-is-suing-san-francisco-over-taxi-medallion-meltdown\">a major lawsuit unfolding right now\u003c/a>, between a local credit union and the city, that affects them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco encouraged the San Francisco Federal Credit Union to finance loans so the city could sell taxi medallions to drivers, many of whom are people of color and immigrants. Some 700 taxi drivers bought medallions at $250,000 each beginning back in 2010.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city made tens of millions of dollars. Then the city allowed Uber and Lyft to operate without medallions, crushing the taxi industry and tanking the value of a medallion. Not a single medallion has been sold since 2016.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The drivers are stuck with the medallion and their debt. Many have been defaulting on their loans, leaving the credit union on the hook for millions. Despite which side prevails, taxi drivers may see no relief for the debt they have been carrying for almost a decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the lawsuit, the San Francisco Federal Credit Union alleges that the city broke its contract by failing to maintain a viable market for medallions. It is suing for damages and fees that were in the range of tens of millions of dollars when the suit was first filed in 2018. That figure has continued to balloon due to defaults, along with the interest on the loans held by drivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After \u003ca href=\"https://omny.fm/shows/kqed-segmented-audio/san-francisco-faces-lawsuit-over-taxi-medallions\">KQED aired a radio story on Sept. 27\u003c/a> about the suffering of taxi drivers, the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office requested this statement be added to the story: “The City and the Credit Union have a contract. The City has not broken that contract, so taxpayers should not be forced to bail out this bank because of the investment choices the bank made.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city attorney’s office did not respond to a request for comment on any questions related to the taxi drivers and their debt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the credit union is now on the hook for deciding to partner with the city to help taxi drivers, those drivers are now on the hook for buying into what was a money-making scheme for the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Cashing in on medallions\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Taxi medallions used to be free, awarded by seniority. Drivers would wait on a list for over 20 years for their chance to get one. And for decades, taxi medallions were a sure bet, a way to have a stable, middle-class life. Drivers could earn $30 or $40 an hour after expenses. They could also make passive income by leasing out their medallion to other drivers. It was the de facto cab driver retirement plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But then, in 2010, to make money after the financial crisis, then-mayor Gavin Newsom decided to start selling medallions, and some 700 taxi-driving families bought them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Ed Lee became mayor in 2011, he embraced Uber and Lyft. Medallion values plummeted along with the earnings of taxi drivers. They couldn’t make enough money on the road to pay their loans, and suddenly there were no buyers for medallions. Those who had bought into the system were stuck with the debt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mayor London Breed and her administration haven’t taken steps to alleviate debts for these drivers. Over the years, neither Newsom nor Breed has responded to multiple requests for comment on the issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11694401/san-francisco-made-millions-selling-taxi-medallions-now-drivers-are-paying-the-price\">I have been following the plight of San Francisco taxi drivers\u003c/a> in the medallion system for almost a decade. Many drivers shackled to the medallions have lost their life savings, their homes and their health. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11798851/s-f-taxi-drivers-say-the-medallion-crisis-is-killing-them-literally\">Several have died from stress-related illnesses, some in their cars while waiting for a fare.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Mounting debt\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Two years ago, before the pandemic, I went to the San Francisco International Airport taxi lot to talk with drivers. There were several hundred cabs parked in a line, waiting for passengers. It could take over three hours to get a single fare.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For most of the drivers I talked with, like Ali Asghar, the dream had always been to get a medallion. At the lot that day, Asghar told me he threw a big party when he got the chance to buy a medallion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was happy. My family was happy. We celebrated,” Asghar said. “I feel that was the happiest day in my life. I hug my wife. I hug my kids.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I spoke with Asghar two years ago, he said he was already on the edge. At night he would wake up in a cold sweat, go in to stare at his kids and wonder what kind of future he could give them now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the pandemic began, taxi work completely dried up. Asghar, like many other drivers, had to start working for the app companies that destroyed their livelihoods. He’s driving for Lyft and Uber, along with DoorDash and Amazon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If drivers default on their loans, they will lose everything they already paid into the medallion, often their entire life savings. Drivers like Ali Alikhani do whatever they can to make payments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two years ago, Alikhani told me he was using his Social Security to pay for his medallion. He had already paid $165,000 into the loan. “This job destroyed my life,” he told me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I contacted Alikhani recently, he told me he’s still in the same exact situation. He’s sending about three-quarters of his Social Security check every month to the medallion loan. That leaves just a few hundred dollars a month for him to live on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alikhani said he’s lucky he owns his home. Namdev Sharma lost his house to the medallion. Sharma told me that when he had to sell his house, he sat his kids down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I told them I was losing this house,” Sharma said. “They did not know there was corruption in America.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The drivers have always told me that city officials assured them that the medallion was a good investment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ejaz Ahmed, who drove a cab for over 30 years, said, “All the SFMTA [San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency] stuff was convincing to the average drivers that the medallion price will remain the same.” He said the message from City Hall was that drivers would always be able to sell their medallion and get out whenever they wanted to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The decade of economic devastation is putting a physical strain on cab drivers. Over the years I have interviewed drivers who have not only lost their homes, but who are living in homeless shelters. I interviewed the children of a driver who had died in his cab. Two years ago, in a dark cab at the airport taxi lot, Abdelellah Alhimsi showed me his ruined teeth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alhimsi was so stressed he had broken his night guard and didn’t have money to buy a new one. Without the guard he started cracking his teeth. He’d broken a half dozen teeth by the time I talked to him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I don’t know what happened to Alhimsi since I spoke with him two years ago. He hasn’t responded to calls or emails. The other cab drivers I am in touch with don’t know what happened to him, either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is a general feeling among the drivers I’ve interviewed over the years: that the city probably would have tried harder to do something if they were white, not immigrants and people of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Last shred of hope\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>I recently got back in touch with Namdev Sharma. He’s been working at the United States Postal Service to pay his medallion loan. Like many of these drivers, he’s still doing whatever he can with the hope of not losing all the money he paid into the loan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I invested my whole life savings money,” he said. “It’s almost $90,000 I paid to the bank. I don’t want to lose that money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sharma and a group of taxi drivers used to go to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11803400/sf-taxi-drivers-who-go-every-week-to-city-hall-buy-back-our-medallions\">City Hall every week for nearly three years to plead for help\u003c/a>. But the community of drivers fighting for justice is now breaking down under the weight of the debt. Drivers are taking other jobs. Some are leaving the country, and some are disappearing altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sharma said drivers see the current lawsuit as one final chance. “I have like a 10% hope, not a 90%. They will refund our money or not,” Sharma said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is no clear way drivers would see any refund from this case. The taxi drivers are not a party to the lawsuit. If the credit union wins, it may decide to forgive the amount drivers still owe on the loans. A ruling on the lawsuit is expected in mid-October.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drivers who are more savvy about the legal system hope that the lawsuit could give them an opening. Because of this suit, there is now public testimony of events, like former city officials talking about how Uber and Lyft posed a threat to the medallion system and how something should have been done. Drivers hope those testimonies and a favorable ruling by the judge could open the door for them to take further legal action against the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The big fear of drivers like Sharma, though, is that once this lawsuit is over, so will be the last shred of attention on their plight. The 700 taxi-driving families who bought medallions do not have the kind of financial resources of a credit union to launch a legal battle. If they don’t get some relief now, then when?\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>San Francisco’s taxi drivers have borne the financial, emotional and physical burden of the city’s broken taxi medallion system, but they aren’t party to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11659420/credit-union-is-suing-san-francisco-over-taxi-medallion-meltdown\">a major lawsuit unfolding right now\u003c/a>, between a local credit union and the city, that affects them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco encouraged the San Francisco Federal Credit Union to finance loans so the city could sell taxi medallions to drivers, many of whom are people of color and immigrants. Some 700 taxi drivers bought medallions at $250,000 each beginning back in 2010.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city made tens of millions of dollars. Then the city allowed Uber and Lyft to operate without medallions, crushing the taxi industry and tanking the value of a medallion. Not a single medallion has been sold since 2016.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The drivers are stuck with the medallion and their debt. Many have been defaulting on their loans, leaving the credit union on the hook for millions. Despite which side prevails, taxi drivers may see no relief for the debt they have been carrying for almost a decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the lawsuit, the San Francisco Federal Credit Union alleges that the city broke its contract by failing to maintain a viable market for medallions. It is suing for damages and fees that were in the range of tens of millions of dollars when the suit was first filed in 2018. That figure has continued to balloon due to defaults, along with the interest on the loans held by drivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After \u003ca href=\"https://omny.fm/shows/kqed-segmented-audio/san-francisco-faces-lawsuit-over-taxi-medallions\">KQED aired a radio story on Sept. 27\u003c/a> about the suffering of taxi drivers, the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office requested this statement be added to the story: “The City and the Credit Union have a contract. The City has not broken that contract, so taxpayers should not be forced to bail out this bank because of the investment choices the bank made.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city attorney’s office did not respond to a request for comment on any questions related to the taxi drivers and their debt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the credit union is now on the hook for deciding to partner with the city to help taxi drivers, those drivers are now on the hook for buying into what was a money-making scheme for the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Cashing in on medallions\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Taxi medallions used to be free, awarded by seniority. Drivers would wait on a list for over 20 years for their chance to get one. And for decades, taxi medallions were a sure bet, a way to have a stable, middle-class life. Drivers could earn $30 or $40 an hour after expenses. They could also make passive income by leasing out their medallion to other drivers. It was the de facto cab driver retirement plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But then, in 2010, to make money after the financial crisis, then-mayor Gavin Newsom decided to start selling medallions, and some 700 taxi-driving families bought them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Ed Lee became mayor in 2011, he embraced Uber and Lyft. Medallion values plummeted along with the earnings of taxi drivers. They couldn’t make enough money on the road to pay their loans, and suddenly there were no buyers for medallions. Those who had bought into the system were stuck with the debt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mayor London Breed and her administration haven’t taken steps to alleviate debts for these drivers. Over the years, neither Newsom nor Breed has responded to multiple requests for comment on the issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11694401/san-francisco-made-millions-selling-taxi-medallions-now-drivers-are-paying-the-price\">I have been following the plight of San Francisco taxi drivers\u003c/a> in the medallion system for almost a decade. Many drivers shackled to the medallions have lost their life savings, their homes and their health. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11798851/s-f-taxi-drivers-say-the-medallion-crisis-is-killing-them-literally\">Several have died from stress-related illnesses, some in their cars while waiting for a fare.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Mounting debt\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Two years ago, before the pandemic, I went to the San Francisco International Airport taxi lot to talk with drivers. There were several hundred cabs parked in a line, waiting for passengers. It could take over three hours to get a single fare.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For most of the drivers I talked with, like Ali Asghar, the dream had always been to get a medallion. At the lot that day, Asghar told me he threw a big party when he got the chance to buy a medallion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was happy. My family was happy. We celebrated,” Asghar said. “I feel that was the happiest day in my life. I hug my wife. I hug my kids.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I spoke with Asghar two years ago, he said he was already on the edge. At night he would wake up in a cold sweat, go in to stare at his kids and wonder what kind of future he could give them now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the pandemic began, taxi work completely dried up. Asghar, like many other drivers, had to start working for the app companies that destroyed their livelihoods. He’s driving for Lyft and Uber, along with DoorDash and Amazon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If drivers default on their loans, they will lose everything they already paid into the medallion, often their entire life savings. Drivers like Ali Alikhani do whatever they can to make payments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two years ago, Alikhani told me he was using his Social Security to pay for his medallion. He had already paid $165,000 into the loan. “This job destroyed my life,” he told me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I contacted Alikhani recently, he told me he’s still in the same exact situation. He’s sending about three-quarters of his Social Security check every month to the medallion loan. That leaves just a few hundred dollars a month for him to live on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alikhani said he’s lucky he owns his home. Namdev Sharma lost his house to the medallion. Sharma told me that when he had to sell his house, he sat his kids down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I told them I was losing this house,” Sharma said. “They did not know there was corruption in America.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The drivers have always told me that city officials assured them that the medallion was a good investment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ejaz Ahmed, who drove a cab for over 30 years, said, “All the SFMTA [San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency] stuff was convincing to the average drivers that the medallion price will remain the same.” He said the message from City Hall was that drivers would always be able to sell their medallion and get out whenever they wanted to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The decade of economic devastation is putting a physical strain on cab drivers. Over the years I have interviewed drivers who have not only lost their homes, but who are living in homeless shelters. I interviewed the children of a driver who had died in his cab. Two years ago, in a dark cab at the airport taxi lot, Abdelellah Alhimsi showed me his ruined teeth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alhimsi was so stressed he had broken his night guard and didn’t have money to buy a new one. Without the guard he started cracking his teeth. He’d broken a half dozen teeth by the time I talked to him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I don’t know what happened to Alhimsi since I spoke with him two years ago. He hasn’t responded to calls or emails. The other cab drivers I am in touch with don’t know what happened to him, either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is a general feeling among the drivers I’ve interviewed over the years: that the city probably would have tried harder to do something if they were white, not immigrants and people of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Last shred of hope\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>I recently got back in touch with Namdev Sharma. He’s been working at the United States Postal Service to pay his medallion loan. Like many of these drivers, he’s still doing whatever he can with the hope of not losing all the money he paid into the loan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I invested my whole life savings money,” he said. “It’s almost $90,000 I paid to the bank. I don’t want to lose that money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sharma and a group of taxi drivers used to go to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11803400/sf-taxi-drivers-who-go-every-week-to-city-hall-buy-back-our-medallions\">City Hall every week for nearly three years to plead for help\u003c/a>. But the community of drivers fighting for justice is now breaking down under the weight of the debt. Drivers are taking other jobs. Some are leaving the country, and some are disappearing altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sharma said drivers see the current lawsuit as one final chance. “I have like a 10% hope, not a 90%. They will refund our money or not,” Sharma said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is no clear way drivers would see any refund from this case. The taxi drivers are not a party to the lawsuit. If the credit union wins, it may decide to forgive the amount drivers still owe on the loans. A ruling on the lawsuit is expected in mid-October.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drivers who are more savvy about the legal system hope that the lawsuit could give them an opening. Because of this suit, there is now public testimony of events, like former city officials talking about how Uber and Lyft posed a threat to the medallion system and how something should have been done. Drivers hope those testimonies and a favorable ruling by the judge could open the door for them to take further legal action against the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The big fear of drivers like Sharma, though, is that once this lawsuit is over, so will be the last shred of attention on their plight. The 700 taxi-driving families who bought medallions do not have the kind of financial resources of a credit union to launch a legal battle. If they don’t get some relief now, then when?\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "Caldor Fire Evacuees Report Tahoe Ride-Hail Price Gouging of More Than $1,500",
"title": "Caldor Fire Evacuees Report Tahoe Ride-Hail Price Gouging of More Than $1,500",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>For the latest on the wildfires threatening the Tahoe basin, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11886590/despite-containment-gains-caldor-fire-continues-march-toward-tahoe-basin\">check out KQED's updated coverage\u003c/a>. Find \u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/IMT6\">the latest on evacuation orders and warnings\u003c/a>, including a map from the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office, as well as \u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/IMT6\">current shelter information for evacuees\u003c/a>. Follow \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/CALFIREAEU\">Cal Fire AEU on Twitter\u003c/a> for up-to-date information.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As fearful Lake Tahoe residents packed up belongings and fled a raging wildfire burning toward the California-Nevada border, some encountered an unexpected obstacle: price gouging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A ride-hail company quoted a fee of more than $1,500 to be transported from the smoke-choked ski resort at Heavenly to the safety of Reno-Tahoe International Airport, about eight times the going rate. A Nevada hotel-casino outside the evacuation order zone advertised a two-night stay for $1,090.72, almost four times the midweek rate offered a day earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reports of price gouging routinely emerge during natural disasters and won newfound attention early in the pandemic, when some businesses tried to capitalize on panic amid demand for toilet paper and hand sanitizer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While there is no federal law that bans it during emergencies, at least a dozen statehouses have addressed price gouging since last year, including Nevada and California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill banning the practice last September.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike California, though, a price gouging prohibition signed in Nevada by Gov. Steve Sisolak in June doesn’t take effect until October. Its start date limits officials from policing the issue and taking action beyond promising to monitor it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We hope that good merchants are not going to partake in price gouging,” Sisolak said Tuesday in Carson City, where ash particles from the Caldor Fire rained from the sky. “They’re going to partake in trying to make their goods available to the widest group of people they possibly can.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials in both states publicly warned businesses in the shadow of the massive blaze against price gouging, with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, his Nevada counterpart Aaron Ford and U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei in Nevada asking consumers to report incidents to their offices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/akayourfavactor/status/1432728541603319810\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ford's office said Wednesday it hadn’t received any specific complaints. Bonta’s said the information was confidential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Caldor Fire had calmed significantly Friday but remained just a few miles from the California resort town of South Lake Tahoe. On Monday, flames raced so quickly toward the city that officials ordered a mass evacuation of all 22,000 residents. People across the state line in Douglas County were ordered to leave a day later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The MontBleu Resort, Casino & Spa — a towering 438-room Nevada hotel just blocks from the California line — began offering discounts for evacuees, $60 rates for firefighters and first responders, and free lodging for its employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For everyone else, it hiked room prices Tuesday from $120 to $450 per night before taxes and fees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tim Tretton, the resort’s vice president-general manager, said in a statement Wednesday it did so to deter tourists from traveling near the wildfire and to keep rooms available for evacuees. The company planned to pay back the difference to those who booked at the higher cost, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We did not and do not plan to collect on these rates, and have provided reimbursements or reductions as appropriate,” Tretton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leaving South Lake Tahoe also got pricier for some travelers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A 60-mile Lyft XL ride from the city to Reno normally costs roughly $200. On Tuesday, it rose nearly eightfold as people rushed to beat the flames.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11887569\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11887569\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1337305905-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1233\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1337305905-1-1.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1337305905-1-1-800x514.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1337305905-1-1-1020x655.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1337305905-1-1-160x103.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1337305905-1-1-1536x986.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Traffic backs up on Highway 50 as people evacuate ahead of the Caldor Fire on Aug. 30, 2021, in South Lake Tahoe. \u003ccite>( Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A furious resident shared a screenshot of the rates on Twitter, showing $1,535 for a minivan or SUV for a minimum of five passengers. SFGate reported \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/california-wildfires/article/Lyft-price-gouge-South-Lake-Tahoe-Caldor-Fire-16425563.php\">the costs had dropped back to $230\u003c/a> midday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lyft and Uber said in statements Wednesday that price jumps triggered automatic caps as demand soared around South Lake Tahoe amid emergency evacuations. Lyft said it was “reviewing and adjusting fares for certain riders who were impacted in the region.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When ride requests outpace the number of drivers on the road, prime-time pricing — elevated fares designed to get more drivers to high-demand areas — is automatically enabled,\" the company said. “When we realized how the evacuation order was affecting Lyft prices, we immediately implemented a cap and ultimately suspended prime-time pricing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Uber said fares in some places were capped Monday after it identified a public state of emergency. It enacted a second cap Tuesday.[aside label=\"related coverage\" tag=\"california-wildfires\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gas stations around evacuation zones did not appear to have raised prices significantly this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C., and 39 states have regulations limiting price gouging during emergencies, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mississippi, parts of which have been battered by Hurricane Ida, strengthened penalties in its price gouging law in 2006, months after Hurricane Katrina left a wide swath of destruction and supply shortages caused long lines for gasoline during the first weeks after the storm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>North Carolina's attorney general filed a price-gouging lawsuit last week against a gas station that hiked prices for mid-grade and premium gas to $9.99 per gallon after a ransomware attack forced the Colonial Pipeline — the United States' largest fuel delivery system — to shut down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nevada's anti-price gouging law passed in May on a party-line vote, with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed. The law will ban price gouging in areas where the governor has declared a state of emergency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California law generally prohibits businesses from raising prices by more than 10% following a state or local emergency declaration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you see price gouging — or if you’ve been a victim of it — I encourage you to immediately file a complaint with my office online at \u003ca href=\"http://oag.cag.gov/report\">oag.cag.gov/report\u003c/a>, or contact your local police department or sheriff’s office,” Bonta said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Scott Sonner reported from Reno. Associated Press writers Olga Rodriguez and Jocelyn Gecker in San Francisco, Michelle L. Price in Las Vegas, and Emily Wagster Pettus in Jackson, Mississippi, contributed to this report. Sam Metz is a corps member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>For the latest on the wildfires threatening the Tahoe basin, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11886590/despite-containment-gains-caldor-fire-continues-march-toward-tahoe-basin\">check out KQED's updated coverage\u003c/a>. Find \u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/IMT6\">the latest on evacuation orders and warnings\u003c/a>, including a map from the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office, as well as \u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/IMT6\">current shelter information for evacuees\u003c/a>. Follow \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/CALFIREAEU\">Cal Fire AEU on Twitter\u003c/a> for up-to-date information.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As fearful Lake Tahoe residents packed up belongings and fled a raging wildfire burning toward the California-Nevada border, some encountered an unexpected obstacle: price gouging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A ride-hail company quoted a fee of more than $1,500 to be transported from the smoke-choked ski resort at Heavenly to the safety of Reno-Tahoe International Airport, about eight times the going rate. A Nevada hotel-casino outside the evacuation order zone advertised a two-night stay for $1,090.72, almost four times the midweek rate offered a day earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reports of price gouging routinely emerge during natural disasters and won newfound attention early in the pandemic, when some businesses tried to capitalize on panic amid demand for toilet paper and hand sanitizer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While there is no federal law that bans it during emergencies, at least a dozen statehouses have addressed price gouging since last year, including Nevada and California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill banning the practice last September.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike California, though, a price gouging prohibition signed in Nevada by Gov. Steve Sisolak in June doesn’t take effect until October. Its start date limits officials from policing the issue and taking action beyond promising to monitor it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We hope that good merchants are not going to partake in price gouging,” Sisolak said Tuesday in Carson City, where ash particles from the Caldor Fire rained from the sky. “They’re going to partake in trying to make their goods available to the widest group of people they possibly can.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials in both states publicly warned businesses in the shadow of the massive blaze against price gouging, with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, his Nevada counterpart Aaron Ford and U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei in Nevada asking consumers to report incidents to their offices.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ford's office said Wednesday it hadn’t received any specific complaints. Bonta’s said the information was confidential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Caldor Fire had calmed significantly Friday but remained just a few miles from the California resort town of South Lake Tahoe. On Monday, flames raced so quickly toward the city that officials ordered a mass evacuation of all 22,000 residents. People across the state line in Douglas County were ordered to leave a day later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The MontBleu Resort, Casino & Spa — a towering 438-room Nevada hotel just blocks from the California line — began offering discounts for evacuees, $60 rates for firefighters and first responders, and free lodging for its employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For everyone else, it hiked room prices Tuesday from $120 to $450 per night before taxes and fees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tim Tretton, the resort’s vice president-general manager, said in a statement Wednesday it did so to deter tourists from traveling near the wildfire and to keep rooms available for evacuees. The company planned to pay back the difference to those who booked at the higher cost, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We did not and do not plan to collect on these rates, and have provided reimbursements or reductions as appropriate,” Tretton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leaving South Lake Tahoe also got pricier for some travelers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A 60-mile Lyft XL ride from the city to Reno normally costs roughly $200. On Tuesday, it rose nearly eightfold as people rushed to beat the flames.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11887569\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11887569\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1337305905-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1233\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1337305905-1-1.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1337305905-1-1-800x514.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1337305905-1-1-1020x655.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1337305905-1-1-160x103.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1337305905-1-1-1536x986.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Traffic backs up on Highway 50 as people evacuate ahead of the Caldor Fire on Aug. 30, 2021, in South Lake Tahoe. \u003ccite>( Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A furious resident shared a screenshot of the rates on Twitter, showing $1,535 for a minivan or SUV for a minimum of five passengers. SFGate reported \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/california-wildfires/article/Lyft-price-gouge-South-Lake-Tahoe-Caldor-Fire-16425563.php\">the costs had dropped back to $230\u003c/a> midday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lyft and Uber said in statements Wednesday that price jumps triggered automatic caps as demand soared around South Lake Tahoe amid emergency evacuations. Lyft said it was “reviewing and adjusting fares for certain riders who were impacted in the region.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When ride requests outpace the number of drivers on the road, prime-time pricing — elevated fares designed to get more drivers to high-demand areas — is automatically enabled,\" the company said. “When we realized how the evacuation order was affecting Lyft prices, we immediately implemented a cap and ultimately suspended prime-time pricing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Uber said fares in some places were capped Monday after it identified a public state of emergency. It enacted a second cap Tuesday.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gas stations around evacuation zones did not appear to have raised prices significantly this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C., and 39 states have regulations limiting price gouging during emergencies, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mississippi, parts of which have been battered by Hurricane Ida, strengthened penalties in its price gouging law in 2006, months after Hurricane Katrina left a wide swath of destruction and supply shortages caused long lines for gasoline during the first weeks after the storm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>North Carolina's attorney general filed a price-gouging lawsuit last week against a gas station that hiked prices for mid-grade and premium gas to $9.99 per gallon after a ransomware attack forced the Colonial Pipeline — the United States' largest fuel delivery system — to shut down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nevada's anti-price gouging law passed in May on a party-line vote, with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed. The law will ban price gouging in areas where the governor has declared a state of emergency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California law generally prohibits businesses from raising prices by more than 10% following a state or local emergency declaration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you see price gouging — or if you’ve been a victim of it — I encourage you to immediately file a complaint with my office online at \u003ca href=\"http://oag.cag.gov/report\">oag.cag.gov/report\u003c/a>, or contact your local police department or sheriff’s office,” Bonta said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Scott Sonner reported from Reno. Associated Press writers Olga Rodriguez and Jocelyn Gecker in San Francisco, Michelle L. Price in Las Vegas, and Emily Wagster Pettus in Jackson, Mississippi, contributed to this report. Sam Metz is a corps member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>A judge Friday struck down a California ballot measure that exempted Uber and other app-based ride-hailing and delivery services from a state law requiring drivers to be classified as employees eligible for benefits and job protections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch ruled that Proposition 22 was unconstitutional.[aside postID=\"news_11842964\" label=\"More Prop. 22 coverage\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Voters approved the measure in November after Uber, Lyft and other services spent $200 million in its favor, making it the most expensive ballot measure in state history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Uber said it planned to appeal, setting up a fight that could likely end up in the California Supreme Court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This ruling ignores the will of the overwhelming majority of California voters and defies both logic and the law,” company spokesperson Noah Edwardsen said. “You don’t have to take our word for it: California’s attorney general strongly defended Proposition 22’s constitutionality in this very case.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the measure will remain in force pending the appeal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The judge sided with three drivers and the Service Employees International Union in a lawsuit that argued the measure improperly removed the state Legislature’s ability to grant workers the right to access to the state workers’ compensation program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/LorenaSGonzalez/status/1428912910793723905\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For two years, drivers have been saying that democracy cannot be bought. And today’s decision shows they were right,” said Bob Schoonover, president of the SEIU California State Council.[aside postID=\"news_11843123\" label=\"An explainer on Prop. 22\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Proposition 22 shielded app-based ride-hailing and delivery companies from a labor law that required such services to treat drivers as employees and not independent contractors, who don’t have to receive benefits such as paid sick leave or unemployment insurance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Uber and Lyft threatened to leave the state if voters rejected the measure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Labor spent about $20 million to challenge the proposition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state Supreme Court initially declined to hear the case in February — mainly on procedural grounds — but left open the possibility of a lower court challenge.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Voters approved the measure in November after Uber, Lyft and other services spent $200 million in its favor, making it the most expensive ballot measure in state history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Uber said it planned to appeal, setting up a fight that could likely end up in the California Supreme Court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This ruling ignores the will of the overwhelming majority of California voters and defies both logic and the law,” company spokesperson Noah Edwardsen said. “You don’t have to take our word for it: California’s attorney general strongly defended Proposition 22’s constitutionality in this very case.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>For almost a decade, on-demand services like Lyft, DoorDash and Instacart have allowed customers to rate and tip workers with just the tap of a finger. Even though it has been almost a decade, we still have no idea how much this allows customer bias to hurt Black and brown workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While rating workers on an app is new, it’s just the latest system companies have devised to allow customers to impact pay or promotions. If their ratings aren’t perfect, workers can lose income, or even their job, and there’s mounting evidence these systems allow bias to hurt workers of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How Restaurants Paved the Way\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Long before apps entered the picture, tipping established a way for consumer bias to impact worker pay. Michael Lynn, a professor of consumer behavior at Cornell University, said he has long suspected bias influenced tips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I believe that we have an implicit bias against people of color in this country, and I believe those implicit biases are likely to impact tipping,” Lynn said. But over and over again, he’s come up against a major hurdle in proving it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve asked a lot of different companies to give me data,” Lynn said. “But there’s no interest on their part in finding out because it doesn’t benefit them. If there is racism, that puts them in a bind, and it’s worse when there is racism and they know about it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That said, Lynn was able to get some data \u003ca href=\"https://www.wagehourlitigation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/215/2015/10/cornell.pdf\">to run a small study on waiters\u003c/a> in 2008. He found that customers did indeed give workers of color lower tips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Similar Findings in Other Industries\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Studies have consistently shown that\u003ca href=\"https://www.yalelawjournal.org/pdf/207_wd54xsc1.pdf\"> Black, brown and immigrant taxi drivers\u003c/a> get lower tips; and health care, management and sales professionals\u003ca href=\"https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/amj.2010.49388763\"> get more negative customer feedback\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trend is the same in online reviews: Black and brown professors \u003ca href=\"https://teaching.pitt.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/OMET-Racial_bias_and_student_ratings_of_instructors.pdf\">get worse student evaluations\u003c/a>, while \u003ca href=\"https://news.northeastern.edu/2016/12/06/researchers-find-racial-gender-bias-in-online-freelance-marketplaces/\">freelancers on Fiverr and TaskRabbit get lower reviews\u003c/a>, which means fewer jobs and less money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Customers may not even realize they’re treating Black and brown workers differently, giving them lower tips, leaving less positive feedback or rating them lower on an app. The cause of all this, according to researchers, is implicit or unconscious bias.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" tag=\"gig-economy\"]To fully understand the extent of the problem, researchers would need to look at large data sets and see what different groups of workers were getting tipped and rated. Race is just one possible trait to evaluate for bias. The same problem could exist for gender, age, ability or any category that is regularly discriminated against.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But while many companies are resistant to collect or share data along these lines, on-demand service apps like DoorDash and Uber don’t even have to gather worker demographic data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because of the way they classify their workers. App companies call workers contractors instead of employees. The contractor status also protects these on-demand app service companies from liability if is found that customers are discriminating against any of the workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The news that the app rating system is problematic is far from new. Labor advocates have been warning about it since the apps started. In 2016, there was an entire study done by Data & Society titled “\u003ca href=\"https://datasociety.net/pubs/ia/Discriminating_Tastes_Customer_Ratings_as_Vehicles_for_Bias.pdf\">Discriminating Tastes: Customer Ratings as Vehicles for Bias\u003c/a>,” which was co-authored by Alex Rosenblat, who now works for Uber as the Head of Marketplace Policy, Fairness and Research.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>What the Companies Say\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>KQED reached out to several major app companies: DoorDash, Lyft, Uber and TaskRabbit. Only Lyft and DoorDash responded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DoorDash PR representatives talked about protocols for kicking overtly racist customers off the app, but didn’t mention anything about a system for detecting or addressing implicit bias.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A representative from Lyft said the company had commissioned a study to understand the extent of the problem. The PR representative said the company found no evidence of implicit bias in ratings, but it’s not possible to confirm the veracity of this assessment, as the company has not made the results or methodology of the study public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also Lyft, like many other app companies, does not gather demographic information on workers. Without that data, researchers say it’s impossible to know with certainty how much a rating and/or tip system allows for implicit bias to hurt workers. The companies are in the dark, and so are the workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ashley Salas would love to know what led to non-perfect ratings she got delivering for Instacart in San Francisco. After those, she said, everything changed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote sze='medium' align='right' citation=\"Ashley Salas, Instacart shopper\"]‘It got really, really hard. I went from making $200 a day to struggling to make $100.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It got really, really hard. I went from making $200 a day to struggling to make $100,” Salas said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s $100 a day before expenses like gas and wear and tear on her car, while she went to school for radiology and took care of her newborn baby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Did she get low ratings because she did something wrong? Were the customers just grumpy? Or did they react negatively to who she is? Salas is part Pacific Islander, part Native American.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s kind of a bummer,” Salas said. “I would have wished to know why so I could improve myself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Frustrated, Salas reached out to Gig Workers Rising, an advocacy group for app workers. Lead organizer Lauren Casey said she has heard this same story again and again from workers of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Casey said, “Their performance at work is held to a different standard and in turn they receive worse ratings.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A representative from Instacart said it has policies to deal with overt racism, but like other app companies, there’s no mechanism for detecting implicit bias, let alone addressing it.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>No Data, No Context\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Stanford University law professor Richard Ford said the app rating system has magnified the problem of implicit bias, making it easier for customers to hurt workers and harder for workers to prove it is happening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You don’t have context, and you don’t have the interpersonal reactions that might give you some clue that the ratings were based on race,” Ford said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All you have is a number, and given our society’s increasing fetishization of data, Ford said a number without context can be very dangerous. “The difference in today’s environment is that it looks more objective. You’re getting, you know, a numerical rating. How could you argue with the numbers?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if the ratings are high, it doesn’t mean they are fair. It’s possible that a person of different a race, sex or origin had to work harder to get good ratings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC Hastings labor law professor Veena Dubal has interviewed more than 100 Lyft and Uber drivers. She said Black and brown drivers often talk about having to perform to make white customers happy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot of emotional labor and a lot of emotional performance that goes into ensuring that you’re not getting poor ratings, because otherwise you’re going to get fired. It’s almost that you have to play into the racial sensibilities of consumers,” Dubal said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some restaurants pool tips so any negative impacts from implicit bias are shared by the whole staff. App companies could adjust tips and ratings for Black and brown drivers to compensate for bias, but that means first figuring out how much lower they are on average.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks to Proposition 22, app companies face no legal pressure to gather the necessary demographic data. Without data, individual workers are left to interpret their own experience, isolated and unprotected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For almost a decade, on-demand services like Lyft, DoorDash and Instacart have allowed customers to rate and tip workers with just the tap of a finger. Even though it has been almost a decade, we still have no idea how much this allows customer bias to hurt Black and brown workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While rating workers on an app is new, it’s just the latest system companies have devised to allow customers to impact pay or promotions. If their ratings aren’t perfect, workers can lose income, or even their job, and there’s mounting evidence these systems allow bias to hurt workers of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How Restaurants Paved the Way\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Long before apps entered the picture, tipping established a way for consumer bias to impact worker pay. Michael Lynn, a professor of consumer behavior at Cornell University, said he has long suspected bias influenced tips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I believe that we have an implicit bias against people of color in this country, and I believe those implicit biases are likely to impact tipping,” Lynn said. But over and over again, he’s come up against a major hurdle in proving it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve asked a lot of different companies to give me data,” Lynn said. “But there’s no interest on their part in finding out because it doesn’t benefit them. If there is racism, that puts them in a bind, and it’s worse when there is racism and they know about it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That said, Lynn was able to get some data \u003ca href=\"https://www.wagehourlitigation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/215/2015/10/cornell.pdf\">to run a small study on waiters\u003c/a> in 2008. He found that customers did indeed give workers of color lower tips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Similar Findings in Other Industries\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Studies have consistently shown that\u003ca href=\"https://www.yalelawjournal.org/pdf/207_wd54xsc1.pdf\"> Black, brown and immigrant taxi drivers\u003c/a> get lower tips; and health care, management and sales professionals\u003ca href=\"https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/amj.2010.49388763\"> get more negative customer feedback\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trend is the same in online reviews: Black and brown professors \u003ca href=\"https://teaching.pitt.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/OMET-Racial_bias_and_student_ratings_of_instructors.pdf\">get worse student evaluations\u003c/a>, while \u003ca href=\"https://news.northeastern.edu/2016/12/06/researchers-find-racial-gender-bias-in-online-freelance-marketplaces/\">freelancers on Fiverr and TaskRabbit get lower reviews\u003c/a>, which means fewer jobs and less money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Customers may not even realize they’re treating Black and brown workers differently, giving them lower tips, leaving less positive feedback or rating them lower on an app. The cause of all this, according to researchers, is implicit or unconscious bias.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>To fully understand the extent of the problem, researchers would need to look at large data sets and see what different groups of workers were getting tipped and rated. Race is just one possible trait to evaluate for bias. The same problem could exist for gender, age, ability or any category that is regularly discriminated against.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But while many companies are resistant to collect or share data along these lines, on-demand service apps like DoorDash and Uber don’t even have to gather worker demographic data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because of the way they classify their workers. App companies call workers contractors instead of employees. The contractor status also protects these on-demand app service companies from liability if is found that customers are discriminating against any of the workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The news that the app rating system is problematic is far from new. Labor advocates have been warning about it since the apps started. In 2016, there was an entire study done by Data & Society titled “\u003ca href=\"https://datasociety.net/pubs/ia/Discriminating_Tastes_Customer_Ratings_as_Vehicles_for_Bias.pdf\">Discriminating Tastes: Customer Ratings as Vehicles for Bias\u003c/a>,” which was co-authored by Alex Rosenblat, who now works for Uber as the Head of Marketplace Policy, Fairness and Research.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>What the Companies Say\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>KQED reached out to several major app companies: DoorDash, Lyft, Uber and TaskRabbit. Only Lyft and DoorDash responded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DoorDash PR representatives talked about protocols for kicking overtly racist customers off the app, but didn’t mention anything about a system for detecting or addressing implicit bias.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A representative from Lyft said the company had commissioned a study to understand the extent of the problem. The PR representative said the company found no evidence of implicit bias in ratings, but it’s not possible to confirm the veracity of this assessment, as the company has not made the results or methodology of the study public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also Lyft, like many other app companies, does not gather demographic information on workers. Without that data, researchers say it’s impossible to know with certainty how much a rating and/or tip system allows for implicit bias to hurt workers. The companies are in the dark, and so are the workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ashley Salas would love to know what led to non-perfect ratings she got delivering for Instacart in San Francisco. After those, she said, everything changed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It got really, really hard. I went from making $200 a day to struggling to make $100,” Salas said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s $100 a day before expenses like gas and wear and tear on her car, while she went to school for radiology and took care of her newborn baby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Did she get low ratings because she did something wrong? Were the customers just grumpy? Or did they react negatively to who she is? Salas is part Pacific Islander, part Native American.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s kind of a bummer,” Salas said. “I would have wished to know why so I could improve myself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Frustrated, Salas reached out to Gig Workers Rising, an advocacy group for app workers. Lead organizer Lauren Casey said she has heard this same story again and again from workers of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Casey said, “Their performance at work is held to a different standard and in turn they receive worse ratings.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A representative from Instacart said it has policies to deal with overt racism, but like other app companies, there’s no mechanism for detecting implicit bias, let alone addressing it.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>No Data, No Context\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Stanford University law professor Richard Ford said the app rating system has magnified the problem of implicit bias, making it easier for customers to hurt workers and harder for workers to prove it is happening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You don’t have context, and you don’t have the interpersonal reactions that might give you some clue that the ratings were based on race,” Ford said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All you have is a number, and given our society’s increasing fetishization of data, Ford said a number without context can be very dangerous. “The difference in today’s environment is that it looks more objective. You’re getting, you know, a numerical rating. How could you argue with the numbers?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if the ratings are high, it doesn’t mean they are fair. It’s possible that a person of different a race, sex or origin had to work harder to get good ratings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC Hastings labor law professor Veena Dubal has interviewed more than 100 Lyft and Uber drivers. She said Black and brown drivers often talk about having to perform to make white customers happy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot of emotional labor and a lot of emotional performance that goes into ensuring that you’re not getting poor ratings, because otherwise you’re going to get fired. It’s almost that you have to play into the racial sensibilities of consumers,” Dubal said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some restaurants pool tips so any negative impacts from implicit bias are shared by the whole staff. App companies could adjust tips and ratings for Black and brown drivers to compensate for bias, but that means first figuring out how much lower they are on average.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks to Proposition 22, app companies face no legal pressure to gather the necessary demographic data. Without data, individual workers are left to interpret their own experience, isolated and unprotected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"disqusTitle": "How Franchising Paved the Way for the Gig Economy",
"title": "How Franchising Paved the Way for the Gig Economy",
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"content": "\u003cp>If you walk into a 7-Eleven in California and it’s too hot or cold, don’t blame the franchisee who runs the place. The thermostat is controlled remotely from the company's corporate headquarters in Dallas — as are the store’s hours, prices and the specific kinds of pizza, wings and tacos they can sell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A group of four franchisees in California are involved in an ongoing suit against 7-Eleven over the extent of the company's control, arguing that it's treating them like employees, but classifying them as independent contractors. If they get so little say on how to run their businesses, the franchisees argue, they should at least receive basic employee protections, like overtime pay and workers' compensation.[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Serge Haitayan, 7-Eleven franchise owner\"]'I feel like nothing but an unglorified store manager without benefits.'[/pullquote]Much of the lawsuit rests on \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB5\">Assembly Bill 5\u003c/a>, the California law intended to make it harder for gig companies like Uber, Lyft and DoorDash to have sway over their workers without providing employee benefits. And while that 2018 law was drafted in response to today’s gig work environment, it was the franchising industry that originally normalized the labor relations on which the “gig economy” is built.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the franchise model, a business owner buys the right to run a store under the franchisor's brand. As part of the deal, the franchisee must follow a set of rules laid out by the parent company.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Starting in the 1970s, franchising set a legal precedent for gig companies by helping change the enforcement of U.S. antitrust law, and weakening the labor protections that prevent corporations from misclassifying workers as independent contractors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The link between franchising and gig work was evident in the lead-up to the election in November. When it looked like Proposition 22 — an ultimately successful bid by gig companies to circumvent California's new labor law — could fail, forcing companies to pay for basic employee protections, executives reportedly started \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/18/technology/uber-lyft-franchise-california.html\">looking into franchising models\u003c/a> as a backup plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But gig companies were already capitalizing on the business framework that decades of franchising has normalized — an ongoing tension reflected in the 7-Eleven lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Family Business\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>There’s an old 7-Eleven on the outskirts of Fresno with a hot dog sign on the window. It says, “Anyone who is hungry and can't pay for a hot dog can have one for free!” Next to the sign is an illustration of a jolly Lebanese Santa Claus with a big beard, the name “Serge” written across his chest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11862646\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11862646 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Hot-Dog-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Hot-Dog-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Hot-Dog-800x600.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Hot-Dog-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Hot-Dog-160x120.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Hot-Dog-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Hot-Dog-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Hot-Dog-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Hot-Dog-1832x1374.jpg 1832w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Hot-Dog-1376x1032.jpg 1376w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Hot-Dog-1044x783.jpg 1044w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Hot-Dog-632x474.jpg 632w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Hot-Dog-536x402.jpg 536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The sign on the outside of Serge Haitayan's 7-Eleven store in Fresno. \u003ccite>(KQED/Sam Harnett)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That's Serge Haitayan, a man in his 60s who has run the franchise for 30 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Santa’s beard used to be black” he says. “Now, it’s more grayish.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A refugee from Lebanon, Haitayan came to Los Angeles in the 1980s, and then moved to Fresno — a place he thought would be good to raise a family — where he began running the 7-Eleven store and eventually became a franchise owner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My kids were raised in the store,” he says. “I used to go pick them up every day after school, and they would stay in this office, and they would do their homework and they would spend the afternoon in the store. I used to have them open the doors for customers and say, ‘Hello. Good afternoon, good evening, welcome to the store.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Haitayan says ever since the 7-Eleven company was bought by a major Japanese retail firm 16 years ago, the store has felt increasingly less like his own. He says he can’t even control the store temperature himself. He points to the place on the wall where his old thermostat used to be, and describes how a few years ago, a crew from the company came, ripped it out and replaced it with one that is controlled remotely from U.S. corporate headquarters in Dallas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In what world is that OK for you to live in Dallas and control my temperature here where I am sitting?” he asks. “How do you know my environment? How do you know my body? How do you know everyone else's bodies?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Increasing Control\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Haitayan says there has always been a struggle over control with 7-Eleven. Franchisees have to sign lengthy contracts, obligating them to comply with even lengthier operations manuals. The company's manual is nearly 1,000 pages long, he says. And 7-Eleven can change the rules in the manual at any time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he started his franchise back in the 1990s, Haitayan says the company's control was tolerable. But ever since 7-Eleven was bought out, he says, it has increasingly dictated everything from when franchisees can order from vendors to what they can sell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final straw for Haitayan was a two-pack of batteries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haitayan says a few years ago he suddenly could only order jumbo packs of 14 or 16 batteries. “This is not Costco. This is not Walmart,” he says. “This is a convenience store.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His customers wanted small packs of batteries, but he says for some reason that inventory had vanished from the system. Over time, the list of products he couldn’t order continued to grow, like certain kinds of sodas, iced teas and cigarettes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>7-Eleven did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company has made other changes in recent years. It installed corporate cameras in franchise stores, raised the maximum share of profits the company can keep from 50% to 59%, and increased the focus on food sales, resulting in higher costs for franchisees because they are responsible for covering payroll and have to hire more employees to prepare the food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Haitayan, the batteries drove home the reality of how powerless he was. “I feel like nothing but an unglorified store manager without benefits,” he says. So, he joined a handful of other California franchisees in the now more than 3-year-old misclassification lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11862647\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11862647 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Serge-Out-Front-scaled-e1616018130427.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1868\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Serge-Out-Front-scaled-e1616018130427.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Serge-Out-Front-scaled-e1616018130427-800x778.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Serge-Out-Front-scaled-e1616018130427-1020x992.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Serge-Out-Front-scaled-e1616018130427-160x156.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Serge-Out-Front-scaled-e1616018130427-1536x1494.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Serge Haitayan outside of his store. \u003ccite>(Sam Harnett/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Jaspreet Dhillon, another 7-Eleven franchisee in Southern California, and a plaintiff in the suit, echoes many of the points made by Haitayan. He says for years he didn’t fight the company's control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You don’t have time to think,” he says. “You have family, you come home, you’re tired, you rest and the next day you’re up again ready to go again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But a few years ago he, like Haitayan, reached his breaking point. “I used to love going to the store,” he says. “Now, I dread it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The franchisees, who filed the suit in federal district court in Los Angeles in 2017, initially lost. But the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the lower court's ruling in 2018, determining that the judge made a hasty decision and focused too much on the amount of control detailed in the franchisee agreement, rather than the plaintiffs’ allegations of what was actually happening in their stores.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 7-Eleven decision is now back in a lower federal district court, and a new ruling is expected this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>‘Prehistory of the Gig Economy’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Brian Callaci, an economist at Data and Society, a nonprofit that researches technology and regulation, recently released\u003ca href=\"https://datasociety.net/library/puppet-entrepreneurship/\"> a lengthy report\u003c/a> on the current level of corporate control in franchising.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It would be a stretch to call it real independent business ownership,\" says Callaci, who reviewed more than 500 franchise contracts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although he says 7-Eleven is one of the more overbearing franchises, franchisors in general have moved towards more centralized control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It's not a coincidence that this increase parallels the heightened control in the gig economy, Callaci says, adding that franchising helped lay the legal groundwork for gig companies like Lyft and DoorDash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The legal history of franchising is very much the prehistory of the gig economy,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Brian Callaci, economist\"]'The legal history of franchising is very much the prehistory of the gig economy.'[/pullquote]Before the 1970s, regulators were more likely to use antitrust law to try and stop larger corporations from tightly controlling smaller independent businesses, Callaci says. The prospect of corporate domination, he adds, was a bigger factor in assessing and enforcing antitrust violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But through a series of subsequent court cases, franchisors gained the ability to exert greater control over franchisees. In 1977, they scored a major victory in Continental TV v. GTE Sylvania, in which the U.S. \u003ca href=\"https://www.oyez.org/cases/1976/76-15\">Supreme Court ruled \u003c/a>that large corporations controlling smaller operators, like franchisees, was intrinsic to the American business model.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That ruling and others like it changed how antitrust laws were enforced in the U.S. The principles of shareholder capitalism became the guiding ideology, with the focus shifting from trying to prevent the domination of smaller independent businesses and workers to strengthening \"consumer welfare\" and \"economic efficiency.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Squeezed Out\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Today, there are some 770,000 franchisees in America. Many are immigrants or people of color who had to scrape together money from friends and family to pay the franchise fee required to enter the business. For prime 7-Eleven locations in California, that can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dhillon says 7-Eleven promises true business ownership, the American dream. “They paint a rosy picture, but then when you get in you find it’s a different reality.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once franchisees get into the business, it’s hard to get out. For one, most franchisees do not own their property. That means if they lose the right to the franchise, they lose their business and their investment, which could mean sacrificing the entire franchise fee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haitayan says the power 7-Eleven has over franchisees keeps many of them from speaking up. He hasn’t kept quiet, though.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haitayan has been involved in several lawsuits against 7-Eleven in recent years, including one over the installation of cameras in stores, which franchisees eventually accepted in a settlement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"related coverage\" tag=\"proposition-22\"]Last fall, on Haitayan’s 30th anniversary owning his franchise, he says the company sent him a letter informing him they weren’t renewing the lease and were closing the store.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haitayan says the store was doing well and he could see no financial reason for to close it down. “Beside saying, ‘We want to teach every franchisee a lesson, that the moment you stand up to 7-Eleven and you create problems and you challenge them and you take them to court, this is what is going to end up happening to you,’ ” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Haitayan is relatively lucky. Unlike most other 7-Eleven franchisees, he owns his property, which means he was able to reopen it as his own store under a different name. But he says because 7-Eleven neglected to do maintenance for years, he had to spend over a quarter million dollars on renovations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though he's opening his own store, he plans to remain involved in the current lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My fight is still with franchisees and with all the new economy gig employees,” he says, “because they’re not treated fair.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haitayan says franchisees and gig workers are in a similar boat because they’re both fighting against companies that he says are taking excessive control over workers without having to provide basic benefits. He says American workers should either be granted employee protections or true independence.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>From Franchising to Gig Platforms\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Today's franchisors and gig companies have both benefited heartily from the decreasing focus on corporate domination in antitrust enforcement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the development of apps, gig companies have gone a step further than the franchise model. Instead of requiring franchisees to buy into the brand to run their own business, gig workers sign up on their platforms to do piecemeal gigs. This \"platform argument\" has been key to how many gig companies justify their employment practices to regulators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gig company executives and their legal teams consistently argue they are not running taxi or delivery businesses, but instead tech companies that have created platforms to connect consumers to independent service providers. Under this platform argument, Uber drivers, Instacart grocery shoppers or DoorDash deliverers are not employees, but rather entrepreneurs running their own businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This argument has been very successful, largely because of the way the U.S. now enforces antitrust law, says University of Utah economist Marshall Steinbaum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The business model of gig companies is dependent on the weakening of antitrust,” says Steinbaum, who\u003ca href=\"https://marshallsteinbaum.org/assets/steinbaum-2019-antitrust-the-gig-economy-and-labor-market-power-law-and-contemporary-problems-.pdf\"> published a paper\u003c/a> on the issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If regulators enforced antitrust law the way they used to, Steinbaum says, gig companies would risk being sued for how much they control their supposedly independent contractors. They would be encouraged to classify their workers as employees so that they could continue setting prices and controlling the interaction between independent workers and customers, things that could have triggered antitrust enforcement in the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While changes in antitrust enforcement have made it easier for large companies to dictate prices and exert greater control over supposedly independent businesses, they have also become a tool to prevent workers from organizing or forming their own collectives.[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Jaspreet Dhillon, 7-Eleven franchise owner\"]'They paint a rosy picture, but then when you get in you find it’s a different reality.'[/pullquote]If a bunch of taxi drivers got together, made an app and called themselves independent businesses, but collectively set prices, consumers could easily sue them for price fixing, says Steinbaum, \u003ca href=\"https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3279629\">pointing to numerous examples\u003c/a> of crackdowns on employee coordination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reorientation of antitrust enforcement has also helped prevent gig workers from organizing and pushing for higher wages. In 2015, the Seattle City Council passed a measure extending collective bargaining rights to Lyft and Uber drivers. Right after its passage, Lyft, Uber and the city's chamber of commerce sued, claiming the measure violated federal antitrust law — on the grounds that workers would potentially be able to spur price hikes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the federal government weighed in, supporting the suit, \u003ca href=\"https://www.geekwire.com/2020/uber-seattle-u-s-chamber-end-legal-dispute-union-law-city-plans-minimum-wage-drivers/\">the council pulled the collective bargaining provision.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reforming antitrust would require regulators to be honest that “economic efficiency” is not some neutral, objective metric, but an ideological construct, argues Sanjukta Paul, a Wayne State law professor who wrote \u003ca href=\"https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4919&context=lcp\">a study that touched on how gig companies\u003c/a> have exerted control over \"independent contractors\" without using the franchise model.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you’re telling someone else what to do and dominating them economically and extracting as much as you can from them, effort-wise, whether it’s a worker or small firm, that is ‘efficiency,' ” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paul envisions an alternative metric based on social good. “If we can be more systematic and honest about what values we want to promote,” she says, “then we might say it is actually efficient and pro-social to have truck drivers and taxi cab drivers make a living wage so that they can invest in their communities and then invest in green technology for their trucks and cars.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paul's pitch — that antitrust law be again used to better protect workers instead of focusing on lowering costs for consumers and making profit for shareholders — could go a long way in helping both gig workers who want employee protections and franchisees like Haitayan who want true independence.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>If you walk into a 7-Eleven in California and it’s too hot or cold, don’t blame the franchisee who runs the place. The thermostat is controlled remotely from the company's corporate headquarters in Dallas — as are the store’s hours, prices and the specific kinds of pizza, wings and tacos they can sell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A group of four franchisees in California are involved in an ongoing suit against 7-Eleven over the extent of the company's control, arguing that it's treating them like employees, but classifying them as independent contractors. If they get so little say on how to run their businesses, the franchisees argue, they should at least receive basic employee protections, like overtime pay and workers' compensation.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Much of the lawsuit rests on \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB5\">Assembly Bill 5\u003c/a>, the California law intended to make it harder for gig companies like Uber, Lyft and DoorDash to have sway over their workers without providing employee benefits. And while that 2018 law was drafted in response to today’s gig work environment, it was the franchising industry that originally normalized the labor relations on which the “gig economy” is built.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the franchise model, a business owner buys the right to run a store under the franchisor's brand. As part of the deal, the franchisee must follow a set of rules laid out by the parent company.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Starting in the 1970s, franchising set a legal precedent for gig companies by helping change the enforcement of U.S. antitrust law, and weakening the labor protections that prevent corporations from misclassifying workers as independent contractors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The link between franchising and gig work was evident in the lead-up to the election in November. When it looked like Proposition 22 — an ultimately successful bid by gig companies to circumvent California's new labor law — could fail, forcing companies to pay for basic employee protections, executives reportedly started \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/18/technology/uber-lyft-franchise-california.html\">looking into franchising models\u003c/a> as a backup plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But gig companies were already capitalizing on the business framework that decades of franchising has normalized — an ongoing tension reflected in the 7-Eleven lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Family Business\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>There’s an old 7-Eleven on the outskirts of Fresno with a hot dog sign on the window. It says, “Anyone who is hungry and can't pay for a hot dog can have one for free!” Next to the sign is an illustration of a jolly Lebanese Santa Claus with a big beard, the name “Serge” written across his chest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11862646\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11862646 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Hot-Dog-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Hot-Dog-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Hot-Dog-800x600.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Hot-Dog-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Hot-Dog-160x120.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Hot-Dog-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Hot-Dog-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Hot-Dog-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Hot-Dog-1832x1374.jpg 1832w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Hot-Dog-1376x1032.jpg 1376w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Hot-Dog-1044x783.jpg 1044w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Hot-Dog-632x474.jpg 632w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Hot-Dog-536x402.jpg 536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The sign on the outside of Serge Haitayan's 7-Eleven store in Fresno. \u003ccite>(KQED/Sam Harnett)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That's Serge Haitayan, a man in his 60s who has run the franchise for 30 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Santa’s beard used to be black” he says. “Now, it’s more grayish.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A refugee from Lebanon, Haitayan came to Los Angeles in the 1980s, and then moved to Fresno — a place he thought would be good to raise a family — where he began running the 7-Eleven store and eventually became a franchise owner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My kids were raised in the store,” he says. “I used to go pick them up every day after school, and they would stay in this office, and they would do their homework and they would spend the afternoon in the store. I used to have them open the doors for customers and say, ‘Hello. Good afternoon, good evening, welcome to the store.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Haitayan says ever since the 7-Eleven company was bought by a major Japanese retail firm 16 years ago, the store has felt increasingly less like his own. He says he can’t even control the store temperature himself. He points to the place on the wall where his old thermostat used to be, and describes how a few years ago, a crew from the company came, ripped it out and replaced it with one that is controlled remotely from U.S. corporate headquarters in Dallas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In what world is that OK for you to live in Dallas and control my temperature here where I am sitting?” he asks. “How do you know my environment? How do you know my body? How do you know everyone else's bodies?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Increasing Control\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Haitayan says there has always been a struggle over control with 7-Eleven. Franchisees have to sign lengthy contracts, obligating them to comply with even lengthier operations manuals. The company's manual is nearly 1,000 pages long, he says. And 7-Eleven can change the rules in the manual at any time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he started his franchise back in the 1990s, Haitayan says the company's control was tolerable. But ever since 7-Eleven was bought out, he says, it has increasingly dictated everything from when franchisees can order from vendors to what they can sell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final straw for Haitayan was a two-pack of batteries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haitayan says a few years ago he suddenly could only order jumbo packs of 14 or 16 batteries. “This is not Costco. This is not Walmart,” he says. “This is a convenience store.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His customers wanted small packs of batteries, but he says for some reason that inventory had vanished from the system. Over time, the list of products he couldn’t order continued to grow, like certain kinds of sodas, iced teas and cigarettes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>7-Eleven did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company has made other changes in recent years. It installed corporate cameras in franchise stores, raised the maximum share of profits the company can keep from 50% to 59%, and increased the focus on food sales, resulting in higher costs for franchisees because they are responsible for covering payroll and have to hire more employees to prepare the food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Haitayan, the batteries drove home the reality of how powerless he was. “I feel like nothing but an unglorified store manager without benefits,” he says. So, he joined a handful of other California franchisees in the now more than 3-year-old misclassification lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11862647\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11862647 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Serge-Out-Front-scaled-e1616018130427.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1868\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Serge-Out-Front-scaled-e1616018130427.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Serge-Out-Front-scaled-e1616018130427-800x778.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Serge-Out-Front-scaled-e1616018130427-1020x992.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Serge-Out-Front-scaled-e1616018130427-160x156.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/Serge-Out-Front-scaled-e1616018130427-1536x1494.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Serge Haitayan outside of his store. \u003ccite>(Sam Harnett/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Jaspreet Dhillon, another 7-Eleven franchisee in Southern California, and a plaintiff in the suit, echoes many of the points made by Haitayan. He says for years he didn’t fight the company's control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You don’t have time to think,” he says. “You have family, you come home, you’re tired, you rest and the next day you’re up again ready to go again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But a few years ago he, like Haitayan, reached his breaking point. “I used to love going to the store,” he says. “Now, I dread it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The franchisees, who filed the suit in federal district court in Los Angeles in 2017, initially lost. But the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the lower court's ruling in 2018, determining that the judge made a hasty decision and focused too much on the amount of control detailed in the franchisee agreement, rather than the plaintiffs’ allegations of what was actually happening in their stores.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 7-Eleven decision is now back in a lower federal district court, and a new ruling is expected this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>‘Prehistory of the Gig Economy’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Brian Callaci, an economist at Data and Society, a nonprofit that researches technology and regulation, recently released\u003ca href=\"https://datasociety.net/library/puppet-entrepreneurship/\"> a lengthy report\u003c/a> on the current level of corporate control in franchising.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It would be a stretch to call it real independent business ownership,\" says Callaci, who reviewed more than 500 franchise contracts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although he says 7-Eleven is one of the more overbearing franchises, franchisors in general have moved towards more centralized control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It's not a coincidence that this increase parallels the heightened control in the gig economy, Callaci says, adding that franchising helped lay the legal groundwork for gig companies like Lyft and DoorDash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The legal history of franchising is very much the prehistory of the gig economy,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Before the 1970s, regulators were more likely to use antitrust law to try and stop larger corporations from tightly controlling smaller independent businesses, Callaci says. The prospect of corporate domination, he adds, was a bigger factor in assessing and enforcing antitrust violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But through a series of subsequent court cases, franchisors gained the ability to exert greater control over franchisees. In 1977, they scored a major victory in Continental TV v. GTE Sylvania, in which the U.S. \u003ca href=\"https://www.oyez.org/cases/1976/76-15\">Supreme Court ruled \u003c/a>that large corporations controlling smaller operators, like franchisees, was intrinsic to the American business model.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That ruling and others like it changed how antitrust laws were enforced in the U.S. The principles of shareholder capitalism became the guiding ideology, with the focus shifting from trying to prevent the domination of smaller independent businesses and workers to strengthening \"consumer welfare\" and \"economic efficiency.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Squeezed Out\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Today, there are some 770,000 franchisees in America. Many are immigrants or people of color who had to scrape together money from friends and family to pay the franchise fee required to enter the business. For prime 7-Eleven locations in California, that can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dhillon says 7-Eleven promises true business ownership, the American dream. “They paint a rosy picture, but then when you get in you find it’s a different reality.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once franchisees get into the business, it’s hard to get out. For one, most franchisees do not own their property. That means if they lose the right to the franchise, they lose their business and their investment, which could mean sacrificing the entire franchise fee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haitayan says the power 7-Eleven has over franchisees keeps many of them from speaking up. He hasn’t kept quiet, though.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haitayan has been involved in several lawsuits against 7-Eleven in recent years, including one over the installation of cameras in stores, which franchisees eventually accepted in a settlement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Last fall, on Haitayan’s 30th anniversary owning his franchise, he says the company sent him a letter informing him they weren’t renewing the lease and were closing the store.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haitayan says the store was doing well and he could see no financial reason for to close it down. “Beside saying, ‘We want to teach every franchisee a lesson, that the moment you stand up to 7-Eleven and you create problems and you challenge them and you take them to court, this is what is going to end up happening to you,’ ” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Haitayan is relatively lucky. Unlike most other 7-Eleven franchisees, he owns his property, which means he was able to reopen it as his own store under a different name. But he says because 7-Eleven neglected to do maintenance for years, he had to spend over a quarter million dollars on renovations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though he's opening his own store, he plans to remain involved in the current lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My fight is still with franchisees and with all the new economy gig employees,” he says, “because they’re not treated fair.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haitayan says franchisees and gig workers are in a similar boat because they’re both fighting against companies that he says are taking excessive control over workers without having to provide basic benefits. He says American workers should either be granted employee protections or true independence.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>From Franchising to Gig Platforms\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Today's franchisors and gig companies have both benefited heartily from the decreasing focus on corporate domination in antitrust enforcement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the development of apps, gig companies have gone a step further than the franchise model. Instead of requiring franchisees to buy into the brand to run their own business, gig workers sign up on their platforms to do piecemeal gigs. This \"platform argument\" has been key to how many gig companies justify their employment practices to regulators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gig company executives and their legal teams consistently argue they are not running taxi or delivery businesses, but instead tech companies that have created platforms to connect consumers to independent service providers. Under this platform argument, Uber drivers, Instacart grocery shoppers or DoorDash deliverers are not employees, but rather entrepreneurs running their own businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This argument has been very successful, largely because of the way the U.S. now enforces antitrust law, says University of Utah economist Marshall Steinbaum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The business model of gig companies is dependent on the weakening of antitrust,” says Steinbaum, who\u003ca href=\"https://marshallsteinbaum.org/assets/steinbaum-2019-antitrust-the-gig-economy-and-labor-market-power-law-and-contemporary-problems-.pdf\"> published a paper\u003c/a> on the issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If regulators enforced antitrust law the way they used to, Steinbaum says, gig companies would risk being sued for how much they control their supposedly independent contractors. They would be encouraged to classify their workers as employees so that they could continue setting prices and controlling the interaction between independent workers and customers, things that could have triggered antitrust enforcement in the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While changes in antitrust enforcement have made it easier for large companies to dictate prices and exert greater control over supposedly independent businesses, they have also become a tool to prevent workers from organizing or forming their own collectives.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>If a bunch of taxi drivers got together, made an app and called themselves independent businesses, but collectively set prices, consumers could easily sue them for price fixing, says Steinbaum, \u003ca href=\"https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3279629\">pointing to numerous examples\u003c/a> of crackdowns on employee coordination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reorientation of antitrust enforcement has also helped prevent gig workers from organizing and pushing for higher wages. In 2015, the Seattle City Council passed a measure extending collective bargaining rights to Lyft and Uber drivers. Right after its passage, Lyft, Uber and the city's chamber of commerce sued, claiming the measure violated federal antitrust law — on the grounds that workers would potentially be able to spur price hikes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the federal government weighed in, supporting the suit, \u003ca href=\"https://www.geekwire.com/2020/uber-seattle-u-s-chamber-end-legal-dispute-union-law-city-plans-minimum-wage-drivers/\">the council pulled the collective bargaining provision.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reforming antitrust would require regulators to be honest that “economic efficiency” is not some neutral, objective metric, but an ideological construct, argues Sanjukta Paul, a Wayne State law professor who wrote \u003ca href=\"https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4919&context=lcp\">a study that touched on how gig companies\u003c/a> have exerted control over \"independent contractors\" without using the franchise model.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you’re telling someone else what to do and dominating them economically and extracting as much as you can from them, effort-wise, whether it’s a worker or small firm, that is ‘efficiency,' ” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paul envisions an alternative metric based on social good. “If we can be more systematic and honest about what values we want to promote,” she says, “then we might say it is actually efficient and pro-social to have truck drivers and taxi cab drivers make a living wage so that they can invest in their communities and then invest in green technology for their trucks and cars.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paul's pitch — that antitrust law be again used to better protect workers instead of focusing on lowering costs for consumers and making profit for shareholders — could go a long way in helping both gig workers who want employee protections and franchisees like Haitayan who want true independence.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>“Rideshare drivers,” “dashers,” “taskers,” “driver partners,” “entrepreneurs,” “earners”: There’s a long list of euphemisms for low-wage service workers in the U.S. today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The “cute” monikers don’t just constitute a clever strategy by the public relations departments at companies like Uber and Lyft. These firms have made billions by calling their workers contractors, thereby denying them basic employee protections and benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While so-called gig companies are best known for the practice these days, American companies have been making up names for low-wage workers for decades. Since the 1970s, managers and executives have created increasingly elaborate titles for workers at the same time they have weakened benefits, held wages stagnant, undermined unions and replaced full-time positions with part-time contract work. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/howwegothere\">Here’s a three-hour radio documentary about how they did all that.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A long history\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 1975, Walmart CEO Sam Walton decided the people staffing his stores would henceforth be called “associates.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Subway employees are called “sandwich artists.” Taco Bell cashiers, “champions.” Amazon workers, ”Amazonians.” At Disney World, managers call everyone from the janitor to the person inside the Mickey Mouse costume a “cast member.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11852714\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11852714\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/GettyImages-1226305272.jpg\" alt=\"Say hello to a “cast member” at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. \" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/GettyImages-1226305272.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/GettyImages-1226305272-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/GettyImages-1226305272-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/GettyImages-1226305272-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/GettyImages-1226305272-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/GettyImages-1226305272-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/GettyImages-1226305272-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Say hello to a “cast member” at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. \u003ccite>(Photo by Derek Lee/Disneyland Resort via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They conjure a kind of egalitarian, creative, nurturing, healthy workplace — where in almost every case in this country, what you really have is a hierarchical, routine, dull, indifferent, and more and more these days, a toxic and unhealthy workplace,” said John Patrick Leary, author of “\u003ca href=\"https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1243-keywords\">Keywords: The New Language of Capitalism\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leary adds these titles aren’t just about trying to make workers feel better about their jobs, but consumers, too. The names puts a positive gloss on low-wage labor for customers who might feel guilty being served by people working jobs for little pay or satisfaction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leary says terms like “associate” or “sandwich artist” are so absurd they are disorienting and block critique. “It can make you feel kind of crazy sometimes,” he said. “Like, ‘Am I the only person who thinks calling the person who checks you out at Target an associate is kind of ridiculous given their place in the Target hierarchy?’ It’s part of this saturation of dishonesty and lies that you are surrounded by that can make you feel a little bit overwhelmed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gig companies like Uber and DoorDash have taken the titling of workers to a new level. Almost every company comes up with a particular name for workers, and typically, the term mirrors the company name. People doing tasks for TaskRabbit are called “taskers.” People delivering food for DoorDash are called “dashers.” People gathering up and recharging e-scooters for Lime are called “juicers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A new economic model\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Unlike the “champions” of Taco Bell, or “cast members” of Disney, executives at DoorDash, Uber and the like also claim that their workers are not employees at all, but independent business owners the company is just connecting to clients through an online platform.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"John Patrick Leary, author of 'Keywords: The New Language of Capitalism'\"]“They conjure a kind of egalitarian, creative, nurturing, healthy workplace — where in almost every case in this country, what you really have is a hierarchical, routine, dull, indifferent, and more and more these days, a toxic and unhealthy workplace.”[/pullquote]Labor lawyer Caitlin Vega said these invented names help bolster this argument. “They [the gig companies] invented these terms to describe the work that they do that I think is meant to capture both that you should be loyal to the company, and yet we don’t owe you anything,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the invented terms at gig companies obscure the labor of workers in a more drastic way than the aggrandizing titles given to employees at companies like Target and Walmart.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in 2013, the marketing team at Lyft pushed this rebranding of work to the extreme. In advertisements, cheery narrators told consumers that Lyft drivers were “your friend with a car.” Customers were encouraged to sit in the front seat and fist-bump drivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early Uber marketing material promised drivers they could own their own businesses and work without a boss. In fliers and ads, the company boasted about creating more than 100,000 “entrepreneurs.” The company then adopted the term “driver partners.” Most recently, Uber managers and PR people have been calling workers “earners.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These invented terms have legal and economic significance. In 2013, lawyers and executives at Uber and Lyft were able to get the California Public Utilities Commission to write into law an entirely new regulatory category for their business: transportation network companies, or TNCs. This allowed TNCs to steer clear of local taxi and transportation laws, as well as laws governing TNC drivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This was part of the whole “sharing economy” trend \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/10851717/the-movement-to-kill-the-phrase-sharing-economy\">that journalists and politicians helped invent and inflate in the early days of Uber, Lyft and Airbnb\u003c/a>. Neither “rideshare” nor “sharing economy” has ever made any sense if you take into account any dictionary definition of the word sharing. Nevertheless, the term rideshare is still in use today. \u003ca href=\"https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3668606\">Here’s a whole essay on the complicity of tech media, if you’re curious.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s Supreme Court, attorney general and Legislature agree there’s one accurate term for gig workers: employees, a term that guarantees benefits and protections. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11843123/prop-22-explained-why-gig-companies-are-spending-huge-money-on-an-unprecedented-measure\">But gig companies spent more than $200 million on Proposition 22\u003c/a>, which legalized a new sub-employee category. It comes with limited benefits, but the company still controls how the workers work and how they get paid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Sam Walton at Walmart helped mainstream fancy titles for low-paid employees, executives at gig companies like Lyft and Instacart have succeeded in passing labor laws that created a whole new legally defined sub-employee class for their workers. The new term for this sub-employee category? “Independent contractor plus.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>“Rideshare drivers,” “dashers,” “taskers,” “driver partners,” “entrepreneurs,” “earners”: There’s a long list of euphemisms for low-wage service workers in the U.S. today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The “cute” monikers don’t just constitute a clever strategy by the public relations departments at companies like Uber and Lyft. These firms have made billions by calling their workers contractors, thereby denying them basic employee protections and benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While so-called gig companies are best known for the practice these days, American companies have been making up names for low-wage workers for decades. Since the 1970s, managers and executives have created increasingly elaborate titles for workers at the same time they have weakened benefits, held wages stagnant, undermined unions and replaced full-time positions with part-time contract work. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/howwegothere\">Here’s a three-hour radio documentary about how they did all that.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A long history\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 1975, Walmart CEO Sam Walton decided the people staffing his stores would henceforth be called “associates.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Subway employees are called “sandwich artists.” Taco Bell cashiers, “champions.” Amazon workers, ”Amazonians.” At Disney World, managers call everyone from the janitor to the person inside the Mickey Mouse costume a “cast member.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11852714\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11852714\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/GettyImages-1226305272.jpg\" alt=\"Say hello to a “cast member” at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. \" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/GettyImages-1226305272.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/GettyImages-1226305272-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/GettyImages-1226305272-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/GettyImages-1226305272-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/GettyImages-1226305272-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/GettyImages-1226305272-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/GettyImages-1226305272-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Say hello to a “cast member” at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. \u003ccite>(Photo by Derek Lee/Disneyland Resort via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They conjure a kind of egalitarian, creative, nurturing, healthy workplace — where in almost every case in this country, what you really have is a hierarchical, routine, dull, indifferent, and more and more these days, a toxic and unhealthy workplace,” said John Patrick Leary, author of “\u003ca href=\"https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1243-keywords\">Keywords: The New Language of Capitalism\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leary adds these titles aren’t just about trying to make workers feel better about their jobs, but consumers, too. The names puts a positive gloss on low-wage labor for customers who might feel guilty being served by people working jobs for little pay or satisfaction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leary says terms like “associate” or “sandwich artist” are so absurd they are disorienting and block critique. “It can make you feel kind of crazy sometimes,” he said. “Like, ‘Am I the only person who thinks calling the person who checks you out at Target an associate is kind of ridiculous given their place in the Target hierarchy?’ It’s part of this saturation of dishonesty and lies that you are surrounded by that can make you feel a little bit overwhelmed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gig companies like Uber and DoorDash have taken the titling of workers to a new level. Almost every company comes up with a particular name for workers, and typically, the term mirrors the company name. People doing tasks for TaskRabbit are called “taskers.” People delivering food for DoorDash are called “dashers.” People gathering up and recharging e-scooters for Lime are called “juicers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A new economic model\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Unlike the “champions” of Taco Bell, or “cast members” of Disney, executives at DoorDash, Uber and the like also claim that their workers are not employees at all, but independent business owners the company is just connecting to clients through an online platform.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in 2013, the marketing team at Lyft pushed this rebranding of work to the extreme. In advertisements, cheery narrators told consumers that Lyft drivers were “your friend with a car.” Customers were encouraged to sit in the front seat and fist-bump drivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early Uber marketing material promised drivers they could own their own businesses and work without a boss. In fliers and ads, the company boasted about creating more than 100,000 “entrepreneurs.” The company then adopted the term “driver partners.” Most recently, Uber managers and PR people have been calling workers “earners.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These invented terms have legal and economic significance. In 2013, lawyers and executives at Uber and Lyft were able to get the California Public Utilities Commission to write into law an entirely new regulatory category for their business: transportation network companies, or TNCs. This allowed TNCs to steer clear of local taxi and transportation laws, as well as laws governing TNC drivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This was part of the whole “sharing economy” trend \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/10851717/the-movement-to-kill-the-phrase-sharing-economy\">that journalists and politicians helped invent and inflate in the early days of Uber, Lyft and Airbnb\u003c/a>. Neither “rideshare” nor “sharing economy” has ever made any sense if you take into account any dictionary definition of the word sharing. Nevertheless, the term rideshare is still in use today. \u003ca href=\"https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3668606\">Here’s a whole essay on the complicity of tech media, if you’re curious.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s Supreme Court, attorney general and Legislature agree there’s one accurate term for gig workers: employees, a term that guarantees benefits and protections. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11843123/prop-22-explained-why-gig-companies-are-spending-huge-money-on-an-unprecedented-measure\">But gig companies spent more than $200 million on Proposition 22\u003c/a>, which legalized a new sub-employee category. It comes with limited benefits, but the company still controls how the workers work and how they get paid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Sam Walton at Walmart helped mainstream fancy titles for low-paid employees, executives at gig companies like Lyft and Instacart have succeeded in passing labor laws that created a whole new legally defined sub-employee class for their workers. The new term for this sub-employee category? “Independent contractor plus.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>California Proposition 22 was a big win for tech companies. Its passage allows a handful of corporations — like Uber and Lyft — to create a new “gig” contractor category for their workers that doesn’t have to include employee protections and benefits, like unemployment insurance and workers compensation. Now, those same companies that won in California want to expand beyond the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb data-stringify-type=\"bold\">Guest: \u003c/b>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/SamWHarnett\">Sam Harnett\u003c/a>, Silicon Valley Reporter for KQED\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Listen to our special series ‘How We Got Here’ with Sam \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/howwegothere\">here.\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC8406238167&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Read the transcript \u003ca href=\"https://bit.ly/3eSSCCw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here\u003c/a>. And sign up for our newsletter \u003ca href=\"https://bit.ly/2Ij412e\">here\u003c/a>!\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"mindshift": {
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"order": 12
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"politicalbreakdown": {
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"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
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"possible": {
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"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
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"pri-the-world": {
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"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
"title": "Radiolab",
"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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},
"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
"title": "Reveal",
"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
"airtime": "SAT 4pm-5pm",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
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"link": "/radio/program/reveal",
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"rss": "http://feeds.revealradio.org/revealpodcast"
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
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