In a Mobile Workers Alliance virtual town hall on March 31, Uber driver Ruben said that even with a doctor’s note he was denied any benefits. Uber’s last communication to Ruben: “We are sorry that this upsets you, but our decision is final.”
“Gov. Newsom’s statewide eviction moratorium is the kind of bold and decisive action California needs at this time — protecting families already rocked by COVID-19 job losses from becoming even more vulnerable to homelessness.”
This week, local nurses union SEIU 721 filed a complaint with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health because of the reuse of face masks and lack of N95 respirators. Union leaders demanded that hospitals not assign suspected COVID-19 patients to their members until they were provided the appropriate gear.
Before the pandemic, this sort of ploy across the gig economy read as a way to prop up unsustainable companies by gouging their own workforces; during covid-19, hewing to the same approach is simply irresponsible.
As America holes up inside, thousands of full-time rideshare drivers are still out on the streets trying to carve out a living.
Uber and Lyft drivers and other platform workers are calling on California to enforce its new employment law as illness, confusion, and hardship from COVID-19 sweep their industries.
Thousands of drivers sign a petition telling the ride-hailing companies to better safeguard them from the deadly disease.
Rideshare drivers are calling on Uber Technologies Inc., Lyft Inc., and similar platform operators to create $110 million assistance fund to help drivers through the coronavirus crisis.