Uber and Lyft now required to pay Massachusetts rideshare drivers $32 an hour

2 years ago by return2ozma to c/workreform

Drivers will get sick pay and healthcare stipends, too.
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picoblaanket 98 points 2 years ago

It’s not as much as it seems…

The wage is only “for time spent traveling to pick up riders, and transporting them to their destination”.

  • No pay for driving back to the pickup area.

  • No pay for waiting when there are no fares.

It’s a per-minute wage, and only for certain minutes.

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Sir_Kevin 51 points 2 years ago

That sounds reasonable and still a massive upgrade for drivers.

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picoblaanket 35 points 2 years ago

If you wait 10 minutes for a fare… give a 20-minute ride to some suburban house… and then drive 20 minutes back to the city…

your pay would be $10.83 (with this new deal).

…that’s very different from $32.50 per hour.

  • Does an airline baggage-handler only get paid for the “specific minutes” when he is lifting luggage?

  • Does a cashier only get paid for “specific minutes” when there are customers in her line?

The original goal of this lawsuit was to classify drivers as employees under state law…

And that goal was ignored completely.

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catloaf 25 points 2 years ago

That's pretty typical, honestly. When working regular jobs, I've been paid one way, and not paid for time not working. The term is "waiting to engage", versus "engaged to wait". That is, if they want me to sit around to be available at a moment's notice, they pay me for that time. If I can go off and do other stuff and be vaguely available with whatever delay, then I don't get paid, because I'm not working and I'm not losing any of my own time.

I don't really think Uber should pay for time back directly, but they should definitely increase the cost of longer runs, especially to lower-volume areas where the driver might not have a fare in the other direction. (The driver is also not required to take any particular fare at all, so if they feel they'd lose money on it, they shouldn't take it.)

Honestly, you could make a strong argument that drivers are indeed independent contractors under US labor law. However, if the court has found that they should qualify for more pay and benefits, I'm certainly not going to argue that it should be taken away. In fact I'm going to celebrate it.

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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.

Our Philosophies:

  • All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
  • Income inequality is the main cause of lower living standards.
  • Workers must join together and fight back for what is rightfully theirs.
  • We must not be divided and conquered. Workers gain the most when they focus on unifying issues.

Our Goals

  • Higher wages for underpaid workers.
  • Better worker representation, including but not limited to unions.
  • Better and fewer working hours.
  • Stimulating a massive wave of worker organizing in the United States and beyond.
  • Organizing and supporting political causes and campaigns that put workers first.

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