Gig company alliance filed law proposal to create new class of workers

The Massachusetts Coalition for Independent Work filed a ballot proposal to create a new class of workers in Massachusetts. The coalition includes Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Instacart and aims to make voters decide in 2022 whether gig workers should be considered independent contractors. The coalition proposes exempting gig workers from being classified as employees but offering them some limited advantages, such as minimum pay. A DoorDash representative said that this measure would place workers in the best of both worlds: “this measure will help every driver by preserving our ability to work whenever and however we want, and also give us access to brand-new benefits that will really help”. 

The ballot proposal is similar to the one proposed in 2020 in California. Gig companies spent more than $200 million to support that their workers would not benefit from an employment contract. Ultimately the ballot proposal prevailed in California. Since last year, several categories of workers who provide their services through online platforms are exempted from being classified as employees.