Our rights as workers are hard won, but the only way to actually make them real and effective is through enforcement.
“We created these laws — it’s time to give them teeth. If not, these companies will continue to abuse the independent contractors that are the lifeblood of their organization.”
Without enforcement, app companies have repeatedly violated our rights and will continue to do so with no accountability.
We support the ten-cent fee that Seattle gig workers are championing to establish dedicated funding for the Seattle Office of Labor Standards (OLS) and Community Outreach and Education Fund (COEF).
Community-based organizations leading education and outreach to workers is the most effective form of organizing for stronger workplace protections and higher pay. OLS and COEF have been essential, helping workers enforce our rights, educate other workers about our rights, and win back nearly $14 million for workers from app companies caught violating our rights.
“All of these companies have already shown us, that they will break the law any chance they get. They’ve taken money from workers and have lied to their customers about this legislation implying it’s a “tax on groceries,” which is a blanket lie about this fee.”
The app companies are lying to the public about this fee and about the workers advocating for it.
By dropping over a dozen last-minute, bad-faith amendments to weaken or kill the fee so that they don’t have to pay it, they’re blatantly making a bid to continue to break workers’ rights laws, and keep their wealthy shareholders happy at the expense of the gig workers who are actually building their business.
Despite paying $14 million in penalties in just the past three years, apps claim there really isn’t a need to fund enforcement. And they are trying to paint the gig workers fighting for the fee as dark-money, special-interest, and political operatives.
But the apps are the ones with expensive lobbyists working to kill our bill and spending money on fearmongering ads trying to mislead consumers.
The apps claim that funding enforcement will make their services unaffordable – all while continuing to charge delivery and service fees that are often THIRTY TO FIFTY TIMES more than the fee we’ve proposed.
Workers deserve to have enforcement and outreach adequately funded.
With DoorDash making a record $6.6 billion in revenue last year, Instacart’s stock prices surging, and GrubHub reporting year-over-year growth, it looks to us like they’re doing just fine.
“ These apps are a chamber of doom for this economy if they continue to try to dismantle enforcement mechanisms for laws that hold them accountable to their workforce. ”
Within 24 hours of launching a petition in support of the fee and funding enforcement, over 500 workers and supporters have signed.
The community recognizes the importance of workers having the tools to enforce our rights and educate other workers about those rights.
“This is not just about dollars and cents; it’s about our rights and dignity as workers. Gig workers in Seattle deserve fair treatment, and we can’t afford to let these misleading tactics hinder the progress we’ve made.”