TODAY, the Seattle City Council Governance Committee voted to side with Uber and DoorDash and cut gig workers’ pay to just $13.17/hour while rolling back their rights. Meanwhile, they did absolutely nothing to control the companies’ excessive junk fees – leaving Seattle workers, restaurants, and customers paying the cost of the apps’ greed. — ignoring the overwhelming sentiment at meeting after meeting to cut fees, not pay.
If that all sounds like a policy written by Uber & DoorDash, for Uber & DoorDash, that’s because it was. Nelson’s CB 120775 was crafted in a rushed, secret process entirely controlled by Uber, DoorDash, their lobbyists, and Drive Forward, an organization founded, funded, and controlled by Uber.
No other groups were part of the process — no groups representing workers, customers, immigrant communities, or national national experts on labor policy. The city’s Office of Labor Standards wasn’t even invited to participate. Just the apps, their lobbyists, and an organization they control. And they got what they paid for.
The vote was especially disappointing given that recent polling shows only 18% of Seattle voters support Seattle City Council President Nelson’s proposal to repeal gig workers’ minimum wage. In fact, 64 percent of voters support capping the fees that delivery apps like Uber and DoorDash can charge consumers. Everyone agrees – the fees are the problem, and yet this amendment does nothing to address them or to provide any support to local businesses.
Councilmember Hollingsworth’s vote to abstain and call for stakeholdering was a welcome moment, as she highlighted the urgent need for a process that brings workers and small businesses to the table.
The gig worker pay cut goes before the full council on May 28th. Ten years after becoming the first city to pass a $15 minimum wage, Seattle could soon become the first city to cut gig workers' pay to a subminimum wage, and intentionally exclude them from basic labor standards.
“Today’s vote is an unprecedented and targeted vote against workers. Seattle is one step closer to being the first major city to roll back gig worker pay to below minimum wage. This is still far from an ordinance that will help workers or local businesses. We are encouraged by Councilmember Hollingsworth’s interest in stakeholdering and developing data driven solutions that will actually meet the needs of Seattle’s workers and small businesses.” — Danielle Alvarado, Executive Director, Working Washington
More information:
The Nelson/Uber/DoorDash bill would cut pay to a subminimum wage of $13.17/hour. While it claims to pay the gross minimum wage, gig workers are responsible for paying all their own taxes and expenses out of that rate, and are only paid for their time actively delivering an order. Once you account for that additional time & expense, the bill pays $6.80/hour less than minimum wage.
Latest polling of Seattle voters shows only 18% support Seattle City Council President Nelson’s proposal to repeal gig workers’ minimum wage. By rushing through this corporate written legislation, the council is not listening to what their constituents clearly value.
Uber stated on their most recent earnings call that “we have been able to absorb the financial hit of all these different regulations in our platform. You've seen in our profitability, which is up over 80% in Uber Eats on a year-on-year basis.”
DoorDash recently reported gross profit margins of 44.9% — meaning that they pocket almost half of total customer fees, after paying the worker who did the actual work.
###
Gig workers, policy experts, and community supporters are available to discuss the implications of this proposal. Contact Hannah Sabio-Howell (hannah@workingwa.org) to arrange.