The gig economy faces yet another year of upheaval as the Biden administration eyes actions to address worker rights, court battles continue to play out across the country, and more states confront ongoing disputes about drivers’ employment status.
App-based giants, including Uber Technologies Inc., Lyft Inc., and DoorDash Inc., ended 2021 still locked in fierce litigation and lobbying to defend their business models, which rely on independent contractors who don’t receive the same job protections and benefits as employees.
That jockeying will continue this year as their drivers, deemed essential workers during the Covid-19 pandemic, push for more rights through court action and organizing efforts around the country.
“At the beginning of the pandemic many of us wondered if it was the death knell for Uber and Lyft. If their business model were to fail, what would that mean for app-based gig work?” said Tia Koonse, the legal and policy research manager at the University of California, Los Angeles Labor Center. “It’s looking like it’s a model that’s here to stay.”
Massachusetts is set to be the next political battleground, with a potential ballot initiative this fall that would mirror California’s Proposition 22 to allow some gig companies to classify their drivers as contractors.
At the federal level, agencies such as the U.S. Labor Department, the National Labor Relations Board...
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