Sofia Aldinio/ Staff Photographer

Cathy Goodwin has been an Uber driver for about five years. She enjoys the flexible hours and chatting with customers. And she makes OK money. But the job isn’t easy.

Goodwin spends a lot of hours behind the wheel, commuting from Turner to Portland, where there’s more demand. She’s already put 9,000 miles on a six-week-old car.

“I’m out here most of the waking hours of my life,” she said on a recent afternoon as she took a break at the Portland International Jetport, a pickup and drop-off spot for many rides. “It’s a lot of time to put in.”

The 63-year-old is among hundreds of drivers for app-based delivery and ride-hailing services in Portland. The popularity of “gig economy” jobs as freelance or independent contractors for companies like Uber, Lyft and DoorDash has grown rapidly across the United States.

With that growth has come debate over workers’ treatment. Labor activists have pushed for better pay and benefits. Companies say workers like working when and how much they want.

The debate is front and center in Portland right now because of a proposal to raise the minimum wage by 2025 to $18 per hour for all workers, including drivers for ride-hailing, taxi and delivery services. It also would eliminate the tip wage credit that allows tipped workers to earn less than the minimum wage, a proposal many restaurant workers have spoken out against.

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