Question

Task Case Incident Luis, a 36-year-old recent grad from a Canadian university medical school, was not looking forward to the rest of his day after finishing his morning shift at the local hospital's medical records department. He still needed to qualify for his medical license, which required more time and money to meet the provincial medical association's licensing requirements for his medical specialty. Seeking a new profession in a new country had certainly presented its share of challenges to Luis and his young wife. Returning to their former home in Central America was not an option but starting a new in this major urban centre in western Canada certainly had its challenges too. He also knew he must now get "behind the wheel" in a few short hours to help save for this future career. For the past two months. Luis had been driving for the new Uber-like ride share program that had entered the regional market where he lived. While the company promoted this opportunity as a "You are in charge" proposition, the Text4Ride company left much to be desired both financially and in terms of fairness from his perspective. Luis had to invest his limited savings in the vehicle itself, including maintenance, gas, insurance and taxes. On top of that, he had to pay tolls that were frequently required for the express route to the busy international airport. There were the occasional parking tickets plus the "dead miles" (the distance driven while waiting for or driving to pick-up a passenger). Luis also paid for his dash camera and the required amenities for riders (bottled water and snacks). Fortunately, his car was in good condition so he did not have to worry about exorbitant leasing costs for a company-owned vehicle. which Text4Ride automatically deducted from a driver's pay. There were also no guarantees about how much he would earn in a given day as well as the risk of financial loss incurred should he was not able to drive due to illness or injury on the job. His wife had recently said, “You'd be better off working at McDonald's." Luis knew he was not alone. Other drivers complained to him about the company's lack of transparency and consistency regarding decisions that financially impacted them. They were frustrated because they had difficulty figuring out their earnings, as the company regularly changed their compensation calculations and procedures related to operating expenses charged to drivers by the company. There was also no reimbursement by the company for commercial insurance required by all Text4Ride drivers. One of Luis's friends who drove on weekends told him that he had received two time out" deductions last week (meaning penalties because he failed to pick the right number of fares at peak periods during the day or evening) without any explanation or proof. "It's a scam!" one other driver angrily yelled as he exiting the garage. Questions 1. What recourse does Luis have about his current situation with Text4Ride? 2. Does the “gig" economy provide potential “recruiting ground" for today's unions? Explain.

Answer 1

1. From the current situation with Text4Ride, it is extremely clear that Luis, a “gig worker”, needs recourse. Gig workers are independent, contract-based workers who work on flexible, temporary, or freelance jobs. They bridge the concerned company for which they are working with their clients or customers via an online platform or an app-based platform. The gig economy has three major elements. They are the independent workers, who are paid for the gig which represents a task or a project. These workers do not receive a salary or hourly wage, which is representative of the traditional work arrangement. Instead, the workers are paid on the basis of the services provided by them on the concerned task or a project of the company they are representing. The second element is the consumers, who need a particular service like a ride or a particular item delivered. The third element is the company, which maintains an app-based technology platform so that the worker can connect to the consumer to provide his service on behalf of the company.

It is important to note that the gig is temporary work engagement. It lacks the benefits and securities of working permanently in a company. Also, it lacks the sense of belongingness created when employees work permanently in a company. The recourse for Luis is benefits. Gig workers need more security and financial protection especially in terms of benefits like health insurance, which they would have to procure on their own. A new concept which can connect gig workers to the company is that of “dependent contractor”. This term can supersede the term gig workers for including worker-friendly policies representing the term and the workers the term is representing. This term would describe those freelancers who receive the maximum portion of their income from a particular company, who, therefore, become liable to provide benefits to the workers. Also, the freelancers should be legally eligible for “portable benefits”, that is, “employee-owned benefits” which will be ubiquitous across all new jobs. So, the workers will be able to carry these benefits smoothly from one job to another. The concerned companies will be legally extending these benefits to its freelancers on the basis of the “prorated amount of work” done for the company.

2. The gig economy does provide a potential recruiting ground for today’s union. One of the benefits of the gig economy is that it helps to adapt one’s work to his or her lifestyle. It provides flexibility to the worker. The gig economy, therefore, is thriving on advantages like flexibility, freedom, and personal fulfilment. It is important to note that the gig workers aim at new sources of revenue and new work opportunities which is based on the desire of spreading one’s capabilities across different jobs. When workers will strive from the financial and psychological benefits of gig work, the union representing them can also benefit from the literal stake in the profits created by their labour. This is how unions and co-ops can also be pulled in the wider economy of technology-enabled work. The gig economy can, therefore, have a "union" to preserve their rights. Gig workers can be employed as unions, again creating a new job area in the economy.