The Gig Is Up: How billionaires exploit gig workers

Amazon Flex misclassification of gig workers is labor exploitation.

Billionaires like Jeff Bezos, and Jim Walton cheat gig workers out of rights by mis-classifying them as independent contractors. This denies them a minimum wage, healthcare, benefits, and the rights to organize for better working condition. Republicans in cahoots with their billionaire donors re-write the laws to strip worker of their rights. Follow the money to see how their scheme works.

It's high time to stop labor exploitation and give gig workers their fair pay 2026.

• Gig workers mis-classified as independent contractors to deny them their labor rights
• ‘The Gig Trap’: Algorithmic, Wage and Labor Exploitation in Platform Work in the US”
• These companies claim to offer gig workers “flexibility” but often end up paying them less than state or local minimum wages.
• “Gig workers are classified as independent contractors. That designation obscures a loophole in the law that prevents gig workers from receiving the same rights and benefits as regular employees such as a minimum wage, the right to join or form a union, workers compensation insurance, or even paid sick days.” Los Deliveristas Unidos

Follow the money

Worker exploitation: The new slave trade

Workers are increasingly hired, compensated, disciplined, and fired by algorithms that can be opaque, error-prone, and discriminatory; their faces, office badge swipes, email exchanges, browsing histories, keystrokes, driving patterns, and rest times are scanned to monitor performance and productivity; even activities outside working hours, such as health and fitness habits, social media usage, and attempts to organize are susceptible to employer surveillance and scrutiny.

16% of Americans have worked for a digital labor platform at least once. 31% of current or recent workers reported that this was their main source of income. Food delivery is the most common form of digital labor, followed by performing household tasks, providing rides, grocery delivery, and package delivery.

Billionaires exploit the prospect of flexible work to classify platform workers as independent contractors. This sleight of hand enables platforms to avoid certain taxes and employer obligations, saving labor costs. Under US federal and most state labor laws, independent contractors are not entitled to wage and labor protections guaranteed to employees, such as minimum wage, overtime pay, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, and paid sick leave. These protections are critical to ensuring the right to an adequate standard of living, and safe and healthy working conditions. - The Gig Trap

TakeAway: Call your rep. Stop the exploitation of gig workers.

Deepak
DemLabs

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