New UC Berkeley Labor Center report reveals true wage of $4.82 for app-based workers under Big Tech ballot proposal
Following shocking report, Coalition to Protect Workers’ Rights calls on Big Tech CEOs to testify before upcoming legislative committee hearing on their tax-dodging legislation
Massachusetts — A recently released analysis by UC Berkeley reveals that, if passed, the Proposition 22-copycat ballot language proposed by Big Tech giants Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and Instacart would create a subminimum wage for app-based workers, as low as $4.82/hour. Following the release of the report from leading labor economists, the Coalition to Protect Workers’ Rights has called on the Big Tech CEOs funding the ballot question to testify at the hearing of the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Financial Services on the Uber/ Big Tech bill HB1234, scheduled for October 6.
According to the report, which analyzed the ballot question’s fine print and corporate loopholes, the measure would allow Big Tech companies to pay workers less than $5/hour. Unpaid driver wait times, underpaid and unreimbursed expenses, among others, are some of the loopholes noted in the study authored by Ken Jacobs, chair of the UC Berkeley Labor Center, and Michael Reich, UC Berkeley professor of economics and co-chair of the Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics.
“Uber and other massive tech companies should contribute to Social Security, pay their taxes, and pay their workers fairly, like every other business in Massachusetts,” said Mike Firestone, Director of the Coalition to Protect Workers’ Rights. “We’re calling on the Big Tech CEOs behind this lobbying campaign to answer the serious questions in the UC Berkeley report and testify at the hearing next week on why $4.82/hour and no Social Security is the right choice for Massachusetts.”
“Workers can’t live on $4.82/hr. Big Tech companies should contribute to Social Security, not fund a lobbying campaign to eliminate the minimum wage,” said Beth Griffith, an Uber driver, and Coalition spokesperson. “Some of these CEOs took home $100 million last year. If they want to change our laws, and cheat our system, they should show up and testify on their bill.”
Wednesday morning, the Coalition sent the gig giant CEOs a letter calling on each to testify at their bill hearing next Wednesday, October 6, asking them to publicly testify on a law that would give their companies millions in new tax breaks and exempt them from existing labor, insurance, consumer protection and civil rights laws.
“The Big Tech CEOs pushing this legislation refuse to answer any questions publicly,” said Firestone. “If these companies are prepared to spend $100 million to buy a law, they should testify before lawmakers and the Massachusetts taxpayers who will be stuck footing the bill if it’s enacted.”
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