Monday, November 6, 2023
Chair Feeney, Chair Murphy, and Members of the Joint committee on Financial Services:
My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the policy director at Progressive Massachusetts. We are a statewide, multi-issue, grassroots membership organization focused on fighting for policy that would make our Commonwealth more equitable, just, sustainable, and democratic.
We urge you to give a favorable report to H.1158 and S.627: An Act establishing protections and accountability for TNC and DNC workers, consumers, and communities.
Big Tech companies like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and InstaCart have been flagrantly violating Massachusetts labor law by misclassifying their workers. Massachusetts has very clear standards for determining independent contractor standards (the “ABC test”). As a reminder, those three parts are (1) that the work is done without the direction and control of the employer, (2) that the work is performed outside the usual course of the employer’s business, and (3) that the work is done by someone who has their own, independent business or trade doing that kind of work. None of these apply to gig economy work. For example, there would be no Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, or InstaCart without their drivers; the claim that their companies are merely an app is a clear fallacy intended to evade the law.
These bills offer a solution a solution. By writing into law that drivers are employees, they make sure that drivers have the full range of protections employees have under the law, especially relating to wages, rights, and benefits.
Big Tech companies have been seeking to narrow the scope of what counts as “work time” for their drivers. These bills mandate that drivers and delivery workers are paid at least the MA minimum wage for all working time, and by requiring companies to reimburse workers for gas mileage at the IRS standard rate and pay for accidental liability insurance, they ensure that the drivers are actually receiving these full wages.
Importantly, these bills are also good for consumers. They would require these Big Tech companies to provide itemized charges, including surge pricing and fees and require them to provide a panic button system to guarantee safety.
The bills also establish a clear and strong regulatory framework for the industry, including reports on working conditions to the Department of Public Utilities and a requirement that rate hikes be approved by the DPU.
We would also like to go on record in opposition to H.961: An Act establishing portable benefit accounts for app-based-delivery drivers, an attempt by companies like DoorDash and InstaCart to codify their own violations of the law.
To reiterate a point we have made before, the ability to define away terms like “employee” and “independent contractor” sets a dangerous precedent, enabling companies across sectors to gut labor rights. Will we see restaurants claiming that the “restaurant” is only the physical building and physical infrastructure, relegating all employees to independent contractor status? Or hospitals claiming that the “hospital” is just the brick-and-mortar building, rather than the doctors, nurses, aides, and other health care workers that make it run? The list goes on.
That is not the future we want to live in, and we hope it is not one you want to live in either. We need to be proactive to set the right protections for workers and consumers and the right regulations for industry.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Cohn
Policy Director
Progressive Massachusetts