Gig workers, independent contractors, freelancers and union growth

 

Graphic from the AFL-CIO Daily Brief 1/10/24

A news story from the AFL-CIO says:

Top Cut:

In a win in the fight against employee misclassification, the Department of Labor released a final rule Tuesday that could change the status of millions of gig economy workers from independent contractors to employees. It would take effect March 11.

Why It Matters:
By changing their designation to employees, gig workers who previously didn’t have access to things like minimum wage standards, overtime pay, unemployment insurance and Social Security would now get these important, hard-fought protections and benefits. This walks back a Trump-era rule from 2021 that made it easier for corporations to categorize workers as independent contractors and therefore deny full protections to workers under federal labor law.

Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su said this rule would “help create a level playing field for businesses, protect workers from being denied the right to fair pay and affirm the vital role true independent contractors play in our economy by allowing them to thrive.”

It feels as if we in the labor movement have been talking about misclassifications, gig workers, and independent contractors for more than a decade. For many in the labor movement, and probably more people in the general public who think about this, the popular or common picture is that we live in a "gig economy" and that that either drives or helps undermine higher wages, benefits, and job security. Some media have been carrying the story recently that the increasing use of gig workers and independent contractor are also driving inflation.

First, I want to say that the nomination and renomination of Julie Su to the position of Secretary of Labor has been an outstanding step taken by the Biden administration. Perhaps the best evidence of how important Ms. Sui is to the progress and stability of the labor movement is that she is opposed by every Republican of note in Washington, D.C. and the "right-to-work" groups and organizations such as the American Legislative Exchange Council. The rule change referred to above was expected, but their opposition to the change and to Acting Secretary Julie Su was in motion as the rule changes hit the news. The changes and the good or harm that they may do is beside the point for these folks. They don't want a pro-labor woman of color at the head of the class and they don't want a relatively pro-union President in office.

I also want to say that our views of the "gig economy" and gig workers, independent contractors and freelancers and the situations they work in should be carefully examined. Kim Moody has show in a number of articles (here and here) how complicated the picture is and how deeply systemic the problems and solutions proposed are. The National Writers Union's Freelance Solidarity Project has demonstrated that at least some of these workers have the capacity to organize and a willingness to join a union. Other voices help back this up. The Communications Workers of America has some excellent starting points for independent contractors, whether they are misclassified or not, and these help us see how complicated employment is becoming in the United States even while the wealthy and the leading corporations do ever-better while the rest of us lose ground.

Behind the daily relations of exploitation on the job are some smoke and mirrors. Labor laws in the United States derive from ways of thinking about boss-worker relationships that go back at least 500 years and are still influenced by the thinking that once institutionalized indentured servitude and slavery. These same laws put profits ahead of people in most cases. Oregon National Writers Union President Martin Hart-Landsberg has a good article recapping where we are and where we should be in winning changes in some basic features of labor law.

The rule changes mentioned above are important and necessary. The Biden administration and the labor movement should get the credit for this forward motion and Julie Su should be our Secretary of Labor and serve in a government that sides with workers. The gig workers, independent contractors and freelancers need to be seen and supported in the proper contexts that benefit them, and they need to get into unions. We need to make the time that we have between now and next November about fundamental questions of workers' and union rights, human dignity, and positive change.

Graphic from the AFL-CIO

The opinions expressed above are not those of the Marion-Polk-Yamhill Central Labor Chapter or the Oregon AFL-CIO.