A NEW NEW DEAL GIG-ECONOMY WORKERS NEED PROTECTION. NOW

摘要

In the US, we lump workers into two categories, employee or independent contractor, neither of which were designed for Fasil Teka. Teka, 41, joined Uber five years ago in Seattle. He drives roughly 40 hours a week as an independent contractor. He's also a party planner and sometimes shuttles guests for a local hotel. Teka loves the flexibility of having multiple gigs and driving only when he wants. When one income source wanes, another waxes. But the risks are mounting. He missed the 2014 deadline to sign up for Obamacare and had to do without health insurance. And last New Year's Eve his car got totaled, knocking him off of Uber for three weeks until he leased a new one. Most frustrating for Teka, Uber changes his fare rates frequently and with little warning. "Uber treats us as employees," Teka says-except, of course, with none of the benefits and protections of a traditional job, like the ability to negotiate fare prices through union representation or collect unemployment if Uber drops him.