When the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, many tech companies assured their employees that they would help those who had to travel to another state to access abortion care. But some companies have left a large portion of their workforce locked out: gig workers.
Today, a group of 25 Democratic congressmen led by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Missouri Representative Cori Bush sent letters to the CEOs of Amazon, Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Grubhub questioning those policies. They wrote that excluding handymen is detrimental to the lowest earners of companies and asked for DIYers to be reclassified as employees, with the associated benefits.
“Companies like Uber, Lyft, GrubHub, DoorDash, and Amazon continue to incorrectly classify employees as ‘independent contractors’ rather than employees, preventing them from accessing the rights and benefits, such as access to abortion care, that they deserve,” Warren said. . The letter states that these workers are more likely to “come from the communities most likely to be harmed by the Supreme Court’s decision”.
While some technical worker groups, such as the Alphabet Workers Unionhave challenged their employers over equitable coverage of abortion, this is the first major push for tech companies from Congress on the issue.
When asked about the letter, DoorDash spokesperson Campbell Millum said the company believes every employee deserves the choice to work as an employee or independent contractor and has advocated access to portable benefits for independent contractors. Uber spokesperson Ryan Thornton also spoke of “the unique flexibility” that gig workers have, including the ability to work for competing platforms.
Lyft quoted a blog post from Kristin Sverchek, president of corporate affairs, saying that the company has donated $1 million to Planned Parenthood and will continue to protect drivers from laws that punish them for aiding an abortion. Amazon spokesperson Brad Glasser declined to comment on the letter; Grubhub did not comment.
When WIRED then asked companies about their policies Roe v. Wade was destroyed, Amazon, DoorDash and Lyft acknowledged that their abortion travel benefits did not apply to their drivers, who at Amazon are a mix of gig workers and small outside contractor employees. Uber did not respond. The letter sent today by members of Congress asked companies to respond by Oct. 22.
Gig workers are generally paid much less than employees who work for the same company, receive fewer benefits, and have more uncertainty about future earnings. Meanwhile, most abortion seekers are low earners, largely due to limited access to contraception and family planning education.
The latest data from the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit abortion research organization, found that three-quarters of abortion patients lived near or below the federal poverty line, while only 31 percent had private health insurance. Another 35 percent used Medicaid, which excludes most abortion coverage in 34 states.
The letter from lawmakers points out that about two-thirds of Uber and Lyft drivers are people of color, who face greater obstacles in receiving abortion care. The challenges are especially great for black and indigenous people. The authors argue that gig workers lack the “entrepreneurial control” that defines an independent contractor, such as the ability to set their own rates, a position long held by gig worker advocates.
