擔心缺乏安全保障，美國網約車司機要求帶薪病假
Danielle Abril
2020-03-16
隨著人們對新型冠狀病毒的擔憂日益加劇，Uber，Lyft和DoorDash等公司的司機和送貨員聯合要求帶薪病假待遇。目前請愿團體已有900多人加入，訴求是讓加州政府要求公司提供帶薪病假，因為一直以來相關人員只能得到合同工待遇。
請愿書稱，零工人員每天要跟各種各樣的人接觸，包括去機場或醫(yī)院的人，經常“暴露在危險前線”。由于沒有帶薪病假，只得被迫在賺錢跟健康之間做出選擇。
“說到底，我們缺乏安全保障，”Lyft司機伊丹·阿爾瓦說。這些公司“知道應該負責……但不斷逃避。”
提供零工崗位的公司表示，努力根據新型冠狀病毒在全國蔓延的形勢制定新政策，保護客戶和員工。
組織遞交請愿書的團體叫Gig Workers Rising，主要關注零工人員希望獲得員工待遇的訴求。1月，一項名為《匯編法案5》（AB5）的新法律生效，這項法律使得Uber和Lyft等公司很難將員工當成合同工。但各家公司還是繼續(xù)將零工人員當做合同工，同時推動投票尋找AB5的替代方案。
2018年8月，推動社會變革的非營利組織Working Partnerships USA與多家勞工團體聯合發(fā)起 Gig Workers Rising運動。此后，該運動一直借AB5法律通過，以及Uber和Lyft上市的機會發(fā)起抗議。Gig Workers Rising主要組織者勞倫·凱西表示，新型冠狀病毒蔓延后，帶薪病假變得更加緊迫。
“如果有人享受不到病假和醫(yī)保等基本權利，確實可能導致社會問題，”她說。 “上周，司機們聽說Lyft和Instacart等公司安排正式員工在家遠程工作——區(qū)別對待挺明顯。”
Uber，DoorDash和Instacart表示，如果司機確診感染新型冠狀病毒或被公共衛(wèi)生機構隔離，最多支付14天的費用。Lyft也推出類似計劃，支付感染或被正式隔離的司機費用，不過沒明確規(guī)定具體時間。
外賣公司Postmates表示已成立基金，向超過22個州的員工提供與新型冠狀病毒影響相關的就診和醫(yī)療費用。公司還表示，為用戶提供無接觸取外賣服務，外賣員可將食品放在門口便離開。DoorDash正測試類似功能。
但是組織請愿書的人們表示，相關措施還不夠。
問題在于，如果想讓公司支付費用，就得先確認感染新型冠狀病毒。然而很多零工人員生病了也不會看醫(yī)生，因為沒有醫(yī)保付不起診療費用。最重要的是，衛(wèi)生官員建議，如果人們感到不適，不管有沒有確診都應該在家隔離。請愿人員則表示，并沒有選擇。
零工人員“得在（自身健康）和賺錢交租之間做出選擇，”凱西說。 “任何人被迫做此選擇都很殘酷。”
在Lyft當全職司機的卡洛斯·拉莫斯說，擔心零工人員工作方面得不到充分指導，對病毒傳播發(fā)展到何種程度時應該停工也不是很清楚。
“我們在車里呼吸著流通不暢的空氣，會有細菌交換，”他說。 “然而我們收到的健康提示跟其他人一樣。”
拉莫斯還擔心，如果病毒蔓延的趨勢持續(xù)，“底線崩塌”只是時間問題，屆時司機將拉不到足夠的乘客維持生計。另一方面公司還是把零工人員當成合同工，也得不到失業(yè)補償。
Gig Workers Rising計劃接下來幾天里繼續(xù)收集簽名，然后確定下一步行動。
“這次疫情影響巨大，”加州阿拉米達市一位Uber和Lyft司機表示，他擔心遭到報復所以要求匿名。 “必須迅速采取行動，因為有太多人面臨風險。”（財富中文網）
譯者：梁宇
審校：夏林
隨著人們對新型冠狀病毒的擔憂日益加劇，Uber，Lyft和DoorDash等公司的司機和送貨員聯合要求帶薪病假待遇。目前請愿團體已有900多人加入，訴求是讓加州政府要求公司提供帶薪病假，因為一直以來相關人員只能得到合同工待遇。
請愿書稱，零工人員每天要跟各種各樣的人接觸，包括去機場或醫(yī)院的人，經常“暴露在危險前線”。由于沒有帶薪病假，只得被迫在賺錢跟健康之間做出選擇。
“說到底，我們缺乏安全保障，”Lyft司機伊丹·阿爾瓦說。這些公司“知道應該負責……但不斷逃避。”
提供零工崗位的公司表示，努力根據新型冠狀病毒在全國蔓延的形勢制定新政策，保護客戶和員工。
組織遞交請愿書的團體叫Gig Workers Rising，主要關注零工人員希望獲得員工待遇的訴求。1月，一項名為《匯編法案5》（AB5）的新法律生效，這項法律使得Uber和Lyft等公司很難將員工當成合同工。但各家公司還是繼續(xù)將零工人員當做合同工，同時推動投票尋找AB5的替代方案。
2018年8月，推動社會變革的非營利組織Working Partnerships USA與多家勞工團體聯合發(fā)起 Gig Workers Rising運動。此后，該運動一直借AB5法律通過，以及Uber和Lyft上市的機會發(fā)起抗議。Gig Workers Rising主要組織者勞倫·凱西表示，新型冠狀病毒蔓延后，帶薪病假變得更加緊迫。
“如果有人享受不到病假和醫(yī)保等基本權利，確實可能導致社會問題，”她說。 “上周，司機們聽說Lyft和Instacart等公司安排正式員工在家遠程工作——區(qū)別對待挺明顯。”
Uber，DoorDash和Instacart表示，如果司機確診感染新型冠狀病毒或被公共衛(wèi)生機構隔離，最多支付14天的費用。Lyft也推出類似計劃，支付感染或被正式隔離的司機費用，不過沒明確規(guī)定具體時間。
外賣公司Postmates表示已成立基金，向超過22個州的員工提供與新型冠狀病毒影響相關的就診和醫(yī)療費用。公司還表示，為用戶提供無接觸取外賣服務，外賣員可將食品放在門口便離開。DoorDash正測試類似功能。
但是組織請愿書的人們表示，相關措施還不夠。
問題在于，如果想讓公司支付費用，就得先確認感染新型冠狀病毒。然而很多零工人員生病了也不會看醫(yī)生，因為沒有醫(yī)保付不起診療費用。最重要的是，衛(wèi)生官員建議，如果人們感到不適，不管有沒有確診都應該在家隔離。請愿人員則表示，并沒有選擇。
零工人員“得在（自身健康）和賺錢交租之間做出選擇，”凱西說。 “任何人被迫做此選擇都很殘酷。”
在Lyft當全職司機的卡洛斯·拉莫斯說，擔心零工人員工作方面得不到充分指導，對病毒傳播發(fā)展到何種程度時應該停工也不是很清楚。
“我們在車里呼吸著流通不暢的空氣，會有細菌交換，”他說。 “然而我們收到的健康提示跟其他人一樣。”
拉莫斯還擔心，如果病毒蔓延的趨勢持續(xù)，“底線崩塌”只是時間問題，屆時司機將拉不到足夠的乘客維持生計。另一方面公司還是把零工人員當成合同工，也得不到失業(yè)補償。
Gig Workers Rising計劃接下來幾天里繼續(xù)收集簽名，然后確定下一步行動。
“這次疫情影響巨大，”加州阿拉米達市一位Uber和Lyft司機表示，他擔心遭到報復所以要求匿名。 “必須迅速采取行動，因為有太多人面臨風險。”（財富中文網）
譯者：梁宇
審校：夏林
Drivers and delivery people for companies including Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash are are banding together to petition for paid time off, amid rising concerns about the coronavirus. The group of more than 900 gig workers is asking California policymakers to require companies to immediately implement paid sick leave for workers who are still being treated as contractors.
In the petition, the workers say they are often on the “front lines of exposure,” given that every day they come in contact with various people, including those arriving at airports or heading to the hospital. Without paid sick leave, the gig workers say they are often forced to choose between making ends meet and taking care of their health, and therefore the health of the company's customers.
“We are without a safety net, bottom line,” says Edan Alva, a Lyft driver. Gig companies “know they should be responsible… but they’re avoiding it.”
The gig companies say they’re working to protect both customers and workers with new policies created in light of the coronavirus, which continues to spread across the nation and beyond.
The petition, led by a campaign called Gig Workers Rising, highlights the ongoing demands from workers who want to be considered employees. In January, a new law called Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) took effect, making it harder for companies like Uber and Lyft to classify workers as contractors. But the companies continue to keep their workers as contractors, choosing instead to push a ballot initiative that would provide an alternative to AB5.
Working Partnerships USA, a social change nonprofit, joined with various labor groups to created the Gig Workers Rising campaign in August 2018. Since then, the campaign has hosted protests over AB5 and Uber and Lyft’s initial public offerings. The coronavirus adds a new level of urgency to an old demand for sick leave, says Lauren Casey, a lead organizer of Gig Workers Rising.
“It really brings up questions about what happens in a society to workers who don’t have basic rights, like sick-time and access to healthcare,” she says. “Last week drivers were hearing about companies like Lyft and Instacart sending their employees home to work remotely—so there’s this juxtaposition of who is the priority.”
Uber, DoorDash, and Instacart say they will pay drivers up to 14 days if they are diagnosed with coronavirus or placed in quarantine by a public health authority. Lyft has a similar plan to pay drivers infected or officially quarantined, though they did not clarify the time period for which compensation would be provided.
Postmates says it has created a fund to credit its workers for the costs of doctors appointments and medical expenses related to coronavirus’s impact across more than 22 states. The company says it'ss also offering its customers the opportunity to get their food without any contact from their deliver person, who will drop their order off at the door. DoorDash is testing a similar feature.
But workers organizing the petition say these measures are not enough.
The problem is that in order to receive payment, they have to be diagnosed with the coronavirus. Many gig workers skip visiting the doctor when they’re sick, because they don’t have health insurance and can’t pay for the appointment out of pocket. On top of that, health officials recommend that if people feel sick, whether or not they have a diagnosis, they stay home. The petitioning workers say they don’t have that option.
Gig workers “have to choose between [their health] and making rent,” Casey says. “That’s a choice no one should be forced to make.”
Carlos Ramos, who drives full-time for Lyft, says he’s concerned that gig workers aren’t getting enough guidance about their job and at what point in the spread of the virus they should stop working.
“We’re in a box breathing each other’s air, and there’s germs being exchanged,” he says. “Yet we’re getting the same precautionary warnings as everyone else.”
Ramos is also concerned that if the trend continues, it will only be a matter of time before “the bottom falls out” and drivers won’t have enough passengers to make ends meet. Because gig companies are still treating their workers as contractors, they wouldn’t be able to claim unemployment.
Gig Workers Rising plans to continue to collect signatures over the next several days, when the group will determine its next steps.
“This virus is going to have a huge impact,” says an Alameda, Calif.-based Uber and Lyft driver who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation. “We have to act quickly because we’re risking a lot of people.”
財富中文網所刊載內容之知識產權為財富媒體知識產權有限公司及/或相關權利人專屬所有或持有。未經許可，禁止進行轉載、摘編、復制及建立鏡像等任何使用。
