Posts tagged ride share
It’s a Gloomy Outlook for Jobs Under Biden. Here’s the Formula to Change That.
May 19, 2023 // For the sake of personal and societal happiness, for the sake of the financial well-being of American families, for the sake of solving America’s dire fiscal situation, and for the sake of preserving the foundation of American society, policymakers need to recognize the value and rewards of work. By protecting individuals’ rights to pursue the type of work and compensation that is best for them, expanding alternative education and job-training opportunities, and not forcing workers into unions, policymakers can expand opportunities for people to achieve meaningful and rewarding work. Work truly affects every aspect of American life. Our economy, our personal financial and physical well-being, our nation’s fiscal sustainability, and even our national security depend on it.
Opinion: Julie Su Keeps Failing Up, and Biden Doesn’t Care
April 10, 2023 // How in the world did Julie Su get nominated to run the federal Department of Labor? Su is a former civil rights attorney, former head of the California Department of Labor under Gov. Gavin Newsom, and head of California’s Department of Labor Standards Enforcement under former Gov. Jerry Brown. She was deputy director of the federal DOL and now is acting director as she awaits a tough Senate confirmation in the next few months. I had immediately thought that the Peter Principle might explain it. Coined by Canadian sociologist Laurence Peter in his 1968 book of the same name, it postulates that the tendency in all organizations is for “every employee to rise in the hierarchy through promotion until they reach a level of respective incompetence,” as Investopedia put it. But that surely can’t explain Su, who already reached that level in her previous employment. Investopedia also mentioned the Dilbert Principle, named after the comic strip: that big organizations promote people precisely because of their incompetence. In other words, they promote them to get them out of the way. Su was California’s top labor official and ultimately responsible for the Employment Development Department when a major scandal rocked that unemployment insurance–disbursing bureau. “California has given away at least $20 billion to criminals in the form of fraudulent unemployment benefits, state officials said Monday, confirming a number smaller than originally feared but one that still accounts for more than 11 percent of all benefits paid since the start of the pandemic,” according to a 2021 Los Angeles Times report.
Uber and Lyft drivers strike over pay at Denver International Airport
November 28, 2022 // Car horns were blazing as members of Colorado Independent Drivers United, a union representing Uber, Lyft, and Doordash drivers, held a four-hour strike at Denver International Airport Saturday. The drivers also shut off their apps during that period. It is unclear how much of an impact the strike had on travelers looking for rides out of DIA. Uber stated that it did not see an impact on service at the airport. CIDU posted on Twitter that it had “near-total participation” from drivers. Transportation Network Companies (TNC) Act of 2014, Driver Advisory Council,
If You Like Your Uber, Can You Keep Your Uber?
October 14, 2022 // Democratic administrations favor having fewer independent contractors and a standardized set of benefits. This gives more power to unions to organize workers. If Uber were the employer of all drivers, a union could ask Uber to support unionizing the labor force. It is practically impossible to organize independent contractors. Public sector unions made 90 percent of their contributions to Democratic candidates in the 2020 election cycle, according to OpenSecrets.com. With the share of wage and salary workers who belong to unions declining from 20 percent in 1983 to 10 percent in 2021, unions are under pressure to recruit more members to fund union officials’ salaries and member pension plans.