Tuesday, May 21

Tag: drivers

Gig Drivers Strive For A Safer Workplace
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IN OTHER NEWS

Gig Drivers Strive For A Safer Workplace

The gig economy provides no safety net for its workers, but some activists are hoping to change that. Alyssa Lewis lost her 26-year-old sister, Bella Ann (Isabella) Lewis, in 2021. Bella had worked as a Lyft driver for two years, and then one day was shot by one of her customers in Garland, Texas. Surveillance cameras showed the passenger then exited the car, walked over to the driver’s side, pulled Alyssa’s sister out from the driver’s seat, got in, and then drove the car over her. She later died from the gunshot wound. Alyssa had tried contacting her sister’s employer to see what benefits, if any, their family was entitled to. “From Lyft, there was never any response,” she said. “To this day, nobody has ever tried to reach out to us to give us condolences or anything like that. There...
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Politically Conservative Airbnb Hosts, Uber Drivers And Waiters Get Slightly Higher Ratings And Tips
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Politically Conservative Airbnb Hosts, Uber Drivers And Waiters Get Slightly Higher Ratings And Tips

BUSINESS   The big idea Customers give higher ratings and tips to politically conservative Airbnb hosts, Uber drivers and waiters than to ones with more liberal leanings, according to new peer-reviewed research I co-authored. That’s despite evidence we found that consumers may actually expect the opposite. To reach the first conclusion, a colleague and I conducted four different studies. The first involved poring over about 50,000 Airbnb listings in 16 U.S. cities. We examined average ratings and compared them with the percentage of Republican voters in the city, based on recent elections. We found that Airbnb hosts in cities with a greater share of Republican voters tended to have higher ratings. Specifically, an increase of one percentage point in a city’s proportion of Republican...
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Drivers Struggle To Enforce Mask Mandates On Public Transit
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Drivers Struggle To Enforce Mask Mandates On Public Transit

Many U.S. metropolitan areas report that at least 90% of public transit passengers wear masks while on buses to prevent the spread of coronavirus. However, some passengers still wear their masks incorrectly. And some refuse to wear them at all, threatening the health and safety of others on board. Staff at many transit systems have already faced the difficult task of enforcing passenger compliance with local and state mask mandates. Now, staff and passengers of public transit systems must also comply with federal orders, issued in January and February. Passengers who violate the federal mask orders may face penalties of US$250 for a first offense and up to $1,500 for repeat offenses. In addition to driving, public transit drivers are now responsible for preventing unmasked passengers ...
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Uber And Lyft Drivers Are ‘Contractors’ California Voters Decide As Gig Workers Continue Search For A Livable Wage
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BUSINESS

Uber And Lyft Drivers Are ‘Contractors’ California Voters Decide As Gig Workers Continue Search For A Livable Wage

Uber, TaskRabbit and other ride-hailing and delivery service companies in California can keep classifying their workers as independent contractors rather than employees after California voters approved a measure known as Proposition 22, according to the state’s still-unofficial tally. The fundamental question of whether Uber drivers and similar workers should be considered employees or contractors has been debated and litigated for years now. The issue is often framed, however inaccurately, as a tradeoff between the flexibility that comes with being independent against the higher incomes and benefits that employees tend to get. Uber and other supporters of Proposition 22 have argued the measure would provide both flexibility and some employeelike benefits, such as a guaranteed minimum wa...
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