A new report from a show worker advocacy group reveals at least 31 workers — mainly work for Uber, Lyft And DoorDash — was murdered on the job last year.
In case you lost it:
Found Gig Worker Rising 50 murders in 5 years last year, but the latest report suggests the problem is likely to be much more widespread than originally reported. Report, Murdered behind the wheel: An escalating crisis for app driversnote that people murdered tend to be people of color, with Uber being the most dangerous app to work with:
The applied job sector has some of the highest homicide cases compared to other sectors. When we compare the number of murdered app employees we have identified with the number of homicides reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), it seems likely that the app-based employment sector will among the top five areas where employees are murdered on the job if the BLS tracks homicides in the field.9 Of the workers we identified as murdered on the job, Uber had more workers killed on the job than any other app company last year. In 2022, 39 percent of workers murdered in the workplace we identified were driving or delivering for Uber.
The crimes committed by application drivers are not limited to murder, Of course. A report from the Center for Strategic Organization, a democratic coalition of three major service labor unions, found that 67% of app drivers have suffered some form of assault while on the job, from verbal to carjacking and crashing. Carjackings are very rampant publications tick start tracking phenomena in the US Sexual assaults are sadly popular too. Uber self-reported 998 assaults, including 141 rapes, CNN report. As with all sexual assaults, The actual number of victims is likely much higher.
The report makes the argument that, by classify application drivers as independent contractorsapplication companies are controlling the driver while not responsible for the risk:
Application staff salaries are often low and unpredictable. In a 2022 national survey, 64 percent of respondents said they earn less than $15 per hour.23 According to recent studies, some drivers earn much less, for example such as $5.49 after cost for carpool drivers in Denver and $6.20 for drivers in California.24 To make ends meet, many workers rely on incentives, such as such as bonuses and raises, requiring the completion of a specific number of trips or orders within a set time frame,25 pressuring them to work at any cost. The SOC report found that 57% of all drivers and 62% of drivers of color did not cancel a trip, despite feeling unsafe, because they feared losing their income.26 Deactivation—basically termination or unpaid suspension—leaving workers without access to the platform, suddenly unemployed and without income, often without meaningful recourse.
When the murder happened, Applications often don’t show up for the same reason: drivers are independent contractors, not employees. Uber, Lyft and apps like them are not responsible for their deaths or provide any compensation. ONE Wired The investigation found that apps rarely surfaced while families picked up the puzzle pieces:
Of the five families GWR spoke with for the report, all said they received no compensation from the gig platforms following the deaths of their loved ones. Because such matters are often resolved privately, it is difficult to know how many other workers have received compensation; however, GoFundMe fundraising for funeral expenses is a common feature of these cases.
“Each of these incidents is a horrific tragedy that no family should have suffered,” an Uber spokesperson wrote in a statement. “While every situation is different, we have programs in place to assist families, including insurance.” Uber says it invests heavily in new technologies to improve driver safety, including an emergency button in its 911 built-in app, a location-sharing feature called Follow My Ride, and programs. Newer tests like recording.
A Lyft spokesperson wrote: “We are committed to doing everything we can to help protect motorists from crime and will continue to invest in technology, policies and partnerships to help make Lyft what it is. as safe as possible.”
A spokesperson for DoorDash wrote that while negative incidents are “extremely rare,” Dashers can find support through safety features in the app or from the Safety and Trust team 24 their hours. They also get free occupational accident insurance during delivery.
The debate over the misclassification of gig workers often centers on the lack of protections available to independent contractors, such as guaranteed minimum wages and claims against harassment. sex. But little attention is paid to those who lost their lives on the job and the families who suffered. Because gig platforms don’t pay for the U.S. workers’ compensation system, their workers are not entitled to its benefits, including faultless wage replacement and benefits. survivor benefits to family members. Instead, gig workers are responsible for insuring their own injuries and deaths through a web of policies and supplements that can be difficult to understand, navigate, or even know. . This leaves many families and communities with a financial burden when a loved one is injured or killed on the job.
And when it comes to assisting police with their investigation of these deaths and assaults, well, you can forget that too. From precipice:
Soha Malik worked as a specialist for that group in 2020 and 2021. Her job was to resolve a backlog of hundreds of subpoenas, search warrants, and requests for court orders from the agency. law enforcement agencies, some of which involve sexual harassment and murder complaints, according to an ongoing legal termination She filed a lawsuit against Uber in San Francisco Superior Court earlier this year.
In court documents, Malik described a work environment where her managers encouraged her to “not support ‘any’ law enforcement because that would hinder her ability to reduce backlogs” and “not provide information that is ‘too difficult’ to obtain.” Instead, she was asked to “provide as little information as possible for the sake of publicity.” their job is to ‘protect the customer'”, which can refer to the driver or the driver.She also said she has been criticized for giving law enforcement “too much information” user”.
Working for profit does not mean sacrificing your life or dignity.
