Opinion | Why Do British Uber Drivers Deserve Better Benefits?

“You don’t have to choose between employee rights and a flexible work schedule,” said William Gould, a Stanford University law professor and former chairman of the National Labor Relations Board. “What happened in the U.K. is an opportunity to address this at the federal level.”

Following the passage of Prop 22 in California, lawmakers in at least a handful of states from Utah to Massachusetts are mulling new regulatory frameworks for gig workers that could lead to a patchwork of rules and worker rights that will be difficult to disentangle without federal legislation. Uber wants laws similar to Prop 22 in Canada and across Europe, and it has been lobbying multiple statehouses and labor unions for look-alike legislation.

Already, the impact of Prop 22 is being felt. The law provides minimal health benefits to a subset of workers and wage guarantees only for the times when they are fetching or driving passengers or food. The grocer Albertsons said it was replacing hundreds of employed delivery workers with less-expensive DoorDash drivers.

When the pandemic settled in, many drivers realized they had no safety net, as rides slowed to a trickle and they were made to appeal to the federal or state government for unemployment benefits, funds that gig companies don’t pay into. (By one estimate, Uber and Lyft saved more than $400 million in California alone over a five-year period by eschewing the payments.)

Uber wants Prop 22’s wage structure to apply in Britain, too, meaning drivers wouldn’t be paid for time when they are waiting for a ride. That appears to run afoul of the British court, however, which ruled that wait times should be included.

“Expanding benefits for all gig workers while protecting their flexibility would look different in different places,” said an Uber spokeswoman. “It’s not for Uber to define what is right for everywhere.”

Gig workers may have an ally in President Biden, who has indicated he is sympathetic to the laborers. Along with Vice President Kamala Harris, he urged Californians to reject Prop 22. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg attended a wage rally outside Uber headquarters as a presidential candidate in 2019, and, as Boston’s mayor, Biden’s labor secretary nominee, Marty Walsh, bemoaned his lack of regulatory authority over Uber and Lyft.

Gig companies have drawn billions in venture capital funding to help underwrite a system that is a race to the bottom for labor protections. But it doesn’t have to be that way. While millions of Americans worked from home amid shelter-in-place orders, drivers proved themselves essential by delivering prepared meals, groceries and other goods.

They deserve the opportunity to make financial headway.