Most Ride-Hailing and Delivery Workers in San Francisco Not Eligible to Vote
Rideshare Drivers United reports that many
workers in their sector are not officially
considered eligible voters in California. They
would not have been able to vote on
Proposition 22 even though it directly affects
their lives as it contains an imposed
collective agreement detailing certain terms
of their employment.
The following executive summary is from a
recent study of ride-hailing and delivery
workers in San Francisco.
On-Demand and On-the-Edge: Ride Hailing and
Delivery Workers in San Francisco,
Chris Benner, PhD, October 8, 2020
Executive Summary
The coronavirus crisis has made visible a range
of essential workers -- grocery store workers,
cleaning staff, home health aides and others --
who in normal times are often ignored or taken
for granted. One category of these essential
workers that has gained particular attention in
this moment are on-demand meal and grocery
delivery workers. Working for well-known
companies like DoorDash, GrubHub and Instacart,
these workers are delivering essential food and
other supplies to people staying at home in the
midst of the shelter-in-place orders. The jump
in demand for these services highlights how
important these on-demand services are in the
midst of our collective efforts to maintain
physical distancing to limit the spread of
COVID-19.
Yet these on-demand food delivery workers,
along with on-demand ride-hailing workers who
fill a similar role in providing transportation
services to other essential workers right now,
are tremendously vulnerable. In providing these
services, both before and during the
shelter-in-place orders, they are vulnerable
both to contracting and spreading the
coronavirus. Their health vulnerability
underscores their financial vulnerability, as
prior to the virus outbreak, they were already
struggling to make ends meet. Being classified
by the on-demand platform companies as
independent contractors, they are also
particularly susceptible to not having health
insurance, paid sick leave, or access to
unemployment benefits.
In May, we released the results of a unique,
in-person representative survey of ride-hailing
and food delivery workers that we conducted and
then suspended when the pandemic hit, as well as
a follow-up online survey. The central findings
were simple and clear -- for a large portion of
this workforce, despite this being full-time
work, they were financially vulnerable before
the outbreak, and the crisis is pushing many of
them to the brink.
Now we have new data from a second in-person
representative survey we conducted in July and
August, focusing on food and grocery delivery
workers from three apps: DoorDash (114 surveys
completed), Instacart (114) and Amazon Fresh
(39).
One note about methodology. Both surveys were
designed to be representative samples of
on-demand work being done in the city, not of
all on-demand workers. This is important.
Representative samples of all people who do
some work for on-demand app companies show many
people working for short periods of time, or
earning only a small portion of their earnings
from this type of work. But we developed two
representative samples based on the actual work
being done in the city, which we believe is a
better basis for understanding labour practices
and developing labour market policy. Our
understanding is that this is the first study of
its kind done anywhere in the United States at
this scale.
The key findings emerging from the new summer
survey focused on DoorDash, Instacart and Amazon
Fresh include the following:
Highly Diverse Workforce
As with the winter survey, we found that this
workforce is highly racially and ethnically
diverse:
- 76 per cent of those surveyed are people of
colour, and 39 per cent immigrants.
- Women and non-gender binary people perform 39
per cent of the food and grocery delivery work,
including a slight majority of Instacart work.
Our survey of ride-hailing workers was much more
male-dominated.
Financially Struggling
All three surveys we've conducted of this
workforce continue to reveal how they are
struggling to make ends meet. According to the
latest survey:
- One-quarter of this workforce is reliant on
some form of public assistance, including 35 per
cent of Amazon Fresh and 33 per cent of DoorDash
workers. This public assistance includes
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF),
food stamps, housing vouchers, Supplemental
Security Income or the Supplemental Nutrition
Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).
- One-fifth of these food and grocery delivery
workers are on food stamps.
- 14 per cent do not have health insurance.
Not a Gig for Most People
As with our winter survey, our latest survey
continues to reveal that app-based delivery work
is largely being performed by full time workers.
- 71 per cent obtain at least three-quarters of
their monthly income from platform work, and 57
per cent rely entirely on platform work for
their monthly income.
- Workers averaged 32 hours per week working
for all the apps, and 30 hours per week for the
app they were surveyed on. Instacart workers
were more likely to work longer hours.
- Nearly one-third are supporting children
through their platform work.
- While there was more longevity among
ride-hailing and food delivery workers prior to
COVID, our latest survey found that 70 per cent
of food and grocery delivery workers have worked
on the apps for less than six months.
Earnings from App-Based Work Are Low
Our latest survey continues to find that after
expenses, earnings from app-based delivery work
are very low.
- While workers average $450 from this work,
after adjusting for mileage expenses, they
average only $270 per week.
- Instacart workers had the highest average
weekly earnings of the apps surveyed ($500); yet
after expenses, those earnings dropped below the
other apps to just $235 per week.
- Nearly one third of workers' time spent
performing food and grocery delivery work is
unpaid time (e.g. driving to the pick-up
location, waiting for orders).
- 18 per cent of DoorDash workers earned an
estimated $0 after deducting mileage expenses
(calculated using Internal Revenue Service
mileage reimbursement rate of $.575 cents per
mile and the survey respondents' estimated
weekly mileage).
Platform Companies Structure Job
Opportunities
Some of the survey findings point to platforms
managing job opportunities in ways that would
likely support claims that these workers are
employees under the "ABC" test codified in
California Assembly Bill 5.
- When workers decline certain job offers, 56
per cent are not offered work for a period of
time, including 60 per cent from Amazon Fresh,
63 per cent of DoorDash, and 51 per cent of
Instacart.
- 25 per cent of DoorDash workers were offered
fewer bonuses and incentives after declining
work.
- 17 per cent of workers were threatened with
deactivation by those apps.
Bicycle Delivery a
Popular but Dangerous Mode of Travel
- More than a quarter of this workforce uses a
bicycle as their primary mode of travel for
deliveries.
- 70 per cent feel unsafe delivering food this
way, and almost one-third stated that they had
felt physically threatened while delivering food
on a bike.
Summary and Policy Implications of Combined
Results from Winter and Summer 2020 Surveys
- On-demand ride-hailing and delivery work in
San Francisco is performed predominantly by
people for whom it is close to full-time work
and their primary source of income.
- This is a highly diverse workforce, with
majority people of colour and a significant
immigrant population. Women also comprise a
large percentage of food and grocery delivery
workers.
- This workforce struggles to make ends meet,
and their circumstances have been made
significantly worse by the COVID-19 crisis.
- When expenses and both unpaid and paid work
time are fully accounted for, a substantial
portion of this workforce are estimated to make
less than the equivalent of San Francisco's
minimum wage (currently $15.59 hour).
- Many also don't receive other benefits they
would be entitled to under San Francisco law if
the companies were classifying them as
employees.
- Many are also not currently being adequately
supported during the COVID-19 crisis, either by
the app-based companies they work for, or by
public policies.
- These findings underscore the importance of
policy makers ensuring that existing city and
state employment laws are enforced for this
workforce, and finding new ways to address the
economic, safety and health, and public health
concerns facing this critical workforce.
Download the full survey results here.
Download October 2020 Supplemental Survey of
Delivery Drivers here.
To read the UC Santa Cruz News Press Release, click
here.
This article was published in
Number 82 - December 3, 2020
Article Link:
Most Ride-Hailing and Delivery Workers in San Francisco Not Eligible to Vote
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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