March 26, 2019
The NYT had a good piece on efforts to have states classify gig workers, like Uber drivers, as independent contractors. The piece describes how Tusk Holdings, a lobbying firm, has been circumventing state legislatures and trying to get state agencies to make the determination that gig workers are contractors.
When explaining the problem with the independent contractor classification, the piece understated the anti-trust issue involved. It told readers:
“Uber and Lyft also determine pay rates for drivers, something independent contractors typically decide.”
It is not just a practice that independent contractors decide their own pay rates, it is the law. If they combined to set pay scales they would likely be violating anti-trust laws which prevent such collusion. If we accept their claim that their drivers are independent contractors, Uber, Lyft, and other gig economy employers are effectively engineering the sort of collusion that is prohibited by anti-trust law. Uber currently is facing lawsuits for exactly this reason.
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