The PayUp gig worker protections in Seattle are working. Two years ago, workers had to fight back against the app companies’ bad faith attempts to tear up these protections before the facts about their effectiveness were even in. Seattle now has the five big gig apps’ own data, and it shows what workers already knew: having basic workplace protections is good for everyone. We appreciate Seattle’s Office of Labor Standards for their analysis, and the commitment of the city council and the mayor’s office to ensure that policy decisions are grounded in facts and focused on measuring real world impacts.
The app companies can tweak algorithms anytime they want, and that can make gig work and pay unpredictable. That’s why workers joined together with Working Washington to win the PayUp gig worker protections that make work more stable, transparent, and fair. The apps’ own data shows that after the implementation of the ordinances, consumer demand not only stayed strong, but the number of job offers for gig workers actually went up. Just as importantly, the pay that gig workers receive also went up because of the gig worker protections, and continued to go up after their implementation, and that pay is now more reliable than when workers had to hope for high customer tips.
The data in the report vindicates what workers have been saying, and that report exists because workers didn’t just win the PayUp protections and then walk away. Workers also organized to ensure that the PayUp protections provided transparency by requiring the app companies to turn over data to the city. Since workers won the gig worker protections at the Seattle City Council, peer outreach and education have ensured that gig workers know our rights and can enforce them. As a result of enforcement, workers have won back tens of millions of dollars owed when the big apps have been caught violating worker protections.
The lesson workers, consumers, small businesses, and government officials should take from this is that raising labor standards is good policy, and it is good for all of us. When workers organize for stronger protections, and then lawmakers listen and, just as importantly, let the facts come in, we can make a fairer economy and stronger communities. We're ready to keep moving forward, making sure Seattle continues to lead the nation in worker-driven policies that make life better for Seattle's workers, consumers, and small businesses.
Worker power changes everything.
Working Washington