News (11.12.20): NYC Yellow Cab Industry on Edge, NYC Braces For COVID Second Wave, Fight Over Gig Workers Employee Classification Continues
Select news headlines for Thursday, November 12th 2020.
Pandemic Pushes N.Y.C. Cabbies to the Brink: ‘I Can’t Hold On’ (NY Times)
Revenue for the yellow cab industry is down 81% vs. the same period a year ago.
Only 3,527 yellow cabs and 575 green cabs operate daily, which is about 70% lower than it was in September 2019.
Uber and Lyft revenue is only down about 1/3 from last year. Bruce Schaller, a former city transportation official believes it’s due to taxis feeling like a “public place” vs. an Uber or Lyft.
Bhairavi Desai and the New York Taxi Workers Alliance are seeking a large debt restructuring, which calls for the following: lenders would agree to reduce the amount each borrower owed to $125,000 (i.e. hundreds of millions in debt forgiveness), repaid over 20 years at a 4% interest rate and in turn lenders would get a City guarantee on their debt (i.e. if a borrower defaults the City will make them whole on their loan).
The plan has the support of city comptroller and mayoral candidate Scott Stringer, but City Council speaker Corey Johnson and Mayor de Blasio seemed to question if the City had the funds to pay for the rescue package, which is will cost the City “a maximum” of $75 million according to the NY Times.
“People talk about the state of the taxi industry the same way they talk about the election: ‘This is the existential moment.’ But this time, it really is,” said Bhairavi Desai, who has represented drivers since the 1990s as the head of the Taxi Workers Alliance. “It really is.”
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New York City braces as COVID-19 infections spike (CBS Evening News)
City wide positive rate hit 2.6% today (3% threshold would trigger fully remote learning in NYC schools).
Staten Island has multiple neighborhoods at 5% COVID positivity rate.
Newark is currently enforcing a 9pm weekday curfew in certain parts of the City until the end of the month.
NY State and NYC will begin statewide restrictions tomorrow. All bars, restaurants and gyms must stop in-person service by 10pm.
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Fight Over Gig Workers Persists Despite Win for Uber and Lyft (NY Times)
Although Proposition 22 passing was a definite win for companies depending on gig economy workers, such as Uber, Lyft, Instacart and Doordash, there are still open questions and lawsuits around the rights of these workers.
“Going forward, you’ll see us more loudly advocate for new laws like Prop. 22” - Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber CEO
Some lawyers which represent gig workers may try to challenge the constitutionality of Prop 22 based on its overly restrictive 7/8 majority required to change the legislation. Others, such as AB5 author Lorena Gonzalez, believe many of the gig economy companies still need need to pay back wages.
“I do believe they are on the hook for years of past wage theft to the drivers,…Sure, Prop. 22 was enacted, but before that, they were breaking the law.” - Lorena Gonzalez
President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris, who didn’t publicly support Prop 22, would likely be amenable to labor unions, but their ultimately policy stance might be more nuanced and balanced (i.e. Ms. Harris brother-in-law is Uber’s chief legal officer).
It seems like there is a long way to go in the debate about gig worker status. That being said NYC remains and outlier, at least in terms of the rideshare industry, where a minimum wage standards exists (Seattle also recently adopted a similar approach).
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