U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh sent massive ripples through the “gig economy” last week by stating that he believes gig workers should be classified as employees instead of independent contractors “in a lot of cases.”
What happens next could mean upheaval for the multibillion-dollar companies and the tens of millions of workers on which they depend. Labor leaders and academics have advocated for interpreting federal law in favor of workers who they say have been misclassified for too long, while Walsh told Reuters he will be holding talks with gig companies as he considers the issue.
Uber Technologies Inc. DoorDash Inc. and the App-Based Work Alliance stated last week that they “look forward” to working with Walsh, but the rest of their statements signaled their positions loud and clear: They plan to keep fighting to develop new laws tailored to their business model, after succeeding in their California effort.
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