Strikes were once the purview of unions and employees, but gig workers are starting to get in on the game.
Gig workers have a complex relationship with their employers, as they are technically independent contractors rather than actual employees. Nevertheless, Instacart workers are presently planning the largest gig strike in history.
The results of this strike could have consequences for both gig workers and shopping delivery services.
A Mass Strike Planned for Monday by the Gig Workers Collective
On Monday, March 30th, it’s expected that Instacart employees throughout the world will go on strike. How many workers will actually go on strike is another question, especially as many of them are independent workers and newly hired. Since Instacart doesn’t have a physical location, the strike will involve fewer picket lines, and more people simply opting to stay home.
Instacart workers have a list of complaints, but foremost is the fact that shoppers on the front lines are not getting adequate protection. During the wake of the coronavirus, many people started shopping solely through gig workers rather than going to grocery stores themselves. Instacart workers are exposing themselves to potential disease when they shop, but have not yet received concessions from Instacart.
Their demands include:
- A stipend for purchasing PPE and other sanitization equipment.
- Hazard pay for working during the coronavirus.
- Expansion of already existing pay to those affected by coronavirus.
While Instacart has not provided PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) such as face masks, it has taken action to hire 100,000 more workers. It expects to hire 300,000 more workers in full to handle the increase in volume. This has led to concerns that the company is not taking care of the workers it is moving to hire. Potentially, this could be disastrous if its higher volume workers become carriers of the coronavirus.
Detractors Question the Validity of the Strike
The Instacart strike hasn’t gone without criticism. Detractors point out that Instacart workers aren’t employees, but are instead working on a gig-by-gig basis. While asking for PPE makes sense on many levels, the world is currently in a state where healthcare facilities are not able to operate with adequate PPE, and therefore these requests could be impossible to fulfill. Further, since Instacart employees are independent contractors, others argue that Instacart has a virtually unlimited well of workers to pull from. Thus, the strike could be entirely ineffective.
On the other hand, Instacart has taken action to reduce contact during its deliveries, and started to provide pay for employees or workers who are diagnosed with COVID-19.
Gig work is opening new questions regarding employer and employee relationships. In California, the entire premise of gig work has been called into question, as most independent contractors are still treated like employees—but without the benefits. The Instacart strike will show whether gig workers are even able to organize effectively, and whether they will be able to maintain a strike in an era when acquiring new workers is so trivial.
