• Protect independent contractors advertising on Thumbtack from Unfair Deactivations
    Someone with 4 1/2 to 5 star reviews with impeccable customer reviews that has been on the site for many years. Should not face deactivation out of the blue for a lone client complaint/issue.
    5 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Jenny G.
  • Uber Drivers Demand Safety on The Job, Higher Wages & an End to Unfair Terminations
    Uber marked a record $31.8 billion in revenue in 2022 and has the resources to make these changes. Uber is responsible for the dangerous conditions we are facing on the job, and Uber is responsible for the policies that make it hard to protect ourselves from these conditions. According to “Driving Danger,” a new report from the Strategic Organizing Center, nearly three quarters of Black, indigenous and people of color driving rideshare and responding to a national survey reported that they accepted rides they sensed were potentially dangerous to them for fear of being deactivated for bad customer reviews (2). Uber undermines our safety when they penalize us for declining rides we feel could put us at risk. By keeping our pay low, Uber forces us to work long hours, taking ride after ride, just to make ends meet. By paying us more for our time and our labor, Uber can make it easier to protect ourselves on the job, and make the risks we face everyday feel more worth taking. Uber’s policies are hurting drivers and passengers alike. When drivers have better protections, riders will be safer, too. When drivers know what we earn from each drive, riders will know what cut Uber is taking from each drive. (1) - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/08/business/uber-revenue.html (2) - https://thesoc.org/what-we-do/driving-danger/ ---- Los conductores de Uber demandan seguridad en el trabajo, sueldos más altos y un final a los despidos injustos Mientras Uber se prepara para celebrar un récord de ganancias en su reunión anual de accionistas del 20231, conductores de viaje compartido en el país se están uniendo para actuar directamente y demandar que Uber mejore la seguridad al terminar con los despidos injustos de conductores y pagando a los conductores una tarifa justa por nuestro trabajo. Mientras nosotros luchamos para sobrevivir, estamos siendo amenazados, asaltados, robados o peor. Uber nos fuerza a tomar los riesgos y costos involucrados en el trabajo del viaje compartido. Nosotros pagamos por nuestros autos, gasolina, teléfonos, mantenimientos y reparaciones y la mayoría de los conductores que son heridos en el trabajo deben cubrir todos sus gastos médicos de sus propios bolsillos. Mientras tanto, Uber no ha tomado suficientes medidas para mantenernos seguros mientras hacemos nuestros trabajos. Los bajos sueldos y la constante amenaza de despido nos empujan a trabajar en condiciones de trabajo inseguras. Uber puede desactivar nuestras cuentas, despidiéndonos de inmediato, según las quejas infundadas de los clientes o por ser selectivos al momento de aceptar viajes. La posibilidad de perder nuestros trabajos, con pocos recursos para recuperarlos, nos hacen aceptar viajes que consideramos inseguros y servir a pasajeros que pueden ponernos en riesgo para poder mantener a nuestras familias. Al mismo tiempo, muchos de nosotros vemos que Uber está tomando una porción cada vez más grande de nuestras tarifas. Muchos de nosotros estamos ganando sueldos mucho menores de los mínimos locales y estatales e incluso menores a un sueldo apto para vivir, mientras que Uber está reportando ganancias récord. Sin importar dónde vivimos o dónde conducimos, todos estamos enfrentando los mismos problemas que Uber podría resolver hoy, si quisiera hacerlo. Por eso estamos demandando lo siguiente: -Sueldos aumentados para todos los conductores y un límite en la parte de ganancias de Uber de nuestras tarifas. -Transparencia sobre la compensación y cuánto de nuestras tarifas Uber se está quedando. -Un proceso de despido “justo” que nos dé el derecho de saber por qué estamos sufriendo la desactivación y el derecho a un proceso de apelación justo y consistente. -Una actualización de las políticas de Uber para prevenir que los pasajeros utilicen nombres falsos e imposibles de rastrear y dar a los conductores el derecho a cancelar o rechazar viajes cuando nos sentimos inseguros, sin castigo alguno. Uber registró un récord de $31.8 billones de dólares en ingresos en el 2022 y tiene los recursos para realizar estos cambios. Uber es responsable por las condiciones peligrosas que estamos enfrentando en el trabajo y Uber es responsable por las políticas que dificultan protegernos a nosotros mismos de estas condiciones. Según “Driving Danger”, un nuevo reporte de Strategic Organizing Center, casi tres cuartos de afroamericanos, indígenas o personas de color conduciendo en viajes compartidos y que respondieron a una encuesta nacional, reportaron que aceptaron viajes que sintieron que eran potencialmente peligrosos para ellos por temor a ser desactivados por malas reseñas de los clientes2. Uber socava nuestra seguridad cuando nos penaliza por rechazar viajes que sentimos que pueden ponernos en riesgo. Al mantener baja nuestra paga, Uber nos fuerza a trabajar largas horas, tomando viaje tras viaje, solo para poder sobrevivir. Al pagarnos más por nuestro tiempo y nuestro trabajo, Uber facilitaría que pudiéramos protegernos a nosotros mismos en el trabajo y haría que valiera más la pena enfrentar los riesgos que enfrentamos a diario. Las políticas de Uber están lastimando a los conductores y a los pasajeros. Cuando los conductores tengan mejor protección, los pasajeros también estarán más seguros. Cuando los conductores sepan lo que ganamos de cada viaje, los pasajeros sabrán la parte que se lleva Uber de cada viaje.
    4,204 of 5,000 Signatures
    Created by PowerSwitch Action
  • Shipt’s app glitches hurt all shoppers and violates CA’s Protect App-Based Drivers & Services Act
    Shipt’s platform glitches take time and money away from shoppers. Since Shipt has fully implemented The California Protect App-Based Drivers and Services act on it’s platform, California Shipt shoppers have been timed out erroneously from the platform due to an app glitch and shoppers have also reported to Shipt that they are not getting an accurate guaranteed minimum due to the current app glitch. In compliance with California’s Protect App-Based Drivers and Services Act, Shipt created a step on it’s platform requiring shoppers to swipe “Head to Store” when doing so as a way for Shipt to record a shoppers engaged time and miles. After an app update on Oct 20, 2022, shoppers began to notice an issue with the head to store time in the app. For delivery only orders, the head to store time changes by the minute and for Shop and Deliver orders the app resets, forcing shoppers to re-swipe Head to Store. In some cases, shoppers who have already started shopping, are forced to re-swipe and rescan the barcodes for all the items already shopped. This would also mean all the time spent shopping an order and miles driven to the store would not be accurate. According to California’s Protect App-Based Drivers and Services Act, “ride-share and delivery drivers deserve economic security.” Pursuant to this act, a network company shall ensure a guaranteed minimum for each app-based driver that cannot be reduced and shall apply for all engaged time spent completing that rideshare request or delivery request. The act defines “engaged miles” as all miles driven during engaged time and “engaged time” is defined as the period of time, as recorded in a network company’s online-enabled application or platform, from when an app-based driver accepts a rideshare request or delivery request to when the app-based driver completes that rideshare request or delivery request. Due to the nature in which Shipt offers its shoppers orders, the platform has created a swipe function to record its shoppers engaged time, however the app’s current glitch prevents Shipt from accurately recording shoppers engaged time and miles. Shoppers have reported the timed out app glitch to Shipt for over a year, and the current “Head to Store” app glitch to Shipt but Shipt has not given any notice to California shoppers indicating that it is aware of the problem nor have California shoppers received any reassurance that any long standing app issues are being addressed. These app glitches are in breach of California’s Protect App-Based Drivers and Services Act, which was overwhelmingly approved by California voters in 2020. Shipt states that it’s the drivers responsibility to swipe head to store when doing so in order for Shipt to record a shoppers engaged time and miles, but what recourse do shoppers have when shoppers have completed this step and are forced to do it again, erasing initial engaged time and miles?
    619 of 800 Signatures
    Created by Concerned Shipt Shoppers
  • App Workers Demand Freedom and Fair Wages
    Real freedom is about more than making a living while hoping today is a good one; it's also about having the freedom to negotiate a fair return on our work, affordable health care and good benefits we can rely on, and paid time off to care for loved ones and retire in dignity. By standing together across race and place, we can ensure working people have the freedom to join together in union and live a good life, no exceptions.
    4,178 of 5,000 Signatures
    Created by PowerSwitch Action
  • Gig Workers Demand Safety, Transparency and a Living Wage
    Chicago drivers like our work - but for too long, greedy corporations have been driving down pay while charging customers higher fares and skimming more off of the top of the fares we earn. Every day, we put our lives and our vehicles on the line to provide a service our customers depend upon. We deserve the ability to earn a predictable and consistent income, and to know that the companies we work with are doing everything in their power to keep us safe.
    187 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Lori Simmons
  • Uber Drivers Demand Our Fair Share
    I know that other drivers will join in, because we speak on various platforms and are all in agreement! Rideshare companies need to pay their drivers more money in order for us to stay on the road! A lot of us drivers can get other jobs, but there are some that have physical disabilities and home situation‘s, which prevent them from doing the same! My best friend has been driving with Uber for almost 6 years and she’s in a wheelchair. This job provides her with an income, because she is able to put her wheelchair in the trunk of her vehicle and drive. She is an awesome human being and it’s loved by all of her riders! She, and all other drivers, deserve a job that pays us fairly.
    5,065 of 6,000 Signatures
    Created by Jude Wolfe
  • A Call for Travel Nurses to Negotiate against Unfair Practices
    Corporate will never grant these requests out of generosity, and agencies will not push for them unless we demand that they do. To bring about these changes, we need to negotiate as a collective-- effectively “boycotting" certain contracts, and being vocal with our recruiters about what we will not tolerate. Without this very basic organization, we will always be undercutting each other, always playing into the interests of the hospital owners and employers; but, Organized, we can make our market as pro-nurse as possible.
    43 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Noah Archer
  • Etsy: Stand for Small Businesses, Not Corporate Profits.
    Etsy was founded with a vision of "keeping commerce human" by "democratizing access to entrepreneurship." As a result, people who have been marginalized in traditional retail economies -- women, people of color, LGBTQ people, neurodivergent people, etc. -- make up a significant proportion of Etsy's sellers. For many of us, Etsy makes up our main source of income. But as Etsy has strayed further and further from its founding vision over the years, what began as an experiment in marketplace democracy has come to resemble a dictatorial relationship between a faceless tech empire and millions of exploited, majority-women craftspeople. Unlike employees or tenants in traditional retail marketplace settings, Etsy can fire or evict us at any time, for any reason, with no recourse. Our fees (the rent we pay as tenants of Etsy's marketplace) can be unilaterally raised any time Etsy feels like it. Etsy can and does withhold payments to sellers for months at a time, without any process for appealing or speaking with a representative of the company. Even though it's the hard work of Etsy's sellers who've made it the massively successful company it is today, we have fewer rights and less of a voice in our workplaces than ever. It doesn't need to be this way! Etsy can be a successful and profitable company while still treating its sellers fairly and ethically. Etsy can be the force for good it initially set out to be. And together, Etsy sellers and the buyers who support us can show hyper-exploited platform workers everywhere that there's a better way, if we unite in solidarity and work together to achieve it!
    87,041 of 100,000 Signatures
    Created by Kristi Cassidy Picture
  • Classify Samsung US Sales Experts As Employees
    This is a human rights issue. There are LGBTQ+ individuals who rely on Samsung US and iAdvize as the only place who will accept them. These people need to be protected. There are single parents who rely on Samsung US and iAdvize as their sole source of income. These people need to be protected. There are disabled individuals who rely on Samsung US and iAdvize as the only job that will allow them the flexibility they need. These people need to be protected. There are college students and dropouts who rely on Samsung US and iAdvize as the only job that will allow them to work from home or their dorm. These people need to be protected. We are human beings who just want to help customers pick out a new phone, television, refrigerator, or laptop. But we'd also like to be treated with respect and be paid a living wage while doing it. We don't want something radical, we want something equitable.
    48 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Samsung Experts
  • END THE HARM OF MASS REJECTIONS
    Workers behind AI, even invisible, still matter. Our stories have been neglected for years and it's our time to feel safer while doing our work in an unbalanced platform that only protects requester's voices. A victory for us is a victory for all workers. Petition FAQ 1. You may sign the petition with your first name and last initial. Full name is not required. 2. Working for Mturk and working on Mturk are the same thing for our purposes. 3. Email addresses will not be publicly displayed.
    2,515 of 3,000 Signatures
    Created by Turkopticon (TO)
  • Gig Workers Demand A Fair Deactivation Process
    People working in the gig economy, such as drivers for transportation giants like Uber and Lyft, face many challenges. They don’t receive any employee benefits or protections, and the work they do is also inherently dangerous. Drivers lose their lives in carjacking incidents, they have a high likelihood of being in an accident due to long hours on the road and they are often targeted by municipalities for expensive tickets. To add insult to injury, some of the most loyal, hardworking drivers can often find themselves out of a job due to unverified customer complaints. At the moment, if a customer complains about a driver to Uber or Lyft, even if there is no evidence that the claim is valid, drivers can be deactivated and have no ability to appeal or defend themselves against the allegation. Riders are incentivized to complain as they receive discounts if they say their driver did something wrong. There is no accountability or transparency in how these complaints are handled by the companies. This places thousands of workers and their families in financial hardship. Nationally, about 70% of Uber and Lyft drivers are BIPOC or immigrants, and poor labor standards further harm these already vulnerable populations, even while the City of Chicago and gig companies publicly claim to be working to improve conditions for these very people. These workers keep our city running every day, and made Uber and Lyft executives rich with their labor; they deserve a voice! Manminder Sethi, one of the original drivers in Milwaukee Wisconsin, started driving on Uber black first and later joined Uber X nearly 7 years ago. He had over 19000 rides and a rating of 4.93 when he was suddenly deactivated. When he tried to find out why, he was given reasons that ranged from unsafe driving to sexual harassment. Manminder has had no tickets related to unsafe driving, and he offered to provide the dash cam footage for the ride in question but Uber never responded to his requests. Chicago driver Mehrez Sahli, another long-time driver on the platform, started working with Uber Taxi first for a year or two, then also moved on to Uber X. He had 5,710 trips over 3.5 years on Uber X and a rating of 4.94 when he was suddenly deactivated. When he went to the Uber hub to ask why, he was told he was “manipulating” surge pricing by moving from a low surge area to a high surge area before accepting a ride. As this is the way the app is intended to work (surge pay is incentive to drive from a less busy area to a busy area) it is still unclear what the real reason for the deactivation was. However, in Mehrez’s case, not only was he deactivated from Uber, but Uber then also communicated something to the City of Chicago who then communicated that information to Lyft and he was summarily dismissed from Lyft as well. Typically, this is the process that would be followed if a driver were being deactivated for a serious offence such as assault or intoxication on the job, yet no such allegation has ever been communicated to Mehrez. Maurice Clark of Chicago was accused of falling asleep behind the wheel and was deactivated from Lyft with a driver rating of 4.98 and 5,734 rides under his belt. He has never had a ticket or been in an accident in relation to unsafe driving, and the details of the ride have been withheld from him. He was told by Lyft in an email that he was not permitted to “appeal or protest” the decision. Another Chicago driver, Hiep Can Tran, was deactivated from Uber due to an unspecified customer complaint after he completed 6,034 trips. He has called Uber repeatedly and visited the Uber hub but has never been told the details of the complaint. Hiep was supporting his small children using the money he made driving Uber and losing his income suddenly was a major financial hardship for him. He has been able to start driving for Lyft, but he has not been earning as much and still wants to know why he was deactivated from Uber. He maintains a 4.99 driver rating on Lyft at this time and has no tickets or accidents on his driving record. JC Muhammad of Chicago was deactivated due to a customer complaining that he was speeding after completing 3035 trips. He has received no tickets or warnings due to speed, and in fact believes that the complaint was made sarcastically as he typically drives the speed limit or under. Uber has offered no proof of the violation and again has denied JC the ability to defend himself or provide proof to the contrary.
    4,296 of 5,000 Signatures
    Created by Lori Simmons
  • Gig Workers Demand Occupational Death Benefits
    Over the course of the last year, gig workers have risked our health, our lives, and the safety of our families to provide essential services to our communities. Gig workers are intentionally misclassified as independent contractors by our employers, not just to cheat us out of earning minimum wage, but also to skip the tab for workers’ compensation, sick pay, employer-sponsored healthcare, paid family leave, and unemployment insurance. Throughout the pandemic, while risking our health, and our lives, gig companies (Uber, Lyft, Instacart, DoorDash and Postmates) spent an astonishing $205,000,000 to subvert our rights to proper classification, and they won. During a pandemic in which our labor was deemed essential, we were simultaneously stripped of even the most basic rights of employment. We've included stories of gig workers that lost their lives while working, leaving their families unprotected and utterly vulnerable. Lynn Murray, 62, was viciously gunned down in the mass shooting at King Soopers in Boulder, Colorado. https://www.denverpost.com/2021/03/23/boulder-shooting-victim-lynn-murray/. According to the Denver Post, Lynn, a beloved wife, and mother of two, was a former photo director who previously worked for big-name magazines like Glamour, Marie Claire, and Cosmopolitan. In her retirement, she was a gig worker who shopped for Instacart. She was brutally murdered while filling an Instacart order. Mohammad Anwar, 66, was fatally attacked in Washington, D.C. Mohammad was a father of three and grandfather of four and was violently murdered while delivering an order for UberEats. https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/two-girls-13-and-15-used-stun-gun-in-fatal-armed-carjacking-near-nationals-park-police-say/2617947/  Ryan Munsie Graham, 31, was murdered while delivering for UberEats in Haltom City, Texas. Ryan left behind a husband and three small children. https://kvia.com/news/texas/2021/01/30/texas-mom-of-3-working-side-job-as-uber-eats-driver-allegedly-killed-by-14-year-old-boys/ Timothy Allen, 65, murdered while delivering packages for Amazon Flex in West Dallas, Texas. Timothy was an extremely talented musician. https://www.fox4news.com/news/trackdown-help-identify-persons-of-interest-in-timothy-allens-murder Yusuf Ozgur, 56, was a treasured husband and father of two. Yusuf was murdered while picking up an order for DoorDash in Manassas, Virginia. https://people.com/crime/doordash-delivery-man-killed-christmas-robbery-dennys/ Cherno Ceesay, 28, was robbed and murdered while driving for Uber in Issaquah, Washington. https://www.q13fox.com/news/couple-accused-of-stabbing-killing-uber-driver-in-issaquah Yousef Al-Gabri, 56, was murdered in Detroit, Michigan, after picking up a passenger for Uber. Yousef is survived by his four children. https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2021/03/12/detroit-man-charged-with-1st-degree-murder-in-shooting-death-of-uber-driver/ When Instacart Shopper, Lynn Murray, was killed in the mass shooting at King Soopers in Boulder, CO, while filling an Instacart order, her family did not receive the same benefits that were extended to grocery store workers that were killed during the massacre. If Lynn were properly classified as an employee, her family would receive occupational death benefits that all Colorado employees are entitled to like survivor benefits and funeral benefits. She would have also qualified for life insurance, which Instacart offers to its properly classified employees. Even in the most extreme cases, gig companies have demonstrated that they won’t properly step up to honor the rights and protections afforded to properly classified workers. Gig work is dangerous work. Even before the pandemic, “Uber and Lyft drivers face fatal risks that are 1.1 and 2.6 times the fatality rate for police officers and firefighters. The corresponding estimates for Grubhub are 2.0 and 4.4.” https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/amp/Open-Forum-Driving-for-Uber-Lyft-GrubHub-and-14123731.php Undoubtedly, as gig workers were declared essential workers and still expected to show up, overwhelmingly unprotected, the pandemic has only added insult to injury. With our occupational risks of death being higher than first responders, there is no doubt that we need the full host of occupational injury and death protections provided through workers’ compensation.  When gig workers die at work we die without security, and often our families must rely on the generosity of strangers and crowdfunding to even cover funeral expenses. Due to the high-profile nature of Lynn Murray’s brutal murder, Instacart publicly donated $50,000 to a GoFundMe for her family. Gig companies pocket hundreds of millions of dollars they should have paid annually into state-run workers’ compensation programs. Any token donations to families are always a fraction of a cent on the dollar of what they should be paying to ensure workers are protected in our workplaces. Make no mistake, a company that deprives its workers of essential workplace protections through intentional misclassification deserves no accolades for a one-time donation to a single-family. We need the security of guaranteed benefits, crowdsourcing is not a safety net. What happens when the death of a gig worker is not part of national headlines? What is the recourse for grieving families when they’re left to seek damages from some of the wealthiest and most resourced corporations in the nation?  The answer is infuriating. Families are left to fend for themselves in addition to the trauma and grief of unexpectedly losing a family member. We encourage you to read more about gig workers that have lost their lives while working and remember that they represent only a fraction of the actual human cost of gig work.
    2,857 of 3,000 Signatures
    Created by Vanessa Bain