The 'Independent Contractor' scam and a return to 19th Century values

For better than 20 years I have been a one-man business.  I have a corporation with one shareholder and one employee, and they are the same person.  I sell my time by the hour and I have done quite well for myself.

My client writes a check to my company for my services.  My company writes me a paycheck with all the appropriate taxes withheld.  My current client has certain stipulations in their standard contract, requiring my company to pay any employees a living wage, to offer health insurance, the sorts of things that responsible companies do for their employees.

But there is a flip side to all this, another side of the 'independent contractor' world.  That is the world where that label is used to absolve a business of any responsibility, pay a sub-minimum wage, and essentially treat the people who work for them, who are generating their income, as disposable pieces of equipment.

A number of years ago, we took in a foster child.  He is 24 years old now, and has recently returned.  He was out of work and we are letting him stay while he gets on his feet.  He took a job for Postmates, a delivery service in San Francisco (and elsewhere).  He delivers stuff all over the city on a bicycle.   Except, it isn't exactly a job, he is considered  and 'Independent Contractor'.

In order to work for them, you have to use their app.  It only runs on the iPhone, so if you don't have one they will lease you one.  They set the prices, not the riders.  In order to get any work, you have to commit to specific times.  If you have not committed to a specific time slot it is unlikely their software will offer you any deliveries.  They, on the other hand make no commitment to you on any particular amount of work.  His best days was a little over $129 working about 12 hours.  His worst was a big zero.

Should you be injured on the job, well that's your problem.  And if you should die at it (cyclists do get killed in the city), I am sure they will say all the right things as they wash their hands of the situation.  You see, they expect loyalty, but that loyalty is one-sided.

Oh, and just to add insult to injury, they pay by EFT only, and then charge their riders for the transfer.  Yes, it is a small charge, but if they were employees that would be illegal.  At least in the state of California it would be, they also operate in a couple of other locations.

As I think about the arrangement, the working conditions of 19th century coal miners comes to mind.  No they were not considered independent contractors, but the mine owners had the same level of concern for their employees, the same attitude, that this business model does.  Management controls the working conditions, while the workers take the risks. Unlike the coal miners, their workers take both the physical risk, and the financial risk

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I was going to shop there, but there was picket line

Today I had to run to the store for a few things.  Most of my shopping is done at Costco, but there are some things I want to buy in smaller quantities, and others that Costco just does not carry.  For example, Costco does not have shallots, and my wife had a grocery list that included 6 ounces of shallots for a recipe she intends to make.

I pulled up at Raley's, and there were pickets out.  I waved to them and moved on, taking my business elsewhere.  I had no idea what the issue they are striking over are, (I do now) but my thought was this.  All across this country, businesses are making ever increasing profits, paying their top management more and more, while at the same time trying to screw those at the bottom.  In the current climate, I will give the workers, not management, the benefit of the doubt.

So I did my shopping elsewhere and came home to do a little research.  These were the pertinent items that I was able to glean from my research.

• Management claims that they need to control costs to remain competitive.  This, though rather vague, does make sense.
• And of course 'controlling costs' means no premium pay for working Sundays, wage freezes, and the ever popular two-tiered wage rate, where current employees are paid one amount, while new hires get less.  And of course cuts in health care benefits.  Building in an incentive to get rid of current employees to replace them with cheaper ones.
• The union has asked for an audit so that they can find out if this is really about remaining competitive, or just lining the pockets of upper management (the company is privately held, not publicly traded, so much less is a matter of public record)
• Management has been unwilling to submit to an audit, which tells me that the numbers probably do not justify their demands

I have been a professional most of my adult life, and have never belonged to a union.  But that does not mean that I don't recognize what their existence have done for all of us.  And I see what is happening all over this country, the push to bring labor relations back the 19th century.

So for now, I am taking my business elsewhere.

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