Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.
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EMPR 200 – Current Event Blog 2
Analysis is based on the following article from CBC: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/coronavirus-covid-19-blue-collar-gig-workers-keep-showing-up-1.5499115
Stay safe . . .
Stay home . . .
Saves lives.
Unfortunately, staying home isn’t an option for everyone amidst the current pandemic conditions.
COVID-19 is forcing people into unemployment. It is affecting small business owners, self-employed people, part-time workers, gig-workers, and blue-collar employees among many others.
Provincial and federal governments are acting, but are they keeping everyone in mind when they propose their solution to the current crises?
In the news, you hear a lot about front line workers like doctors and nurses, but not a lot about blue-collar workers or those who participate in the “gig-economy.” Truck drivers are still delivering food to stores. Plumbers are still responding to emergencies in homes. And yes, Uber drivers are still bringing food to your doors.
Most of the time these workers don’t have paid leave. They don’t have the option to stay home and still be paid. In fact, if they fall ill or have to self-quarantine, it’s likely they won’t be paid at all.
The article points out that in 2019, only one in five part-time or self-employed workers could access EI. Essentially, there were no supports.
However, this is an unprecedented time and the government is trying to make sure their bills evolve with the scenario. Since the article was written on March 16th, the government has made many announcements. One announcement made by Premier Ford was to close all non-essential businesses [1]. But the government has also tried to come up with solution for businesses and employees.
One such solution is presented in this CBC article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/small-business-owners-emergency-loans-1.5513822
To respond to small business owners’ fears that they’ll have to close permanently and that they will be unable to pay employees, the federal government is offering emergency loans. But, small business owners are unimpressed by this solution, most say they already carry a lot of debt and that this isn’t the solution they expected.
Further, the list of essential businesses included many blue-collar workers, so it doesn’t respond to concerns in the original article on how they still have to work if they want to get paid.
But expansions made to EI might help.
For example, Trudeau promised the new Canadian Emergency Response Benefit will provide workers who have lost their jobs due to COVID-19 with $2000 a month for four months [2]. But, it is still unclear if this will help gig-workers or blue-collar workers in anyway. Technically, they haven’t lost their jobs. Unfortunately, it’s also that some of them, like the doctors and nurses who revered in the news, are still needed.
It would be great if CBC could provide an update on whether gig-workers or blue-collars workers, previously interviewed, feel any differently a week later with the new changes to EI the government is making.
I think it would be useful if the government began demanding more stringent safety measures for gig-workers and blue-collar workers . . . or if the companies that employ them reached out to the client and put policies in place, this is not to say that some measures haven’t already been implemented by companies like Uber, but it is to say that more could be done if these workers are still feeling threatened.
Without a pandemic, they’re already some of the most precarious workers. This has to be recognized by all levels of government, especially in the current circumstances.
200 – Current Event Blog 1
Getting Giggy with Workers’ Rights and Labour Legislation
In today’s always connected society, services are at our finger tips. We’re hungry, we use Skip the Dishes. We need to get somewhere, we “call” an Uber. Don’t want to do your groceries? That’s okay, use Instacart.
But the people who provide these services matter and deserve workers’ right and legal protections just like everyone else.
The Toronto Star article argues that though the gig economy isn’t employing new techniques to be successful, listing working on demand, piece work compensation, and supplying one’s own equipment as practices that are centuries old, the article does make a case for companies like Uber and Foodora not getting a free pass when it comes to their employees.
The gig workers deserve minimum wage, basic entitlements like pensions, and better safety measures.
It’s true that the workers need protections, they are employees or at the very least contractors of these larger corporations, but can they be classified as full-time, indeterminate employees or in the eyes of Ontario Labour Law are they casual workers or independent/dependent contractors?
The Star doesn’t make an argument for this.
It does however mention two ongoing Supreme Court Cases and one Ontario Labour Relations Board case which would determine the future classification of these workers and whether they can unionize or not.
At the micro-level, it’s the gig workers who are largely affected by the larger corporations claiming they have different rights, basically no employment rights.
However, the deciding judgement could quickly affect the corporations.
More legislation around gig work could lead to it being a viable alternative to working a full-time job and not just a side hustle or filler while people search for other work. Gig work, with the proper workers’ rights in place could lead to less precarious work, more stable income, and safer work.
It would have been nice if the Star interviewed and included perspectives from gig workers. Quotes sharing what the gig workers want or need would have improved the article as would the inclusion of labour legislation (if there is any) that currently applies to gig workers.
Kaitlyn's Blog for EMPR 200 