Washington, DC          Workers are under assault in some many ways these days, both domestically and internationally, that it’s easy to forget that nothing has really been “fixed” when it comes to the precarious status of so-called gig workers.  Are they independent free agents, free to come and go, and not under the thumb of the tech overseers of the applications that connect them to their pickups, deliveries, or what most of us still think of as jobs?  Or, are they employees under the thumb and supervision of the app bosses?  Is this just extra money for many or life blood and full employment?  Even as this issue has slid off the front pages, replaced by other heinous attacks on workers, these are unsettled and unsettling questions.

An article in the New York Times stumbled on this mess when looking at the circumstances of delivery drivers in the United States, who suddenly found themselves “blocked”  or deactivated from accessing the application.  In the real world of work, this means they were summarily fired without notice, laid off mysteriously without explanation, or whatever terminology anyone would want to use.  It all adds up to the same thing.  No app means no work.  The story detailed not only the mystery of the release but the devastating impact on the lives of the deliverers.

This wasn’t a gig for these two guys.  This was their full-time job.  They simply received an email saying that they were blocked for suspected “fraudulent activity.”  Uber claims that there are human eyes that look at these cases, but admits much of it is automated.  All of this is standard operating procedure for these companies, as surveys report,

A 2023 survey of app drivers conducted by a coalition of labor groups found that 40 percent had been deactivated at some point. In another survey of more than 800 California drivers, two-thirds said they had faced deactivation.

Many drivers appeal, and the vast majority are reinstated, as were these two fellows. Seattle and Boston now require a notice that includes the cause and directs the workers to appeal. Many pay for a service to help them appeal.

In India, where ACORN’s affiliate the Gig Workers Association is organizing food delivery workers, our survey indicated that for 80% of the workers, this is their fulltime work, often taking them 12 to 14 hours per day.  In January in Patna, the capital of Bihar, GigWA called a one-day strike and 10,000 drivers shut all deliveries down and won many concessions.  But, here’s the deal.  The companies continue to block the app for the leaders of the strike in retaliation, preventing them from working and forcing the organization to spend significant time and resources on getting them back to work.