“Gig Worker Protections Find Testing Ground in NYC, Seattle”

As the share of gig workers in the US grows, new protections going into effect in several US cities…

In Seattle and New York City, laws intended to bring delivery drivers up to minimum wage will change how workers for services like DoorDash Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc. are paid. Rather than earning per trip, they will be compensated on a time and distance basis or at a rate every time they are offered a job.

The rules are already eliciting challenges from companies like Uber, DoorDash, Instacart and Grubhub, in the form of legal action, lobbying and public campaigns against the actions…

…worker-led movements like Los Deliveristas Unidos in New York City and Working Washington in the Pacific Northwest have been at the forefront of a push for more protections…

In Seattle, Instacart, which does grocery delivery, called the 10-cent fee an “illegal tax” … Uber, Grubhub, DoorDash and Relay filed a lawsuit in New York City to force a pause of the minimum wage rule in July, arguing that increasing hourly wages to the local minimum singled out specific companies and would harm their business…