I got a call from a phone bank asking me to call the Mayors Office and repeal the gig worker law. I wish I remembered the group that funded it, but the “astroturf” lobbying is real.

One thing that cheeses me about this industry but also this labor fight is the appeal to our baser instincts have low prices for takeout food delivery. This shouldn’t even be an industry to exploit gig workers in the first place. We should be living wholesome middle class lives preparing our own food and saving our pennies, not spending hundreds of dollars every month underpaying people to drive around our junky food with throwaway packaging. The excess is astounding.

I don't get why we let non-local corporations set up their clever cloud servers and proceed to not only enslave the gig workers but also the small business owners? This seems like a prime startup opportunity where someone creates an open source cloud suite to sell to local businesses as turn key local delivery solution. The businesses that sign up could share the cost for delivery service. The businesses that reap the most deliveries would pay the higher percentage of the cost. This would cut out the corporate executive parasites sucking out all of the profits.

Hey Hannah. Have you talked to the restaurants about the impact this has had on them? You might wanna go down that lane regardless of how negative or positive they answer. Spice Waala's owner Uttam Mukherjee told KOMO that he's seen a 30% drop in orders.

Also why the hatred towards Sara. She actually raised this concern back in 2022. Sara Nelson raised concerns that drivers, restaurants and consumers would feel unforeseen negative impacts of the PayUp act and asked for a study to be done. Councilmember Herbold declined that request when it was up for vote in 2022. See https://seattlechannel.org/mayor-and-council/city-council/2022-2023-public-safety-and-human-services/?videoid=x136647 fast forward to 3hr 6 min (3:06:00)

So Sara Nelson called out what the restaurants, most of the drivers, and consumers are experiencing after the Pay Up act went into effect.

@1 - This has always been a convenient thing when life becomes hectic and busy. I love cooking and making meals but sometimes I get home too late from work and gym and I need to join a late night call with my offshore team.

A gig job is a side-hustle job. Originally it was meant to be that. However, over time that changed where people started working them as full time jobs.

Local pols - talk one talk and walk another walk, the money walk. What ever will be.

Michael Wolfe is poison. I remember him from the 37th district democrats where he habitually bullied the old timers and the chairperson. He even tried to get appointed to an open legislative seat.

He was early out of the gates with his Uber astroturf group which was exposed as being funded by Uber management, who pay his 100k per year salary.

Folks who claim that gig jobs aren't real jobs/don't deserve protections are parroting the claims made against the federal minimum wage...the jobs are part-time, they aren't for adults, not intended to support a family, etc.

Perhaps what we are seeing is the reality that delivering peoples’ restaurant food is generally not something that can be done profitably if the deliverers are paid a reasonable wage. The extra fees a lot of places were adding for delivery were already ridiculous before the minimum wage ordinance. Face it, people, the middle class can’t afford servants and there is nothing wrong with picking up your own damn dinner.

@2 Yep, so go to it! Oh wait...you don't want to coordinate all the players, drop the cash up front to do a pilot, or hire the drivers? Someone else should do that? But not charge a lot to?

Thus why there is no such thing.

@8 Spot on. Same as if we were to get rid of all the subsidies, implicit and explicit the entire global system of cheap Chinese crap would collapse. The reality is that the bulk of our lovely lifestyles are based on massive subsidies to get there. Stuff we of the left of center side don't like, such as sprawl and giant cars, and stuff we do like this gig crap. Cheap underpaid people and subsidies. Take 'em away and costs make much of it non-economic. But the Hannah's and Maga Hats don;t want to hear that. They want magic ponies.

Agree with @1 & 8. If you use these services, you are exploiting workers. This business model doesn't work if drivers are paid a living wage.

@8/@10 it depends on your definition of a reasonable wage. As has been noted there was never an expectation of this work being able to support living in Seattle. Delivery work always has been a side gig or work for kids needing some extra cash. We really need to get away from the notion every job has to pay a living wage. It’s unrealistic and will never happen.

Please interview actual gig workers like myself if you are interested in how this bill is failing. my income has dropped by more than half. Im happy to show receipts. working washington has offered no ideas except “to just wait” . i know people who can’t pay rent on the first. they can’t wait. Only true privileged people can afford to wait for some magic solution no one knows about. Sara nelson cares about us workers. She has told us so, because she is listening to us. unlike the Stranger. Please do journalism. i can put you in contact with the immigrants who need the most help with this. It’s insane how this issue has been covered by most press. working washington is NOT working for us on the ground workers.

A law mandates more pay for the workers, apps charge more to consumers to pay for this. Consumers balk at increased food prices and order less food by app. Workers get less money overall. What is so hard to understand about this? The app companies are not going to take the increased costs out of their profit, to earn profit is why they exist. No profit, no app companies, no jobs for workers.