Canadian Union & Uber Reach Gig Worker Deal

Uber Technologies on Thursday, January 27, announced that it had reached an agreement with Canada’s largest services-sector union to offer employee-like benefits to contractors who work as ride-hail and food delivery drivers, reported Reuters.

Uber and United Food and Commercial Workers Canada (UFCW) stated they will jointly lobby Canada’s provincial governments to pass labor reforms that would provide gig workers with minimum earnings of at least 120% of local minimum wage, a benefits fund that includes pension and sick pay, and other workers’ rights.

Currently, those benefits are generally reserved for employees, leaving gig workers, who are largely independent contractors, without benefits and protections.

Under the five-year agreement, Canada’s 100,000 Uber drivers and delivery workers would also have a right to legal representation by the union in case of disputes with the company, such as when getting kicked off Uber’s platform.

The union will also meet with Uber twice a year to address workers’ health and safety concerns, said Barry Sawyer, the executive assistant to the UFCW national president.

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