Postmates strike: Give us COVID-19 protections, or no Chipotle deliveries

Postmates is the youngest gig economy company to have been the subject of worker protests. Some Postmates deliverers said Tuesday that they would hold a three-day strike to highlight what they thought was a lack of adequate security protection the coronavirus pandemic.

The protest will involve those workers who refuse to make deliveries on Chipotle orders from April 29 through May 1. They call it a #GuacOff. They picked out Chipotle because, although the fast food chain grants their employees sick leave and a 10% salary increase during the outbreak, they still work with Postmates when their deliverers don’t get equivalent benefits.

“There is no place for gig workers to wash their hands. We are not protected in this sense,” said Amber Martines, a part-time postmates worker in San Jose, California. She is a member of Pay Up, a group that helped organize the three-day strike. “I have a lot of grocery stores and these are breeding grounds for contacting contaminated people.”

Gig employees – such as Postmates, Instacart and DoorDash deliverers as well as Uber and Lyft drivers – are regarded as essential workersThis means that they can continue to work if the corona virus spreads. As accommodation orders are in effect, they deliver food to quarantined people and transport medical personnel to and from the hospital. Many gig workers say what companies they work for didn’t give them enough protection during work.

Workers for Instacart, Amazon and Shipt also have staged strikes in recent weeks that called for more help. While most of these companies say they are on sick leave for two weeks, CNET found that this help is difficult to get. Workers for these companies say they have too had difficulty getting personal protective equipment for when they’re on deliveries.

“I went out and bought my own gloves and mask,” said Martines. “And sickness benefits should be paid for those workers who get sick at work.”

Since gig workers are classified as independent contractors rather than employees, they are not entitled to occupational health insurance, sick leave, family vacation, disability or employee compensation.

A Postmates spokeswoman said the company has several initiatives to help its employees and also offers free safety equipment. She said the company is doing its best to pay a living wage to the couriers.

“Postmates always respect the right to freedom of expression and to ensure that workers’ voices are heard. The organizations involved in these actions are not affiliated with Postmates,” said the Postmates spokeswoman. “We will continue to work directly with our fleet and workers’ stakeholders to ensure that we continue to support key workers at this point.”

Postmates employees organized with Pay Up say that this is not enough. You have several claims: a $ 5 risk payment for all deliveries; better safety equipment, such as the supply of masks and hand disinfectants; and easily accessible paid vacation when infected with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The workers also want to be able to make contactless deliveries.

Protesters say Chipotle is giving customers free supplies, but is doing nothing to help the people who deliver the food. They say that once a worker receives an order, he waits in line for the meal and then delivers it to the customer, often earning only around $ 2 per half hour of work. For comparison, Chipotle charges $ 2 for a ball of guacamole. Workers say Postmates pays 7 cents a minute to wait for orders and with long lines that add up to around $ 4.20 an hour.

“Postmates shouldn’t be allowed to get out of danger to workers – and the public – during the crisis,” Pay Up said in a statement. “And restaurants like Chipotle shouldn’t get off the hook when they work with a company that pays workers less than they ask for a ball of guac.”

Chipotle did not respond to a request for comment.