By: Izzy Cheung, Staff Writer
On June 19, BC’s branch of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), and the Centre for Future Work, released a letter pushing for better protection policies for gig workers. The letter was written by members of the CCPA and the Centre for Future Work, and was signed by 61 experts in labour law, policy, and economics — including a few SFU professors. It details some core principles that they urge the BC government to consider.
Gig work, also referred to as platform-based work, is a type of labour that’s on-demand, often freelance or contract-based, and done via online platforms. This type of work has surged throughout the province in recent years, as it’s mostly conducted through online digital platforms such as rideshare and food delivery programs. Because platform-based workers are typically classified as independent contractors, they’re rarely granted the same protection policies as those who work under “normal” employment conditions. For a lot of workers, this labour is their main source of income.
The Peak spoke to Iglika Ivanova, senior economist and public interest researcher for the CCPA, about the letter.
“This is a huge issue. The lack of protection for those platform-based workers [ . . . ] is a big concern. It’s something that needs to be addressed,” Ivanova said. She noted there have been multiple cases recently where workers are “getting injured on the job and not being able to get any support in terms of workers’ compensation that would have been available if they were working a regular job.”
Ivanova added, according to a survey conducted by Statistics Canada last December, “56 percent of [platform-based workers] are immigrants across Canada.”
“It is the main livelihood for many people, and the fact that they have no protections is a very serious problem,” she said. “These workers deserve protection from exploitation and they deserve rights to make at least minimum wage for the time they work.”
Ivanova outlined three main issues with the ways that these online platforms operate: worker exploitation, current models allowing platforms to avoid the responsibilities and expenses that “normal” employers face, and the lack of protections for these workers transferring the cost of workplace injuries to the broader public.
The letter outlines some of the “normal” employment conditions that gig workers don’t always have access to: “minimum wage, workers’ compensation, CPP and EI benefits, or supplementary employment benefits like pensions or healthcare.” Tentative solutions to these disparities are also pitched in the letter. For example, they suggest conducting tests to determine whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee — defined by who the worker provides their services to, as well as how much the platform controls the worker’s tasks, equipment, service standards, and compensation. If the test deems a worker as an employee, then policies enacted during “normal” employment conditions (such as minimum wage, WorkSafe, etc.) must be fulfilled.
“If there is no WorkSafe BC coverage for these workers when they get into an accident while delivering things or driving for Uber, then there’s just healthcare expenses that everyone pays for through taxes,” Ivanova said. “These platforms [ . . . ] are offloading all the costs either to the individual worker or to society [and] they’re not contributing in the way that other employers are.”
The letter can be found online on the CCPA’s website.
