Propelled to Victory by Dem Leaders, Cuellar Says $7.25 Too Much for Millions of Workers

Labor experts and advocates on Wednesday expressed disbelief and outrage as the details of an “unconscionable” new bill purporting to expand “flexibility and choice” in workplaces came to light, condemning Democratic co-sponsor Rep. Henry Cuellar for proposing the gutting of minimum wage protections.

Aiming to create a new classification for people working in the gig economy for companies like Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash, the bill would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 by establishing “worker flexibility agreements” in which a worker “will not be treated as an employee for federal tax purposes” and “is not subject to the minimum wage and overtime protections.”

The proposal would not only affect gig workers, said Dubal, who is a professor at the University of California Hastings College of Law, but would “carve workers out of minimum wage and overtime protections” whenever an employer sets work schedules “using algorithms and incentives instead of providing secure hours.”

In other words, said former New York Times labor reporter Steven Greenhouse, “it seems to empower any employer—not just gig companies—to tell any worker: if you want to work for me, you must agree we won’t follow minimum wage or overtime rules.”

The proposal is an attempt to capitalize on the notion that “flexible” working hours benefit workers, Dixon said, but “because the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is already compatible with worker flexibility, it would be a fatal mistake for Congress to create a carveout for companies that demand ‘worker flexibility agreements’ of their workforce.”

Instead of actually providing flexibility, said Dubal, “as Uber, DoorDash, and Instacart have already done to their workforce, it would empower employers to force workers to work long and hard to eke out a living.”

Originally published at Commondreams.org.