Uber is trying to quash a class-action suit by drivers who claim they are employees and not independent contractors. The company claims the more than 160,000 American drivers control their own use of the Uber app and are therefore contractors. While the California Labor Commission has said that Uber drivers are employees and not contractors, the chair of New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission says her agency considers drivers for ride-hailing services such as Uber to be freelance workers, not employees. Five other states have ruled similarly. Classifying Uber drivers as employees would mean higher costs for the company, as it would likely need to pay Social Security, workers’ compensation, and unemployment insurance.
Tag Archives: recent news
“Blurred Lines” Round Two
This month US District Judge John Kronstadt rejected arguments over expert witness testimony and jury instructions and denied a bid for a new trial, in the wake of the “Blurred Lines” jury verdict against Pharrell Williams & Robin Thicke. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the judge accepted the Gaye family’s contention that record labels should be held liable for their distribution of a song that was found to be a copy of Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up,” plus ruled rapper T.I. Harris Jr. who contributed a verse on the blockbuster “Blurred Lines” song a copyright infringer. Though the judge denied the family’s request that the song be removed from distribution, he did grant a request for an ongoing royalty rate of 50% of songwriter and publishing revenues. Kronstadt did reduce the damages from $4 million to just under $3.2 million, which reduced the jury’s verdict from $7.4 million to $5.3 million. Williams will now have to turn over about $358,000 in profits, rather than $1.6 million. Next Thicke and Williams will most likely bring the dispute to appeals court.
USHLI Offers Scholarship Opportunities
The United States Hispanic Leadership Institute (USHLI) has developed into one of the most powerful, nationally and internationally recognized Latino organizations in the country by organizing and conducting nonpartisan voter registration and leadership development programs in 40 states. The organization also offers a wide variety of scholarships targeted at Latino students. For more information visit www.ushli.org.
NLRB to Rule on Postal Services at Staples Stores
In August the National Labor Relations Board will rule whether the Postal Service violated its collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) by outsourcing post office services to Staples stores. Typically, Staples’ employees earn about one-third as much as the average post office employee. APWU contends that the Postal Service violated the CBA by illegally subcontracting the work without negotiating with the union.
UFCW Canada Members Ratify Loblaw Contract
United Food and Commercial Workers of Canada Local 1000A voted to ratify an agreement with Loblaw Companies Ltd. Ratification of the agreement, which covers approximately 12,000 workers in 60 Loblaws Great Food and Superstore locations across Ontario, avoided a planned strike. Among highlights of the agreement were job assurances for full and part-time workers, prescription drug cards for full and part-time employees that meet eligibility requirements, protection of the defined benefit pension plan, scheduling improvements, and annual wage increases.
SEIU Explores Strategies to Organize Fast Food Industry
Up till now the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) efforts to organize America’s fast food workers are blocked by the fact that most of them (including 700,000 McDonald’s workers) are employed by franchises. Therefore, the union cannot legally negotiate a contract with the corporation that owns the brand name. SEIU says their two strategies for working towards fast food worker organization are: try to get the National Labor Relations Board and courts to rule that fast food companies exercise so much control over their franchisees that they are effectively joint employers, and to use publicity to pressure fast food corporations to order franchisees to treat their workers better.
Berklee Report Examines Fair Compensation in the Modern Music Industry
On July 14, Berklee Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship released a study focused on how to promote fairness and transparency in the music industry. The report, titled Fair Music: Transparency and Money Flows in the Music Industry, was developed by Berklee College of Music faculty and students in collaboration with other music industry organizations, companies, artists, and experts. Among the ideas discussed in the document is a “Creator’s Bill of Rights” comprised of standards for ethical treatment of musicians, artists, and creators, based on the principal that all musicians deserve fair compensation for their art and every creator deserves to have insight into the entire payment system. You can download a free copy of the full Fair Music report at: https://www.berklee.edu/news/fair_music_report.
Postal Workers’ Union Alleges Canada Post Union-Bustin
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has alleged that Canada Post is union-busting, having dropped its contract with the unionized temp agency that had been staffing its parcel intake plants. When a unionized company is sold or transferred, union-busting is prevented by the labor code under “successor rights provisions,” which ensure that a collective agreement remains in tact and workers keep their jobs during the transition. But when a unionized subcontractor loses a contract, as with the aforementioned situation, these protections do not apply. So, the union is forced to weigh their options, which may include filing an unfair labour practice complaint with the Industrial Relations Board against Canada Post.
Conservatives Force Anti-union Bill into Law in Canada
An unconstitutional, anti-union bill (Bill C-377) has been forced through the Canadian Senate. Seven provinces oppose the bill, stating that it intrudes into provincial jurisdiction. Experts agree that the bill is unconstitutional for several other reasons as well, and when challenged in courts, will not survive. The bill attempts to force unions to disclose all of their financial information employers and to the general public. Unions and individuals across the board oppose the bill, from the NHL Players Association to the AFM to Conservative and Liberal senators to constitutional experts. The best opportunity for the public to oppose Bill C-377 is in the upcoming federal election.
Kickstarter Wins Crowdfunding Battle
Kickstarter, a popular crowdfunding forum, has long had to defend itself and its practices in a four-year fight for a patent. Finally, judges have ruled in the company’s favor. In 2011, Kickstarter has been engaged with its competitor ArtistShare in patent infringement suit. Artist share claimed that Kickstarter (the inarguably more successful of the two) has infringed their patent. The sitting judge, however, states that “crowd-funding” is an abstract concept, and one that is “beyond question of ancient lineage” and that there is nothing about the patent that overcomes that ineligible concept. So, Kickstarter is essentially free and clear.