On the Clock is Motherboard's reporting on the organized labor movement, gig work, automation, and the future of work.
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Working Washington, a workers rights group in Washington state, described the sweepstakes on Twitter as “Hunger Games as a business model” and it’s not hard to see why. The sweepstakes pushes drivers to accept more trips, which may or may not actually be worth their time or expenses incurred to accept―unless the delivery driver wins the DoorDash lottery, that is. DoorDash has offered giveaways and incentives to drivers in the past, and this sweepstake is in line with recent moves by Uber to lure drivers with a $250 million stimulus fund and outreach. And like Uber, DoorDash is trying to keep workers misclassified as independent contractors. In 2020 the company joined a coalition of app-based gig companies in California to successfully write and pass Proposition 22, a ballot measure that exempted the companies from following a host of state labor laws including classifying drivers as employees. That legislation now presents a roadblock to things like giving app workers who pick and deliver groceries a pay boost along with employed grocery workers.
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