4 ms·

Huh? As I understand it Uber/Lyft drivers are not eligible for unemployment benefits (recent laws/court rulings aside). So they don't depend on the safety nets

Huh? As I understand it Uber/Lyft drivers are not eligible for unemployment benefits (recent laws/court rulings aside). So they don't depend on the safety nets in any way. edit: Unemployment insurance is paid by companies for their workers who may use it in the future. It's not a shared social obligation from taxes. Nor is everyone eligible to use it merely by existing.

throwawaygh 6y ago
From Lyft itself: https://www.lyft.com/hub/posts/how-the-cares-act-can-help-drivers-who-are-unemployed-due-to-covid-19 https://www.lyft.com/hub/posts/how-the-cares-act-can-help-dr...
square90 6y ago
The CARES Act and state-level programs are paying unemployment assistance to contractors and self-employed individuals not usually covered by unemployment [0], [1]. [0] https://www.edd.ca.gov/about_edd/coronavirus-2019/pandemic-unemployment-assistance.htm https://www.edd.ca.gov/about_edd/coronavirus-2019/pandemic-u... [1] https://www.edd.ca.gov/about_edd/coronavirus-2019/cares-act.htm https://www.edd.ca.gov/about_edd/coronavirus-2019/cares-act....
- marcinzm 6y ago
  Which is a one-off "world is burning down" case which no one planned for or expected. Hardy a long term plan by the VCs to take advantage of everyone else. I'm guessing unemployment insurance didn't cover a lot of the rest of the unemployed either for COVID (as it ran out due to never being designed for this situation) so it came from taxes. In which case no one paid into the social safety net except through taxes (which Lyft/Uber are not exempt from).
  - throwawaygh 6y ago
    Any remotely competent student of history can foresee occasional economic crises with high unemployment. That’s why we have a national unemployment insurance scheme. Maybe you don’t foresee a pandemic, but only in the same way that you don’t foresee getting side-swiped when a car passes you while blowing its tire. Or having your house’s roof ripped off by a tornado. Totally unforeseeable events, but somewhat predicable circumstances. The bailouts in crises are not one off because there’s always going to be another crisis. Taking care of contractors who work for employers that arbitrage labor protections == corporate bailouts.
    - gwright 6y ago
      I don't know who "we" is in your statement, but unemployment insurance is state by state in the US, not national.
      - throwawaygh 6y ago
        Yes, all of them, literally all 50. No exception. Do we have public school available nationally?
        gwright 6y ago
        Your post wasn't clear if that is what you intended to say. A single "national unemployment insurance scheme" is not at all the same thing as 50 separate state schemes.
    - marcinzm 6y ago
      >The bailouts in crises are not one off because there’s always going to be another crisis. Please list the historical unemployment insurance bailouts that covered contractors.
  - strbean 6y ago
    I think we just need a way for unemployment insurance to include independent contractors.

throwawaygh 6y ago

From Lyft itself: https://www.lyft.com/hub/posts/how-the-cares-act-can-help-drivers-who-are-unemployed-due-to-covid-19 https://www.lyft.com/hub/posts/how-the-cares-act-can-help-dr...

square90 6y ago

The CARES Act and state-level programs are paying unemployment assistance to contractors and self-employed individuals not usually covered by unemployment [0], [1]. [0] https://www.edd.ca.gov/about_edd/coronavirus-2019/pandemic-unemployment-assistance.htm https://www.edd.ca.gov/about_edd/coronavirus-2019/pandemic-u... [1] https://www.edd.ca.gov/about_edd/coronavirus-2019/cares-act.htm https://www.edd.ca.gov/about_edd/coronavirus-2019/cares-act....

marcinzm 6y ago
Which is a one-off "world is burning down" case which no one planned for or expected. Hardy a long term plan by the VCs to take advantage of everyone else. I'm guessing unemployment insurance didn't cover a lot of the rest of the unemployed either for COVID (as it ran out due to never being designed for this situation) so it came from taxes. In which case no one paid into the social safety net except through taxes (which Lyft/Uber are not exempt from).
- throwawaygh 6y ago
  Any remotely competent student of history can foresee occasional economic crises with high unemployment. That’s why we have a national unemployment insurance scheme. Maybe you don’t foresee a pandemic, but only in the same way that you don’t foresee getting side-swiped when a car passes you while blowing its tire. Or having your house’s roof ripped off by a tornado. Totally unforeseeable events, but somewhat predicable circumstances. The bailouts in crises are not one off because there’s always going to be another crisis. Taking care of contractors who work for employers that arbitrage labor protections == corporate bailouts.
  - gwright 6y ago
    I don't know who "we" is in your statement, but unemployment insurance is state by state in the US, not national.
    - throwawaygh 6y ago
      Yes, all of them, literally all 50. No exception. Do we have public school available nationally?
      - gwright 6y ago
        Your post wasn't clear if that is what you intended to say. A single "national unemployment insurance scheme" is not at all the same thing as 50 separate state schemes.
  - marcinzm 6y ago
    >The bailouts in crises are not one off because there’s always going to be another crisis. Please list the historical unemployment insurance bailouts that covered contractors.
- strbean 6y ago
  I think we just need a way for unemployment insurance to include independent contractors.