Illinois ride-share drivers demand better pay, safer conditions

For some ride-share drivers, safety is a top concern. Andy Thomashaw worked as an Uber driver until a few weeks ago when he was carjacked and robbed at gunpoint by one of his passengers. He said it took Uber three days to respond to the incident. That’s when Thomashaw learned he would have to pay for damages with his own money.

“Ride-share drivers don’t know where their pickup is going to be until they accept the ride and they don’t know where they’re going with the passenger until they pick up the passenger,” Thomashaw said. “There’s really no way for the ride-share driver to know who [the passenger] is and that’s very wrong and unsafe.”

Since the incident, Thomashaw said he fears for his life as a ride-share driver and doesn’t plan to do it again. 

Under state and federal law, app workers are not awarded the same legal protections as employees because they’re classified as independent contractors, which is generally defined as a self-employed person who can set their own payment rates. App workers, however, don’t get to decide how much they get paid—the app companies do. 

Crane said the coalition is seeking support from state officials to pass legislation that would allow independent contractors to unionize and create more protections for app-based workers. 

“We’re looking for government officials to realize that these companies need to be looked at under a fine-tooth comb,” Crane said. “We need better representation from a government level and from a union representative.”

“Having just got through a global pandemic, now more than ever, it is not enough to thank an essential worker,” state senator Ram Villivalam, a former union organizer whose district includes northwest Chicago and surrounding suburbs, said in a statement to the Reader. “We must enact policies that will positively impact their lives. Gig workers, like all working people, deserve fair wages and dignified working conditions.” 

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