ClimateWire | James Jordan can be protected by state rules that work in almost all of California, and to provide employees with high -quality masks and block the smoke of wildfire.
But James Jordan is a Uber driver.
In other words, he is a contractor, not the hundreds of dollar -scale technical employees, and is not protected that the regulations on the safety of California’s first workers are not related to the smoke of the fire. 。
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Ride companies like Uber and Lyft are currently part of American disasters. Both apps provide free vehicles to evacuation shelters to residents of Los Angeles, and are a fatal mountain fire that torches a large area of cities, and provided in prior to domestic and other disasters.
However, drivers who often have little gears and training to protect themselves or their riders from extreme weather cannot often protect themselves or their riders from extreme weather.
Gig workers’ rights were weakened by California’s voting initiative, supported by the Supreme Court last year. As a result: Uber and Lyft are exempted from protection of wildfire smoke in the state of workers. Companies do not need to provide the driver on a sick leave if they get sick of the smoke of the fire. Also, if the driver is irreparable, the driver will not be able to claim workers compensation.
“We support their brands and serve the community so that we can leave this danger to the community, but we can’t get anything to expose ourselves to danger.” When the county expanded, Jordan said on a recent Saturday afternoon Unhealthy air quality warning And we urged people to “be as indoors as possible.”
Uber and Lyft said that the driver had provided about 10,000 vehicles to the evacuation shelter in the first week since the start of the wildfire. In response to questions about what Uber was doing to protect the driver, the spokesman said, “The best way to support them continuously with drivers, courier companies, and merchants. I am listening to their needs to find them. “
Lyft did not respond to the comment request.
The two companies said on the website that the drivers were not allowed to enter the active fire evacuation zone, but they did not say anything about the dangers of the wilderness smoke pollution at one point this month. It has reached more than 13 times EPA safe restrictions on daily exposure.
About Lyft’s web page Disaster rescue access programHe explained the policy related to vehicles in the evacuation zone, telling the rider that “the driver’s safety is given priority”, warning that the arrival time may be longer than expected.
This page instructs the driver to “use your best judgment when evaluating the road situation” and suggests sharing the location of the phone with your loved ones.
This page does not provide information on how to protect yourself or how to deal with other symptoms of shortness of breath or smoke.
It was a concern for Jordan, and his eyes and throat have been stabbed this month. He said he felt uneasy when the working breathing riders entered his back seat.
“One man guarantees me that he is suffering from asthma and has no heart attack, but he doesn’t know what to do if he is attacking asthma during the ride. So I was scared Jordan said.
California Cruising
If Jordan was not a Uber driver, he may have been trained on the symptoms caused by exposure to smoke and how to find out how to seek medical treatment.
In 2019, California was established Bax regulation Restrict the exposure of workers to the wildfire. This rule requires employers to provide N95 respiratory organs if the state -like air index reaches 151. Smoke -like contamination can be extended by 50 miles from the flame. In this rule, companies also require employees to find the symptoms of smoke inhalation, and also demand the importance of using surgical masks, responders and surgical masks that have not blocked smoke. I am.
The California Labor and Institute of Labor and Economy received more than 50 complaints about the rules that were violated in the first week of the fire.
However, protection is not applied to contractors such as Jordan and other gig workers. It is partly grateful to the proposal 22, a voting initiative supported by high -tech companies, including Uber and Lyft, promised to be classified as legally independent contractors. I am.
Voting initiative excludes contractors from other workers, including minimum wages and overtime requirements, and excludes interests such as unemployment and workers compensation.
Many workers argue that the profits promised by the voting Initiative organizer have not been realized. but It has been proved to be complicated to enforce the law The National Labor Bureau stated that the jurisdiction to resolve labor disputes extends to employees, not gig workers.
“If the worker of a grocery store collecting external carts is collected, the employer needs to provide a respiratory organs for smoke, and when developing COPD from the exposure of a big game, provide compensation for the day of illness and workers. Acquisition of chronic pulmonary diseases, ANASTASHI, a senior policy analyst of the National Employment Law. “But all of them are independent contractors, so this is not applicable to Instacart workers and Uber drivers, which may frequently visit the same grocery store.”
Los Angeles’s mountain fire is only an extreme example of an extreme weather phenomenon that is dangerous to gig workers.
About the “front line” of climate change
In September 2021, Hurricane’s Aida remnants made a record rain in New York, overwhelming the city’s rainwater system and floods.
Thousands of food delivery workers were involved in the flood and damaged some of the electric bicycles.
Since they were contractors, many people had to pay the repairs themselves, Ligia, a co -founder of Los Sericrista Unidus, who supports the formation of app -based distribution workers in New York. Guarda said.
Later, in 2023, a delivery worker in New York was often exposed to smoke -like air from Canadian mountains without masks and training.
“Because these workers are at the forefront of climate change because their workplaces are on the street, they smoke and flooded,” Gualpa said.
Returning to Los Angeles, Jordan says that he has to work more to achieve his purpose for the fire. He says that he has a smaller rider than usual, and he is traveling more, so he makes a smaller money. He said he was spending up to 12 hours and long days in order to earn the same amount as made for about $ 200 in eight hours.
He is worried that smoke and ash, which flashes the “check engine” alert when the pollution becomes particularly thick, will damage his car.
He tries to protect himself by maintaining the window and wearing a surgical mask. He is the type that was in the house remaining from the pandemic. He knows that they are not very protective, but he had it.
He wants Uber to communicate with the driver. He wants a hazard salary or a better mask -or at least “thank you” because it helps the community by enduring these conditions.
“The type of message, we haven’t heard anything from them,” said Jordan. “”[We] The man will do it because you need money.
Reprint from E & E News Politico, with the permission of LLC. Copyright 2025. E & E News provides essential news to energy and environmental experts.
