Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday October 16 2019, @09:44AM   Printer-friendly
from the pick-your-own-veggies dept.

Submitted via IRC for AnonymousCoward

Instacart shoppers are organizing a nationwide protest – TechCrunch

Instacart has long been at odds with its shoppers — the people who go to the grocery store on behalf of customers. From November 3-5, thousands of Instacart shoppers plan to protest with three demands. They want Instacart to change the default tip amount to at least 10%, ditch the service fee and commit to always giving 100% of the tip to the shopper.

“We did not arrive at the 10% figure arbitrarily, rather this is what the default tip amount was back when I and many others started working for Instacart,” Vanessa Bain, an Instacart shopper wrote on Medium this week. “We are simply demanding the restoration of what was originally promised.”

[...] Back in 2016, Instacart removed the option to tip in favor of guaranteeing its workers higher delivery commissions. About a month later, following pressure from its workers, the company reintroduced tipping. Then, in April 2018, Instacart began suggesting a 5% default tip and reduced its service fee from a 10% waivable fee to a 5% fixed fee.

“We take the feedback of the shopper community very seriously and remain committed to listening to and using that feedback to improve their experience,” an Instacart spokesperson told TechCrunch.

This protest is on the heels of a class-action lawsuit over wages and tips, as well as a tipping debacle where Instacart included tips in its base pay for shoppers. Instacart, however, has since stopped that practice and provided shoppers with back pay. Though, Fast Company recently reported that Instacart delivery drivers’ tips are mysteriously decreasing.

[...] “What’s driving us to do this is a perpetual tug of war shoppers have been engaged in with Instacart for over three years now,” Bain said. “We've held actions annually to maintain the pressure and continue the momentum of our organizing. Right now, workers are in the worst financial position we have ever been in. The introduction of algorithmic pay, coupled with their rolling out of On Demand batches (instant offers that don't require being on schedule to accept) have led to variability in pay, and the decline of pay to unprecedented levels.”

The revolt of the gig worker.


Original Submission

This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
(1)
  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by rob_on_earth on Wednesday October 16 2019, @10:59AM (2 children)

    by rob_on_earth (5485) on Wednesday October 16 2019, @10:59AM (#907825) Homepage

    Isn't it the point of Gig economy that any "worker" can be replaced?

    Not looked into Instacart ,but Uber etc. allowed anyone to work for any amount of time just by signing a contract(T&Cs) and doing the work when they felt like it.

    Uber didn't really care if 1000 drivers were each working a few hours here and there or 10 drivers were working 24/7.

    Its just a numbers game.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by khallow on Wednesday October 16 2019, @02:10PM

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 16 2019, @02:10PM (#907869) Journal

      Isn't it the point of Gig economy that any "worker" can be replaced?

      So can the employer. It's light weight employment from both sides.

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by FatPhil on Wednesday October 16 2019, @11:23PM

      by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Wednesday October 16 2019, @11:23PM (#908055) Homepage

      Am I right in thinking that instacart have basically just monetised and commercialised bob-a-job? ( https://www.thefreedictionary.com/bob-a-job [thefreedictionary.com] )

      Hands up who thinks this is "progress"?

       o
      /O>
      <|

      (Even Ian Anderson refuses to play the flute along to this oh-so-American idea.)

      --
      Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by shortscreen on Wednesday October 16 2019, @11:56AM (12 children)

    by shortscreen (2252) on Wednesday October 16 2019, @11:56AM (#907837) Journal

    What if they got rid of tipping entirely and replaced it with an appropriate fee that was known and agreed to ahead of time by the shopper, service provider, and customer? Wouldn't that be better than leaving it to whims of customers and a default setting in an app?

    This subject reminds me of John McAfee's guide to bribing cops in central America. If we can agree that handing wads of cash to government officials on the job is not ideal, I don't see why anyone wants to cling to the practice in retail transactions.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @12:10PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @12:10PM (#907839)

      Nu tipping is shit. With each new service, you have to learn the etiquette. Give me untippable robots instead.

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by stretch611 on Wednesday October 16 2019, @12:32PM (10 children)

      by stretch611 (6199) on Wednesday October 16 2019, @12:32PM (#907845)

      I agree. Tipping should be banned outright. For the most part, employers benefit, employees get shafted.

      By this I mean that everyone should get the same minimum wage or more... no discounted wage for people who are expected to get tips. By no means should people be banned from giving extra money to a person who provides excellent service, but neither should a tip just be expected for any job either.

      Employers who employ people that earn tips tend to over-schedule their employees. e.g. at a restaurant, they will schedule 10 waiter/waitresses for a dinner rush even if most nights they only need 6 or 7. The employer is only paying a small fraction of the labor costs, and if the employee doesn't make enough in tips the employer does not care. In some restaurants, when their is unusually low volume, they will send some home early because no one can make any tips at all.. it does not effectively change the employer's payroll, but the employees are hurt when they don't even make enough money to cover gas costs of getting to and from work. This same principle is effectively used by uber, instacart, and other gig companies by forcing them on the clock but only paying them if they actually deliver something. If you are forced to be somewhere... even just sitting around doing nothing, you should be paid a full and normal wage. On the other hand, if you are lounging at home, and have the ability to turn down any request for immediate work without repercussions, only then are you deem "not working" and not be paid a wage. In short, the employer should be responsible for ensuring that enough labor is around to handle the workload...and suffer the consequences when they get it wrong, not the employee.

      Yes, costs will go up if people are paid full wages, and yes, that cost will be transferred to the consumer, but you are already paying for those extra costs when you are expected to pay a tip.

      --
      Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
      • (Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Wednesday October 16 2019, @02:08PM

        by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Wednesday October 16 2019, @02:08PM (#907866) Journal

        With a lot of gig jobs, though, it doesn't matter if you're "just at home" or someplace else. The question is are you currently performing work for the company? The problem with all of that is that in the gig economy the companies want the employees regarded as contractors. A brief scan to me seems to say that Instacart regards its shoppers as contractors, not employees. And so the company isn't "paying wages", instead it is paying for contracted duties to be performed. That nature of the contract could be changed to say "we will pay you a flat fee for being able to perform (this work) to (these specifications) with (availability between these periods)," although the more that work is specified how to be done undermines being a contractor. It would also lose the gig company one of their biggest tools towards profitability: not having fixed labor costs but paying only as work is actually being done.

        Perhaps we need to rethink labor lab entirely as to what gig employees are, whether that means reclassifying as employees, leaving things as they are but codified as such, or coming up with some new structure to address how those relationships work. But I won't hold my breath, because everybody is benefitting out of these new relationships except the workers themselves.

        --
        This sig for rent.
      • (Score: 1, Insightful) by khallow on Wednesday October 16 2019, @02:23PM (4 children)

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 16 2019, @02:23PM (#907874) Journal

        For the most part, employers benefit, employees get shafted.

        I work at a resort in Yellowstone National Park. The highest paid employees on the location are some of the waiters at the local sit-down restaurant. That's because of tips.

        Employers who employ people that earn tips tend to over-schedule their employees. e.g. at a restaurant, they will schedule 10 waiter/waitresses for a dinner rush even if most nights they only need 6 or 7

        And that's supposed to be even remotely bad why? The employee is not the only people in the world. It's better to have too many employees on a shift than too few, because then they can serve the customer without understaffing delays, you know the people who pay for the service in the first place and create all those jobs.

        • (Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @04:08PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @04:08PM (#907916)

          create all those jobs.

          On your knees, peasant! These be "job creators". You people who "take" jobs are then "job destroyers". Pray we do not alter the deal further!!

          Signed, Darth Khallow

          • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday October 16 2019, @09:12PM

            by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 16 2019, @09:12PM (#908003) Journal

            On your knees, peasant! These be "job creators".

            *Sigh*, I know you're trying hard to be sarcastic, but yes, your business's customers are its job creators. They deserve more respect than the whiny "but I didn't get the hours I wanted" crap.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @04:40PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @04:40PM (#907927)

          Because with the current laws on tipping minimum wage, the employer is basically getting work for free by over-scheduling workers.

          • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday October 16 2019, @09:39PM

            by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 16 2019, @09:39PM (#908012) Journal

            Because with the current laws on tipping minimum wage, the employer is basically getting work for free by over-scheduling workers.

            Employer still pays, and customers are paying the "work for free".

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday October 16 2019, @05:28PM (1 child)

        by DeathMonkey (1380) on Wednesday October 16 2019, @05:28PM (#907940) Journal

        What? You think employers should be the ones to pay the salary of their employees? SOCIALISM!

        • (Score: 3, Insightful) by PartTimeZombie on Wednesday October 16 2019, @10:17PM

          by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Wednesday October 16 2019, @10:17PM (#908026)

          People who work for tips are not employees, they're beggars.

          Companies like Uber and Instacart cannot operate unless they have someone to exploit. If they can't exploit their customers, they have to exploit the available labour pool.

          These shoppers would be much better off if they all stopped doing any work for Instacart.

      • (Score: 2) by Mykl on Wednesday October 16 2019, @10:50PM

        by Mykl (1112) on Wednesday October 16 2019, @10:50PM (#908041)

        you are already paying for those extra costs when you are expected to pay a tip

        This.

        It would be far easier to remove tips and replace them with a slightly higher wage, accompanied with slightly higher prices for goods/services. It works out even for the customer, the employer and the employee, and no longer relies on people adding arbitrary figures to the total.

        Most importantly, it levels the playing field for workers in the same fields. IMHO, there is no reason why a waiter at a diner should get minimum wage plus tips, yet a worker at a McDonalds get minimum wage only. That situation harms the diner (because people have to pay more to eat there once the tip is included), and the McDonalds worker, who gets paid less for the same work.

      • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday October 16 2019, @11:04PM

        by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Wednesday October 16 2019, @11:04PM (#908047) Homepage
        Yes, but with the rider "in the USA". The rest of the world is doing tipping fine, it's only the USA that has decided that some wages can legally be lower than the minimum legal wage because surely they must be getting tips, which then become part of their wage and therefore must go through company books.

        Tipping (in the USA) should go back to being tipping again.
        --
        Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
  • (Score: 2) by jmichaelhudsondotnet on Wednesday October 16 2019, @12:29PM

    by jmichaelhudsondotnet (8122) on Wednesday October 16 2019, @12:29PM (#907843) Journal

    I decided long ago that any management and ownership that takes even a % of tipped employees tips should be imprisoned for life.

    We can't have such scumbags freely roaming the streets, it puts us all in danger.

    I could watch such a person get guillotined and not have any negative feelings about it whatsoever, but alas, even this does not convince me the death penalty is justified. They might be falsely accused and they should have the rest of their lives to beg the system for a retrial to clear their name, like everyone else accused of a heinous crime.

    thesesystemsarefailing.net

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @07:35PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @07:35PM (#907975)

    If you act like a slave, the slavers will treat you like a slave. Stop working for some scummy closed source app! Everything you need to learn is online for free. Gang up on it and write your own FOSS app to handle the onboarding and payment stuff.

(1)