(The Center Square) – Wisconsin lawmakers and gig workers gathered at the Capitol on Tuesday to ask Gov. Tony Evers to sign a bill that would allow gig workers to have portable benefits plans that travel with them as they do work for companies such as Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and more.
The bill would allow gig workers to create portable benefits options such as health care and retirement accounts, though some groups including the Wisconsin AFL-CIO have organized protests of it passing, saying they are concerned the bill would strip app-based transportation and delivery drivers of employee status and reclassify drivers as independent contractors.
Sen. Julian Bradley, R-New Berlin, said that the bill allows drivers to be the independent contractors, not full-time employees, that they want to be.
“If a company were to offer this, these drivers would lose their independent contractor status,” Bradley said.
Drivers who make $750 in a calendar year are eligible for a portable benefits account, with the company being obligated to pay 4% of the driver’s earnings in the previous quarter, minus tips, if a company contributes to the account.
“Modern workers deserve modern solutions,” said DoorDash driver Rachel Smith of New Berlin.
Bradley and Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez, D–Milwaukee, said that they have not spoken to Evers about the bill.
Rep. Alex Dallman, R-Markesan, was the bill’s lead author in the Assembly.
“I think that it’s important for him to take a really good look at this,” Ortiz-Velez said. “Sit down, let’s have a chat. I feel like there’s a place for us to come to a common ground for the common good.”
