Guaranteed minimum pay, driver sick pay, and more – sounds like a new driverfriendly rideshare company, right? Nope – it’s happening today for drivers in Seattle! How did these initiatives come to be, why did Seattle spearhead them, and what can other cities learn from Seattle? I chat with Kerem Levitas and Laine Middaugh from the City of Seattle about all of this and more!

Intro to Kerem Levitas and Laine Middaugh

Kerem Levitas serves as a Strategic Advisor/Policy Analyst at the Seattle Office of Labor Standards (OLS)

His recent policy focus has been on labor standards development for Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) like Uber and Lyft
Laine Middaugh is a Policy Analyst/Strategic Advisor in the City of Seattle’s Office of Labor Standards, where she helps to implement the City’s TNC Deactivation Rights Ordinance covering Uber and Lyft drivers in Seattle

Why Did Seattle Decide to Tackle Driver Concerns?

Feedback from drivers
Need to balance policy decisions with real life and driver feedback
Number of agencies involved with regulation
Many drivers couldn’t find resolution elsewhere

Driver Resolution Center

Drivers regularly reach out – no way to argue against an unfair deactivation
Drivers don’t know why they were deactivated
Deactivation Rights Ordinance – prohibits unwarranted deactivation
Investigation, policy applied fairly, notice provided

How is it Going So Far?

Demand surpassed expectations!
In the early stages and want to come back in a year to share more!
Plan to grow – driver education, too
Funded by perride tax

Feedback

Less fluctuation and better ability to plan
Plan earnings, plan schedules, etc.
Able to take off if they or their loved ones get sick
Pay and deactivation were the most important to drivers

What’s Next?

Making sure everything is working properly!
Figuring out what has changed, what’s still the same
Driver feedback – what are we still missing?

Outro

Big thanks to Kerem and Laine for coming on the podcast and sharing what Seattle is doing to help gig workers
Can’t wait to follow up with them next year and see how it’s going


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About The RideShare Guy:

I'm Harry, the founder of The Rideshare Guy. I started driving for Uber and Lyft in 2015 and eventually quit my day job as an aerospace engineer to run The Rideshare Guy full time.

These days, I'm a trusted media expert on all things rideshare and have a number of contributors across the country who are all driving for Uber and Lyft and other gig companies like Instacart, Doordash, and Postmates.

The RideShare Guy has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, CNBC, NPR, 60 Minutes on CBS TV, The Washington Post, Wired, Forbes, SFGate, and hundreds more.

Join 86,000 drivers on our free email newsletter: https://therideshareguy.com/emailsig...

The RideShare Guy has interviewed top gig economy leaders and reporters such as

• Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi    • My Interview With Uber CEO Dara Khosr...  
• Lyft COO Jon McNeill https://therideshareguy.com/rsg093wh...
• GetUpside COO Wayne Lin    • Why The Get Upside App Is So Valuable...  
• Executive Director Automotive Research Stanford, Dr. Stephen Zoepf, PhD MIT
• Senior Tech Policy Reporter at Ars Technica Tim Lee

Harry also consults for both established corporations and startups. https://therideshareguy.com/consulting/

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