Puget Sound Gig Workers Rally For Better Pay: Photos

BELLEVUE, WA — Dozens of local gig economy workers from around Puget Sound rallied on Thursday in downtown Bellevue, asking their employers for better pay, more transparency, and an end to tip theft.

The workers shop, drive, and deliver for apps like DoorDash, Uber, Caviar, and Instacart in cities from Silverdale to Tacoma. They gathered to deliver symbolic bags of peanuts to a Postmates office in downtown Bellevue with the message, "Pay Up."

"Today, the tech workers of Bellevue are going to listen to us," Working Washington Executive Director Rachel Lauter told the attendees. "It's time to pay up."

According to a recent Federal Reserve report, about 3 in 10 American adults did some type of online or offline gig work in 2018, and most did it to supplement existing income. But people who did gig work as their primary source of income were more financially vulnerable than non-gig workers, the report found.

"Signs of financial fragility — such as difficulty handling an emergency expense — are slightly more common for those engaged in gig work, but markedly higher for those who do so as a main source of income," the report said.

Chris Palmer (center) was a full-time DoorDash driver in 2017. He said he moved to the Seattle area from Oregon after seeing ads for $25-per-hour pay with the app. He said he ended up making about $7.50 per hour, including tips. He had to move out of an RV he was renting to live in his van before finding a more steady job as a waiter. DoorDash has come under fire for using tips to subsidize driver pay.

The bags full of peanuts the workers delivered to the Postmates office at the Lincoln Square building in downtown Bellevue. Many of the people at the rally work for more than one app to make up for uneven wages.

Ulysses Galvez, a Navy veteran who lives in Silverdale, started delivering for Instacart in 2018. He suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, and needed a job that allowed him flexible hours. The pay was great at first, he said, but steadily declined. He began working for Postmates to make up for it, but working for the app is like "pulling the handle on a slot machine." He wants the company to provide workers with more transparency about how much deliveries pay.

The pay-up peanuts, delivered to the Northeast 4th Street entrance to Lincoln Square.

Several dozen workers attended the rally. They lined the sidewalk outside Lincoln Square and handed out fliers to passersby.

One driver, Robert Banks, of Tacoma, began working for DoorDash after leaving his job as a chef due to a health problem. He was earning about $100 per 8-hour day, after expenses. He said DoorDash kicked him off the app, which he believes was due to him talking to other drivers about tipping issues. He just began a full-time job as a package delivery driver for an Amazon contractor, but he plans to continue driving for Uber in his spare time to support his family. His wife works as a manager at Subway — one of DoorDash's fast-food chain partners.