Gov. Evers vetoes gig worker bill to pave the way for a better deal

Delivery drivers faced a potential loss of protections from a bill DoorDash spent more than $1 million lobbying to pass.

Headline writers were technically right but missed the main point in claiming, “Governor Tony Evers vetoes bill to give benefits to delivery drivers.”

You would have to dig deeper into the stories earlier this month to realize that Evers is not against providing benefits to so-called “gig workers.” Instead, he believed the bill was one-sided. It favored employers and needed more input from workers and organized labor. 

“App-based drivers are a growing segment of Wisconsin’s workforce,” Evers told legislators in his veto message. “Changes to independent contractor definitions are a serious endeavor — one that demands substantive conversations among several parties, including with both management and workers”

The bill would have authorized companies that rely on delivery drivers and apps to deduct up to 4% of a driver’s earnings to go into an account for benefits such as health insurance or retirement accounts — and drivers could take those benefit accounts to other companies. Republican legislators and companies that rely on delivery drivers defended the bill as an instrument of freedom.

“This is for the independent contractor and the freedom that they have to get ahead in life by working a couple extra jobs, a couple extra trips on a weekend to make a little bit of extra cash,” said Rep. Alex Dallman (R-Green Lake), the bill’s lead author, according to the Wisconsin Examiner. “While at the same time, voluntarily partnering with one of these companies … to pay for their benefits, to pay for their retirement.”

Critics said without a requirement in the law, companies were unlikely to create the benefit accounts. Instead, they say, the real story of the bill is its expansion of which workers are considered independent contractors and don’t have to be given the benefits that go to traditional employees.

“It’s a terrible bill,” said former state Rep. Dana Wachs (D-Eau Claire), a trial attorney with 41 years of experience representing workers who were denied benefits, pay, or damages because they were considered independent contractors.

“These outfits hide behind ‘independent contractors.’” Wachs told UpNorthNews. “They hire people and say, ‘You are not an employee of ours.’ And [drivers] are running all over our highways and these companies are trying to escape liability and [avoid] doing the right thing.”

DoorDash spent more than $1 million lobbying in support of the bill. The Wisconsin AFL-CIO countered by saying the bill would have permanently stripped protections from drivers such as worker’s compensation, unemployment insurance, and minimum wage and overtime pay.

“I am open to finding a pathway to portable benefits,” Evers said. “However, such a solution must be thoughtful, benefit workers, and be created through a process in which workers and management have the opportunity to participate, collaborate, and reach agreement. My veto today will allow time for these important conversations to occur so Wisconsin can find a path forward.”