About The Safety Crisis
What is the safety crisis?
Through original research, Gig Workers Rising found that over 80 app workers have been killed since 2017 in just the United States. The true number is likely to be much greater as gig corporations don't regularly disclose the number of homicides that occur for people working using their apps.
Workers of color and their families bear the brunt: our research shows that more than 77% of the murdered workers in 2022 were people of color, although they comprise less than 39% of the overall workforce in the U.S. economy.
Why is this happening?
App corporations are not doing enough to protect the workers who make their apps run. Instead, the bedrock of their model is to offload risk onto workers. This means workers are shut out of safety net programs like workers; compensation and, despite how dangerous the work is, workers are left on their own to figure out strategies to protect themselves. When workers are killed on the job, the corporations do not consistently support workers or their families with basic protections like workers' compensation. These corporate policies put workers at risk in order to maximize profits for investors, and take insufficient responsibility for the workers who bring in their revenue.
This safety crisis is a racial justice crisis.
These murders are not one-off incidents; rather, they are symptomatic of gig corporations’ business model, which exploits Black and brown workers.
In our own research, we found that the over 66% of the app-based workers killed in the last five years were people of color, though workers of color comprise less than 39% of the overall workforce in the U.S. economy overall.
Stand with workers in their fight for basic safety.
Read and share this report, which presents an in depth look at the urgent app worker safety crisis and the moral irresponsibility that has not only permitted it, but also produced it. It also highlights workers and families who are organizing to fight back.
Please note this report includes descriptions of physical violence and death. Take care while reading.
Who Is Gig Workers Rising?
Gig Workers Rising is a campaign that was launched by Working Partnerships USA in 2018 to support app workers in California who are organizing for better wages, working conditions, and respect on the job.*
Since our inception, we have been advocating for gig corporations to publicly commit to: a living wage to fairly compensate app workers for their labor so they can achieve financial stability, the right to organize without fear of retaliation, protected benefits like retirement, workers compensation, disability, health and PTO that workers in other industries enjoy, and transparency around wages and deactivation policies.
Gig Workers Rising believes that everyone who accesses works via an app deserves a real voice on the job and the freedom that comes with good pay and real benefits. We believe that without app workers, these corporations are powerless — so when app workers stand together, you have the power to drive real change.
*Gig Workers Rising does not represent or seek to represent workers in negotiating with their employer over the terms or conditions of employment
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