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Laws are needed when technological change ends up squeezing workers

California’s Assembly Bill 5 will let gig workers have benefits, unions and legal protection. It was needed to prevent a return to Dickensian working conditions, argues Annalee Newitz

By Annalee Newitz

18 September 2019

Pick up here — GADO Images/Alamy Stock Photo

IT STARTED with a rumour. “Don’t use the DoorDash app to tip your driver,” a friend told me. “The company steals tips. You have to pay the driver directly, in cash.” Sure enough, a few days later the story broke: DoorDash, the food delivery app, was .

If I tipped my driver $10 via the app, DoorDash would use that money to cover her base pay and she would get no tip. If I tipped her in cash, she would get her $10 base from DoorDash, plus…

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