By Representative Andy Vargas and Senator Lydia Edwards
OUR COMMONWEALTH IS a national leader in innovative technologies as well as workers’ rights. We have managed to grow economically without sacrificing worker rights to safety, reasonable pay, discrimination free workplaces and the right to organize.
Indeed, we stand on the shoulders of workers that stood up to big corporations. Be it the mill workers of Lowell in the 19th century, the domestic workers of today, or Starbucks workers organizing, our state leans towards justice and inclusion for workers.
We currently face another threat to our laws and protections for workers. Multinational technology conglomerates, much like the titans of industry before them, are doing everything they can to water down workers’ rights with the false promise of more innovation and jobs.
That’s why we have proposed legislation to protect workers in Massachusetts from being exploited by transportation network companies, or TNCs, such as Uber and Lyft, and delivery network companies, or DNCs, such as Instacart.
What we propose is pretty simple: follow the hard fought for laws of the Commonwealth, like every other business.
Read the rest of this op-ed on Commonwealth Beacon here.
