“In doing so, we’ve tried, in good faith, to balance those needs, but clearly we haven’t always gotten it right.”Įarly in the pandemic, Gig Workers Collective planned a nationwide strike to demand hazard pay, an expanded extended pay policy, and cleaning supplies. “These changes were designed to increase transparency while also keeping pace with a rapidly-evolving industry,” Mehta wrote in a blog post at the time. Instacart’s tipping policy has come under fire before, like in 2019 when the company admitted to using tips to subsidize minimum payment guarantees. Gig Workers Collective is calling on Instacart to add occupational death benefits, on top of the shopper injury protection insurance that the company began offering in 2019, and to raise the minimum tip to 10 percent. “A single 4-star rating is enough to affect our pay for weeks.” “Instacart’s lacking fraud detection ability and policies make it very easy for customers to get free groceries by falsely marking items as missing/damaged, with the blame constantly falling on the shopper,” says Gig Workers Collective. Instacart has temporarily suspended the accounts of workers who cancel orders, even in cases where the customer wasn’t home at the designated time, the delivery address was wrong, or when minors were trying to purchase alcohol. Ratings can affect which orders shoppers are eligible for, and how much they earn. Gig Workers Collective also flags problems with Instacart’s rating system, which leaves shoppers susceptible to scams, or low ratings for things that are outside of their control. Shoppers can also see how much each batch will pay out before they accept the order. Instead it reads that shoppers’ pay “depends on their role type and other factors.” According to the company, there is a guaranteed minimum of $7 to $10 per full-service batch, which goes up depending on expected time and effort. This is effectively a 76% cut to base pay, and is unacceptable.”Ĭurrently, Instacart’s website does not explicitly state any minimum pay for shoppers. Instead of a shopper fulfilling three orders for a total of $30 base, we now do it for a $7 base. “If we shopped three orders at once, the base pay would be $7 for the lot. It also claims that $7 is the base pay shoppers receive for batch orders and that, since the company removed item commission, pay doesn’t increase regardless of the order size. “In 2019, when Apoorva Mehta publicly apologized for supplementing pay with tips in response to our protests, the company lowered the base pay floor from $10 to $7,” the group says. In its announcement, Gig Workers Collective details the absurd conditions and pay structures currently experienced by Instacart shoppers. Our goal is to get Instacart to engage with us.” “We’re organizing the walk-off because the company continues to ignore us. “We know that in order for us to see change, we need to hit Instacart where it hurts,” Willy Solis, a member of Gig Workers Collective, told Vice. The group says shoppers will cease work until Instacart meets five demands, which include better pay and benefits. Gig Workers Collective, a grassroots organization fighting for better treatment of independent contractors, has announced planning for a walk off for Instacart shoppers on October 16.
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