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Some Instacart workers to strike over pay that can be as low as $1 per hour

arstechnica.com

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Re: Some Instacart workers to strike over pay that can be as low as $1 per hour

#101

Post by conanbatt »

_m8fo wrote: post #20
spo81rty wrote: post #16

What I don't understand is if the pay or working conditions are so bad, why don't people just go find a new job? If they can't get anyone to do the job, they will be forced to pay more or fix the conditions. If they have a terrible reputation, nobody will want to work for them. It's simple supply and demand.

It boggles me that anyone believes this. It's called leverage. Not everyone has equal ability, nor equal ability to change jobs for a variety of reasons.

So what do you think happens to those people if by a requirment on minimum income by instacart, they are barred from that job opportunity.

Re: Some Instacart workers to strike over pay that can be as low as $1 per hour

#102

Post by CryptoPunk »

mvid wrote: post #95
thrownblown wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the lessons of Austin's temporary Uber/Lyft kick out was that very quickly worker run ride sharing emerged to serve the need.

I've used those services. They were buggy and broken to the point where I frequently ended up walking in the rain because I couldn't get a ride.

This shows basic economics is right again. Division of labour makes the economy more productive and society more prosperous. The investor/worker roles are such a division of labour.

Re: Some Instacart workers to strike over pay that can be as low as $1 per hour

#103

Post by hocuspocus »

pw wrote: post #32

The stories about large Bay-area tech companies placing enormous orders through Instacart are pretty appalling.

Ironically enough this wouldn't be an issue almost anywhere outside the US, where online groceries shopping was solved by the supermarkets themselves in the early 2000s. Despite employee benefits, minimum wages, collective bargaining and all that.

Re: Some Instacart workers to strike over pay that can be as low as $1 per hour

#104

Post by TaylorAlexander »

TaylorAlexander wrote: post #6

I recently ordered from DoorDash, a similar service. The app gave me a price for the order and then had a line item called “Dasher Tip” and asked me how much I wanted to put down. I put in $20. Later when the woman arrived with the food, we stopped to talk for a minute. She was a little younger than my mom, and said she had just started working for the service after her husband died. She asked me if she could ask me…

HEY ITS OP HERE:

I don’t see an edit option so I’ll say here. This comment got a lot of attention so I should clarify. Some are saying this should be a huge story, it’s illegal in CA (where this occurred) etc.

I’m not sure how the DoorDash app works from the Dasher’s perspective, so I was taking her word that the tip was $6. Also I was incorrect on my tip amount - it was 20% which was $14.21 (the order was $92.00 including fees and tip). She did show me an amount under $10 ($6 or $7?) as her pay for this task. She did have to wait for a while at the restaurant because their food was not ready in time, and I was under the impression that the figure she showed me was her total compensation for the delivery. If she in fact received my $14 after as some are suggesting that would be an improvement. She said she was somewhat new to DoorDash so there could have been a misunderstanding, but she was under the impression they had been stiffing her on previous nights as well, so I’m not sure it’s a simple case of her not knowing she would be tipped more later.

Is anyone else here a Dasher who would be willing to confirm tip amounts with some customers? You do enter the tip in to the app before finalizing the order, so they will know.

Re: Some Instacart workers to strike over pay that can be as low as $1 per hour

#105

Post by dba7dba »

TaylorAlexander wrote: post #6

I recently ordered from DoorDash, a similar service. The app gave me a price for the order and then had a line item called “Dasher Tip” and asked me how much I wanted to put down. I put in $20. Later when the woman arrived with the food, we stopped to talk for a minute. She was a little younger than my mom, and said she had just started working for the service after her husband died. She asked me if she could ask me…

smh. So, that's how some get rich.

Charge higher price, but pay workers less.

Switch to cheaper ingredients with lower price, but pass only a small portion of the saving to the customers.

Re: Some Instacart workers to strike over pay that can be as low as $1 per hour

#106

Post by nicolewhite »

xadhominemx wrote: post #58
georgemcbay wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should consider reporting this to both the California Labor Commissioner (Dept of Industrial Relations) and the IRS, both would be extremely interested in this especially if this is DoorDash's standard procedure. I've used the service a few times in the past and probably will again, but I'm going to start asking the drivers how much they got as a tip and will definitely report any discrepancies. The website speci…

ya this is so illegal I doubt it's true

Corporations have been doing egregiously illegal things since the dawn of time.

Re: Some Instacart workers to strike over pay that can be as low as $1 per hour

#107

Post by jjeaff »

narrator wrote: post #46
dzonga wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

VC money can't make up for their weak numbers and incompetence. They gotta push up revenue in other ways.

The delivery business is wildly unprofitable and just runs on VC money. As soon as this economic cycle is all over they'll probably all be out of business.

Ya, there is this ridiculous notion that, like Uber, you can just subsidize until they've run everyone else out of the market.

But in reality, if Uber or door dash or whoever take over their respective markets and then back up prices, people will stop using them just as quickly as they started and smaller, cheaper competitors will pop right back up.

You don't exactly need a multi-million dollar war chest to start delivering food.

Re: Some Instacart workers to strike over pay that can be as low as $1 per hour

#108

Post by icebraining »

CryptoPunk wrote: post #102
mvid wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've used those services. They were buggy and broken to the point where I frequently ended up walking in the rain because I couldn't get a ride.

This shows basic economics is right again. Division of labour makes the economy more productive and society more prosperous. The investor/worker roles are such a division of labour.

Or it just shows that apps need some time to stabilize. The early versions of VC-funded apps are not always great either, to say the least.

Re: Some Instacart workers to strike over pay that can be as low as $1 per hour

#109

Post by ionised »

mtpn wrote: post #19
jeremyt wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Call me crazy, but when I use one of these services, I expect the service to be reflected in the price.

While that would be ideal, I do think it’s at least slightly crazy to truly expect that people delivering food are not somewhat depending on tips to make it work. That’s just how it goes in the real world!

The US is not the world.

Re: Some Instacart workers to strike over pay that can be as low as $1 per hour

#110

Post by esolyt »

GhostVII wrote: post #100
TaylorAlexander wrote: post #6

I recently ordered from DoorDash, a similar service. The app gave me a price for the order and then had a line item called “Dasher Tip” and asked me how much I wanted to put down. I put in $20. Later when the woman arrived with the food, we stopped to talk for a minute. She was a little younger than my mom, and said she had just started working for the service after her husband died. She asked me if she could ask me…

Seems really odd that they make you send a tip before the food gets to you - my understanding of tips is that they are supposed to reflect and encourage the level of service you received - if you pay them before you were served, they don't really do much. Not a fan of them either way, but this seems even more pointless than normal.

Unfortunately, Amazon Prime Now does the same. Tips are simply becoming "hidden fees".
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