Uber, Lyft and DoorDash depend extensively upon gig workers, who haul people and meals around on their behalf but do not receive many hard-won benefits of employment — such as employer contributions toward their Social Security and Medicare taxes.Despite pressure from labor organizers and some lawmakers, some tech firms have fought to continue classifying their workers as independent contractors, arguing the status benefits their businesses, other local businesses and workers themselves.Attempts to alter gig worker classification in the U.S. include a recently rejected ballot measure in Massachusetts, which could have explicitly defined such workers as independent contractors.A year later, app-based gig workers in California were excluded from the law via Proposition 22, which itself was deemed unconstitutional in the state in 2021.Uber also mentioned flexibility in an email to TechCrunch, and said the “proposed rule takes a measured approach, essentially returning us to the Obama era, during which our industry grew exponentially.”In stark contrast, groups such as Gig Workers Rising assert that independent classification denies gig workers “basic worker protections and rights,” such as unionization, living wages, paid time off and other benefits."