Shipt is an Uber-like app-based grocery company recently bought out by Target. Shipt workers have been risking their lives and the lives of their families to make sure people have access to food and other goods amid a deadly pandemic. On October 20, over 20 Shipt workers demonstrated outside the company’s headquarters in Birmingham, AL to protest pay cuts and tips-stealing by the company. Some workers have reported that they have been making less than minimum wage. This is common (and legal) among gig workers who are classified as “independent contractors” and is one of the main reasons that companies like Uber, Lyft, Instacart, etc. spend so much money lobbying the government to make sure that these workers aren’t considered employees in the eyes of the law.
In August, Target reported that Shipt’s revenue had gone up by more than 300% percent since the pandemic began. But workers are having their wages cut and still don’t have access to healthcare, paid sick leave or other benefits. Clearly, the bosses don’t care if we live or die as long as they’re raking in profits from our labor, but these workers are standing up and fighting back. Solidarity with Shipt workers and all essential workers fighting to secure their long overdue rights!