第2941期:The gig economy of Didi drivers

When her employer cut her hours, Maria Hernandez, a healthcare worker turned to driving for Lyft, the ride-hailing firm to make up lost income.

当雇主削减了她的工作时间后，医疗工作者玛丽亚·埃尔南德斯转向为网约车公司来福车开车，以弥补失去的收入。

She likes it, meeting people and picking up work when she can.

她喜欢这份工作，既能结识人，又能在有机会的时候揽些活儿干。

I think the flexibility is a wonderful thing because it has helped me a lot with my other job.

我认为灵活性是一件很棒的事情，因为它对我的其他工作帮助很大。

The so-called gig economy which uses apps to connect people like Hernandez to jobs, is under threat in the golden state.

所谓的零工经济通过应用程序使得像赫尔南德斯这样的人能够工作，在这个黄金州正受到威胁。

Voters are deciding on proposition 22, a ballot initiative sponsored by companies like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and others.

选民们正在决定二十二号提案，这是一项由优步、来福车、DoorDash等公司发起的投票倡议。

They have spent nearly 200 million dollars on it, the most ever for a state initiative.

他们已经在这项提案上花费了近两亿美元，这是有史以来州政府倡议的最高金额。

A lot is at stake. If prop 22 passes, it would keep drivers like Hernandez as independent contractors.

很多事情都岌岌可危。如果二十二号提案获得通过，它将保留像赫尔南德斯这样的司机作为独立承包商的权利。

Opponents include major labor unions who argue that there is already a state law which the firms are challenging requiring them to treat workers as employees with protections, such as sick leave, overtime and other benefits.

反对者包括主要的工会，他们认为已有州法律要求企业将员工视为享有病假、加班费及其他福利等权益的正式雇员，而相关企业正试图挑战这项法律。

Among Uber and Lyft drivers, there's a divide over the initiative, says Chris Gerace, a contributor to the Rideshare Guy, a media outlet for gig economy workers and an Uber driver in Buffalo, New York.

零工经济从业者媒体Rideshare Guy的撰稿人、纽约布法罗的优步司机克里斯·杰雷斯表示，优步和来福车司机群体对这一提案存在分歧

Full-time drivers tend to support the initiative, he said, while the majority of drivers, part-timers like himself, value flexibility. He has one idea that would make more drivers happy.

他说，全职司机倾向于支持这一举措， 而像他这样的大多数兼职司机则重视灵活性。他有一个想法会让更多的司机高兴。

Better pay rates would probably be the way to erase the majority of these issues,

提高薪酬标准或许是解决这些问题的关键所在，

that we're having between the minority of drivers who wanted employee status, versus the vast majority who are doing it part time.

目前少数希望获得员工身份的司机与大多数兼职司机之间的矛盾正源于此。

At a recent protest against the initiative in San Francisco, some drivers said they had had enough.

在旧金山最近一场反对该提案的抗议活动中，部分司机表示已经受够了。

I'm here because I'm a rideshare driver, I've given close to 20,000 rides.

我来这里是因为我是一名网约车司机，我已经接了将近两万单。

And so I'm very familiar with the exploitation that these companies put us through. We have low pay, we have no access to benefits, it's just unjust.

我非常熟悉这些公司对我们进行的剥削。我们薪水微薄，享受不到福利待遇，这太不公平了。

Ken Jacobs, the chair of the labor center at the university of California Berkeley,

加州大学伯克利分校劳工中心主席肯·雅各布斯认为，

argues that if the ballot initiative passes, it will send a signal to other governments seeking to get the companies to comply with labor laws.

若这项投票提案获得通过，将向其他试图迫使企业遵守劳动法的政府释放信号。

If it passes, then they send a very strong signal to other states in the US, who are looking to enforce their own wage and hour laws and other countries

如果该法案通过，他们将向美国其他试图执行自身工资与工时法规的州、以及向其他国家传递一个极其强烈的信号——

that not only will they not abide by the laws, but that they've amassed enough money that they have the power to change laws, that do not allow them to do whatever they want to do.

这些企业不仅拒绝遵守法律，更通过积累巨额财富获得了篡改法律的力量，从而扫清一切阻碍其肆意妄为的障碍。

One thing is certain, the stakes are high for workers and customers in this battle over the future work. 

有一点是肯定的，在这场关于未来工作的争夺战中，员工和客户的利益攸关。