在流感大流行期間，零工工人很難得到經(jīng)濟上的幫助

在流感大流行期間，零工工人很難得到經(jīng)濟上的幫助

April McGhee and her teenage daughter started feeling sick last month. They had coughs, sore throats and fevers. Her daughter's condition became so bad that they went to the emergency room.

阿普麗爾·麥吉和她十幾歲的女兒上個月開始感到不舒服。他們咳嗽、喉嚨痛、發(fā)燒。她女兒的情況變得很糟糕，她們?nèi)チ思痹\室。

"She had it worse than I did," McGhee said. "Her cough lasted longer. It was really a concern.

“她的情況比我更糟，”麥吉說。她的咳嗽了更久。這確實令人擔心。

McGhee, who lives in Sacramento, wanted both of them to get tested for the coronavirus. But the hospital told her they weren't sick enough to qualify for testing under California's rules. So, they went home and into isolation.

住在薩克拉門托的麥吉希望兩人都接受冠狀病毒檢測。但醫(yī)院告訴她，根據(jù)加州的規(guī)定，他們的病情還沒有嚴重到有資格接受檢測。所以，他們回家后就被隔離了。

A single mom, McGhee makes ends meet by delivering groceries for Instacart and meals for Postmates. She contacted Instacart to apply for sick pay under a policy the company recently put in place because of the pandemic.

作為一個單身母親，麥吉通過為食品快遞送雜貨和為同城快遞送餐來維持生計。她聯(lián)系了食品快遞公司，根據(jù)該公司最近針對大流行制定的一項政策，申請病假工資。

"They basically laughed me off," McGhee said. "They said, 'Unless you have the health department or [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] making you stay home on quarantine, or a note from the doctor saying that you've been diagnosed with COVID-19. you're out of luck.'"

“他們基本上是一笑置之，”麥吉說。“他們說，‘除非衛(wèi)生部門或(美國疾病控制與預防中心)讓你呆在家里隔離，或者醫(yī)生說你被診斷出患有COVID-19.否則你就沒那么幸運了。’”

Gig companies like Instacart, Uber and Lyft connect people who need tasks done with workers willing to do them. But the companies consider these workers independent contractors, not employees. The firms generally do not provide paid sick leave or other employee benefits.

像是是食品快遞、優(yōu)步和來福車這樣的零工公司會把需要完成任務的人與愿意完成任務的員工聯(lián)系起來。但這些公司認為這些工人是獨立的承包商，而不是雇員。這些公司通常不提供帶薪病假或其他員工福利。

Now, however, that's changing. The nature of the work that Instacart shoppers, Uber and Lyft drivers and other gig workers do puts them in close contact with strangers. They are, in essence, on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, and some of them are getting sick.

然而，現(xiàn)在這種情況正在改變。食品快遞的購物者、優(yōu)步和來福車的司機以及其他零工的工作性質，讓他們與陌生人保持著密切聯(lián)系。從本質上講，他們是冠狀病毒大流行的前線，他們中的一些人正在生病。

McGhee joined other Instacart workers who walked off the job Monday to demand better safety measures. She says the company's policy not only puts her at risk, it encourages people who are sick to keep working and, potentially, spread the disease.

麥吉加入了其他食品快遞工人的行列，他們在周一進行了罷工，要求更好的安全措施。她說，公司的政策不僅把她置于危險之中，還鼓勵生病的人繼續(xù)工作，并有可能傳播疾病。

She said the company should keep its workers healthy "as a buffer zone instead of as a Typhoid Mary."

她說，公司應該讓員工保持健康，“作為緩沖地帶，而不是壞事傳播者。”

Instacart has since announced it plans to distribute supplies, including masks, hand sanitizer and thermometers, to workers beginning this week.

食品快遞公司隨后宣布，計劃從本周開始向工人分發(fā)口罩、洗手液和體溫計等物品。

Workers for other gig companies are also running into hurdles getting the help they've been promised.

其他零工公司的員工在獲得承諾的幫助方面也遇到了障礙。

After Uber and Lyft driver Khadim Diop fell ill with a fever and sore throat, he got a letter from New York City's health department saying he must stay home for 14 days.

優(yōu)步和來福車的司機卡迪姆·迪奧普發(fā)燒、喉嚨痛，之后他收到了紐約市衛(wèi)生局的一封信，說他必須在家呆14天。

He showed the letter to both companies to receive sick pay. He hoped it would cover the loss of the roughly $1.000 to $1.500 he says he typically makes per week. He got $250 from Lyft.

他把這封信拿給兩家公司看，要求得到病假工資。他希望這筆錢能彌補他每周賺的大約1.000到1.500美元的損失。他從來福車公司得到了250美元。

Uber initially rejected his claim, saying he did not qualify for the company's financial assistance program. Uber said it has paid more than 1.400 claims to U.S. drivers in less than three weeks.

優(yōu)步最初拒絕了他的要求，稱他不符合公司的經(jīng)濟援助計劃。優(yōu)步表示，在不到三周的時間里，它已經(jīng)向美國司機支付了1400多筆索賠。

But after NPR contacted Uber, the company reversed its decision regarding Diop. It said his claim should not have been rejected. He has now received about $1.700 from Uber to cover the two weeks of work he's missed.

但在美國國家公共電臺(NPR)聯(lián)系優(yōu)步之后，優(yōu)步改變了有關迪奧普的決定。它說他的要求不應該被拒絕?，F(xiàn)在，他已經(jīng)從優(yōu)步那里得到了約1700美元，以彌補他錯過的兩周工作。