# A Covid Death Renews Questions of Uber & Lyft’s Responsibilty To Drivers



## MHR (Jul 23, 2017)

*Ride-share drivers say the pandemic has them facing dangerous working condition as they try to make ends meet*
By JOSHUA EMERSON SMITH
JULY 24, 2020
6 AM​









Chuck Beckner begged his 71-year-old mother not to drive for Uber and Lyft during the pandemic. She didn't listen. Then COVID-19 took Billie Sue Matchke's life.

"She didn't deserve that. She was such a good person, such a good mother," Beckner said, looking at her Toyota Prius still parked in front of the mobile home they shared in El Cajon.

"She didn't want to be on any life-sustaining equipment," he added, fighting back tears. "The COVID gave her too much brain damage, so we had the feeding tube taken out."

The pandemic has dramatically raised the stakes in the years-long fight over what protections Lyft, Uber and other gig-economy companies should be required to provide workers.

Adding to longstanding wage and benefit gripes, Matchke's fate is now the nightmare scenario facing rideshare drivers everywhere. Some have recently gone beyond just wearing masks and wiping down door handles to also installing makeshift partitions in their vehicles to shield themselves from potentially infected customers.

Advocates have argued that drivers shouldn't be forced to risk death just to make ends meet, and have blasted Uber and Lyft for making it nearly impossible for drivers to collect state unemployment pay.

"The companies are notoriously greedy," said Terri Beilke, a San Diego-based driver and volunteer organizer with the advocacy group Rideshare Drivers United. "They have plenty of money, and yet they want to keep risking their drivers' lives because, I guess, we're expendable to them."

Lyft and Uber have long maintained that their drivers should be classified as independent contractors, largely because of the freedom workers have to set their own schedules. As such, the companies have argued that workers have no legal right to protections such as unemployment, overtime and sick leave.

Instead, they have rolled out a variety of programs and policies aimed at quelling health concerns. Those have included everything from offering temporary sick pay for those who test positive for the virus to doling out masks and other personal protective equipment, albeit often at the driver's expense.

"As people continue to turn to rideshare throughout the COVID-19 crisis, the health and safety of our driver and rider community is our priority," Lyft said in a statement.

Uber offered a similar response, adding: "The reports of the driver's passing are heartbreaking and our thoughts are with her family and everyone suffering from this pandemic."

*'Please, mom, stop'*
Matchke worked for more than three decades at the North Island Naval Air Rework Facility on Coronado before retiring. Still, she routinely needed money and had suffered a recent bankruptcy.

At first, driving for Uber and Lyft seemed like the perfect gig to help the sociable Matchke supplement her pension. However, her diabetes complicated the situation when the coronavirus started spreading throughout California.

"I told her, 'Please, mom, stop. People are dying,'" Beckner recalled.

Matchke quit driving for a few weeks after the state issued its first lockdown orders in March, but it wasn't long before she was back behind the wheel. She had applied for unemployment insurance, but like so many rideshare drivers had trouble securing the benefits.

Then around mid-June, Matchke fell ill. First she had a sore throat, but it quickly progressed into coughing and a fever. A few days later, her daughter drove her to the hospital, where it was soon confirmed that she had COVID-19.

Doctors quickly put her on heavy medication and ventilator, marking the last time Beckner would have a fully coherent conversation with his mother.

"I talked to her on the phone, and I told her, 'Mom, I love you," he said. "You're going to pull through this. You're a strong woman.'"

She didn't get better. Eventually, doctors told Beckner that the virus had caused considerable brain damage, and she died in early July.

"It just got worse and worse," he said, weeping. "She got what's called COVID brain."

Carol Butler said she was crushed to hear about her longtime friend. The last time they had gotten together was just a week before Matchke went into the hospital.

"She was walking her dog and she came over to my house, and we talked for like five minutes.
That's the last I saw of her," Butler said. "I knew about the dangers. You hear about it all the time, but you feel it a lot more when you have somebody close that dies."

Beckner said the county conducted contract tracing, reaching out to friends and family, but nobody else in their immediate circle was identify as having the virus.

*Insurance dispute*
Uber and Lyft have refused to pay into California's unemployment fund, making it very difficult for the state's roughly 500,000 drivers to secure such payments in recent months.

"The pandemic has put in stark relief how essential those protections are to workers," said Ken Jacobs, chair of the Labor Center at UC Berkeley, who's been closely following the issue.

"They are trying maximize earnings, minimize costs," he said of gig-work employers. "It's what they do as businesses, and it's up to society and our public institutions to set the parameters within which they work."

Top state officials have attempted to draw those lines, passing Assembly Bill 5, which went into effect in January. The law puts significant legal pressure on companies to reclassify their workers as employees and provide the associated benefits.

Gig employers have refused to comply. Uber and Postmates challenged the constitutionality of the law in federal court, while Uber, Lyft and others have spent millions on a ballot initiative campaign to sidestep the new law in favor of a suite of industry-designed labor standards.
Proposition 22 will appear on the November ballot; a "yes" vote would exempt the companies from AB 5.

In response, California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra and the city attorneys of Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego in May sued the rideshare giants in San Francisco Superior Court. If the plaintiffs win, the companies would not only have to classify workers as employees but potentially pay out hundreds of millions of dollars in back wages and penalties.

"I'm outraged," said Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, who authored AB 5. "I feel like these companies have been playing a game for years, using delay tactics and courts to put off the inevitable."








Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, speaks at a 2019 rally calling for passage of her measure to limit when companies can label workers as independent contractors.
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

In the meantime, many drivers are struggling to secure unemployment insurance. Gig workers have reported that navigating the state's bureaucracy can drag on for months, often with no resolution in sight.

To qualify, a driver must first apply for state unemployment insurance. Then the Employment Development Department sends a determination letter of zero dollars based on paperwork filed by Uber and Lyft. Finally, the worker files an appeal and waits for the state to set up an audit to verify proof of income, usually through bank and tax statements.

EDD caseworkers have reportedly encouraged drivers to abandon the process and apply for the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance instead. It's been easier for drivers to qualify for that emergency program, but it's unclear how long it will last.

This has frustrated labor advocates, who argue gig employers should be footing the bill for such protections, not federal taxpayers. They also point out that state unemployment insurance is often more generous for gig workers because of how benefits are calculated.

Beckner is one of those former drivers trying to navigate the state's system. He said he's been waiting for an audit from the state since April.

"I feel that Uber and Lyft should be paying for it because I'm an employee," he said. "They definitely owe it to me."

*Riding out the pandemic*
Some drivers have continued to work in recent months despite the health risks. Recently many of them have taken to installing clear partitions in their vehicles to prevent the sharing of germs. That adds to tensions between drivers and companies over who should pay for personal protective equipment.

Uber and Lyft have responded with a patchwork of policies around the issue. Lyft recently caught significant flak for selling such equipment to drivers. Uber has started giving away supplies, prioritizing its busiest drivers.

"Drivers who are already economically crunched should not be economically liable for their own safety equipment," said Tyler Sandness, a former driver who now works as an organizer with Rideshare Drivers United in Los Angeles. "It really should be the responsibility of the employers to create a safe environment, especially since it's their customers who are at risk if drivers don't have adequate access to stuff like that."

Not all drivers want to be classified as employees. William Dagenhart, who has been driving more than eight hours a day for Lyft in San Diego, recently outfitted his vehicle with a homemade barrier. He downplayed concerns about driving during the pandemic but said the partition helps customers feel more comfortable.

He said he's happy with his current status. He's concerned that if he's an employee he will lose flexibility around where and when he works.

"I like being an independent contractor," he said. "I'm 100 percent dedicated to Lyft."

He also doesn't think rideshare companies should be forced to pay for unemployment benefits or personal protective equipment such as masks or his new partition.

"It's not their car, so they shouldn't have to provide it," said Dagenhart, 49. "It's my car. I'm making payments on the car."








Ricardo Sandoval of Chula Vista shows off the new homemade partition he recently installed in his car. He sells the partitions to other drivers for $60.
(Joshua Emerson Smith / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Ricardo Sandoval, 66, made the partition for Dagenhart using a laser cutter he owns for another business. He said he's now selling the sheets of thermoplastic polymer resin for $60 apiece. They attach to front car seats by threading plastic zip ties through holes cut into the shield.

"It doesn't cover 100 percent, but it helps a lot," said Sandoval, who also drives. "The riders love it."

While he uses one in his car, Sandoval said he's recently reduced his time on the road from about 8 hours a day to just a few hours a week. He said he's very concerned about catching the virus.

Tl;Dr
"Advocates have argued that drivers shouldn't be forced to risk death just to make ends meet, and have blasted Uber and Lyft for making it nearly impossible for drivers to collect state unemployment pay."
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/transportation/story/2020-07-24/uber-driver-dies-covid-19


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## Invisible (Jun 15, 2018)

It’s heartbreaking she had to return to driving because of unemployment delays and died because she needed the money. And she was high risk because of her age and diabetes makes it even more tragic. I wonder how many other drivers have died whose stories aren’t being told.

What I don’t understand is she had a solid career for more than 3 decades and a pension, so why couldn’t she have held off working for longer? I know how expensive CA is. Yet she was living in a mobile home with her son. I’m not trying to take the focus away from the main points in the article, it just made me wonder.

Our government screwed up. They should've made it easier to obtain PUA faster and given a larger stimulus to those who lost income through the pandemic. I know people who never lost income, but because they have minor children, they received a stimulus of $3900. Yet this woman, and so many like her, were expected to survive for months on the measly $1200 stimulus, while waiting too many months for unemployment.


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## amazinghl (Oct 31, 2018)

Invisible said:


> What I don't understand is she had a solid career for more than 3 decades and a pension, so why couldn't she have held off working for longer?


Saving and investing for retirement is the exception, not the norm. I know I'd be well off by retirement age.
If you put one lump sum of 50k into investing account that grows 10% yearly. You'd have almost a million $ in 30 years.
Most people let the shinny things get into the way. Car is number one.











Invisible said:


> Our government screwed up.


*
US people *screwed up. Government doesn't spare the virus, PEOPLE do. Taiwan has less than 500 infected with Covid 19 out of 23.7 million. Everybody wears a mask there since the beginning. Here we have the "I can't breath with mask", "mask don't help", "I'm not sick, why do I have to wear a mask", and etc groups. Thanks to those efforts, US is number one leading at 4 million infected.


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## Invisible (Jun 15, 2018)

amazinghl said:


> Saving and investing for retirement is the exception, not the norm. I know I'd be well off by retirement age.
> If you put one lump sum of 50k into investing account that grows 10% yearly. You'd have almost a million $ in 30 years.
> Most people let the shinny things get into the way. Car is number one.
> View attachment 491035
> ...


True but she was a civilian worker at a Naval base. The ones I know that worked as civilians still received a decent pension.

And yes SOME people screwed up by refusing to wear a mask.


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## LetsBeSmart (Mar 12, 2020)

MHR said:


> *Ride-share drivers say the pandemic has them facing dangerous working condition as they try to make ends meet*
> By JOSHUA EMERSON SMITH
> JULY 24, 2020
> 6 AM​
> ...


That is sad, they are both terrible companies with terrible people running them at the top and middle management.


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## SpinalCabbage (Feb 5, 2020)

Invisible said:


> True but she was a civilian worker at a Naval base. The ones I know that worked as civilians still received a decent pension.
> 
> And yes SOME people screwed up by refusing to wear a mask.


My dad was a civilian contractor for the Air Force. An airplane mechanic. He made a nice living and took home a great pension. Though he had to transfer up to Travis Air Force base to finish out his career as all the guys coming back from Vietnam replaced him at Norton Air Force Base.


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## Mash Ghasem (Jan 12, 2020)

amazinghl said:


> Saving and investing for retirement is the exception, not the norm. I know I'd be well off by retirement age.
> If you put one lump sum of 50k into investing account that grows 10% yearly. You'd have almost a million $ in 30 years.
> Most people let the shinny things get into the way. Car is number one.
> View attachment 491035
> ...


But our government DID screw up, and to this day continues to screw up: we have had ZERO national leadership from the top, whereas the leaders of so many other nations stepped up, took responsibility, and properly managed the situation to the point where so many of them can boast of drastically reduced daily infections.

And what did we get? Random daily nonsense rants. Passing the buck. Outright refusing responsibility. Continued attacks on the media and medical/scientific sources. Absolutely pathetic.


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## Taxi2Uber (Jul 21, 2017)

MHR said:


> Tl;Dr
> "Advocates have argued that drivers shouldn't be forced to risk death just to make ends meet, and have blasted Uber and Lyft for making it nearly impossible for drivers to collect state unemployment pay."


Misdirected anger.
Local State government screwed up.
Anger should be laser focused on local state government.

President Trump wanted to administer the PUA funds federally, but the states (and whatever scams they have going) were against it and wanted to handle it themselves. 
And what do we get?

This woman knew the risk and was "forced" to work only because funds were not distributed in a timely manner.
Democratic CA Gov Newsom apparently didn't murder enough seniors by putting Covid patients in nursing homes.
Continued delays and excuses for not doling out benefits.

We see it here in NV, that despite pleas and even a lawsuit, Dem. Gov Sisolak makes no effort to get the people their due benefits. Some are waiting for 20 weeks worth of benefits.

Do we blame Uber? Lyft? President Trump?
The lazy thinkers will.


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## LetsBeSmart (Mar 12, 2020)

Taxi2Uber said:


> Misdirected anger.
> Local State government screwed up.
> Anger should be laser focused on local state government.
> 
> ...


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

MHR said:


> *Ride-share drivers say the pandemic has them facing dangerous working condition as they try to make ends meet*
> By JOSHUA EMERSON SMITH
> JULY 24, 2020
> 6 AM​
> ...


" Covid Brain "!?!?

Her son said she had "Covid Brain "???


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## MHR (Jul 23, 2017)

tohunt4me said:


> " Covid Brain "!?!?
> 
> Her son said she had "Covid Brain "???


Looked it up and couldn't find anything specific that he might be referring to as "Covid Brain". This was as close as I found

"According to a study published Wednesday in the journal Brain, some coronavirus patients experience brain swelling that's accompanied by episodes of delirium."

https://www.sciencealert.com/seriou...n-the-rise-and-covid-19-seems-to-be-behind-it


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## Kurt Halfyard (Dec 13, 2017)

Taxi2Uber said:


> Misdirected anger.
> Local State government screwed up.
> Anger should be laser focused on local state government.
> 
> ...





Taxi2Uber said:


> Misdirected anger.
> Local State government screwed up.
> Anger should be laser focused on local state government.
> 
> ...


I'm pretty sure the ENTIRE COVID-19 debacle in the USA is a mixture of government and corporate scre-ups at all levels. But the FEDERAL GOV'T is supposed to be the ultimate wrangler, and set a policy frame-work that the states could follow. Trumps more concerned about his 'ratings' than his 'citizens' and the Democrats are not too far behind. Politics is so fundamentally broken the UNITED STATES, and so is heathcare. COVID-19's ultimate legacy is exposing the creaky structure of American Public Life and Institutional rot.


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## LetsBeSmart (Mar 12, 2020)

Kurt Halfyard said:


> I'm pretty sure the ENTIRE COVID-19 debacle in the USA is a mixture of government and corporate scre-ups at all levels. But the FEDERAL GOV'T is supposed to be the ultimate wrangler, and set a policy frame-work that the states could follow. Trumps more concerned about his 'ratings' than his 'citizens' and the Democrats are not too far behind. Politics is so fundamentally broken the UNITED STATES, and so is heathcare. COVID-19's ultimate legacy is exposing the creaky structure of American Public Life and Institutional rot.


There you go again pretending you know what you're talking about, you seem to have a fan club, I am not surprised. The funny thing is the USA is head and shoulders above Canada in every possible way, as I said yesterday if Canada gone today no one would notice, you and your country are not very important to the world. Your prime minister the left wing lunatic with the black face are as phony as the day is long, just like the many people from Quebec and Ontario.


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## Kurt Halfyard (Dec 13, 2017)

LetsBeSmart said:


> There you go again pretending you know what you're talking about, you seem to have a fan club, I am not surprised.


I'm not exactly sure what you are talking about. You talk from your perspective, I talk from mine. I like to think (and correctly me if I'm wrong) that I have my feet on the ground, and stay out of the conspiracy crap, it's a rabbit hole that does very little good, it only makes people mad, and spew garbage.


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## LetsBeSmart (Mar 12, 2020)

Kurt Halfyard said:


> I'm not exactly sure what you are talking about. You talk from your perspective, I talk from mine. I like to think (and correctly me if I'm wrong) that I have my feet on the ground, and stay out of the conspiracy crap, it's a rabbit hole that does very little good, it only makes people mad, and spew garbage.


You know how to make people mad I'll give you that.


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## Kurt Halfyard (Dec 13, 2017)

LetsBeSmart said:


> You know how to make people mad I'll give you that.


I suppose one of the benefits of this ride-hail forum is that it brings people together on some kind of grounds, that have radically different world views. The trick is not to RAGE too hard, and engage. Yes, I try to take my own advice too. I'm a pragmatic person, not an idealogue, I hope you are the same. You seem to get really mad and really confrontational really quickly, I hope for discussion, not shouting and shit-posting.


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## LetsBeSmart (Mar 12, 2020)

Kurt Halfyard said:


> I suppose one of the benefits of this ride-hail forum is that it brings people together on some kind of grounds, that have radically different world views. The trick is not to RAGE too hard, and engage. Yes, I try to take my own advice too. I'm a pragmatic person, not an idealogue, I hope you are the same. You seem to get really mad and really confrontational really quickly, I hope for discussion, not shouting and shit-posting.


10-4.


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## Basketball 9to5 (Jun 21, 2020)

LetsBeSmart said:


> That is sad, they are both terrible companies with terrible people running them at the top and middle management.


God bless her we don't know for sure if she was infected by a rider..but driving is Frontline work..you just never know


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## Taxi2Uber (Jul 21, 2017)

Kurt Halfyard said:


> I'm pretty sure the ENTIRE COVID-19 debacle in the USA is a mixture of government and corporate scre-ups at all levels. But the FEDERAL GOV'T is supposed to be the ultimate wrangler, and set a policy frame-work that the states could follow. Trumps more concerned about his 'ratings' than his 'citizens' and the Democrats are not too far behind. Politics is so fundamentally broken the UNITED STATES, and so is heathcare. COVID-19's ultimate legacy is exposing the creaky structure of American Public Life and Institutional rot.


Ok, thanks stereotypical Canadian.
Looks like you get CNN up there too.

Here's a typical taxi/uber conversation with a Canadian rider....
Rider: We're from Canada, eh.
Driver: Oh? I never would have guessed.
Rider: We don't like to talk politics...
<Pause>
Rider: What do you think of Trump?
Driver: I thought no politics.
Rider: No, no. You're right, eh.
<Pause>
Rider: You see, the problem with your government is....


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## Mista T (Aug 16, 2017)

Taxi2Uber said:


> Ok, thanks stereotypical Canadian.
> Looks like you get CNN up there too.
> 
> Here's a typical taxi/uber conversation with a Canadian rider....
> ...


LOL!

No stereotypes here, but I've had that EXACT convo with a couple!

Post made me laugh


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## amazinghl (Oct 31, 2018)

Mash Ghasem said:


> But our government DID screw up,


Are you registered to vote?


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## Mash Ghasem (Jan 12, 2020)

amazinghl said:


> Are you registered to vote?


How does that affect the point I was making?


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## amazinghl (Oct 31, 2018)

Mash Ghasem said:


> How does that affect the point I was making?


Vote them out. That's what you do if you don't like who is in charge.


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## Mash Ghasem (Jan 12, 2020)

amazinghl said:


> Vote them out. That's what you do if you don't like who is in charge.


Yes, that is true, and yes I am registered to vote, and yes I will _try_ to vote the fascists out.
However, that's a different topic of conversation in relation to the point I was making in that particular post.


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## amazinghl (Oct 31, 2018)

Mash Ghasem said:


> Yes, that is true, and yes I am registered to vote, and yes I will _try_ to vote the fascists out.
> However, that's a different topic of conversation in relation to the point I was making in that particular post.


We do have zero national leadership from the top, "_You have 15_ people, and the _15_ within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero" was what he said back in Feb 26 meanwhile the panel of his medical staff were telling the rest of USA to expect more to be infected. I stopped watching him and prepared covid19 on my own. I asked my employer what their policy is on masks in Feb, bought some then wearing one the next day. I monitored news from China, Taiwan, and other countries closely. Did most US people do the same? I doubt it. Trusting government to save me is a joke.



Invisible said:


> True but she was a civilian worker at a Naval base. The ones I know that worked as civilians still received a decent pension.


From the article "Matchke worked for more than three decades at the North Island Naval Air Rework Facility on Coronado before retiring. Still, she routinely needed money and had suffered a recent bankruptcy."

So what she received decent pension? She spent every cent she earned and got into debt. 70% of all lottery winners end up going broke and filing for a bankruptcy. Having money doesn't mean the person knows how to spend the money.


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## Invisible (Jun 15, 2018)

amazinghl said:


> So what she received decent pension? She spent every cent she earn and get into debt. 70% of all lottery winners end up going broke and filing for a bankruptcy. Having money doesn't mean the person knows how to spend the money.


Great point! I guess because I'm frugal, I'd think a solid pension would be enough to fully retire. But you're right, some spend more than they earn.

And I agree with you that we have had zero national leadership at the top.


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## amazinghl (Oct 31, 2018)

Invisible said:


> Great point! I guess because I'm frugal, I'd think a solid pension would be enough to fully retire.


Have you started your 401k and Roth IRA? Multiple incomes > one. Also, I wouldn't count on social security still be there when I retire.


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## Mash Ghasem (Jan 12, 2020)




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## Invisible (Jun 15, 2018)

amazinghl said:


> Have you started your 401k and Roth IRA? Multiple incomes > one. Also, I wouldn't count on social security still be there when I retire.


Yes I have a small 401k. The Recession was brutal, so I made the mistake of withdrawing from it then. But since then, I've got rid of a lot of extra expenses so don't need to live off as much now. I don't ever expect to retire. I doubt I'll live into my 70s anyways.


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## BunnyK (Dec 12, 2017)

Mash Ghasem said:


> But our government DID screw up, and to this day continues to screw up: we have had ZERO national leadership from the top, whereas the leaders of so many other nations stepped up, took responsibility, and properly managed the situation to the point where so many of them can boast of drastically reduced daily infections.
> 
> And what did we get? Random daily nonsense rants. Passing the buck. Outright refusing responsibility. Continued attacks on the media and medical/scientific sources. Absolutely pathetic.


What did YOU do in your life to prepare? People pass the buck daily on these forums instead of taking responsibility for the choices they make as well.


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## SOLA-RAH (Dec 31, 2014)

_Advocates have argued that drivers shouldn't be forced to risk death just to make ends meet, and have blasted Uber and Lyft for making it nearly impossible for drivers to collect state unemployment pay.

"The companies are notoriously greedy," said Terri Beilke, a San Diego-based driver and volunteer organizer with the advocacy group Rideshare Drivers United. "They have plenty of money, and yet they want to keep risking their drivers' lives because, I guess, we're expendable to them."_

Sounds to me like grandma was the greedy one here. No one goes thru a bankruptcy if they're responsible. Had a pension but often ran into money problems always wanting more, more, more. And having to share a home with her mooch of a son probably didn't help her financial situation.


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## Mista T (Aug 16, 2017)

SOLA-RAH said:


> No one goes thru a bankruptcy if they're responsible.


Sounds pretty judgemental.

Try surviving cancer and having to file bankrupt because of medical bills the insurance company won't cover. Or any of many other possible reasons.


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## SOLA-RAH (Dec 31, 2014)

Mista T said:


> Sounds pretty judgemental.
> 
> Try surviving cancer and having to file bankrupt because of medical bills the insurance company won't cover. Or any of many other possible reasons.


Once again, be responsible for yourself, which includes carrying hospitalization insurance to cover the what-ifs. As a Navy civilian she had access to a highly subsidized FEHB insurance plan that would cover her for life after retirement. This woman wasted opportunities that the average American can only dream about.


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## I will crack Lyft hacks (Aug 5, 2019)

My heart goes out to any “ essential” worker who has lost their life in this War. 

My prayers for her family.

What this old lady did to be in a vulnerable financial position is not for us to judge. All we know is that she was working to get by. The company she worked for claimed her as disposable. She got no protection and was sent to the wolves by Uber. 

Did not help that the State UI systems could not implement the federal program right away. It’s not a party issue. It was a computer system issue.

Blaming the victim does not work. You can’t tell a half naked woman it’s your fault for getting gang raped. Having a 50 Billion corporation not provide SAFTY for its workers is not something you can shift responsibility on.

I as a independent contractor informed Lyft that due to increased cost of sanitation cleaning and PPE, there will be a added “Hazard Cleaning fee” to cover the SAFTY of driver and passengers. Lyft responded by saying the added cost can not be recovered by charging the passenger. They said independent contractors have no right to charge for the added expense of SAFTY during a Pandemic. I told them I don’t need PPE or $ from them. I am not a employee and I need to cover my added expense for PPE and cleaning after each ride. So my “ Hazard fee” was for passengers and I am not asking for money or permission from Lyft. Told them as a third party tech app they had no say over my “ hazard fee”.

Well long story short I charged my fee and was able to provide SAFTY measures and was deactivated for protecting myself and my clients.

I attempted to be responsible and safe and exercise my rights as a independent contractor. Now I am lawyered up and arbitration has been filed. They are at the wrong not vulnerable low income “ essential workers”.

Now I’m going for the Gold. Treat me like a employee and you pay me my back pay and reimburse at .58 c a mile. They owe me over 50K and will loose the case because they treated me as a employee not a contractor.

F em and fight back in arbitration. They cheated us and put us at risk and they owe every single driver in arbitration.


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## here2der (Jul 2, 2018)

I will crack Lyft hacks said:


> I attempted to be responsible and safe and exercise my rights as a independent contractor. Now I am lawyered up and arbitration has been filed. They are at the wrong not vulnerable low income " essential workers".
> 
> Now I'm going for the Gold. Treat me like a employee and you pay me my back pay and reimburse at .58 c a mile. They owe me over 50K and will loose the case because they treated me as a employee not a contractor.


Good luck. Because you are in California, I believe you will win. In a Right-to-Work (short for: right for workers to be boinked up the bunghole by Yes-Massah) state like Florida, you would have little chance.


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## I will crack Lyft hacks (Aug 5, 2019)

here2der said:


> Good luck. Because you are in California, I believe you will win. In a Right-to-Work (short for: right for workers to be boinked up the bunghole by Yes-Massah) state like Florida, you would have little chance.


Thank you!

Yes, I know. I knew I could push them in California. Would not have risked my job if I was in Florida.

I think at least 4/5 other Blue States would rule in court against them.

Are you in Florida?


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## Valar Dohaeris (May 25, 2019)

I will crack Lyft hacks said:


> My heart goes out to any " essential" worker who has lost their life in this War.
> 
> My prayers for her family.
> 
> What this old lady did to be in a vulnerable financial position is *not for us to judge*. All we know is that she was working to get by. The company she worked for claimed her as disposable. She got no protection and was sent to the wolves by Uber.


Kind of ironic...refuse to judge the individual, but happy to judge a company, government, the ozone layer. What did people do before they could blame something/someone else for every wrong turn in their life?

"Yes I was only working at McDonald's but it's the car salesman's fault for selling me that Lamborghini, dammit. How was I to know it was out of my price range?"

What sad sacks most people are.


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