Here is the Petition:

As layoffs rise and wages fall farther behind the cost of living, more people are being pushed into app-based work to keep up. Nearly one in four people in the U.S. now participate in some form of app-based work—and it has become the main source of income for one third of workers. 

Recent reporting has confirmed what many working people already feel every day: companies are using personal data to predict what experts call a “desperation wage”, the lowest amount someone will accept based on their behavior. What working people are calling exploitation, Silicon Valley is calling innovation. 

Several of the largest platforms in the United States — including DoorDash, Instacart, Lyft and Uber — are using algorithms to track how long their workers stay on an app, what jobs they accept, and how urgently they need income.This algorithm calculates what the employers can pay to get the job done at the lowest rate individuals will accept. Not what their labor is worth. Not what is fair. 

Under surveillance wage systems, different people may be paid different wages for largely the same work, and individual workers cannot predict their incomes over time. These pay practices—especially those that rely on panoptic worker surveillance and on algorithmic intelligence or machine learning systems—invert the deeply held maxim that long, hard work steers toward higher wages and economic security. Not only has pay for app-controlled jobs decreased over time, suggesting shifting compensation brackets within firms, but industry research also affirms what workers have described: People who work longer hours are paid less per hour.

These hidden algorithms that discriminate based on who you are and where you live disproportionately impact Black workers. Black people make up 23% of app-based workers — nearly double their representation in the overall workforce — yet consistently earn less for identical work.

If companies are going to use algorithms to shape pay and access to work, those systems should be transparent. People should know how their pay is calculated. Working people should be able to see how much of each transaction goes to them — and how much the company keeps. There should be rules that prevent companies from using personal data to quietly lower pay for some people while others earn more for the same work. And working people should have the ability to organize and push back.

Because this isn’t just about workers. It’s about whether we allow companies to rewrite the rules of the economy — or whether we demand a system that works for the people in it.

Technology should make work more stable, more fair, and more predictable. Right now, it’s doing the opposite. And that’s not inevitable. It’s what happens when an economy limits options for some people, then funnels them into systems that take advantage of that lack of choice.

It’s a choice—one that can and should be changed. That’s why Color Of Change has endorsed the Empowering App-Based Workers Act introduced by Senators Brian Schatz and Chris Murphy. This legislation would improve transparency on how app companies operate and help boost wages for rideshare drivers and delivery workers. 

These platforms rely on exploitation to extract as much work as possible for as little pay as possible. This bill offers our best opportunity yet to change the lives of millions of people. Congress must take action to pass the Empowering App-Based Workers Act!