New York Gig Workers Turn to Grassroots Employment Strategies

New York gig workers, caught between labor laws that don’t apply to them and a perceived lack of help from politicians, courts, and major players including Lyft Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc., have seized the grassroots organizing initiative to raise their pay and improve working conditions.

The drivers, who lack the protections afforded full-time employees under federal and state statutes including minimum wage and overtime guarantees, unemployment insurance, and the ability to unionize, have long been the center of lawsuits and legislation over their employment status. Their plans, primarily advanced by a collective filling a union’s role and a ...