PhD Student Cristina Brinkerhoff Submits Testimony Opposing Mass. Ballot Initiative Targeting Gig Workers
Cristina Araujo Brinkerhoff, a doctoral candidate at Boston University School of Social Work, joined a large group of workers’ rights advocates at the Massachusetts State House last week to submit testimony opposing a ballot initiative that Brinkerhoff calls anti-worker and anti-consumer. The ballot initiative (H4.375/H.4376) attempts to regulate and define the contract-based relationship between app-based gig workers and the companies that employ them.
“This proposition … would effectively take away consumers’ and the public’s right to take legal action against the companies in the event of an accident or mishap,” says Brinkerhoff. She adds that it would also deny workers a living wage, benefits, legal rights, and anti-discrimination protections, and also disincentivize companies from doing everything they can to ensure that riders are safe when using the company’s services.
Brinkerhoff submitted her testimony on behalf of the Brazilian Worker Center, a nonprofit organization serving the Greater Boston area. Brinkerhoff is treasurer for the Center’s board and an active member of its advocacy efforts for worker and immigrant rights. She submitted her testimony in writing, citing the Pew Research Center and focusing on racial aspects of the policy, which will predominantly affect Hispanic and Black Americans. Her testimony also focused on companies’ obligations to their workers.
Brinkerhoff writes: “All companies have a responsibility to the people that make them money. When they do not fulfill this responsibility, it’s left to society at large to pick up the tab while executives and investors reap the benefits of workers’ exploitation … Our workers are not expendable and they deserve rights and a living wage.”
A doctoral candidate in BUSSW’s PhD in Social Work Program, Brinkerhoff’s research interests include immigrant health disparities, social networks and supports, immigration policies, and community-based participatory research.