#GoPuffYourself: Legal Resource Page

#GOPUFFYOURSELF — GoPuff Drivers Strike
Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021

Hundreds of GoPuff drivers have declared a strike on Tuesday, November 23 to demand better pay, flexible access to shifts, and deactivation protection. There’s some important information you need to know if you’re taking part to make the strike successful & protect striking drivers as much as possible. Please read below!

Legal info you should know to protect yourself when going on strike

→ Why GoPuff should avoid retaliating — your rights under the NLRA

Federal law under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protects the right of employees “to engage in…concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.” This means that employees have a legal right to act collectively for the purpose of improving working conditions.

In other words, the law protects employees when they stop working (i.e. strike), in order to protest or draw attention to bad or unsafe working conditions, or try and change their terms of employment like wages, benefits, etc., or to protest something the boss did. If GoPuff retaliates against you for striking by terminating you, removing your access to the app, etc, GoPuff can be charged with Unfair Labor Practice charges and might have to pay back-wages, reinstate you to your prior job positions or locations, or all of these things.

While the NLRA only protects “employees,” GoPuff isn’t the one who gets to decide if you’re covered, even if they call you an independent contractor. It’s based on the federal government's assessment of the level of control the company exerts over your work. It is entirely possible — and even likely — that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which enforces the NLRA, could find that you drivers are covered by this protection regardless of what GoPuff calls you.

More importantly, the possibility of a government investigation of this sort is a good reason for GoPuff to not retaliate. The company's top executives almost certainly want to avoid any chance of the federal government weighing in to say that they are treating drivers as employees, because that could lead to substantial additional tax liability and potential backpay.

By clearly asserting the right to strike under the NLRA, we should be able to raise the stakes and deter GoPuff from any potential retaliation by making it too costly for them. If some manager does go rogue and retaliate, we can help with next steps.

Submitting a strike notice

→ Why it matters:

Strike notices help ensure that workers’ job actions are protected. An employer must be aware of the employee’s activities in order for the employee to be protected from retaliation.  Strike notices help accomplish that, because they will make it clear to GoPuff that you are striking in order to protest conditions of employment or GoPuff’s actions. So, as strange as it may seem, you are on stronger legal ground the more clear it is to GoPuff that you are actually on strike.

→ How to submit your strike notice:

A strike notice should be delivered to GoPuff in advance of the action (that is, before your first missed shift if you have one). Copy & paste the template below, fill in your name at the bottom, and send your strike notice to driversupport@gopuff.com.

  • In a more traditional workplace, a strike notice may be delivered to a supervisor. Because GoPuff works a little differently, we’re suggesting that the best way to create a record that you’ve communicated your strike notice to the company is by emailing support (driversupport@gopuff.com).

  • If you’re in an organized warehouse with a driver serving as a strike leader, they may contact you to ask you to put your name on a group strike notice as well, to be directly delivered to the GM. The more ways we communicate strike notices, the better.

  • Keep a record of your strike notice. Take a screenshot on your phone of the email you send to support, and make sure to keep a copy of the sent email. You can cc gig@workingwa.org on the email if you would like for recordkeeping purposes.

TEMPLATE STRIKE NOTICE TO EMAIL TO DRIVERSUPPORT@GOPUFF.COM

Subject line: Strike notice

Attention GoPuff corporate and warehouse management:

This is to notify you that today, November 23, 2021, we’re going on strike for one day to make the following demands:

1) Better pay: We need the hourly subsidy raised to at minimum $20/hour, PLUS the cost of our mileage during work time at the IRS rate. The hourly subsidy should cover all the hours we work, whether it's scheduled or unscheduled.

2) Flexible access to shifts: We need GoPuff to give a guaranteed minimum number of hours to all drivers, and give us the ability to drop & schedule shifts freely.

3) Deactivation protection: We need a clear explanation of causes for termination, no terminations without a specific cause, and a third-party appeal process. If GoPuff calls us independent contractors, they shouldn't let warehouse managers decide on terminating us.

We're taking this action together with GoPuff workers across the country in support of these demands, and in support of our co-workers.

This is a peaceful, one-day strike, and we will return to work unconditionally for our next scheduled shift starting at or after 12:01 am on November 24, 2021.

You are prohibited by federal law from firing, discriminating or retaliating against us for fighting together to improve our jobs.

We are sick of being treated unfairly, being denied the flexibility we need, and not being able to pay our bills or provide for our families.

___________________________________

Sign Name

Dos & don’ts when participating or talking about the strike

  • Avoid participating in civil disobedience anywhere at a GoPuff worksite/warehouse or on employee property. No strikers should enter GoPuff warehouses or worksites.

  • In addition, threatening violence, throwing objects, or blocking entrances can all result in losing legal protection, and no driver should engage in any such activity. 

  • Some drivers have expressed interest in organizing a picket line at their warehouse the day of the action. If you’d like to do this, please check out the info here.

→ When talking about the strike (in person or on social media):

  • You should focus on the working conditions you’re protesting — talk about the low pay, unfair treatment of drivers, etc. But…

  • Avoid criticizing GoPuff’s business directly, or the quality of their services. The NLRA covers workers protesting work conditions, so you’ll be most protected if you avoid unrelated criticisms or insults.

  • Avoid saying that more strikes or a longer strike is coming.

What to Do if you’re retaliated against

The legal strategy shared above is based on preventing GoPuff from retaliating against striking drivers by making sure they know it could raise alarms about their classification of workers. But in order to be as safe as possible, we should be prepared for what to do if retaliation does occur.

As noted above, employers are not allowed to threaten, intimidate, interfere with, or retaliate against employees who are exercising their protected right to strike. However, some employers engage in these types of activities anyway. In order to enforce and protect drivers’ right to strike, you should be on the lookout for the types of things that constitute retaliation or interference and be ready to document everything.

Here are some examples of actions GoPuff could take that may be considered retaliation, if they took place in response to a concerted activity such as a strike. Note that these actions could be considered retaliatory whether they come from corporate or your warehouse’s GM:

  • Firing you / terminating your contract

  • Removing your access to the GoDrive app

  • Disciplining workers who participate in the strike more harshly than workers who don’t

  • Threatening to lay people off or close the business altogether if workers strike

  • Telling you that you won’t be able to pick up shifts if you strike

  • Limiting the shifts you can take, or not letting you pick up shifts, after you strike

  • Promising special treatment or privileges to workers if they refuse to strike

  • Spying on or claiming to spy on striking workers

  • Urging workers to try to convince other workers to not strike

→ If you feel you are being retaliated against or see someone else being retaliated against:

  • Document everything.

    • Date & time of the incident

    • Name of manager or supervisor involved (if any)

    • Name of employee(s) involved

    • Whether there were any witnesses to the incident

    • Description of the retaliation / interference.

    • Hold onto any records related to the retaliation, such as an email from corporate if you’re terminated or texts from a GM if they said something retaliatory to you.

  • Ask why.

    If you receive a message from GoPuff corporate / support that you believe is retaliatory, reply to ask why they did it. If the retaliatory action came from a GM, politely but persistently ask for the reason the action is being taken against you. Ask explicitly if it's because you went on strike, and take note of the answer, because managers can slip up and say too much in the heat of the moment. Don't be rude, but be clear.

  • Submit your report to us.

    Submit this form if you experience any kind of retaliation. Lawyers with our allied organizations Towards Justice and the Fair Work Center have agreed to be available for support. We can talk you through the best next steps, whether that involves raising the issue to GoPuff management, taking your story to media, or filing legal charges with the NLRB.

Any Qs? Email gig@workingwa.org. Feel prepared for action? Click here to go back to the main strike hub.