The Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank that focuses on the needs of low- and middle-income workers, argued against a decision by the National Labor Relations Board’s general counsel that human cloud, ride-sharing drivers for Uber Technologies Inc. are independent contractors.

Its argument came in a report released this month that claims the NLRB’s decision did not accurately take into account the realities of driving for human cloud, ride-sharing platforms.

“The NLRB’s general counsel either ignores, dismisses, or misstates the realities that Uber drivers face, in order to wrongly conclude they are independent contractors,” said Lawrence Mishel, a distinguished fellow at the Economic Policy Institute and an author of the report.

“By misclassifying them, the memo effectively robs Uber drivers — and similar workers — of the rights afforded to them by the National Labor Relations Act to engage in collective action — like collective bargaining — to improve their working conditions,” Mishel said.

The report claims drivers do not resemble independent entrepreneurs in a number of ways, such as:

• They can’t expand revenues because they can’t control pricing.
• Drivers cannot choose their customers.
• They don’t have control over how they deliver rides as they can be penalized for picking inefficient routes.
• Drivers are supervised by “semi-automated and algorithmic systems that track their acceptance rates, time on trips, speed, customer ratings, and other factors, and drivers can be ‘deactivated’ based on these factors.”
• Uber has a financial incentive to control drivers because it charges rides a predetermined rate but pays drivers based on miles covered and minutes spent.

“The general counsel’s memo buys into a dangerous political argument that digital platform companies like Uber should not have to play by the same rules as other employers,” McNicholas said. “Policymakers in California rejected this argument when they recently enacted AB-5, which will make it more difficult for companies to misclassify workers.”