COVID-19 Relief Fund

Tags

COVID-19, gig, job, unemployment

As a result of the anticipated local economic impact of COVID-19, the New Orleans Business Alliance (NOLABA) is standing up a relief fund to meet the needs of gig economy workers who have been directly impacted via loss of income.

NOLABA is committing $100,000 to initiate the fund, with a goal of increasing the fund assets to a minimum of $500,000. We have issued a charge across the community to encourage business leaders, philanthropy, and concerned New Orleanians to contribute to increase the potential reach and impact of this relief effort.

As of 2017, gig economy workers represent more than 8% of the workforce in Orleans Parish, including rideshare drivers, musicians, arena workers, and festival production staff. As contract employees of often large corporations, gig economy workers tend to lack access to minimum wage, paid sick leave, overtime pay, and standard employee benefits, making them particularly susceptible to changes within the economy.

In New Orleans, many of our gig-workers depend on the cultural calendar for reliable income. With the cancellations and postponements of many large local events on the horizon, this community stands to lose out on millions of dollars of potential income, directly impacting their livelihoods and family well-being. This relief fund is being set up to ensure that these critical members of our community continue to be active participants in our economy, with an economic outlook they can depend on.

We recognize that this fund will only be part of the solution for most families. NOLABA will be aggressively advocating for resources alongside Mayor LaToya Cantrell and the New Orleans City Council, as the need becomes more evident and the federal government’s response is solidified.

 

Strategy

Temporary Relief Fund Goal	$500,000+
Award Size	$500 – $1,000; dependent on a determination of need
Eligibility for Multiple Awards	Yes. Applicants can re-apply after 45 days if they remain eligible.
Approval Criteria	Proof of residency in Orleans Parish Proof that ≥ 60% of income is generated via “gig-work” Demonstrated loss of income as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic At or below 100% Annual Median Income (AMI) Guidelines (Reference)
Document Requirements	Driver’s License, bill, or bank statement proving residency Independent Contractor Agreement(s) or other proof of gig-related employment 2018 or 2019 Tax Return demonstrating income threshold Bank statements reflecting a minimum of 90 days of income activity, prior to March 9, 2020 Bank statements reflecting compromised income for a minimum of 7 days, post March 9, 2020
Ineligible Recipients	Workers with full-time employment outside of the gig-economy Workers domiciled outside of Orleans Parish
Grant Disbursement Mechanism	Funds will be disbursed via check to approved recipients.
Funding Source for Relief Fund	$100,000 to be committed by NOLABA, with room for $400,000+ of follow-on contributions. Individual contributions will be processed via Commit Change, which takes a 3% fee for each transaction. Corporate gifts will be collected via check or ACH payment.

Apply

COVID-19 Relief Grant Application

Will This New Labor Classification Save Gig Workers’ Careers? – Forbes

Tags

gig, informal economy, job, labor organizing, unemployment

With the debate over worker classification in the Gig Economy raging, many employers who hire freelancers and contractors live in fear .

 

“That was the biggest issue: If you create something like this, are companies going to take advantage and coerce people to do it?” says Zaino. “We think they are not going to be able to coerce people above a certain income level. They are not providing a routine service that is a commodity.”

It is also possible there could be considerable political opposition to such a proposal–even if freelancers like it.

With labor market trends pointing to a future in which more people do independent work, governments in the U.S. and other nations are moving toward aggressively reclassifying workers now doing contract work as employees, notes Zaino. “They don’t want to lose that payroll tax,” he says.

Source: Will This New Labor Classification Save Gig Workers’ Careers? – Forbes

French Quarter character Spaceman will be your handyman, if you can find him

Tags

hustle, job

At all times, he’s got a leather punch, pliers, wire, a small bolt cutter, a dremel and a collection of knickknacks that he has picked up along the way. The other day, he found aluminum rods that he plans to use to create a frame for wings that will flap using a complex hinge system he designed. Spaceman is working with a seamstress in town who is making cloth for the wings. If successful, he plans to make more and sell them.

French Quarter character Spaceman will be your handyman, if you can find him | NOLA.com.

The six-hour working day

Tags

job, labor organizing, Sweden

At Toyota service centres in Gothenburg, working hours have been shorter for more than a decade. Employees moved to a six-hour day 13 years ago and have never looked back. Customers were unhappy with long waiting times, while staff were stressed and making mistakes, according to Martin Banck, the managing director, whose idea it was to cut the time worked by his mechanics. From a 7am to 4pm working day the service centre switched to two six-hour shifts with full pay, one starting at 6am and the other at noon, with fewer and shorter breaks. There are 36 mechanics on the scheme.

“Staff feel better, there is low turnover and it is easier to recruit new people,” Banck says. “They have a shorter travel time to work, there is more efficient use of the machines and lower capital costs – everyone is happy.” Profits have risen by 25%, he adds.

The Svartedalens experiment is inspiring others around Sweden: at Gothenburg’s Sahlgrenska University hospital, orthopaedic surgery has moved to a six-hour day, as have doctors and nurses in two hospital departments in Umeå to the north. And the trend is not confined to the public sector: small businesses claim that a shorter day can increase productivity while reducing staff turnover.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/17/efficiency-up-turnover-down-sweden-experiments-with-six-hour-working-day

Making It in the Quarter: A Conversation with New Orleans Service Workers

Tags

job, New Orleans

• Our city thrives on the French Quarter, yet the people who make it run day to day–the bartenders, hotel staff, tour guides–are often overlooked. Join us for a panel discussion on what it takes to make it in the Quarter. Moderated by Aziza Bayou, the panel will feature mule carriage driver Sandra Holliman; Michelle Mueller of Jazzed Up Tours; Gee Foley, an assistant manager at Banana Courtyard; Thomas Proctor, a lead server from Brennan’s; artist Russell Gore, who sells his jewelry in the French Market; Carol and Jack Siekkinen, owners of the Hemmerling Art Gallery; and Robert Watters, Director of the French Quarter Business Association. Join us for what promises to be a fascinating discussion!

  6-8:30 pm Wednesday September 16,2015

  Chris Owens Club 500 Bourbon Street

Michael Karem Artist, French Quarter 09/20/05

Tags

job, New Orleans, street vending

There is a place called Jackson Square which there’s no place like it in the whole of the United States, except in Europe. Actually there is a place where like, as an artist, you don’t have to be in a gallery. You can get a license from the City, and you can sell all the places you want to. It’s first come, first served, in this square, called Jackson Square. The city of New Orleans is a tourist city, so most artists, that’s how they make their living. I’ve been doing this for four years. I don’t have to work for anybody. I pay my food and I pay my bed.
In New Orleans, the culture is very vibrant. I’m talking in terms of an artist, as an artist, you know. It’s a very inspirational city from an artist’s position. The people, you know, it’s like you pull different kind of people from all over this country, people from New York, Chicago, Caribbean, African, you put them in one place, and you get the kind of feelings you get in New Orleans. I think, I guess I can describe it in one word. I like the culture. It’s a very vibrant culture.

Originally I was born in Lagos, Nigeria, West Africa. I went to high school in Nigeria, and I went to college in Paris, France. Since I left France, I came to this country; I lived in New York for some time. I lived in Boston, and Boston is the best city that I like. From Boston — I lived in Boston for five years — from Boston I moved to Denver. While I was in Denver, I was in my art part time and I was working part-time. Actually, the reason I came to New Orleans, like most of the people that buy art from me, focus always on jazz. Most of the people that buy art from me, have been to New Orleans, they always say you should go to New Orleans, good for your art, go to New Orleans. So four years ago, I went to New Orleans to visit, and I was like, “Wow, this is where I need to be.” I wandered about New Orleans. When I first moved here, at first it reminds me of Paris, it reminds me of Paris. It’s just very European.

Source: Alive in Truth: The New Orleans Disaster Oral History & Memory Project

Getting Used to It

Tags

job

Author Gwendolyn Knapp on creativity, work and New Orleans in an interview on NOLA Defender:

“It’s easier to live here and survive,” she said. “Rents are going up, but it’s probably easier to live here than in New York or lots of bigger cities and still have time to work on your creative pursuits.”

But it’s not always easy in The Big Easy.

“New Orleans has lots of distractions to keep you away from your writing. There’s always a festival, there’re always people out and there’s always some reason why you’re turning away from working on your writing,” she said. “It’s important to establish a routine and keep at it. That’s really the only thing you can do if you want to become a writer. You just have to keep writing and make a pact to do that.”

Knapp is the editor of Eater NOLA.

Find her book here

Will Work For Free

Tags

job, labor organizing, unemployment

This film covers technological unemployment and the implications of a jobless UK economy.

Melissa: A Job, Gig and Hustle

Tags

gig, hustle, interviews, job

Job: I cook for a living and through cooking am able to support local farming, fishing and agriculture. I’ve lived in New Orleans for 19 years. I started cooking as a profession after the storm because I liked using my hands and the serenity of prepping.

Gig: My gig is to convince people that food is not cheap and that high quality food is necessary to your health and our world as a seatbelt. I’ve lately been trying to connect folks to my culture and my love of all things Cajun. In doing that I am able to cook how I want and not through the standard restaurant model.

Hustle: I’ve been hustling different ways in this city for a long time. Having only one job to concentrate on now is a luxury. This year my family and I are trying to not eat out unless it is a very, very special occasion. As a cook you hardly eat and you don’t want to go home and continue to cook, clean the kitchen and do dishes. And you’re serving the best quality product you can possibly put your hands on to your patrons, then you go out and eat to a half cared about plate. Of course some restaurants are doing the “right” thing but some are not. We already do not eat commodity meats and are seasonal eaters but challenging ourselves to eat from our own kitchen will be a hustle for us. We both work full-time and are raising a teenager. It’s going to be an interesting year.

Mags: A Job, Gig and Hustle

Tags

gig, hustle, interviews, job

JOB: wags by mags!

i’m going into my 5th year of more-or-less full-time self-employment with my dog-walking and pet-sitting business, wags by mags! i’m a one-woman show; i try to keep a mostly-full 9-5 weekday schedule of regular dog walking clients and then i supplement occasionally with evening and weekend work pet-sitting. actual hours worked can vary greatly from week to week, month to month; some weeks i might only clock 20-25 hours of actual work, others i might be pushing 80, particularly during busy holidays.

it’s actually the first time in my whole life that i’ve had something that even remotely resembled a “job” where i worked more-or-less set hours and had financial security of some sort from one source.

having said that, after 4 years of doing mostly one thing, i find myself missing some of the more creative “gigs” i used to do and so am trying to figure out a way to balance my life out more, working the “job” less and devoting more time to the “gigs.”

GIG: i’ve had a few different creative “gigs” over the years. i was a club dj throughout the 90s into the early 00’s, but was already easing into “retirement” when the levees failed and i relocated to kentucky for a few years. i haven’t even owned turntables or dj’d in public since early 2005. it never really made me much money (it’s expensive to BE a dj), but i loved the music and the creative challenge of it and it was a childhood dream that i managed to make happen. i miss it a lot and have just recently decided to work towards purchasing some equipment so i can perhaps get back to it at least recreationally.

i was also a music journalist for almost 20 years. that might count as more of a “job” since at times i was making more from my writing gigs than from dj’ing or any other side hustle but it was always freelance and ebbed and flowed in amount at any given time. i did for a few years serve as editor for a national dj/dance music magazine based in chicago but even that was more of a labor of love than a making a living situation, as it was a niche publication that didn’t make much money and i had to supplement with other freelance work and dj gigs, etc.

the other creative gig that has stuck with me over most of my adult life though i’ve started and stopped doing it a bunch of different times due to burnout is the making of art and crafty stuff, under the name art by mags! i’ve handmade and/or sold everything from silkscreen t-shirts to salvaged/recycled folk art since college. again, it was never enough to be my main “job” but was often something done in tandem with one or more of the other above “gigs” to piece together a living. i still tinker occasionally but haven’t been actively selling any art/craft for a while now.

HUSTLE: i think so much of how i live in new orleans is my “hustle.” i picked new orleans to settle in 1990, after graduating from college, because it was so cheap to live here and the city offered so much culturally. i always intended it to be my homebase while i went off and traveled the world but the traveling part never really materialized because as it turns out a bachelors in art history doesn’t really qualify you for many “jobs” and so my life here ended up being a series of “gigs” and “hustles” just trying to survive financially, with not much opportunity to travel. (have i mentioned i’m not so good with money?) but there’s still time!

before katrina, i never owned a car, just a bicycle, and i pretty much lived in the same square mile of midcity in various apartments, so i could get anywhere i needed via bike relatively easily. after my return to new orleans, i’ve become a scooter girl – still no car. i’m older and lazier so the scooter is more appealing and at 100mpg and super cheap insurance, it’s still very economical and gets me around town quickly and easily.

i’m also a craigslister, freecycler, trash picker, dumpster diver and thrift store junkie. and when i’m really in a bind, financially, i’ve been known to sell a thing or two on ebay and/or craigslist, for myself or for others, as a paid “gig.” it’s always seemed too complicated to make a business out of but it’s sort of fun to play the “what can i find at the thrift store for $2 that i can resell online for $20+?” game. and i’ve gotten pretty good at it over the years.