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Lyft Is Selling — But Not Providing — Masks and Sanitizer to Drivers
The company can’t easily give away materials without conceding that its drivers are employees
Lyft has launched a marketplace where drivers on the front lines of the pandemic can buy personal protective equipment (PPE) such as hand sanitizer spray and face masks. The shopping hub, known as the Lyft Store, has been live since June, according to the company.
Throughout the health crisis, Lyft has been criticized by gig labor advocates for failing to support drivers with little to no safety net. The CDC strongly recommends everyone over two years old wear face masks in public settings, as Covid-19 mainly spreads from person to person through respiratory droplets. In states like California, masks are required in public and high-risk settings.
Edan Alva, an Alameda-based Lyft driver, tweeted about the marketplace on Thursday, saying the company has “opened an online store to sell its workers the equipment that it should have provided them for free long time ago to protect them from COVID-19.”
