FIRMS PUSH GIG WORK MEASURE IN MASSACHUSETTS

A coalition of gig economy companies is opening up a new front in the global struggle over the legality of their business model. A campaign backed by companies including Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. is seeking to place a measure on next year’s Massachusetts ballot defining their workers as independent contractors — not regular employees. Under the proposal, which the company-backed Massachusetts Coalition for Independent Work plans to file Wednesday, ride-hail and delivery app drivers would be promised perks such as health-care stipends, but their employment status as contractors would be enshrined in state law. Drivers would be guaranteed minimum pay for their time while assigned a task but not for their waiting time in between. The proposal is similar to California’s Proposition 22.