The United Food and Commercial Workers Canada (UFCW) can now provide drivers and couriers support in work-related disputes, including issues around pay or account deactivation. The agreement does not give Uber’s approximately 100,000 Canadian workers union status. (The Logic)

Talking point: The partnership is a compromise between the union and Uber, which have traditionally been on opposite sides of the debate on whether drivers should be classified as Uber employees. The status—which Uber has rejected—would ensure workers are guaranteed minimum wage, health benefits and overtime pay, among other rights. In August, the UFCW endorsed an Ontario judge’s certification of a class-action lawsuit that paves the way for Uber drivers to seek employment status. While the new agreement between the union and Uber could help drivers achieve some of the benefits they would automatically get as employees, it doesn’t guarantee them. The move fits with Uber’s lobbying to have provinces—and not the company itself—create new protections for gig workers, for which the UFCW is now also advocating. Some workers and labour lawyers have said the arrangement would absolve companies from responsibility around workers’ rights and doesn’t address job insecurity.