Founding companies including DoorDash, Lyft

Popular companies in the rideshare and delivery business have united to form a new industry association to push back against efforts to reclassify app-based workers as employees. Critics say the sector's use of independent contractors allows it to skirt labor regulations and avoid providing benefits like health insurance.

Flex will be based in Washington, D.C., and has recruited Kristin Sharp as CEO, according to a March 8 statement. Founding member companies are DoorDash, Gopuff, Grubhub, HopSkipDrive, Instacart, Lyft, Shipt and Uber. Some of the companies had been members of the now-defunct Internet Association.

"Flex will give a voice to an industry driving the new American economy forward," Sharp said. "Whether it's getting around town, shuttling kids to school or just connecting people with dinner or the groceries they need, our member companies help seamlessly fill gaps in our day-to-day lives."

Flex has launched an ad campaign called "Independence Works" in the Washington, D.C. metro area. The campaign features real-life workers and touts the flexibility of a sector in which people work eight hours per week on average, according to the group.

Reclassifying them as employees "could result in fewer jobs for drivers, higher prices for consumers and less access to the goods and services that individuals and families across the country rely on," Flex's website states.

Labor advocates maintain the designation allows companies to avoid paying many benefits workers would enjoy if they were labeled employees, with independent contractors not covered by federal employment and labor laws. California has narrowed the definition of an independent contractor in recent years in response to such complaints. Other states have explored doing the same.

Before joining Flex, Sharp was CEO of the Education Quality Outcomes Standards board and senior fellow and former director of New America's Initiative on Work, Workers, and Technology. She also co-founded Shift: The Commission on Work, Workers, and Technology, a joint project of New America and Bloomberg. Sharp previously worked for Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), former Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and former Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.).