This fall, voters must make a decision on Proposition 22, the most expensive ballot proposition in California history, according to an Oct. 14 News Spectrum 1 article.
The main decision California voters face is – should gig companies create a new contractor category for their workers that doesn’t include employee protections and benefits, like unemployment insurance and workers compensation.
Major ride-hailing and food distribution companies like Uber, Lyft and DoorDash spent over $110 million dollars on the “Yes on Prop 22” campaign to fight California Assembly Bill 5.
In September 2019, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 5, also known as the “gig worker bill” that took effect Jan. 1. The law extends work classification for independent contractors by classifying them as employees to protect them from exploitation and job misclassification.
Brandon Castillo, a spokesman for the initiative, said in an Oct. 29, 2019 LA Times article, “We’re going to spend what it takes to win.”
Anthony Fuccella, a San Jose State alumnus, said he began driving for Uber two years ago to make money on the side so he could pay for a Disneyland family trip. He said he’ll be voting “yes” on Proposition 22 because driving is a flexible way to earn income.
“I like it because it is my side hustle, not my full-time job,” he said. “When you sign up for a job you accept their terms. You don’t try to change the employer after you’ve been there for a while.”
Fuccella said app-based jobs are not the same as full-time jobs and should not be compensated equally. Though he said some people do work app-based jobs as full-time jobs.
“I’m not coming from the perspective of someone with a major language barrier or perhaps a different educational background,” he said.
Voting “no” on Proposition 22 would mean companies like Uber, Lyft and DoorDash have to follow state labor laws and reclassify their drivers as employees. This could direct more revenue to their workers, raise prices for consumers and increase requirements for casual drivers, according to the California government toter guide.
The guide also states that if gig workers are considered employees, they would have benefits like overtime pay, health care, paid sick leave, unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation.
Meanwhile, gig workers can’t set their own hours and can’t vary in taking and declining jobs.
Some service-app companies continued to classify gig workers as independent contractors after Assembly Bill 5 was signed.
On Dec. 30, 2019, California Postmates Inc. and Uber Technologies sued the state in Olson v. State on the claim that Assembly Bill 5 is unconstitutional and violates several clauses, such as the Equal Protection Clause, by classifying non-comparable work for equal wages.
On Aug. 20, Uber and Lyft threatened to stop operations according to an Aug. 20 New York Times article. Before the planned shut down, an appeals court granted Uber and Lyft temporary permission to continue operating while the court weighed their appeal to classify workers as independent contractors until a decision is made about Proposition 22.
Labor groups are fighting back as a caravan of 250 rideshare d rivers traveled from San Diego to Uber headquarters in San Francisco on Oct. 14 as part of a two-day protest against Proposition 22, according to the Spectrum News 1 article.
