Let Indies Eat Uber & Lyft In Peace?

Ca court finally hands victory to Uber & Lyft in employee status war with Gov Moonbeam II. So, if Uber & Lyft weren’t Indy Contractors after proving they have a license & aren’t perverts, was anybody in gig economy?

As the Fox News coverage pointed out, “Uber & others are in a global tug of war with regulators over whether & how to grant more benefits such as paid sick leave & health insurance to workers in the so-called gig economy, where apps distribute individual tasks to a pool of people whom companies generally regard as independent contractors.” Under common law & with most statutory law, the key issue typically revolves around exactly how much “control” a given company exerts over a person doing work for them. In the early stages of this legal war, much of the discussion revolved around the Ubers of the world “forcing” its drivers to prove/maintain their licensing & insurance credentials, as well as submitting to background checks to ensure customer safety. Like Virginia Slims, the legal debate has come a long way, baby & the right of workers to get more employee-like benefits let alone unionize have come into the fore in states across the nation. Still, it’s a long way from over.

In fact, while the Ca appellate court ruled a new state law – called Proposition 22 -- reclassifying Uberish drivers as “employees” unconstitutional, it also carved out a right to make it easier for Indies to unionize. Meanwhile, Fox suggests, “Proposition 22 set the tone for gig-worker regulation in the rest of the country. Washington state passed a law last yr preserving the companies’ independent-contractor models. The companies also joined forces to mount a Proposition 22-like ballot in Massachusetts, but it was blocked by the state’s top court in June.” Then again, Uber “has had to make bigger concessions outside the US,” e.g., by granting its UK drivers a hybrid status entitling them to vacation pay & pensions.

Davd Soul