What Prop 22 means for rideshare drivers
As if the election wasn’t already intense enough this year things are about to get more so for rideshare drivers in California.
Up for vote is Prop 22, which if passed will classify app-based drivers as "independent contractors," instead of "employees.”
According to the LA Times, this could be a “Huge blow to a labor movement striving to bolster protections for workers.”
Like many other gig companies, rideshare moguls Lyft and Uber rely on hiring large numbers of workers affordably as independent contractors to provide rides and delivery services.
The rideshare companies behind Proposition 22 celebrate the measure as a “new progressive framework” for rideshare drivers: The ballot measure guarantees workers 120 percent of the California minimum wage, health care subsidies after 15 hours of work, sick leave, and injury protection.
However, the measure contains a major catch.
Pay, leave, and benefits are all given based on a driver’s “engaged time” which is when they have a passenger in the car or are on their way to pick up another. Time spent waiting for new ride requests is discounted.
According to Ken Jacobs and Michael Reich of the University of California, Berkeley Labor Center, engaged time is only 67% of a driver’s shift, and workers under Proposition 22 could make as little as $5.64 an hour.
“Not paying for (wait) time would be the equivalent of a fast-food restaurant or retail store saying they will only pay the cashier when a customer is at the counter."
If you are voting in CA and need more information to make your decision about Prop 22 check out what your vote means here.
In the meantime share your thoughts here on Jobcase!!
Do you believe that rideshare drivers should be classified as employees OR independent contractors?
More often than not, whenever proposed legislation is framed in positive terms - in this instance, a "new progressive framework" - your alarm bells should be rending the night air, because the real-life results are just the opposite of the rosy selling points.
Remember, the people who come up with these proposals are the same suits who grotesquely refer to a state government's prerogative for determining whether or not unions can operate within their realms for particular trades as "right to work". Again, it actually means the exact opposite; in this case "right to be fired at the drop of a hat". Currently, not only do 27 of 50 states operate as "right to work", but even six or seven non-RTW states - like California - historically employ RTW practices in the governance of labor.
Newspeak is alive and well, and if you're considering going into government for your sole benefit, then the truth is for other people.
[Edit - I see that Prop 22 has passed in CA by a majority vote of 58%; I truly hope I am wrong about the ultimate results, but time will tell.]