Posted on 01/24/2020 6:39:58 AM PST by karpov
Nancy Pelosi famously proclaimed that Democrats had to pass ObamaCare to find out what was in it. On the other hand, Democrats in California last year passed legislation outlawing many freelance and independent contracting jobs knowing the disruption it would cause—and voters are now discovering the damage.
Ride-hailing app Uber this week rolled out changes for drivers and riders in California in an effort to duck the state’s new labor law AB5. That law reclassified a large swath of independent contractors from freelance journalists to Uber drivers as employees who are owed rest breaks, workers compensation, health benefits and paid leave.
Under the law, independent contractors must be “free from control and direction”; perform work “outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business”; and be “customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business.” Few contractors pass this test, so Democrats exempted dozens of professions.
Now workers and businesses that didn’t win carve-outs are trying to navigate around the law. Uber is dropping up-front pricing in California, so riders won’t know their fare until after their trip ends. Drivers will also be able to reject trips based on their destination, which means passengers may find it difficult to hail rides to rough neighborhoods.
Uber is also letting drivers in some areas set their own fares, though some economists predict this will result in lower worker pay. Companies are also going to court. Uber and Postmates contend the law violates equal protection by unfairly discriminating against app-based companies, but their lawsuit is a long-shot since the law sweeps broadly.
...
Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders have all endorsed a national AB5. If you like your job, sorry, you might not be able to keep it if Democrats get their way.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Also affected: ambulance service, non emergency medical transport, journalists (free speech curtailing 35 articles per year limitation..), shipping, event security, programming, substitute teachers, etc,etc,etc.
Funny how this is the straw that b broke my family’s back and we’re getting ready to sell out house and move out of state.
California getting what it voted for.
More specifically, what LA and SF voted for.
Everything a democrat touches, and I mean everything, turns to crap. Every. Single. Time. But hey, at least they get the I tried award from their fellow travelers… Enjoy Californians!
Drivers will also be able to reject trips based on their destination, which means passengers may find it difficult to hail rides to rough neighborhoods.
Wouldn’t the liberals consider this racist, to reject going to “rough” neighborhoods?
In fact, considering the outrage over Trump talking about Elijah Cummings congressional district, doesn’t it offend the sensibilities of liberals to talk of the concept of “bad” neighborhoods in the first place?
Idiot kommiefornians are repeating the same mistakes that ultimately destroyed the commie/socialist nations in history, all the while thinking it will be different.
And beauticians and musicians and truck drivers and writers.
Kind of anyone who is working, with some bit of control of their lives.
EXACTLY as planned.
> Drivers will also be able to reject trips based on their destination... <
That is what killed good cab service in my neck of the woods. The cabbies were all reclassified as independent contractors. So now they can decline trips if they want to.
The result? Unless you’re trying to book a long, lucrative ride ((like to or from the airport), you won’t be getting a cab. The dispatcher might promise you one, but it ain’t gonna show.
I bet this puts California in play for PDJT.
I find this very amusing to watch and I live in California, Almost Everyone negatively affected by this law is a Proud Liberal Progressive Democrat, They VOTED for this and I have NO SYMPATHY for them at all.
I think the trucking industry already got a court order putting the California law on hold for them. It’s probably the most difficult industry for an individual state to regulate, due to the supremacy of Federal agencies involved in regulating it.
The elderly and disabled rely on these services.
At the very least, it will take forever. The last time I tried to call a cab they told me it would take at least 45 minutes for a cab.
It was easier to call a friend and ask for a ride.
I’m trying to figure out how this law could work. Don’t freelance writers sell to several different outlets? If an outlet buys a story from the freelancer, do they have to keep paying until a different outlet buys a story from the freelancer, then the new outlet pays?
I was under the impression that Uber drivers already could decline a ride. That is, someone who wants a ride says so on Uber, then Uber drivers say yes they can deliver that ride or no they can’t. I’ve never used Uber.
Unbelieveable.
Looks like they’re exempted. There are quite a few exemptions. I looked it up because I have a contract with a marketing guy for my company.
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB5
This is exactly why the lunatics in Sacramento did this, follow the money..
It’s not because they give a crap about workers protection as they claimed.
According to the California Labor Commissioner’s website, the misclassification of workers as independent contractors costs the state roughly $7 billion in lost payroll taxes each year.
Also affected: Those who deliver newspapers. There is special legislation being created to exempt them but it may take a while.
Report on the news this morning (local, Southern California) said it was costing job - a lot of jobs.
I figured über would pull out of California. We’ve noticed they’ve already raised their rates.
Yes.
Recently, LAX decreed that über drivers could no longer come into the terminal but had to pick up and drop off riders at an off-site location - then they could take a bus in.
This is a HUGE inconvenience for those in wheelchairs (like my husband) and elderly who are complaining bitterly...which is falling on deaf ears...
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