A California bill that would make workers in the estimated 70 million gig economy businesses — those including Uber, Airbnb, TaskRabbit, Etsy, Stripe, Wag, and Stripe — classified as employees should become law by late October. Known as Assembly Bill 1442, it recently passed the Assembly by a 59-0 vote and the Senate unanimously, with eight senators signing on.
“Gig economy companies have a legitimate right to organize, operate under contracts, and provide wage and working conditions that are reasonable and lawful, and that fit the needs of these workers,” said the bill’s author, Assembly member Ash Kalra (D-Bakersfield). “In reality, these companies are exploitative and increasingly threaten our livelihoods and the stability of our economy.”
Alignment on the employees’ issue was critical for many in the anti-poverty community, and so California passed an Employment Non-Discrimination Act protecting gig economy workers from discrimination based on age, race, gender, religion, disability, sexual orientation, familial status, and residency. That bill, which went to the full Senate before it died in committee last month, has the support of nearly 300,000 people, including California Dream Act voters, California News Directors Association members, Facebook and Google employees, Uber drivers, and Humboldt County residents. But the California Rideshare Drivers Association, which counts Uber as one of its main allies, says its members have to use unlawful tippers to make ends meet.
Opponents of the bill have argued that some of the gig economy jobs are physically dangerous, exploitative, and are akin to indentured servitude because only a single partner can put up with taking care of others’ emotional and physical health. Most of the rideshare workers who would be covered by the bill are women who lack back-up car insurance and union labor. The effort to pass AB 1442 proved to be a win for California Democrats. Of course, not everyone agrees with this interpretation of the gig economy, as drivers are now suing ride-hailing companies over extortion tactics, inadequate fare levels, and asking for unionization.
Some of the California cities that have passed anti-gig economy bills include Santa Cruz, Berkeley, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oakland, and Anaheim. Local and state cities will still have to make the necessary move to classify the workers in order to impose or codify rights for these companies. In California, a driver will no longer be able to refuse to work for a customer or a company, and those who want to come into a landmine for an entire industry will have to get on board.
