Mar 28, 2021
Aobuta (2018)
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Aobuta (2018)
Two years after kneecapping efforts to classify drivers in California as employees rather than contractors, Lyft is returning to the same, expensive playbook on the East Coast..
Lyft has already splashed out $14.4 million towards a likely November ballot measure in Massachusetts which would cement its drivers as contractors, rather than employees — and the vast majority of those funds were paid in a single, $13 million donation, the largest in the state's history by a considerable margin. It's an unambiguous opening salvo in what will likely be a bitter and protracted battle, the playbook for which Lyft and its gig work peers successfully tested in California two years ago.
As the Boston Globe reports, Lyft has thus far contributed the lion's share of the Flexibility and Benefits for Massachusetts Drivers committee's $17.2 million war chest, which is intended to fund the forthcoming ballot measure. The rest comes from Uber, DoorDash and Instacart owner Maplebear. The previous record for largest single donation was nearly a third the size: a $5.1 million contribution from General Motors in 2020.
Currently Lyft and Uber are engaged in a lawsuit, filed by the Attorney General of Massachusetts, which contends that the companies have been misclassifying their driver workforce as contractors. Leveraging contractor status relieves them of many of the costs and obligations associated with employees — such as minimum wage, healthcare and overtime pay — but true contractors typically control how and when they work, and what they charge for their services. Whether or not ridershare drivers actually have that level of autonomy has become a point of legal contention in several of the states and countries in which these companies operate.
Tremonti Tuesday! 🤘🏼🤘🏼
Pg 5 (Colors may be slightly desaturated)
#FightAB5
This change is already ruining lives and will continue doing so.
I don’t live in California, but this just gives me another HUGE reason not to move there. I stand by every single freelancer and independent worker, and support them in this devastating, awful time.
Freelancing is freedom for countless people who chose to shape their lives around what they believe in and work damn hard in achieving those goals.
People who claim freelancers aren’t working real jobs or have contributed nothing worthwhile to the economy are ignorant and need to open their ears, instead. And that includes every single person on the legislative board who allowed this to pass.
Freelancers are self-made people, through and through, and they deserve everything that they’ve earned.
Every. Single. One.
I’m furious beyond belief and have only disappointment, anger and shame to share with the state of California and the passing of AB5.
Why do this? What’s the benefit? Because it should be more “fair?” Because independent contractors aren’t allowed to do what they want because other people are upset about it? Because freelancing somehow doesn’t classify as “real work”? Because you think that it will somehow help the gig economy when California THRIVES off of this system?
You know why people go to California? Why freelancers, especially, go to the state of California?
To get connections. To start small and dream big. To dream big and start small. To hustle, hustle, hustle, and build and build and build.
California is the home of entertainment and tech. It’s a kingdom of freelancers. People who have MOVED there to dream and live and do exactly what they want and never in a million years would have expected something like this to happen.
There are many people who have zero idea how damn hard freelancers work and how MUCH they contribute to the economy.
California’s legislation claims to be “protecting” workers by establishing this law, and all I see is the harm that it will do.
Shame on Vox Media for cutting out thousands of freelance journalists ahead of the bill’s passing.
Shame on people who supported this and allowed it to happen.
Shame on people who support the idea of relinquishing FREEDOM for copywriters, photographers, journalists, videographers, and so many more.
Shame on you, Lorena Gonzalez.
Shame on you, Governor Gavin Newsom.
There is nothing well-intentioned about this at all.
And frankly, nothing intelligent.
Disgusting. Awful. Shameful. Horrific.
#FightAB5
Ugh
I’ve gotten into a tiff with some journalists on twitter who are upset about the effects of a new CA law that essentially makes it harder to use freelance labor.
I recognize it’s a complicated situation because a lot of individual journalists in CA are losing opportunities to work because outlets don’t want to have to comply with the more stringent CA laws.
But the thing is, this law was intended to stop companies from depending largely or solely on freelance labor without providing corollary benefits like paid time off and health insurance to people who are (for all intents and purposes) employees. The intent of the law is good, and A LOT of the impacts of it will be good.
But because it causes problems for individual journalists, they are having a hard time engaging with the issue fairly. Many are refusing to acknowledge the broader labor context in which all of this is happening and just acting like, “Welp, since this is a problem for me, it must just be unilaterally bad.”
And I’m not here for it.
The AB5 JetQuad is the most powerful jet-powered drone of its size with vertical take-off and landing capabilities. This is another level.
John Stossel obliterates AB5, the freelance-killing 'gig economy' law, in a new fantastic video
The great John Stossel took on AB5 and he perfectly summed up the problem with the freelance-killing “gig economy” law in this short and engaging video. I encourage you to watch and share it:
Wow. Stossel is fantastic at making complex issues very clear, and he really gets to the heart of the matter quickly and as concisely as…
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