Recent News

By Greg Ferenstein

This post makes the case that there are millions of gig workers who genuinely benefit from being independent contractors; the law should reflect their voice with public policies that improve conditions for self-employment, rather than restricting access to it.

SACRAMENTO — A new report from the independent Berkeley Research Group (BRG) found that an employment model for app-based rideshare and delivery services will have devastating consequences for consumers, greatly increasing costs and wait times, and eliminating services altogether in many cities across California.

SACRAMENTO — In the wake of Sacramento politicians’ recent efforts that nearly resulted in the shutdown of rideshare services and that would have erased hundreds of thousands of California jobs, support for Proposition 22 among app-based rideshare and delivery drivers is surging. More than 100,000 drivers have now signed up to actively support Prop 22, making Yes on 22 the largest app-based driver group in California. In addition, more than 100 social justice organizations, public safety advocates, and business groups have joined our coalition, exemplifying the breadth of popular support for Prop 22.

Sacramento — Three major California newspapers, the San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, and East Bay Times endorsed Proposition 22 this weekend and urged readers to vote yes, noting that drivers and consumers will benefit from the measure.

By San Francisco Chronicle Editorial Board

Proposition 22 is a battle between two determined and equally unappealing combatants. Proponents consist of the gig economy companies — Uber, Lyft, DoorDash among them — that are pouring $180 million into a campaign to dictate how they would be regulated on workplace issues. Opponents are the labor unions and the politicians they control, who refused to come up with a reasonable compromise in Sacramento.

By San Jose Mercury News & East Bay Times Editorial Boards

With the likes of Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Instacart, the gig economy has revolutionized transportation and how we shop.

SACRAMENTO — HopSkipDrive, a rideshare service that provides safe and reliable transportation for children and families, announced its support of Proposition 22 today, joining 100,000 app-based drivers and social justice, public safety, business groups and community organizations.

By Santa Rosa Press Democrat Editorial Board

Proposition 22 is shaping up as a ballot-box version of the gunfight at the OK Corral. Instead of the Clantons and Earps, this feud pits organized labor against Uber, Lyft and other app-based service companies.

By CBSLA Staff

Joanna McFarland said she and her co-founders started HopSkipDrive five years ago because, as a working mom, she knew what it was like to juggle school, appointments, practices and more.

By Alice Huffman

The California legislature is known for producing progressive, forward-thinking policies that empower people of color. But when it comes to protecting the freedom of workers who drive cars, buy groceries, and deliver other services via app-based platforms—the majority of them Black and Brown Californians—the legislature is failing our community.

SACRAMENTO – According to data from the United States Department of Labor, California had 28% (236,874) of all unemployment claims filed nationwide in the last week. In response to worsening economic data and unemployment, the Yes on Prop 22 campaign released the following statement from Elizabeth Clews, a single mother who needs flexibility to balance the demands of motherhood and college.

By Michael Saltsman

Does the future of America’s labor movement run through our smartphones? As many as a quarter of American adults earn income as gig workers, either through an app-based service like Uber or Lyft, or as traditional freelancers. Labor advocates would grant gig workers the right to bargain collectively. But unionization might hurt these workers more than it helps.

SACRAMENTO — Noting that the measure is intended to “protect thousands of California’s on-demand drivers, their customers, much-needed jobs and the state’s economy,” the Bakersfield Californian endorsed Proposition 22 this weekend.

By Jim Pyatt

AB 5 is a hot mess. Mere months after it took effect, the same politicians who forced AB 5 on California’s workforce are adding more exemptions to the law—bringing the total number of exemptions to over 100. They are all listed below. There’s a reason they have to keep adding fixes to the shoddily crafted legislation: the law is completely unworkable for an extraordinarily large number of professions and occupations. Already, the bill is creating a state of confusion for workers like me. But the scramble to add so many exemptions makes three things undeniably clear to app-based drivers and California voters alike.

By Bakersfield Californian Editorial Board

Proposition 22 on the Nov. 3 ballot is intended to protect thousands of California’s on-demand drivers, their customers, much-needed jobs and the state’s economy. It is the latest battle in a war between independent contractors and labor union advocates over California’s “gig economy.”

SACRAMENTO – As the California State Legislature moves to exempt another 50+ professions and occupations from AB 5, bringing the total number of vocations exempted to over 100, app-based drivers demand answers from the bill’s author and supporters on why a law they oppose by a 4:1 margin is only being applied to them. The new industries that are now being exempted from AB5 only a year after it was passed include foresters, landscape architects, home inspectors, dog walkers and many more. By listening to special interests at the expense of app-based rideshare and delivery drivers as well as their constituents, Sacramento politicians are rushing through a substantial clean-up bill to try to fix a law that was ill-considered, harmful, and flawed from the very beginning.

Dozens of rideshare and food delivery drivers gathered in Sacramento to drum up support for Proposition 22. They set up a booth Thursday afternoon in Albert Winn Park at 29th and P streets.

SACRAMENTO – A new study co-authored by Dr. Christopher Thornburg, Director of the UC Riverside School of Business Center for Economic Forecasting & Development, found that Proposition 22 will lead to earnings well above minimum wage for hundreds of thousands of California app-based drivers.

SACRAMENTO—In case you missed it, a Washington Post column waded into the game of chicken California is playing with app-based rideshare and delivery companies, concluding that unless a change is made to protect the independent contractor status of app-based drivers, “…the ones who will really get burned are the residents who depend on these companies […]

SACRAMENTO—The Yes on Prop 22 campaign released a new ad highlighting Sacramento politicians’ attempts to strip app-based rideshare and delivery drivers’ ability to work independently and eliminate hundreds of thousands of jobs in the middle of a pandemic and recession. The ad, entitled “Skyrocketing,” began airing over the weekend on television and digital platforms across the state. A full transcript of the ad is below.

By Steven Greenhut – Editorial Board member, Southern California News Group

Uber and Lyft, we hardly knew you. As the California attorney general pursues its lawsuit against these ride-sharing companies, to force them to comply immediately with the state’s virtual ban on using contractors as workers, the firms had announced last week that they would temporarily leave the state as they retool into smaller operations.

In response to the Court of Appeal staying the Superior Court’s ruling on a misguided law, the Yes on 22 campaign offered the following statements from rideshare drivers Chanel Lampkin and Rodolfo Valdivia—supporters of Proposition 22.

By Southern Californian News Group Editorial Board

Since the California Supreme Court in 2018 handed down its Dynamex decision, the state has been marching toward an inevitable showdown with app-based transportation firms such as Uber, Lyft and DoorDash. Those companies have built business models around the type of independent-contractor labor the court decision has largely banned.

Uber and Lyft are fighting for survival in California after a state judge ordered that the companies consider all of its drivers employees.

SACRAMENTO – Over the last week, multiple California media outlets have questioned California Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s ability to impartially execute the responsibilities of his job and deliver fair and unbiased ballot labels and titles and summaries.

SACRAMENTO—The Yes on 22 campaign today filed a lawsuit against Attorney General Xavier Becerra alleging he is abusing the power of his office by writing a Prop 22 ballot label and title and summary that is intentionally written to influence voters to oppose the measure. The lawsuit claims the AG’s ballot title is “false, materially misleading, and prejudicial” in violation of the Election Code § 9051 which specifically requires that the Attorney General give “a true and impartial statement of the purpose of the measure” that “shall neither be an argument, nor likely to create prejudice, for or against the proposed measure.”

SACRAMENTO –The San Francisco Chronicle accused Attorney General Xavier Becerra of “skewing” the title and summary for Prop 22 in favor of the No on Prop 22 campaign. This is not the first time the attorney general has been publicly criticized for abandoning his duty to write fair and non-prejudicial voter information and instead writing titles and summaries designed to mislead voters.

By Dr. Tecoy Porter Sr.

Although millions of Californians are suffering, people of color and disadvantaged communities have been disproportionately ravaged by the double blow of the coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic meltdown.

By John Diaz – Editorial Page Editor, San Francisco Chronicle

California’s attorney general is charged with providing a “true and impartial” title and summary for ballot propositions. Once again, the attorney general’s office is being legitimately accused of skewing the language in favor of one side of an issue.

SACRAMENTO – Yesterday, the Secretary of State released the public display of the ballot pamphlet, including Pro and Con arguments, rebuttals and 50-word statements from each ballot proposition campaign before California voters on November 3.

SACRAMENTO – Civil rights and social justice groups – including the California State NAACP, Si Se Puede Foundation, National Action Network and Black Women Organized for Political Action – sent a letter to California elected officials urging support for Proposition 22.

By Andrew Sheeler – Reporter, Sacramento Bee

Proposition 22, a response to AB 5 that would reclassify rideshare drivers for companies like Uber and Lyft as independent contractors, just received an endorsement from the National Black Chamber of Commerce.

SACRAMENTO – The National Black Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) has endorsed Proposition 22 on California’s November 3 ballot. NBCC is dedicated to economically empowering and sustaining African American communities.

Sacramento, CA – Many of the loudest supporters of AB 5 claimed they were representing the interests of app-based rideshare and delivery drivers. However, a new look at their public comments reveals AB 5’s most vocal supporters are really pursuing a different agenda: limiting the number of app-based rideshare and delivery drivers allowed to do this work.

Sacramento, CA – Drivers with the Protect App-Based Drivers & Services coalition expressed outrage today after learning that the state Attorney General plans to file a preliminary injunction asking a judge to force app-based drivers to be employees.

SACRAMENTO – The Protect App-Based Drivers & Services Act continues to build momentum as more than 75,000 California drivers signed up to actively support the ballot measure to protect their choice to work as independent contractors.

SACRAMENTO – In response to a lawsuit filed today in San Francisco Superior Court by San Francisco District Attorney’s Office against DoorDash, the Protect App-Based Drivers & Services coalition released the following statement. NOTE: This lawsuit applies to DoorDash drivers statewide, not just in San Francisco.

Sacramento, CA – The number of new independent drivers earning income on delivery apps surged 43 percent in the months since California’s stay-at-home restrictions went into effect.

By Patricia Mulholland

Five years ago, traditional jobs stopped being an option for me. As a retired, disabled Vietnam veteran and a caretaker for an ill family member, I needed to earn a living that kept the stress down but the flexibility up so I could meet my family obligations.

By Jim Pyatt

I’m semi-retired and usually drive rideshare part time. Like 80% of on-demand delivery and rideshare drivers, I did this to earn extra income so my wife and I can afford things our retirement savings wouldn’t otherwise provide.

By Tiffany Stecker – Reporter, Bloomberg Law

California voters will decide in November whether rideshare drivers can get some of the benefits of employees while remaining independent contractors, a vote that could exempt their employers from the state’s landmark gig worker law.

Sacramento, CA – The Protect App-Based Drivers & Services coalition, a growing group of tens of thousands of app-based drivers, public safety organizations, social justice advocates, business and community leaders, announce qualification of the landmark proposition protecting the choice of one million app-based drivers to earn income as independent contractors while providing new earning guarantees and benefits.

Sacramento, CA – With qualification for the November 2020 ballot imminent, supporters of the Protect App-Based Drivers & Services Act announced today a statewide television and digital voter education campaign.

SACRAMENTO – An op-ed in the Orange County Register lays out the downfall of app-based delivery company Deliv, a “start-up praised by organized labor for its use of employees rather than independent contractors announced last week it would wind down operations this summer, laying off 669 employees–including 591 drivers.”

By Alfred Porche III

Two months ago my entire life changed. In March, I worried about stocking up on toilet paper and buying masks. Then the state’s 40 million residents were asked to stay in their homes with limited social contact because of COVID-19 and I signed up to help bring food and supplies to people who can’t get out.

By Jeff Joseph

Call it a case of missed delivery.

Sacramento, CA – A new report released today by the Berkeley Research Group found that forcing app-based delivery and rideshare drivers to become employees would result in eliminating 900,000 jobs, reducing the number of drivers needed in California by 80 to 90 percent.

SACRAMENTO – According to the San Jose Mercury News, app-based delivery company Deliv is laying off nearly 600 California drivers, “just months after the company changed its business model to cope with controversial state rules regarding independent contractors.”

SACRAMENTO – A financial analyst interviewed this week on the Rideshare Guy podcast said forcing app-based delivery and rideshare drivers to reclassify as employees instead of independent contractors could reduce the number of needed drivers by 75 percent.

SACRAMENTO – A new, independent poll released by the Rideshare Guy found that nearly three quarters of app-based drivers surveyed prefer to be independent contractors, compared to only 17 percent who would prefer to be an employee. This poll is strong evidence that California politicians who are trying to prevent drivers from working as independent contractors do not represent the interests of those drivers.

SACRAMENTO – Today, members of the Protect App-Based Drivers & Services coalition expressed significant concern after the state and three city attorneys announced a lawsuit that seeks to take away the choice that app-based drivers make to work as independent contractors.

By Andrew Sheeler – Reporter, Sacramento Bee

The group behind a ballot measure intended to undo the changes of Assembly Bill 5 announced Friday that it has begun to submit petition signatures to qualify for the November ballot.

SACRAMENTO – As app-based delivery and rideshare drivers continue providing essential services during the pandemic, the Protect App-Based Drivers & Services coalition today began turning in signatures to local county Registrars of Voters offices across the state to qualify a measure for the November ballot.

By Los Angeles Daily News Editorial Board

The battle over Assembly Bill 5, which forbids many companies from using contractors as their workforce, is far from over even after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it into law. Three companies that face an existential threat from the measure — Uber, Lyft and DoorDash — have introduced an initiative that would exempt them from turning their drivers into regular employees.

SACRAMENTO, CA — The following statement can be attributed to Stacey Wells, campaign spokesperson for the Protect App-Based Drivers & Services Act: “App-based delivery and rideshare are being deemed essential services by mayors and governors around the country during this time of public emergency, helping neighbors and the most vulnerable among us get food, groceries, medicine and other necessities.

SACRAMENTO –The Protect App-Based Drivers & Services coalition announced today that overwhelming public support for the ballot measure resulted in a faster-than-expected signature gathering pace. In just seven weeks, the campaign hit its 1 million voter signature goal and concluded signature collection. The 1 million signatures far exceed the 623,212 required for qualification.

By Carolyn Said – Staff Writer, San Francisco Chronicle

Get ready for a blizzard of advertising about “protecting freedom” by Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and other on-demand services.

KFBK Radio in Sacramento covers Protect App-Based Drivers & Services Act campaign details about the measure’s earning and benefit guarantees

By Jeremy B. White – Reporter, Politico

The tech industry appears likely to qualify a November initiative that would reverse the state’s gig economy crackdown, with the campaign saying today it has collected more than a million signatures.

SACRAMENTO – Tens of thousands of California veterans, teachers, firefighters, pastors, retirees, moms, dads, students and others are lining up in favor of the Protect App-Based Drivers & Services Act.

SACRAMENTO – Two widely respected statewide public safety organizations – the California Police Chiefs Association and the California State Sheriffs’ Association – have joined Fathers Against Drunk Driving and a growing coalition of public safety, community and business groups supporting the Protect App-Based Drivers & Services Act, a ballot measure proposed for November 2020 that would protect the right of those who earn on rideshare and delivery platforms to work as independent contractors, while ensuring these services remain accessible for the millions of Californians who rely on them every day.

By Dani Blum and Laura Vanderkam

Most days, Shawn Morse of Milwaukee can be found caring for his two young children while his wife works full time as a manager of neurology clinic research at the Medical College of Wisconsin. But after she comes home around 6 p.m., and the family has had dinner, Morse checks his apps: GrubHub, DoorDash, UberEats, Uber, Lyft, Instacart.

SACRAMENTO – The threat is rising against hardworking teachers, retirees, students, parents and hundreds of thousands of other Californians who choose to supplement their income by driving with app-based rideshare and delivery platforms.

SACRAMENTO – Today app-based rideshare and delivery drivers from across the state reacted with anger and frustration that an elected politician in San Diego filed an emergency application for a temporary restraining order seeking to take away the rights of Instacart shoppers in California to earn an income as independent contractors and instead force them to become employees.

By Mark Anderson – Staff Writer, Sacramento Business Journal

A ballot measure supported by gig economy companies to overturn California’s Assembly Bill 5, the new independent contractor labor law, has reached 25% of its needed signatures to get on the November ballot.

SACRAMENTO – Momentum from voters and drivers is growing rapidly in support of the Protect App-Based Drivers & Services Act – the ballot measure that would protect the right of app-based drivers to choose independent work, while providing new benefits and safety protections for drivers and the public.

SACRAMENTO – This week a broad coalition of tens of thousands of app-based drivers, small businesses, public safety leaders, community groups and on-demand rideshare and food delivery platforms will start signature gathering efforts to qualify the Protect App-Based Drivers & Services Act for the November 2020 California statewide ballot. The campaign, which is supported by more than 27,000 drivers and growing, expects to collect well in excess of the 623,212 valid signatures required to qualify the measure.

By Dawn Kawamoto – Staff Reporter, San Francisco Business Times

Starting this week, your next ride-hailing trip or food delivery may also come with a political pitch to sign a petition to nullify the recently passed AB 5 gig worker law.

By Maria Rodriguez

I’m a single mom with three daughters who works as a school secretary in San Diego. Money is always tight, but usually I can make ends meet. That changed last year when I had to take unpaid furlough days.

By Akamine Kiarie

In January, I’ll reach a lifelong dream: becoming a student at California State University, Sacramento. I’m excited, but also worried because a new state law could threaten my ability to pay my bills and stay in school.

By Tony Pierce

On Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 5, which is intended to reduce worker misclassification by turning “independent contractors,” like rideshare drivers, into employees of the companies they work with. The new law would force giants like Lyft and Uber to do things like pay a minimum wage, provide health insurance benefits and paid sick days off.

By Louis Hyman – Contributor, CNN Business

On January 1, a law went into effect in California known as AB5 that is intended to reclassify many of the state’s independent contractors as regular employees and give them the workplace benefits they deserve, such as unemployment and disability insurance. Perhaps even more importantly, as employees, these gig workers will have access to the full body of rights under labor and employment law. Without those rights, contractors — Uber and Lyft drivers, freelancers and other gig workers — are being exploited. As employees under the new law, it is hoped, they will enjoy job stability and decent wages. The unstated assumption of lawmakers here is that companies will simply comply with the law and convert those gig jobs into full-time positions.

By Kerry Jackson

With Assembly Bill 5, lawmakers not only came up with a solution for which there is no problem, they created hardships where there were none before.

By Los Angeles Times Editorial Board

California’s Silicon Valley created the “gig economy,” in which on-demand services are powered by on-demand workers, typically working part-time. Now, the California Legislature is considering proposals that could fundamentally change how the companies behind these services treat their workers — for better or for worse.

By Jonathan Rothwell

Even after a long economic expansion, America is still the land of the side hustle.

SACRAMENTO – More than 25,000 rideshare and delivery drivers have joined the Coalition to Protect App-Based Drivers & Services, demonstrating growing support behind a proposed ballot measure to protect driver flexibility.

SACRAMENTO – Last week the 11 newspapers that make up the Southern California News Group endorsed the Protect App-Based Drivers & Services Act, calling our initiative “a good idea” and a “battle well worth fighting.”

SACRAMENTO – Far from being independent or neutral, the Berkeley Labor Center – an organization led by labor unions – has joined with the campaign opposed to the Protect App-Based Drivers & Services Act, a ballot measure aimed for the November 2020 ballot. On Wednesday, Michael Reich, the co-chair of the Center and the co-author of a deceptive and flawed “analysis” of the ballot measure, spoke at a rally organized by opponents.

SACRAMENTO – In just 72 hours, 13,491 California app-based rideshare and delivery drivers have signed up in support of the Protect App-Based Drivers & Services Act because they support the measure’s provisions that protect their flexibility while providing new wage and benefit guarantees.

SACRAMENTO – There have been a few misinterpretations, misrepresentations – and even an absurd analysis – about the Protect App-Based Drivers & Services Act, the initiative that protects the right of app-based drivers to work as independent contractors, while providing historic new earnings guarantees and protections.

Not long after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB-5 into law, gig economy giants Uber, Lyft and DoorDash announced this week they’re seeking an exemption.

SACRAMENTO – By a 4:1 margin, app-based rideshare drivers want to be independent contractors – not employees – according to a new survey released by The Rideshare Guy, an independent driver website that provides information about the rideshare industry. From the survey:

By Heidi Lynne Kurter – Contributor, Forbes

California isn’t shy when it comes to making the daily headlines. Often heralded as a progressive utopia, the Golden State recently signed into law, Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) that will change the landscape of the gig worker economy. Stemming from the groundbreaking court decision established in Dynamex West Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles, the California Supreme Court found Dynamex’s workers were misclassified as independent contractors rather than employees.

SACRAMENTO – A coalition of drivers, business and community leaders today announced a new statewide ballot measure aimed for the November 2020 ballot that would protect the rights of hundreds of thousands of Californians to choose flexible work on rideshare and delivery platforms.