Recent News

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.

According to the suit, “The new wording of the ballot title and summary reads as if it was written by the opponents of Proposition 22.”  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 […]

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 The 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 The 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.