Uber and Lyft are preparing to shut down their ride-sharing services in California. Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden would like to see that happen across the country.
California’s new freelancing law, formally known as AB5, went into place on Jan. 1 and was endorsed by Biden in March. The law has faced a collection of lawsuits from those affected by it, ranging from Uber and Postmates to the California Trucking Association, the latter of which scored an initial victory in exempting 70,000 independent truckers. Uber and Lyft will soon be freezing their services in California unless voters overturn parts of the law in a November ballot proposition.
Freelance journalists were also hit by the law and were limited to 35 article submissions per year, leading to hundreds of layoffs in a network of sports blogs owned by Vox Media. Interpreters, janitors, construction workers, and child care workers are all affected by the law, but Uber and Lyft are the law’s primary targets.
After a judge ruled that drivers at Uber and Lyft must be classified as employees under the new law, both companies said they will be forced to shut down in California. Uber and Lyft combined have over half a million drivers in California. California’s Proposition 22 would specifically exempt “transportation and delivery companies” from the law, but if it doesn’t pass, then Uber and Lyft would have to restructure their entire models in the state, certainly with fewer drivers, or else just disappear.
California Democrats thought it better that, instead of people making some money on the side in the gig economy, no one should be able to make money without an old-fashioned, formal employment relationship. The disastrous law the state passed has led to far more layoffs than full-time hires. Now, Biden wants to extend that to the rest of the country, and House Democrats are happy to oblige. They passed the Protecting the Right to Organize Act that lifted language straight from California’s law. It could destroy the national gig economy if it ever takes effect.
Democrats will almost certainly retain the House, and Senate Democrats have signaled that they will get rid of the legislative filibuster should they take back the chamber. That means that if Biden wins and Democrats take the Senate, then the gig economy, freelance work, and independent contractors will all see their incomes put in jeopardy.
Depriving people of opportunities to earn money would be bad enough in normal times. Doing so during a pandemic, or during the recovery period after a pandemic, is downright immoral. But apparently, people haven’t suffered enough for the Democrats. They’ll be sure to rectify that.
