In California it has been decided that drivers with the digital carpooling platforms Uber and Lyft are not to be classified as employees. That's what voters decided by a majority of 58%, according to initial estimates. The United States presidential election occurs alongside multiple local elections and various referenda. Thus the people of the Golden State voted on ‘Proposition 22’, which was set to decide on the employment status of app-based transportation drivers. The question to resolve is if these drivers are employees such as the Californian AB5 law of 2019 institutes it, or are they simply ‘independent contractors’ as Uber and Lyft claim?
Companies in the gig economy have been fighting hard to get their message across. Carpooling platforms, as well as meal delivery platforms (DoorDash, Postmates) and grocery stores (Instacart) spent more than $200 million on this campaign. The California Labor Federation’s ‘No on 22’ camp, which was mostly funded by labor unions, only ever raised about $20 million.
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