Uber and Lyft Drivers in California Will Remain Contractors

When the court ordered the companies to immediately hire their drivers, Uber and Lyft threatened to shut down in California rather than comply. They also funneled millions of dollars more into the ballot fight, making Prop. 22 the most expensive initiative in the state’s history. An appeals court granted Uber and Lyft a small reprieve, allowing them several months to comply with the order.

Although the lawsuit will continue, Prop. 22 will drastically reduce its scope. The state will continue to seek penalties for the time between January and the certification of the election results, when, it says, Uber and Lyft flouted the law.

“You look back and you say, ‘I wish it didn’t need to come to this, that people would have started adhering to the law,’” Mr. Herrera said. “I thought it was important to fight for the rights of workers and the rights of consumers.”

With the gig work model cemented in California, Uber and other gig economy companies are expected to pursue federal legislation that would protect them from similar employment laws in other states.

“Now, we’re looking ahead and across the country, ready to champion new benefits structures that are portable, proportional and flexible,” said Tony Xu, the chief executive of DoorDash, in a statement. “We look forward to partnering with workers, policymakers, community groups and more to make this a reality.”

The passage of Prop. 22 is a setback in the yearslong effort to regulate tech giants like Uber, but federal lawmakers and officials are increasingly eager to take on Big Tech. Members of Congress in both parties support cracking down on social media companies and reining in the likes of Amazon and Google. Uber and its gig economy peers could be caught in that anti-tech sentiment.

“We can’t just allow them to control what the future of work looks like,” Ms. Gonzalez said. “Somebody has to stand up for the future of workers.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/04/technology/california-uber-lyft-prop-22.html