should companies regulate labour LAW?

“uber didn’t follow the law, they just made their own”

Uber has made its way into peoples daily life and most of us love and depend on the convenience the service offers combined with the low price. Behind the scenes and in between rides are the drivers, idling, and burning gas, anxiously waiting for their contractor, and now newly appointed lawmaker, to offer up the next profitable gig opportunity(!)

From the prop 22 protest in San Francisco 2020

The scare tactics to win prop 22 was simple and genius - threaten to take away rideshare from passengers and flexibility from drivers. The gig companies even threatened that it would pricier to ride if they didn’t win, and proceeded to slap a prop 22 cost onto the passenger bill after they won.

The most fascinating thing about prop 22 is the über modern technology meets über old exploitation of workers.

And the kicker? The worker now owns the means to production (the car) and can work whenever they want and they still get exploited!

The consequences are serious. Drivers can be deactivated any time, cant control the frequent pay cuts, get no help if they end up in a dangerous situation, no sick pay or disability. Most of the drivers end up quitting pretty fast and there is a large pool of minorities with less english language skills to pick up where someone with a few hard earned lessons now have thrown in the towel.

In the end the taxpayer, as usual, ends up paying the bill. Where someone ends up on welfare or in the emergency room without insurance,

Protesting prop 22 on street corner

if we truly want a progressive society, it means leaving behind old exploitation, not disguising it with shiny new tech

Listen to 3 rideshare drivers talk about their challenges and crazy stories here: