Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Can This Be Right? Uber, Lyft To Spend $90 Million Fighting Califonia Gig Worker Law

It's almost as if raising driver pay threatens the very existence of the companies.
The question in the headline is because the first mention of the $90 million figure is in a September 11 PYMNTS article that didn't link to their source.
From PYMNTS.com, October 30:

Uber, Lyft Back Ballot Measure To Fight California Gig Worker Law
Uber, Lyft and DoorDash are backing a ballot initiative to exempt themselves from California’s landmark law that re-classifies gig economy workers as employees, the companies announced in a press release on Tuesday (Oct. 29).

The ballot measure — Protect App-Based Drivers & Services Act — includes a guarantee that drivers would make 20 percent above minimum wage and get 30 cents per mile. It also proposes an ACA-comparable healthcare subsidy and accident insurance.

“I do rideshare because the flexibility is phenomenal and it allows me to be there for my family while making extra money to supplement my retirement income from the Navy,” Lyft driver Llewellyn Holloway said in the release. “I’m supporting the ballot initiative because it’s going to allow me to keep my flexibility, and that’s the most important thing to me. For all the people who think we’re better off as employees, they’re wrong, they’re dead wrong.”

Critics, however, counter that the promise of earning more than minimum wage doesn’t cover the time drivers spend between trips.

“Their wage floor suggests if If I’m a cashier, I’m only paid while there’s a customer in my line, not when I’m waiting for the next customer,” California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, who introduced the state legislation, told CNN. Further, she said the proposed mileage reimbursement is about half of the IRS rate of 58 cents per mile....MORE
That Sept. 11 article: "Gig Economy Could See Overhaul Under New California Bill"  was followed on September 12 by: "California’s New Labor Bill Gets Pushback From Uber"