National dems warn CA dems: new labor law for gig workers will cost us house seats

Perhaps the main reason CA25 swung 19 points to the gop from 2018 to 2020 is because of a state law: AB5.

It forces independent contractors to be classified as employees. It has hit musicians, therapists, etc hard, and has cost many jobs and flexibility.

It's extremely unpopular in southern california, and national dems are privately worried that it will cost them 6 or so seats they won in 2018.

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The new law, Assembly Bill 5, has generated outrage from a wide range of Californians, from musicians to therapists to truckers and freelance journalists.

It requires businesses to classify more workers as employees entitled to benefits like sick leave and overtime pay. But some workers affected by AB 5 say it’s caused them nothing but grief and anxiety. One online media company, Vox, parted ways with 200 freelance journalists rather than hire them as full-fledged employees.

Critics of the law are fighting back. Some have gone to court. Uber has vowed to challenge the law at the ballot box - while also changing its ride-hailing platform in an effort to have its drivers remain classified as independent contractors instead of employees.

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The Sacramento Jazz Cooperative is a struggling nonprofit, operating on a shoestring budget during its three-year history as it presents Monday night concerts at the Dante Club. Now it has another problem on its hands - a controversial California labor law that requires it to hire musicians as employees.

Since Jan. 1, the jazz co-op has had to contribute to musicians’ Social Security and Medicare, while withholding payroll taxes from their checks. Founder Carolyne Swayze said the law is proving costly to the co-op and threatens its viability, potentially hurting musicians

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Truckers and sign-language teachers say it robs them of freedom.

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I feel like it’s our right to work as we choose,” he said. “We really need that ability to negotiate not just our time but what we’re being compensated.”

Many truckers have made a similar argument about the law, saying it inhibits their ability to do business. The California Trucking Association secured a court injunction blocking implementation of AB 5 in its industry, after it argued the law is preempted by the US Constitution because it interferes with interstate commerce.

Placerville resident Lacey Easton says she’s lost work as a professional sign-language interpreter because of AB 5. She’s down to about 15 to 20 hours of work “in a good week.”

“More importantly, deaf and hard of hearing people have lost access to communication,” said Easton, who does interpreting for schools, job-training agencies and medical appointments.

She said flexibility is extremely important in her profession; that’s why she’s resisted going to work for a company as an employee. Interpreters have to be “compatible” with the person they’re signing for, and if she’s an employee she’d lose the ability to turn down a job.

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LINK

It's the worst law passed in ca in my time living here.

It has cost so many people jobs.

Classic example of unintended consequences.

but the corrupt unions are happy because more people being classified as employees means more union members which means more dues.


I think states need to start passing laws that bar unions from being involved in the legislative process.