The below opinion pieces were created in collaboration with students in the history classes of Professor Susan Hasegawa.

Proposition 22 would classify app-based drivers as “independent contractors” instead of “employees” while offering certain compensation as a replacement if the driver meets certain criteria.

In 2019, California passed a law known as Assembly Bill No. 5, or AB5, that expanded the classification of employees to gig workers who work as delivery drivers for app-based service companies. These companies such as Uber, Lyft and DoorDash are trying to introduce legislation to exempt them from this law.

Looking for more information on Prop. 22? 
Visit the City Times’ Voters Guide to the Prop 22 here.

Proposition 22 supporters argue that the majority (4-1) margin of app-based drivers chooses to work as an independent contractor and that the flexibility of their schedules is a main factor. Without Proposition 22, they argue, app-based drivers would lose their ability to work for multiple apps based companies and potentially lose their jobs altogether. It would also introduce health, safety and minimum wage requirements for those workers.

Over the past decade, rideshare companies bulldozed their way into the industry, upending people’s livelihood with little remorse and using independent contract workers as a means of maintaining a workforce and billions of dollars in income without offering minimum wage or protections to those who provide the services they offer.

Jeffrey Arnesen
Geography Major

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