Truckers gathered outside government office buildings across California this week to protest the state’s new gig-work law, which could make them employees rather than independent contractors. https://t.co/RK5aBB0Qjj pic.twitter.com/ZgdWPCZwHF
— San Francisco Chronicle (@sfchronicle) November 6, 2019
Following rumblings of a planned protest in recent weeks, owner-operator truckers took to the streets in various cities across California this week to air their grievances against the state’s new, restrictive labor law that could block owner-operators from contracting with carriers in the state. The protests come as ride-sharing platforms Uber and Lyft prepare to fight the state for an exemption to the law by beefing up their pay and benefits to their passenger car drivers.
A.B. 5, just signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last month, takes effect in little less than two months, on Jan. 1.
The law is expansive, touching a wide and diverse set of industries in the state, from healthcare and technology to construction and trucking, among others. As reported in various forms by Overdrive in recent months, it leaves owner-operators and fleets in unprecedented territory, in which they must weigh the available options to continue operating in the state and choose a path forward. For some, that may mean refusing to work in California. For others it could mean transitioning their business to a new model or potentially ending their single-truck operation and transitioning into a company driver role.
For companies like Uber and Lyft, it means drivers can no longer be classified as independent contractors and must be treated as employees. Thus, they’d be entitled to more benefits from their employers and would be more apt to unionize.
