The trucking advocacy group that scored—and recently lost—protections for motor carriers from Assembly Bill 5 enforcement is mulling what to do next following a staggering blow to its case.
Sacramento-based California Trucking Association (CTA) otherwise isn't talking very much about the recent reversal of a preliminary injunction that protected the trucking industry from AB 5, also called the "gig worker bill."
"CTA is still discussing next steps and is unavailable for interviews," CTA Spokeswoman Bernice Creager told Southern California Record.
Creager also said that some of CTA's next steps "include seeking an en banc review" by the federal appeals court that shot down the injunction.
On April 28, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 is no bar to California’s AB 5, which says gig economy workers should be treated as employees, rather than contractors. Employees are entitled to working hours protections, benefits and unemployment insurance.
In its ruling, the Ninth Circuit reversed a preliminary injunction of AB 5 enforcement on the trucking industry, which had been granted by a federal district court early last year.
The future of California's gig economy in general is being decided in court. In March, the state's Attorney General's office filed a demurrer in Alameda County Superior Court, asking the court to dismiss a lawsuit to overturn Proposition 22, which passed in November.
Prop. 22 classifies some gig-economy app-based workers—particularly drivers and delivery for apps such as Uber and DoorDash—as independent contractors not subject to the previously passed Assembly Bill 5, which said they should be treated as employees. Prop 22-covered contractors are not required to receive benefits, such as unemployment insurance or paid sick leave, as employees are.
Meanwhile AB 5, signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September 2019 and went into effect the following January, landed in court shortly after over allegations that the state law encroaches on federal interstate commerce supremacy.
CTA announced shortly after the Ninth Circuit's decision that it stands by its case against AB 5 and the state.
"We continue to stand by our initial claim that the implementation of AB 5's classification test is preempted by federal law and is clearly detrimental to the long-standing and historical place California's 70,000 owner-operators have had in the transportation industry," CTA CEO Shawn Yadon said in a widely published statement. "The California Trucking Association will take whatever legal steps are necessary to continue this fight on behalf of independent owner-operators and motor carriers operating in California."