A ridesharing advocacy group is pleased with an Alameda Superior Court judge’s decision to overturn Proposition 22, which exempts app-based drivers from Assembly Bill (AB) 5.
“RDU is very excited by the judge's decision,” said Brian Dolber, an organizer with Rideshare Drivers United (RDU) and California State University associate professor in San Marcos. “We agree with their assessment that this is not only bad policy but should be unconstitutional and we really hope that the judge's decision is a sign to not only Uber and Lyft but to other state governments that might be considering enacting similar policies that this is really not workable.”
As previously reported, Assembly Bill (AB) 5 required that drivers and other gig-economy workers be treated as employees and not independent contractors.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch overturned Prop 22 with an Aug. 20 decision stating that Proposition 22 limits a power vested in the state legislature by the Constitution.
“A prohibition on legislation authorizing collective bargaining by app-based drivers does not promote the right to work as an independent contractor, nor does it protect work flexibility, nor does it provide minimum workplace safety and pay standards for those: workers,” Roesch wrote in his opinion. “It appears only to protect the economic interests of the network companies in having a divided, ununionized workforce, which is not a stated goal of the legislation.”
A rival ridesharing advocacy group, the Protect App-Based Drivers & Services Coalition, has vowed to appeal the decision, according to media reports.
“The Protect App-Based Drivers & Services Coalition is an organization created by Uber and Lyft and that's the trade association that pushed for Prop 22,” Dolber alleges. “It's really just a coalition of those companies like Uber, Lyft, Instacart and other delivery services. We are not in line with them at all.”
The Protect App-Based Drivers & Services Coalition did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“The name, Protect App-Based Drivers Coalition, shows you the extent to which these companies have engaged in devious public relations efforts and propaganda in order to get the public to think that Prop 22 is something that is going to benefit workers,” Dolber told the Southern California Record. “We hope that the state enforces AB 5 and we, as an organization, are working to push that enforcement.”