Wall Street Journal Editorial Board,
Nancy Pelosi famously proclaimed that Democrats had to pass ObamaCare to find out what was in it. On the other hand, Democrats in California last year passed legislation outlawing many freelance and independent contracting jobs knowing the disruption it would cause—and voters are now discovering the damage.
Ride-hailing app Uber rolled out changes for drivers and riders in California in an effort to duck the state’s new labor law AB5. That law reclassified a large swath of independent contractors from freelance journalists to Uber drivers as employees who are owed rest breaks, workers compensation, health benefits and paid leave.
Under the law, independent contractors must be “free from control and direction”; perform work “outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business”; and be “customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business.” Few contractors pass this test, so Democrats exempted dozens of professions.
Now workers and businesses that didn’t win carve-outs are trying to navigate around the law. Uber is dropping up-front pricing in California, so riders won’t know their fare until after their trip ends. Drivers will also be able to reject trips based on their destination, which means passengers may find it difficult to hail rides to rough neighborhoods.
Uber is also letting drivers in some areas set their own fares, though some economists predict this will result in lower worker pay. Companies are also going to court. Uber and Postmates contend the law violates equal protection by unfairly discriminating against app-based companies, but their lawsuit is a long-shot since the law sweeps broadly.
Truckers did win an injunction last week when a federal judge found the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act bars states from regulating the “price, route or service of any motor carrier . . . with respect to the transportation of property.” Judge Roger Benitez wrote that, “With A.B. 5, California runs off the road and into the preemption ditch of the FAAAA.”
The American Society of Journalists and Authors and the National Press Photographers Association are also challenging the law for abridging free speech. Under AB5, journalists who submit more than 35 pieces to a single publication must be classified as employees. Vox Media in December terminated 200 California freelancers who wrote for its sports blog SB Nation.
Liberals lament the decline of local and investigative journalism, yet they pass laws making it harder to sustain financially. After AB5 passed, Democrats awarded a one-year reprieve for newspaper carriers who deliver papers for multiple publishers. This is the only reason some print papers continue to be published.
Assembly Member Lorena Gonzalez, a Teamsters member who championed AB5, denounced the exemption. Publishers are furiously trying to figure out how to deliver papers once the carrier exemption ends. Other contractors including translators and court reporters complain they’ve lost business and are lobbying for carve-outs.
We warned about the mess AB5 would create. So did many businesses, though Democrats proclaimed they could make fixes later. Well? Oh, and by the way, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders have all endorsed a national AB5. If you like your job, sorry, you might not be able to keep it if Democrats get their way.
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