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Right now, massive corporations like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Postmates, and Instacart are pouring nearly $200 million into a giant PR campaign designed to get you to vote for this. (Photo: Screenshot)
Vote NO On CA Prop 22: Reject This Corporate Power Grab
Make no mistake: Prop 22 is a lousy deal for Uber and Lyft drivers, and for millions of other workers.
Oct 17, 2020
Here's what you need to know about Proposition 22 on the California ballot, and why I'm urging you to vote NO on this corporate power grab.
Right now, massive corporations like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Postmates, and Instacart are pouring nearly $200 million into a giant PR campaign designed to get you to vote for this. It's their measure - they put it on the ballot - and it's the most expensive ballot measure ever, not just in California, but in the entire country.
Prop 22 would allow companies like Uber and Lyft to continue to misclassify employees as independent contractors, and eliminate the rights of millions of other workers - who'd no longer be entitled to unemployment insurance, overtime, sick leave, protections against discrimination and sexual harrassment, or the right to collectively bargain for better wages and working conditions.
A study by my colleagues at UC Berkeley found that under Prop 22, Uber and Lyft drivers would be guaranteed only $5.64 an hour - a far cry from the $13 an hour minimum wage they'd otherwise get. And the vast majority would not qualify for the health benefits outlined in Prop 22.
Uber and Lyft claim most drivers want to remain independent contractors because they prefer the flexibility. Rubbish. Uber cites two surveys to support this claim, one of them unscientific and the other paid for by Uber itself.
The fact is, Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Postmates, and Instacart and other corporations are spending hundreds of millions on this ballot measure so they won't have to pay the costs of worker rights and protections. By not paying into unemployment insurance, for example, Uber and Lyft have saved a combined $413 million since 2014. But as a result, their drivers don't qualify for unemployment benefits.
Make no mistake: Prop 22 is a lousy deal for Uber and Lyft drivers, and for millions of other workers.
This is why I'm urging you to vote NO on Prop 22, and to urge your friends and family to do the same. Don't let big corporations pay hundreds of millions to strip workers of the rights and protections they need.
Watch:
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Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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Robert Reich
Robert Reich is professor emeritus of public policy at Berkeley and former US secretary of labor. His latest book is the No. 1 New York Times best-seller, "Coming Up Short."
Here's what you need to know about Proposition 22 on the California ballot, and why I'm urging you to vote NO on this corporate power grab.
Right now, massive corporations like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Postmates, and Instacart are pouring nearly $200 million into a giant PR campaign designed to get you to vote for this. It's their measure - they put it on the ballot - and it's the most expensive ballot measure ever, not just in California, but in the entire country.
Prop 22 would allow companies like Uber and Lyft to continue to misclassify employees as independent contractors, and eliminate the rights of millions of other workers - who'd no longer be entitled to unemployment insurance, overtime, sick leave, protections against discrimination and sexual harrassment, or the right to collectively bargain for better wages and working conditions.
A study by my colleagues at UC Berkeley found that under Prop 22, Uber and Lyft drivers would be guaranteed only $5.64 an hour - a far cry from the $13 an hour minimum wage they'd otherwise get. And the vast majority would not qualify for the health benefits outlined in Prop 22.
Uber and Lyft claim most drivers want to remain independent contractors because they prefer the flexibility. Rubbish. Uber cites two surveys to support this claim, one of them unscientific and the other paid for by Uber itself.
The fact is, Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Postmates, and Instacart and other corporations are spending hundreds of millions on this ballot measure so they won't have to pay the costs of worker rights and protections. By not paying into unemployment insurance, for example, Uber and Lyft have saved a combined $413 million since 2014. But as a result, their drivers don't qualify for unemployment benefits.
Make no mistake: Prop 22 is a lousy deal for Uber and Lyft drivers, and for millions of other workers.
This is why I'm urging you to vote NO on Prop 22, and to urge your friends and family to do the same. Don't let big corporations pay hundreds of millions to strip workers of the rights and protections they need.
Watch:
Robert Reich
Robert Reich is professor emeritus of public policy at Berkeley and former US secretary of labor. His latest book is the No. 1 New York Times best-seller, "Coming Up Short."
Here's what you need to know about Proposition 22 on the California ballot, and why I'm urging you to vote NO on this corporate power grab.
Right now, massive corporations like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Postmates, and Instacart are pouring nearly $200 million into a giant PR campaign designed to get you to vote for this. It's their measure - they put it on the ballot - and it's the most expensive ballot measure ever, not just in California, but in the entire country.
Prop 22 would allow companies like Uber and Lyft to continue to misclassify employees as independent contractors, and eliminate the rights of millions of other workers - who'd no longer be entitled to unemployment insurance, overtime, sick leave, protections against discrimination and sexual harrassment, or the right to collectively bargain for better wages and working conditions.
A study by my colleagues at UC Berkeley found that under Prop 22, Uber and Lyft drivers would be guaranteed only $5.64 an hour - a far cry from the $13 an hour minimum wage they'd otherwise get. And the vast majority would not qualify for the health benefits outlined in Prop 22.
Uber and Lyft claim most drivers want to remain independent contractors because they prefer the flexibility. Rubbish. Uber cites two surveys to support this claim, one of them unscientific and the other paid for by Uber itself.
The fact is, Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Postmates, and Instacart and other corporations are spending hundreds of millions on this ballot measure so they won't have to pay the costs of worker rights and protections. By not paying into unemployment insurance, for example, Uber and Lyft have saved a combined $413 million since 2014. But as a result, their drivers don't qualify for unemployment benefits.
Make no mistake: Prop 22 is a lousy deal for Uber and Lyft drivers, and for millions of other workers.
This is why I'm urging you to vote NO on Prop 22, and to urge your friends and family to do the same. Don't let big corporations pay hundreds of millions to strip workers of the rights and protections they need.
Watch:
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