If the tangled web of authority that defines America’s federalist system has an equivalent it is an extended family, a comparison that puts California’s Supreme Court and legislature on the same level as aunt Susan and uncle George. Both rely on a respect associated with the title that is more powerful when the two join forces, but can be hurt by division without being overruled by grandma Marion when she visits from Washington DC. Lorena Gonzalez must have feared such a fate when the San Diego Assemblywoman set out to reinforce the state court’s Dyanamex ruling by writing its “ABC Test” into law. Her effort is supported by gig workers like “Samantha,” an Uber driver earning $12-$13 an hour Gonzalez believes is ‘misclassified’ as an independent contractor. Given that rich ride-hailing companies are easy targets in true-blue California, a sweeping measure like Assembly Bill 5 was an easy ‘get’ in a capitol dominated by Democrats, but Gonzalez’ victory did not silence critics who were all too aware of her bill’s flaws.
Supporters effectively admitted AB 5 went a bridge too far when they published a series of amendments after Memorial Day that established a nine-point test and included exemptions for lawyers, real estate agents, architects and barbers. Somehow journalists were left out, as were truckers, nail salon workers, janitors and physical therapists. Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton spoke with several of them. Robert Schott is a freight hauler who says he would have to sell his truck and close the business that allows the single father to “take my girl to school every morning and see her at night.” There were other sources, including an Uber associate in favor of AB 5 and a 60-year-old Lyft contractor with a different perspective. It would be easy to take his story and write it off as the ramblings of a few isolated malcontents, but the personal stories Skelton retold are not the only challenges to Gonzalez’ assertions. It turns out the bigger picture comes from a familiar source.
Beacon Economics and the Labor Center at UC Berkeley each produced a study on the $15-an-hour minimum wage that was widely distributed before Governor Jerry Brown signed the measure. The Dynamex ruling inspired Beacon to launch a comprehensive study of independent contracting in the Golden State, one which returned results sure to surprise anyone focused on Uber and Lyft. It turns out that traditional workers, people who hold those 9-to-5 jobs Californians are familiar with and often complain about, outnumbered contractors five-to-one over the six years covered. As if anticipating complaints that workers accept awful conditions to stay employed, Beacon referred to a Department of Labor survey showing that nearly 80% of “contingent” workers were happy with the arrangement and roughly 9% were not. Reason magazine pundit Steven Greenhut brought the battle back to a personal level when he pointed to a survey showing AB 5 would cost the 95% of Lyft drivers who value their flexible schedules a job.
As the bill’s author and its foremost proponent, Lorena Gonzalez has referred to drivers who are “living out of their car, homeless, (and) barely hanging on,” but the San Diego Democrat and her comrade, state Senator Maria Elena Durazo, are focused on making a different kind of appeal. Gonzalez attacked the Coast News Group for “going on Twitter to attack my AB 5” and claimed the outfit admitted “they rely totally on independent contractors.” Durazo cast the choice as one between participating in the “exploitation of hardworking Californians” and rebuilding a middle class while Gonzalez denied that contractors value flexibility, preferring to brand “gig” work as a form of feudalism. By using such provocative language the pair are intent on provoking a fight-or-flight response from casual viewers and using the bluster to cover for an obvious attempt to unionize “contingent” workers, whether they like it or not. Gonzalez made her intentions clear when she took a shot at anonymous “billionaires” after refusing to accept an offer to pay drivers $21 an hour.
If not for the overwhelming majority Democrats hold in the capitol this kind of behavior would fire up the opposition, one that could fight for amendments to a measure written by AFL-CIO sparing non-profits from the bill’s heavy hand. An effective opposition wouldn’t have made newspaper carriers and freelance writers wait until the legislature’s last day to earn a one-year exemption. California doesn’t have an effective opposition, one that can introduce the public to people like Robert Schott, bring more attention to the Beacon study or paint a bigger picture, one that doesn’t include Uber and Lyft. The state Republican party invited Craig Huey to its convention, a speaker urging activists to focus on evangelical Christians while promoting his book on the so-called “Deep State,” and hosted volunteers who suggested handing out sugar skull candies on Mexican Independence Day would be a great way to reach out to the Latino community. If this is what the party sees as a road to victory I would hate to gaze upon its street of defeat.
photos courtesy of sandiegometro.com & images.dailykos.com
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